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Observation of a Severe Wind Case Caused by Gust Front and Its Boundary Layer Structures Characteristics

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Observation of a Severe Wind Case Caused by Gust Front and Its Boundary Layer Structures Characteristics E3S Web of Conferences 53, 03010 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20185303010 ICAEER 2018 Observation of a Severe Wind Case Caused by Gust Front and Its Boundary Layer Structures Characteristics Changyi Xu1 and Yan Wang 2* 1 Binhai New Area Meteorological Office of Tianjin, Tianjin 300457, China 2 Tianjin Weather Modification Office, Tianjin 300074, China Abstract. Based on Doppler radar 3D-composited reflectivity, wind profiler radar, boundary layer Tianjin tower of 255m as well as intensified automatic surface observation data, the evolution of the boundary layer associated with two successive gust front processes in the evening of 10 June 2016 and the intensity of the related disastrous surface high wind were analyzed. The results shown as follows: (1) To the same storm cell, the wind intensity caused by the outflow boundary in the main body was stronger than the wind caused by the gust front. The intensity of the disastrous high wind was related to the maximum descending velocity in the boundary layer and the associated height. The stronger the maximum descending velocity and the lower the level, the stronger the disastrous high wind was. (2) The tower data indicated, as the approaching of the gust front, convergence fluctuations first emerged at low(20m) and middle(120m) levels of the tower, leading the emergence of disastrous high wind by 8 minutes. When the gust front passed over, the maximum variations of cooling and the wind velocity were in pace with each other. 1 Introduction The meso-scale boundary, i.e. gust front or outflow the gust accompanied by the gust front in the boundary boundary, is formed at the interface between the sinking layer and the instantaneous high wind was less studied. cold air that reaches low level in the convective storm The fine resolution data, such as the Doppler radar data and the warm wet air at low level. During its passage, the [5,6], wind profiler radar data [7] and the tower data in temperature drops, the pressure jumps, and the wind boundary layer [8,9], are important to have detailed and direction shifts. The gust front is actually the boudary quantitative investigations on the related issues in the between sinking cold air inside the convection and the boundary layer. Utilizing the multi-data in the boundary warm environmental air near the storm. Except elevated layer of wind profiler radar data, the meteorological convection, the factors that determine local emerging and boundary layer tower data and the intensified automatic developing of the convective storm are in the boundary surface observation data, combined with 3D-composited layer, while the gust front is one of the major types of the reflectivity fields based on the four Doppler radars, a convergence lines in the boundary layer. Surface disastrous high wind caused by a quasi-line meso-scale divergence(convergence) is obvious behind (before)the convective system on 10 June 2016 was studied. The gust front, and obvious updraft is observed near the gust relationship between the downdraft speed of the surface front [1,2]. high wind caused by the gust front in the boundary layer In recent years, studies on the structures of gust front and the instantaneous high wind was investigated to and the related initiation mechanisms using intensified reveal the vertical structures of meteorological elements automatic surface observation data and Doppler radar in the boundary layer accompanied with high wind, and data increased. Wu et al. [3] analyzed the evolution will help to improve the forecasting and warning for the characteristics of the gust front and the high wind behind intensity of the surface high wind induced by the gust it, pointed out that strong rear inflow favored stronger front. sinking in the rear storms, and then produced stronger downburst and gust front in the surface. Additionally, strong convective cells emerged when two gust fronts 2 Weather state and environmental moved heading toward each other [4]. conditions Primary studies on the relationship between cold gust velocity and descending speed had many results. 2.1 Case description However, the relevance between the descending speed of In the evening of 10 June 2016, a wide range of thunderstorm high wind emerged in * Corresponding author: [email protected] © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). E3S Web of Conferences 53, 03010 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20185303010 ICAEER 2018 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the maximum velocity 0-6km at 08:00 10 June typed as a severe vertical shear reaching 10 grade (26.0 m•s-1) appeared in Qingxian [11]. Hebei province. Figure 1 shown the distribution of national automatic stations in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region where the real state of wind speed≥17.0 m•s-1 3 The evolution characteristics of the from 14:00 10 June to 02:00(Beijing time without special gust front instructions) 11 June, and the velocity as well as the time The ‘6.10’ disastrous high wind in Tianjin and southern ≥ （ -1） with instantaneous wind speed 9 grade 20.8 m•s Hebei were affected by two gust fronts in sequence. The were indicated in the figure. first gust front (marked as gust front 1) emerged at 15:42 in Daxing, Fangshan of Beijing, and disappeared around Huanghua, Haixing of southeastern Hebei at 21:12. The second gust front (marked as gust front 2) arose at 20:24 in Hejian of Hebei province, and disappeared around Yangxin, Binzhou of Shandong province. Based on the maximum velocities caused by the gust front measured by automatic stations, the life of the gust front can be divided into three stages: the evolution stage, the mature stage and the dissipating stage. High wind in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebin region from 14:00 Fig.1. 3.1 Gust front 1 BJT 10 June 2016 to 02:00 BJT 11 June 2016(★ indicate the location of the wind profiler radar, ● indicate the location of the Doppler radar, ▲indicate the location of Tianjin tower) 3.1.1 The evolution stage（15:42-17:30） The convective storm cell moved into the adjacent area 2.2 Synoptic background of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region at 16:36 10 June, the structure of the convective system was similar to the The Mongolia cold vortex maintained at 08:00 10 June individual cells(CCs) [12]. Surface convergence line 2016(figure omitted) and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region formed by the northeasterly and southwesterly was to the was to the southeast of the cold vortex. The quasi-line southwest of the convective cell. According to the radar convective system initiated over the border in head of the reflectivity at low elevation angles, to the south of the warm center and to the front left of the southwest low cell existed a narrow bow echo which denoted the gust level jet at 850hPa(figure omitted). The cold-dry air front 1 with the maximum wind speed up to 14.9 m•s-1 at intruded at middle level was over the low level warm-wet 16:04. The Position of surface convergence line detected air which led the temperature differences between by every 5min surface wind direction observation agreed ℃ 850hPa and 500hPa to exceed 28 . It indicated that the with the positon observed by radar echo, confirming the structure with cold-dry air at high level and warm-wet air exact position of the gust front. The adjacent area of at low level was obvious, increasing static instability. Beijing and Tianjin was affected by convective cell at Cyclonic vortex occurred in southern part of Hebei at 17:00, forming cold pool (surface temperature 20-23 ℃), 14:00 on surface chart(figure omitted) , accompanied by temperature decreased at 6℃•(10min)-1 near the high the strong warm wet center which produced a belt of large temperature gradient with the cold center in eastern wind areas. Most part of Tianjin was controlled by high ℃ Tianjin, benefited the development of the storm. temperatures greater than 31 .Based on the wind distribution, the gust front produced by the convergence of cold pool outflow and environmental southeasterly 2.3 Environmental conditions was associated with surface convergence line and weak narrow echo. Additionally, a convergence line of The data of Beijing radiosonde station at 08:00 10 June southwesterly and southeasterly was in northeastern indicated that 850-1000hPa was the wet level and Tianjin. In terms of the distribution of temperature and 800-500hPa was the dry level. The greater the value the dew-point temperature, this convergence line drier the air was or the thicker the dry level was, favoring corresponded with the gradient between cold-wet and the intense downdraft inside the storm [10]. The intensity ℃ warm-dry air, which was known as sea-breeze of dry air was 20 at mid-high troposphere, the dry front(Figure 2a). level was clear. DCAPE (commenced at 600hPa) reached -1 Boundary layer wind could be analyzed in detail 1153.9 J•kg with great potential associated with severe through wind profiler radar data with high spatial and downdraft and high wind. CAPE increased from 365 -1 temporal resolutions. Gust front 1 began to influence the J•kg-1 at 08:00 to 2179 J•kg at 14:00. Both the border of Beijing and Tianjin at 15:30 with wind speed amplification of CAPE and the CAPE at 14:00 were big, lower that 8 m•s-1 in the boundary layer and ascending leading the development of instable convective system. movement under 700m. At 15:48, the boundary layer was The temperature difference between 850hPa and 500hPa dominated by descending air.
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