Case: 31 October 2016

Summary

Closed-cell precipitating stratocumulus organization with modest northerly winds

Description

Widespread and relatively closed-cell precipitating stratocumulus event with pockets of open cells to the north and east of the Azores region. Boundary-layer winds were modest (20–25 kts) and from the north to northeast throughout the event. Multiple periods were having radar signatures suggesting precipitation below cloud base. Inversion heights and/or cloud echo top heights remained consistent throughout the event at approximately 1.7–2.0 km AGL.

Available assets

Standard ARM profiling assets, SEVIRI

Critical period: 06:00–12:00

Widespread stratocumulus with subcloud precipitation

True-color MODIS Aqua — Figure 49 True-color afternoon MODIS Aqua image with overlaid LES domains. The image area corresponds to the 5° region sampled for the larger forcing option. The yellow and orange boxes correspond to the sizes of the 25 km and 102 km LES domains, respectively.