The orographic modulation of pre-warm-front precipitation in Southern New England

Topographic forcing over the hills and small mountains of southern New England plays an important role in determining the distribution of pre-warm-front precipitation from winter cyclones. Upslope regions receive 20-60% more precipitation than do nearby downslope or coastal regions. Both the intensi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly weather review 1983-05, Vol.111 (5), p.1062-1070
Main Authors: PASSARELLI, R. E. JR, BOEHME, H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Meteorology
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Topographic forcing over the hills and small mountains of southern New England plays an important role in determining the distribution of pre-warm-front precipitation from winter cyclones. Upslope regions receive 20-60% more precipitation than do nearby downslope or coastal regions. Both the intensity and duration of precipitation contribute to the positive upslope anomalies. The magnitude of the upslope anomalies, the details of the precipitation intensity distributions at proximal upslope and downslope gages, and the results of simple models indicate that precipitation scavenging in orographic clouds can explain the orographic enhancement. Also, the existence of a positive precipitation anomaly over the coastal plain suggests that frictional convergence may be generating weak, but persistent, vertical motions.
ISSN:0027-0644
1520-0493
DOI:10.1175/1520-0493(1983)111<1062:tomopw>2.0.co;2