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Synoptic environments favourable for urban convection in Atlanta, Georgia
Author(s) -
Bentley Mace L.,
Stallins J. Anthony,
Ashley Walker S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.2344
Subject(s) - thunderstorm , environmental science , climatology , meteorology , atmospheric instability , mesoscale meteorology , synoptic scale meteorology , atlanta , radar , atmospheric sciences , geography , geology , wind speed , telecommunications , metropolitan area , archaeology , computer science
An examination of synoptic environments conducive to urban thunderstorm development surrounding Atlanta, Georgia, was conducted. Synoptic environmental characteristics were evaluated utilising regional analyses of heights, winds, temperature, and moisture characteristics as well as several thermodynamic variables. A flexible beta cluster analysis was used in order to identify disparate groupings of common synoptic and thermodynamic environments. These groupings were then further analysed through the production of synoptic composites, radar, and lightning distributions. Although the analysis stratified the data by days with weak synoptic flow and maritime tropical airmass characteristics, enough variation existed within the synoptic and thermodynamically grouped parameters to identify four distinct environments present during urban thunderstorms. Environments exhibiting moderate thermodynamic instability were found to produce the highest flash rates and most frequent composite reflectivity days. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society