Intense sea-effect snowfall case on the western coast of Finland
A new national daily snowfall record was measured in Finland on 8 January 2016 when it snowed 73 cm (31 mm as liquid water) in less than a day in Merikarvia on the western coast of Finland. The area of the most intense snowfall was very small, which is common in convective precipitation. In this...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Advances in Science and Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.adv-sci-res.net/14/231/2017/asr-14-231-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | A new national daily snowfall record was measured in Finland on
8 January 2016 when it snowed 73 cm (31 mm as liquid water) in less than a
day in Merikarvia on the western coast of Finland. The area of the most
intense snowfall was very small, which is common in convective precipitation.
In this work we used hourly weather radar images to identify the sea-effect
snowfall case and to qualitatively estimate the performance of HARMONIE, a
non-hydrostatic convection-permitting weather prediction model, in simulating
the spatial and temporal evolution of the snowbands. The model simulation,
including data assimilation, was run at 2.5 km horizontal resolution and
65 levels in vertical. HARMONIE was found to capture the overall sea-effect
snowfall situation quite well, as both the timing and the location of the
most intense snowstorm were properly simulated. Based on our preliminary
analysis, the snowband case was triggered by atmospheric instability above
the mostly ice-free sea and a low-level convergence zone almost perpendicular
to the coastline. The simulated convective available potential energy (CAPE)
reached a value of 87 J kg<sup>−1</sup> near the site of the observed snowfall record. |
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| ISSN: | 1992-0628 1992-0636 |