Mechanism of the northward propagation of mesoscale convective systems observed on 15 June 2005 during PALAU2005

Abstract

This paper describes the structure and evolution of northward propagating mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) observed over the tropical western Pacific on 15 June 2005. A wedge-shaped convective cloud area, consisting of three groups of MCSs, was generated near the equator to the north of New Guinea at around 0000 LST on 15 June, and one of the groups of MCSs propagated toward Palau (7°-8°N). Dropsonde analysis revealed that the MCSs developed at the northern edge of a cold air mass that had a horizontal scale of more than 400 km. Global objective analysis data from the Japan Meteorological Agency showed that the cold air mass observed by the dropsonde analysis originated in a land breeze from New Guinea. The cold air mass was initially formed by cold advection from the south and was maintained by cooling with the MCSs. When the initial MCSs were generated along the land-breeze front, an easterly wave, which was accompanied by low-level southerly wind and a low-pressure area, was located near Palau. The cold air mass associated with the land breeze between 132° and 137°E was locally extended toward the center of the low-pressure area. The results suggest that the easterly wave located around Palau helped locally promote northward cold advection from New Guinea, inducing the long-distance northward propagation of MCSs generated along the land-breeze front. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.