THE CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION EXPERIMENT (COPE) Investigating the Origins of Heavy Precipitation in the Southwestern United Kingdom
THE CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION EXPERIMENT (COPE) Investigating the Origins of Heavy Precipitation in the Southwestern United Kingdom BY DAVID C. LEON, JEFFREY R. FRENCH, SONIA LASHER-TRAPP, ALAN M. BLYTH, STEVEN J. ABEL, SUSAN BAllARD, ANDREW BARREtt, LINdsAY J. BENNEtt, KEITH BOWER, BARBARA BROOKS, PHIL BROWN, CRIstINA CHARltON-PEREZ, THOMAS CHOULARTON, PETER CLARK, CHRIS COllIER, JONATHAN CROSIER, ZHIQIANG CUI, SEONAID DEY, DAVID DUFTON, CHLOE EAGLE, MICHAEL J. FLYNN, MARTIN GAllAGHER, CAROL HAllIWEll, KIRstY HANLEY, LEE HAWKNEss-SMITH, YAHUI HUANG, GRAEME KEllY, MAlcOlm KItcHEN, ALEXEI KOROLEV, HUMPHREY LEAN, ZIXIA LIU, JOHN MARSHAM, DANIEL MOSER, JOHN NICOL, EMILY G. NORTON, DAVID PLUmmER, JEREMY PRICE, HUGO RIckEtts, NIGEL ROBERts, PHIL D. ROSENBERG, DAVID SIMONIN, JONATHAN W. TAYLOR, ROBERT WARREN, PAUL I. WIllIAms, AND GIllIAN YOUNG A recent field campaign in southwest England used numerical modeling integrated with aircraft and radar observations to investigate the dynamic and microphysical interactions that can result in heavy convective precipitation. ne of the many challenges of improving extremely heavy rain believed to have peaked at about quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) for 150 mm h−1 (e.g., Kumar et al. 2014). There are, how- Osummertime convection is achieving a better ever, many examples of flash floods at midlatitudes as understanding of cloud microphysics, turbulent en- well. Some in the United States include Jamestown, trainment, and boundary layer processes (Fritsch and Pennsylvania, in 1889 and 1977; Big Thompson, Carbone 2004). The urgency of this challenge has not Colorado, in 1976; Rapid City, South Dakota, in been reduced by the increased use of ensembles and 1972; Ft. Collins, Colorado, in 1997; and in Boulder, convective-permitting ensemble forecast systems in Colorado, in 2013.
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