Rapid evolution of a jet streak circulation in a pre-convective environment

Abstract

An analysis of upper- and lower-tropospheric jet streaks and their associated vertical circulations prior to and during the Red River Valley severe weather outbreak of 10 April 1979 is presented utilizing the three-hourly SESAME data sets. The paper emphasizes the transformation of a transverse indirect circulation within the exit region of an upper-level jet streak (ULJ) in which the cross-contour components of the upper-level ageostrophic flow diminish in magnitude and reverse direction as the circulation's ascending branch shifts from the cyclonic-shear side to a position along the axis of the ULJ. The change in character of the vertical circulation over a 3- to 6h period appears to be related to the increasing cyclonic curvature associated with the propagation and amplification of a short-wavelength trough embedded within cyclonic flow.