Medium-Range Synoptic Meteorology

Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to enhance our understanding of medium-range synoptic meteorology and to improve medium-range weather predictions. The focus is on the dynamic evolution of the upper-tropospheric weather systems such as troughs and cutoff cyclones. Theoretical wave stability and propagation analysis and potential vorticity diagnostics are applied to four different aspects of the problem: the mechanism associated with midwinter suppression of storm activity in the North Pacific; mechanisms for the formation and dissipation of coherent vortices; upper-tropospheric control on the severe storm environment; and the propagation of mobile Rossby wave packets in the upper troposphere.