Upper Air Analyses. Assignment 7. Due February 13

Purpose: (1) to analyze upper air charts during a major winter storm; (2) examine the structure of a major winter storm on synoptic time and spatial scales.

Review the information on manual analyses of upper air charts in the Djuric text.

Charts at 500 mb will be analyzed for the following times:

12z 7 February 01
12z 8 February 01

Review the synoptic situation at each time by using Nmap2

Required Equipment: #2 pencil; red pencil; eraser.

Manual analyses of height and temperature on constant pressure surfaces require:

knowledge of the typical errors likely in upper air observations
application of the dyamical principles of synoptic meteorology (e.g., geostrophic and gradient wind balance, thermal wind relationship)
use of conceptual models of the structure of synoptic weather systems
compliance with the traditions of synoptic manual analyses (e.g., contour intervals, color, and labeling conventions)

Analyses will be evaluated in terms of neatness and on how well the aforementioned factors are applied.

1. For 1200 UTC 7 February:

a. Contour in regular pencil, geopotential height at 500 mb in 60 m intervals beginning at 5520 m. Use the plotting conventions discussed in class. Underline suspect observations that do not conform to your analysis. Label ridge and trough axes.
b. Contour in red pencil, temperature at 500 mb in 5C intervals beginning at -15C. Label temperature maxima and minima.

2. Repeat for 1200 UTC 8 February

3. Based on your analyses, discuss the temporal and spatial evolution of the height and temperature fields at 500 mb across the United States.

estimate the speed and direction of movement of the major weather features over the 24 h period.
how did the amplitude and orientation of the major weather features change with time?