Roundhouse (RND) Mountain Top Research Site: Measurements and Uncertainties for Winter Alpine Weather Conditions

Gültepe, Ismail; Isaac, George A.; Joe, Paul; Kucera, Paul A.; Thériault, Julie M.; Fisico, Teresa

doi:10.1007/s00024-012-0582-5

Cited by 44 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The task was challenging due to temperatures near 08C, winds, and the precipitation rate forecasted by the models. The model forecasts at the Roundhouse research station (RND) near the top of Whistler Mountain (Gultepe et al 2012) are compared to observations in Fig. 4.…”

Section: Synoptic Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of Processes Impacting Precipitation Phase and Intensity during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Thériault

Rasmussen

Smith

et al. 2012

Weather and Forecasting

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Accurate forecasting of precipitation phase and intensity was critical information for many of the Olympic venue managers during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Precipitation forecasting was complicated because of the complex terrain and warm coastal weather conditions in the Whistler area of British Columbia, Canada. The goal of this study is to analyze the processes impacting precipitation phase and intensity during a winter weather storm associated with rain and snow over complex terrain. The storm occurred during the second day of the Olympics when the downhill ski event was scheduled. At 0000 UTC 14 February, 2 h after the onset of precipitation, a rapid cooling was observed at the surface instrumentation sites. Precipitation was reported for 8 h, which coincided with the creation of a nearly 08C isothermal layer, as well as a shift of the valley flow from up valley to down valley. Widespread snow was reported on Whistler Mountain with periods of rain at the mountain base despite the expectation derived from synoptic-scale models (15-km grid spacing) that the strong warm advection would maintain temperatures above freezing. Various model predictions are compared with observations, and the processes influencing the temperature, wind, and precipitation types are discussed. Overall, this case study provided a well-observed scenario of winter storms associated with rain and snow over complex terrain.

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Section: Synoptic Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of Processes Impacting Precipitation Phase and Intensity during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Thériault

Rasmussen

Smith

et al. 2012

Weather and Forecasting

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This special set of instrumentation was deployed as part of the Science of Nowcasting Winter Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10) research demonstration project . Details of the instrumentation can be found in JOE et al (2012) and GULTEPE et al (2012). Radar reflectivities and Doppler wind velocities along the cross-section towards Whistler Mountain, indicated by the dashed line in Fig.…”

Section: Case Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 4 depicts the precipitation rate measured from the FD12p optical sensor GULTEPE et al, 2012) at the VOT station, located at the base of Whistler Mountain (Fig. 1), along with the measured surface temperature, which dropped approximately 5°C at around 2100 UTC 13 February to 1°C (by around 0300 UTC 14 February) as melting precipitation cooled the air below the melting level.…”

Section: Case Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the Phase Transition Associated with Melting Snow in a 1D Kinematic Framework: Sensitivity to the Microphysics

Milbrandt

Thériault

2012

Pure Appl. Geophys.

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Abstract-A simple 1D kinematic cloud model coupled to a two-moment bulk microphysics scheme is used to perform quasiidealized simulations of snow, with a prescribed upper boundary snow field based on observed radar reflectivity and temperature, falling into a low-level melting layer. The model realistically simulates the formation of a nearly isothermal layer below the melting level, the surface precipitation rate, and the phase transition from liquid to solid, consistent with observations for this case. A series of test runs is performed to examine the sensitivity of modeling the timing and duration of the phase transition period to details of specific parameterization aspects related to snow in the microphysics scheme. The sensitivity tests include varying the number of prognostic moments, the mass-diameter relation, the fall velocity-diameter relation, the treatment of aggregation, and the lower limit for the slope of the size distribution. It is shown that the simulated transition period, for such a case with the initial melting level being close to the surface, can be quite sensitive to model parameters specified within realistic ranges and/or ranges within our physical understanding.

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“…This allows examining both the along-channel meteorological gradients, as well as the funneling effects o f the gap on the wind behaviour outside the channel. Table 2.2 shows the different sources o f observations used in this study (see Joe et al, 2014;Isaac et al, 2014;Gultepe et al, 2014;and Joe et al, 2010). The half-hourly wind profiles are used along with hourly RASS (Radio Acoustic Sounding System) profiles of virtual temperature to depict the vertical structure o f the wind flows for two outflow wind events.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The wind profiler (refer to Figure 4.1 for location) data are provided by a five-beam boundary layer wind profile (915 MHz by Vaisala), and available half-hourly for the wind data and hourly for RASS (Radio Acoustic Sounding System) profiles o f virtual temperature Isaac et al, 2014;Gultepe et al, 2014;and Joe et al, 2010). Table 2.2.…”

Section: 23i Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Along-Channel Winds on the Coast of British Columbia: Synoptic Climatology and Case Studies.

Bakri¹

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Roundhouse (RND) Mountain Top Research Site: Measurements and Uncertainties for Winter Alpine Weather Conditions

Cited by 44 publications

References 17 publications

A Case Study of Processes Impacting Precipitation Phase and Intensity during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

A Case Study of Processes Impacting Precipitation Phase and Intensity during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics

Modeling the Phase Transition Associated with Melting Snow in a 1D Kinematic Framework: Sensitivity to the Microphysics

Strong Along-Channel Winds on the Coast of British Columbia: Synoptic Climatology and Case Studies.

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