Mesoscale observations of surface fronts and low pressure centres in Canadian East Coast winter storms

Abstract

The movements of surface cold and warm fronts and low pressure centres have been observed in several Atlantic Canada winter storms. Statistical aspects of the ‘well-defined’ surface fronts (7 warm and 6 cold) are presented. Surface wind direction change was considered as the best indicator of the boundaries of the front; frontal zone widths ranged from 23 to 144 km. Average values of wind shifts were 107° for the cold fronts and 85° for warm fronts. Several case studies are presented, based primarily on surface MesoNet data (near Halifax, Nova Scotia and on Sable Island). In two of the cold fronts, there was a two-stage surface structure and rapid evolution as the front passed over the MesoNet. In some cases, both warm and cold, the wind shift and temperature change were coincident while in others they were not. In particular we observed that wind shifts often started 20–30 min ahead of the start of a temperature decrease in these cold frontal passages. A possible mechanism for this is discussed. We found little or no evidence of along-front structure in our data although other investigators have found considerable along-front variation on scales of 0(10 km). Observations of the passage of one low pressure centre are presented. In a second case, surface temperature changes indicated an apparent low pressure centre passage through the Sable Island MesoNet but closer inspection provides an alternative interpretation.