Abstract
North American drylines are distinct air mass boundaries that have often been examined for their relation to the initiation of severe convective storms. Three cases of drylines occurring in synoptically quiescent environments are analyzed using data obtained from a single mobile platform in concert with data from operational synoptic and mesoscale observing systems. Very distinct moisture contrasts were noted in a nocturnal April case in mountainous terrain in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. The other two cases revealed multi-step moisture transitions within synoptically diffuse moisture gradients. Their evolution over time suggests that such multi-step patterns may be associated with diurnal and geographic forcing transitions, as well as positioning of deep moist convection.
Highlights
Various investigations of the structure and evolution of drylines have been conducted since the initial description in 1958 [1]
As observed in North America, a typical dryline can be conceptually described as the surface boundary separating a moist subtropical air mass from much drier vertically well-mixed air originating over high plateaus of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico [2]
Fine-scale measurements of the dryline environment with aircraft, remote sensing, and mobile observing systems [3] have focused in particular on factors related to the initiation of severe convective storms over Western Oklahoma and Northern Texas during spring and early summer, such as during the VORTEX-95 (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) [4] and IHOP (International H2 O Project) [5,6,7,8] field campaigns
Summary
Various investigations of the structure and evolution of drylines have been conducted since the initial description in 1958 [1]. As observed in North America, a typical dryline can be conceptually described as the surface boundary separating a moist subtropical air mass (largely originating over the Gulf of Mexico) from much drier vertically well-mixed air originating over high plateaus of the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico [2]. Fine-scale measurements of the dryline environment with aircraft, remote sensing (radar/lidar), and mobile observing systems [3] have focused in particular on factors related to the initiation of severe convective storms over Western Oklahoma and Northern Texas during spring and early summer, such as during the VORTEX-95 (Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment) [4] and IHOP (International H2 O Project) [5,6,7,8] field campaigns. Interactions of drylines with topography of the Rocky Mountains foothills in Southeastern
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