Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Tracking precipitation features and associated large-scale environments over southeastern Texas

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Deep convection initiated under different large-scale environmental conditions exhibits different precipitation features and interacts with local meteorology and surface properties in distinct ways. Here, we analyze the characteristics and spatiotemporal patterns of different types of convective systems over southeastern Texas using 13 years of high-resolution observations and reanalysis data. We find that mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) contribute significantly to both mean and extreme precipitation in all seasons, while isolated deep convection (IDC) plays a role in intense precipitation during summer and fall. Using self-organizing maps (SOMs), we found that convection can occur under unfavorable conditions without large-scale lifting or moisture convergence. In spring, fall, and winter, front-related large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) characterized by low-level moisture convergence act as primary triggers for convection, while the remaining storms are associated with an anticyclonic pattern and orographic lifting. In summer, IDC events are mainly associated with front-related and anticyclonic LSMPs, while MCSs occur more in front-related LSMPs. We further tracked the life cycle of MCS and IDC events using the Flexible Object Tracker algorithm over southeastern Texas. MCSs frequently initiate west of Houston, traveling eastward for around 8 h to southeastern Texas, while IDC events initiate locally. The average duration of MCSs in southeastern Texas is 6.1 h, approximately 4.1 times the duration of IDC events. Diurnally, the initiation of convection associated with favorable LSMPs peaks at 11:00 UTC, 3 h earlier than that associated with anticyclones.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830; Atmospheric Systems Research Program
OSTI ID:
2404595
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2406155
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-192004
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online), Vol. 24, Issue 14; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
Copernicus Publications, EGUCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (47)

Variability of the Great Plains Low-Level Jet: Large-Scale Circulation Context and Hydroclimate Impacts journal April 2008
A high-resolution unified observational data product of mesoscale convective systems and isolated deep convection in the United States for 2004–2017 journal January 2021
Utilizing a Storm-Generating Hotspot to Study Convective Cloud Transitions: The CACTI Experiment journal April 2021
Evaluation of WRF Simulation of Deep Convection in the U.S. Southern Great Plains journal January 2023
Influence of the Bermuda High on interannual variability of summertime ozone in the Houston–Galveston–Brazoria region journal January 2016
Deep Convection Initiation, Growth, and Environments in the Complex Terrain of Central Argentina during CACTI journal May 2022
A Radar-Based Climatology of Mesoscale Convective Systems in the United States journal February 2019
The ERA5 global reanalysis journal June 2020
Where does the dust deposited over the Sierra Nevada snow come from? preprint July 2022
Compound flooding in Houston-Galveston Bay during Hurricane Harvey journal December 2020
More frequent intense and long-lived storms dominate the springtime trend in central US rainfall journal November 2016
Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Large-Scale Environments of Mesoscale Convective Systems East of the Rocky Mountains journal November 2019
Storm Labeling in Three Dimensions (SL3D): A Volumetric Radar Echo and Dual-Polarization Updraft Classification Algorithm journal March 2017
Investigation of Microphysical Processes Occurring in Organized Convection during NAME journal July 2012
Clustering of the self-organizing map journal May 2000
Linking Synoptic Patterns to Cloud Properties and Local Circulations Over Southeastern Texas journal March 2022
The 2015 Plains Elevated Convection at Night Field Project journal April 2017
The Central American Midsummer Drought: Regional Aspects and Large-Scale Forcing* journal October 2007
PyFLEXTRKR: a flexible feature tracking Python software for convective cloud analysis journal May 2023
Case study results from southeast Houston, Texas: identifying the impacts of residential location on flood risk and loss journal July 2015
The Low-Level Jet over the Southern Great Plains Determined from Observations and Reanalyses and Its Impact on Moisture Transport journal September 2015
Summer Mean and Extreme Precipitation Over the Mid‐Atlantic Region: Climatological Characteristics and Contributions From Different Precipitation Types journal August 2021
Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study journal July 2019
Impacts of the Bermuda High on Regional Climate and Ozone over the United States journal February 2013
Linking Flood Frequency With Mesoscale Convective Systems in the US journal May 2021
Characteristics of annual, seasonal, and diurnal precipitation in the Southeastern United States derived from long-term remotely sensed data journal July 2014
Effect of urbanization on the diurnal rainfall pattern in Houston journal January 2005
Nocturnal boundary layer characteristics and land breeze development in Houston, Texas during TexAQS II journal October 2010
Mesoscale convective systems journal January 2004
Environmental injustice and flood risk: a conceptual model and case comparison of metropolitan Miami and Houston, USA journal February 2017
Dynamical Mechanisms Supporting Extreme Rainfall Accumulations in the Houston “Tax Day” 2016 Flood journal December 2019
Low-Level Jet Climatology from Enhanced Rawinsonde Observations at a Site in the Southern Great Plains journal October 1997
A Climatology of Springtime Dryline Position in the U.S. Great Plains Region journal June 2005
A Global High‐Resolution Mesoscale Convective System Database Using Satellite‐Derived Cloud Tops, Surface Precipitation, and Tracking journal April 2021
Understanding irrigation impacts on low-level jets over the Great Plains journal May 2020
Cluster Analysis of Surface Winds in Houston, Texas, and the Impact of Wind Patterns on Ozone journal December 2005
The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): Unifying Tropical Cyclone Data journal March 2010
Tracking precipitation features and associated large-scale environments over southeastern Texas preprint January 2024
How do North American weather regimes drive wind energy at the sub-seasonal to seasonal timescales? journal July 2023
Climatology of the low Level jet journal December 1968
Infrastructure failure interdependencies in extreme events: power outage consequences in the 1998 Ice Storm journal November 2006
Local-thermal-gradient and large-scale-circulation impacts on turbine-height wind speed forecasting over the Columbia River Basin journal January 2022
Changes in precipitation patterns in Houston, Texas journal October 2021
Contrasting Spring and Summer Large-Scale Environments Associated with Mesoscale Convective Systems over the U.S. Great Plains journal October 2019
Attribution of extreme rainfall from Hurricane Harvey, August 2017 journal December 2017
Climatological Characterization of Three-Dimensional Storm Structure from Operational Radar and Rain Gauge Data journal September 1995
Oklahoma's future wind energy resources and their relationship with the Central Plains low-level jet journal November 2019

Similar Records

Two Large-Scale Meteorological Patterns are Associated with Short-Duration Dry Spells in the Northeastern United States
Journal Article · Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Monthly Weather Review · OSTI ID:2316164
Summer Convective Precipitation Changes Over the Great Lakes Region Under a Warming Scenario
Journal Article · Mon Jul 29 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres · OSTI ID:2475142
+8 more

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES