Case Study: 29 July 1997

• Introduction and Conceptual Models for 29 July 1997/06.00 UTC
  • Overview of satellite features and conceptual models
  • Frontal diagnosis
  • Diagnosis of the western cloud feature - Conceptual model "Front Intensification by Jet Crossing"
  • Diagnosis of the eastern cloud feature - Conceptual models "Convergence Cloudiness" and "Cumulonimbus (Cb) and Mesoscale Convective System (MCS)"
  • Diagnosis for 06.00 UTC with help of vertical cross sections
  • Very Short Range Forecast (VSRF) till 18.00 UTC
• Conceptual Models - Diagnosis for 29 July 1997/12.00 UTC
  • Satellite features and frontal diagnosis for 12.00 UTC
  • The western cloud system
  • The eastern cloud system
  • Instability 12.00 UTC
  • Diagnosis for 12.00 UTC with help of vertical cross sections
• Conceptual Models - Diagnosis for 29 July 1997/18.00 UTC
  • Satellite features and frontal diagnosis for 18.00 UTC
  • Upper level features
  • Instability 18.00 UTC
  • Diagnosis for 18.00 UTC with help of vertical cross sections
  • Summary

29 July 1997 - Overview Of Satellite Features And Conceptual Models

29 July 1997/06.00 UTC - Meteosat IR image; SatRep overlay: names of conceptual models

The image above shows the initial situation on 29 July at 06.00 UTC: the following cloud systems can be diagnosed in the Central and Western European areas:

• A band-like cloud system extending from the west Alps across Switzerland to south Germany (compare Diagnosis of the western cloud feature - Conceptual model "Front Intensification by Jet Crossing" ); the part over Germany can be identified as an area of cloud intensification in the left exit region of a jet streak (in short form "Jet Intensification") (compare Conceptual Models: Front Intensification by Jet Crossing )
• A band-like cloud system extending from the north Adriatic Sea across Slovenia and east Austria to the Czech Republic and south Poland (compare Diagnosis of the eastern cloud feature - Conceptual models "Convergence Cloudiness" and "Cumulonimbus (Cb) and Mesoscale Convective System (MCS)" ); it can be identified as "Convergence Cloudiness" (compare Conceptual Models: Convergence Cloudiness ) with two areas of thunderstorms (Cb) embedded
• A Cold Front "CF" (compare Conceptual Models: Cold Front ) over the Atlantic approaching the British Isles
• Fibrous cloudiness extending from the North Sea into France; this feature is indicative of cloudiness on the anticyclonic side of the jet axis and supports the initial diagnosis (compare Conceptual Models: Jet Cloudiness (Fibre) )