Diurnal Spatial Variability of Great Plains Summer Precipitation Related to the Dynamics of the Low-Level Jet

Abstract

Abstract Diurnal variations of the Great Plains low-level jet (GPLLJ) and vertical motions have been related to the development of summer precipitation individually, but their underlying connection and consequences for the nocturnal and afternoon precipitation peaks are less discussed. This paper examines how together they help explain the spatial pattern of the frequency of summer convective precipitation over the Great Plains. A one-layer linearized boundary layer model is used to reproduce the diurnal cycle of the GPLLJ. Its periodic rising and sinking motions compare favorably with those of the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) climatology. Its development of rising motion is also consistent with the enhanced occurrence of nocturnal convective precipitation over the central and eastern Great Plains (90°–100°W) and afternoon maximum over the western Great Plains (100°–105°W). The diurnal phasing of the vertical motions can be captured by the model only if the diurnal oscillation of the jet is forced by both near surface geopotential gradients and friction with observed diurnal variability. The diurnal variation of the vertical velocity (or boundary layer convergence and divergence) is explained by local vorticity balance; that is, following the diurnal oscillation of the jet, the zonal gradient of the meridional wind oscillates and, thus, relative vorticity and its tendency. The slowing down of the jet after midnight decreases the anticyclonic (cyclonic) vorticity and consequently gives a positive (negative) vorticity tendency to the east (west) of the jet core; anomalous rising (sinking) motions occur to balance these positive (negative) vorticity tendencies. The pattern reverses when the jet is relatively weak.