Case: 06 January 2022

Summary

Closed-cell cumulus cloud deck that formed under moderate northerly winds

Description

The event featured a frontal passage earlier in the day that was followed by an extended closed-cell stratocumulus deck that began to form around 06 UTC. There were relatively modest (10-20 kts) boundary layer flows from the north that shifted to the northeast throughout this event. The stratocumulus field exhibited several pockets of enhanced drizzle and subcloud precipitation as this event progressed. SEVIRI indicated mid-to-upper-level clouds during the earlier hours as associated with the synoptic frontal passage. Inversion height at approximately 1.4 km AGL.

Available assets

Standard ARM profiling assets, SEVIRI. RLPROF-FEX

Critical period: 10:00-14:00

Closed and widespread cloud deck with observed signatures of drizzle

True color MODIS AQUA — Figure 19 True color afternoon MODIS AQUA image with overlaid LES domains. The image domain corresponds to the size of the model forcing domain.