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Precipitation growth at a cold front
Author(s) -
Jonas P. R.,
Tabony R. C.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49709942004
Subject(s) - cold front , pellets , airflow , precipitation , front (military) , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , pellet , warm front , flow (mathematics) , climatology , materials science , mechanics , geology , physics , thermodynamics , composite material
A simple model of the growth of precipitation particles in cloud systems in which the air flow is known has been used to calculate the growth of hail pellets at a cold front. The calculated pellet sizes and densities, and surface rainfall rates, are consistent with observations. It is shown that in the 3 km deep frontal cloud the larger hail pellets were grown during at least two ascents in the strong updraught. The growth of large pellets depends on the airflow being such as to cause two ascents, and small changes in the airflow can prevent the growth of large hail pellets.