Mesoscale meteorology

The last four years have seen a considerable expansion in research on mesoscale atmospheric phenomena. The motivation is three‐fold: the prospect of greater forecast accuracy, an emerging ability to observe the mesoscale, and the challenge of understanding extremely complex physical mechanisms. The current level of accuracy of storm warnings and other local forecasts can be substantially advanced only by an improved ability to deal with structures smaller than the traditional synoptic scale. These structures are beginning to be described by analysis of special data and of routine surface observations.