Simulation of Dryline Misovortex Dynamics and Cumulus Formation

Abstract

Abstract A dryline and misocyclones have been simulated in a cloud-resolving model by applying specified initial and time-dependent lateral boundary conditions obtained from analyses of the 22 May 2002 International H2O Project (IHOP_2002) dataset. The initial and lateral boundary conditions were obtained from a combination of the time–spaced Lagrangian analyses for temperature and moisture with horizontal velocities from multiple-Doppler wind syntheses. The simulated dryline, horizontal dry-convective rolls (HCRs) and open cells (OCCs), misocyclones, and cumulus clouds are similar to the corresponding observed features. The misocyclones move northward at nearly the mean boundary layer (BL) wind speed, rotate dryline gradients owing to their circulations, and move the local dryline eastward via their passage. Cumuli develop along a secondary dryline, along HCR and OCC segments between the primary and secondary drylines, along HCR and OCC segments that have moved over the dryline, and within the dryline updraft. After the initial shearing instability develops, misocyclogenesis proceeds from tilting and stretching of vorticity by the persistent secondary dryline circulation. The resulting misocyclone evolution is discussed.