Cyclones and Anticyclones

in the Mid-Latitudes
Val Bennington
November, 2008
 Anticyclones
• High pressure systems
• Just air masses with temperature and
moisture varying slightly over large area
• Clear, calm, pretty dry
• Blob-like, with small pressure gradients
and slower winds
Anticyclone
 Anticyclone (High)
• Which way does the
wind blow?
• Does air diverge or
converge at the
surface?
• Does air converge
or diverge above the
high?
 Anticyclone (High)
• Which way does the
wind blow? -
-> anti-cyclonic =
clockwise!
• Does air diverge or
converge at the
surface? -
->Diverges!
• Does air converge or
diverge above the high?
-->Converges!
Anticyclones (Highs)
 Anticyclones (Highs)
• Generally boring weather - clear, calm
• Linger for a while, but can be nice
• Trap air near surface (sinking motion)
• Blob-like air masses
• Air mass stays long can take on
characteristics of land it is over
Fronts and Cyclones!
 Fronts
• What about when two air masses meet?

• We get a front - large changes in

temperature and moisture over small
area
 What is a Cyclone?
• A cyclone is simply an area of low
pressure around which the winds flow
counterclockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise in the
Southern Hemisphere
• Cyclones form and grow near the front
• Cyclones (lows) are cloudy, wet, stormy
Cyclones have converging air
at surface that rises!
 COLD FRONTS

Cold Front

• A transition zone where a cold air mass replaces a warm air mass
• Drawn as a blue line with blue triangles pointing in the direction of
the front’s movement
 Cold Fronts

Cold Front

• Cold air is more dense than warm air!

• As the dense, cold air moves into the warm air region, it forces the
warm air to rapidly rise just ahead of the cold front.
• This results in deep convective clouds, occasionally producing
strong to severe thunderstorms (depending on how unstable the
atmosphere ahead of the cold front is).
• Often, the precipitation along a cold front is a very narrow line of
thunderstorms
 Warm Fronts

Warm Front

• A transition zone where a warm air mass replaces a cold air mass
• Drawn as a red line with red half-circles pointing in the direction of
the front’s movement
•TEMPERATURE CONTRAST ALONG WARM FRONTS IS
GENERALLY LESS DISTINCT (SMALLER GRADIENT)
 Warm Fronts

Warm Front

• Again, warm air is less dense than cold air.

• As the warm air moves north, it slides up the gently sloping warm
front.
• Because warm fronts have a less steep slope than cold fronts, the
precipitation associated with warm fronts is more “stratiform” (less
convective), but generally covers a greater area.
 Occluded Fronts

Occluded Front

• A region where a faster moving

cold front has caught up to a slower
moving warm front.
• Generally occurs near the end of
the life of a cyclone
• Drawn with a purple line with
alternating semicircles and triangles
 Stationary Fronts

• Front is stalled
• No movement of the
temperature gradient
• But, there is still convergence
of winds, and forcing for ascent
(and often precipitation) in the
vicinity of a stationary front.
• Drawn as alternating segments
of red semicircles and blue
triangles, pointing in opposite
directions
 Locating Fronts

Fronts are associated with . . .

• Strong temperature gradients

• Positive vorticity (counter-clockwise rotation)
• Lower pressure
• Regions of convergence of the winds
• Often precipitation and clouds (regions of ascent)
 Locating Fronts

Here, the winds are

rapidly changing
counterclockwise across
this temperature gradient.

The winds are blowing

warm air from the south.

This is a warm front.

 Locating Fronts

In this case, the winds are

also rapidly changing
counterclockwise across
this temperature gradient,
indicating positive
vorticity.
The winds are blowing
cold air from the
northwest.

This is a cold front.

 Locating Fronts

To find the cyclone:

• Find the center of cyclonic
circulation

To find the fronts:

• Find large temperature gradients
• Identify regions of wind shifts
• Look for specific temperature
advection (warm/cold)
• Look for kinks in the isobars
(regions of slightly lower pressure)
 Locating Fronts

To find the cyclone:

• Find the center of cyclonic
circulation

To find the fronts:

• Find large temperature gradients
• Identify regions of wind shifts
• Look for specific temperature
advection (warm/cold)
• Look for kinks in the isobars
(regions of slightly lower pressure)
 The Life Cycle of
Extra-tropical
(Mid-Latitude) Cyclones
 The Birth of a Cyclone
• A mid-latitude cyclone
is born in a region
where their is a strong
temperature gradient
with forced lifting,
perhaps an old
stationary front

• At the polar front!

 Stage Two

• An instability (kink) forms

• Warm air pushes to the
northeast
• Cold air pushes to the
southwest
• This will create the
fronts!
 Mature Stage
• Takes 12-24 hours to
develop
• Warm front moves NE
• Cold front moves SE
• Region between fronts
called warm sector
• Low pressure lowers
(deepens)
• Wide-spread precip ahead
of warm front
• Narrow band of precip at
cold front
• Wind speeds increase
 Cyclone Movement
• Cyclone moves
eastward (or to NE)
• Starts to occlude
(cold front catching
up)
• Storm most intense
• Triple point is where
cold, warm, and
occluded fronts
meet
 Final Stage
• Warm sector shrinks
• Occlusion grows
• All energy from
temperature
contrast has been
used up
• Warm air has been
lifted
• Cold air has sunk
• STABLE
Weather with the Cyclone of late fall or early spring
 Precipitation Around a Cyclone and its Fronts

To the right is a major cyclone

that affected the central U.S. on
November 10, 1998.

Around the cold front, the

precipitation is more intense, but
there is less areal coverage.

North of the warm front, the

precipitation distribution is more
“stratiform”: Widespread and
less intense.

http://weather.unisys.com
 Precipitation Around a Cyclone and its Fronts
Again, in this radar and surface
pressure distribution from
December 1, 2006, the
precipitation along the cold front
is much more compact and
stronger.

North of the warm front, the

precipitation is much more
stratiform.

Also note the kink in the isobars

along the cold front!
 Locating a Cyclone

1. Find the region of

lowest sea level
pressure

L
2. Find the center of the
cyclonic (counter-
clockwise) circulation
What about Vertical
Structure?
 Pressure…
• If we have converging air at the surface, must have
divergence aloft!
• Otherwise, air would “fill up” the low and the pressure
would rise
 Review

• Winds converge at a surface low pressure center

•Winds diverge from a surface high pressure center
(this is because of the frictional force at the surface)

• This Convergence/Divergence suggests that there must be

movement of air in the vertical (can’t lose air parcels)

• Flow in the upper troposphere is generally in geostrophic

balance, so we do not get divergence/convergence high up caused
by friction
• How do we get divergence/converge up high?
 Upper Tropospheric Flow

Typical 500 mb height pattern

• Notice the troughs (dotted line) and ridges
• The troughs and ridges are successive
• In the northern hemisphere, lower pressure is generally to the
north of higher pressure
 Relative Vorticity

If the wind has

counterclockwise spin, it has
positive vorticity (left)

If the wind has clockwise

spin, it has negative vorticity
(right)

Vorticity can be directional

(top), or speed shear vorticity
(bottom)
 Vorticity in the Upper Troposphere

Where is there vorticity

advection?
Pinpoint vorticity minima
and maxima.

Negative vorticity advection

(NVA) occurs just
“downstream” from a ridge
axis (vorticity minimum)

Positive vorticity advection

(PVA) occurs just
“downstream” from a trough
axis (vorticity maximum)
 Vorticity Advection and Vertical Motion

* Positive vorticity advection (PVA) results in divergence at that

level

* Negative vorticity advection (NVA) results in convergence at

that level
 Vorticity Advection and Vertical Motion

Remember that convergence at upper levels is associated with

downward vertical motion (subsidence), and divergence at upper
levels is associated with upward vertical motion (ascent).

Then, we can make the important argument that . . .

 Upper Tropospheric Flow and Convergence/Divergence

• Downstream of an upper tropospheric ridge, there is convergence,

resulting in subsidence (downward motion).
• Likewise, downstream of an upper tropospheric trough, there is
divergence, resulting in ascent (upward motion).
 Upper Tropospheric Flow and Convergence/Divergence

• Downstream of an upper tropospheric ridge axis is a favored

location for a surface high pressure.
• Downstream of an upper tropospheric trough axis is a favored
location for a surface low pressure center.
 Upper Tropospheric Flow and Convergence/Divergence

• Surface cyclones move in the direction of the upper tropospheric flow!

•The storm speed and direction can also be identified on the 500 mb map. Cyclones move in the direction of
the 500 mb flow, the 500 mb flow is also called the steering flow. The cyclone also moves at about half the
speed of the 500 mb flow.

• The surface low pressure center in diagram above will track to the
northeast along the upper tropospheric jet
(along the surface temperature gradient)
 Vertical Structure of Cyclones

What else do these diagrams tell

us?

• Surface cyclone is downstream

from the upper tropospheric
(~500 mb) trough axis
• Mid-latitude cyclones generally
tilt westward with height!
 Vertical Structure of Cyclones

•500 mb positive vorticity

advection causes divergence and
ascent
•This induces a surface cyclone
•Cyclone formation occurs
because of this upper-level
divergence!
 Longwaves and Shortwaves

The flow in the upper troposphere is characterized as having . . .

• Longwaves: There are typically 4-6 of these around the planet.

The longwave pattern can last for as long as 2-3 weeks on
occasion, and can result in long periods of anomalous weather

• Shortwaves: Embedded in the longwave pattern are smaller

scale areas of high vorticity (lots of curvature). They move
quickly east within the longwaves, and generally strengthen when
they hit a longwave trough. Often, shortwaves result in huge
“cyclogenesis” events such as nor-easters or midwest snowstorms.
Longwaves vs. Shortwaves

To the left is a North

Pole projection of
300 mb heights
(contoured) and wind
speed (colors)
•North Pole is at the
center, equator is at
the edges
•Note the prominent
longwave troughs
and ridges---
especially over North
America
 Longwaves vs. Shortwaves
Notice two longwave
troughs in this 500 mb
height (contour) and
vorticity (colored) map:
One over the NW U.S.,
and one over eastern
Canada.

Also, note a very subtle

SHORTWAVE
shortwave over
Montana/Wyoming (you LONGWAVE TROUGH
can see this in the
vorticity field as a strip
of anomalously large
vorticity.
 Vertical Structure of Cyclones

700mb

•Downstream from troughs are favorable locations for ascent (red/orange)

•Downstream from ridges are good locations for descent (purple/blue)
 Cyclone Intensification/Weakening

How do we know if the surface cyclone will intensify or weaken?

• If upper tropospheric divergence > surface convergence, the

cyclone will intensify (the low pressure will become lower)

• If surface convergence > upper tropospheric divergence, the

cyclone will weaken, or “fill.”

• Think of an intensifying cyclone as exporting mass, and a

weakening cyclone as importing mass.
 Pressure…
• If we have converging air at the surface, must have
divergence aloft!
• Otherwise, air would “fill up” the low and the pressure
would rise
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

Example 300 mb
flow which
resulted in a
massive cyclone
development over
the midwest.

TROUGH AXIS

http://weather.unisys.com
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

Surface cyclone
(over NW
Oklahoma) is
positioned just
downstream of the
trough axis in the
previous image.

Same time as the

previous image.
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

12 hours later, the jet

speed maximum has
shifted downstream
with the trough, and
there appear to be two
trough axes.

The trough is
“negatively tilted,”
(NW-SE in orientation) TROUGH AXIS
often a sign of very
strong PVA and forced
ascent.
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

Now, the surface

cyclone has
deepened to a very
low 977 mb.

In general, it is still
located
downstream of the
trough axis, but the
trough axis appears
to be catching up to
the surface
cyclone.
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

12 hours later:
• 300 mb upper
tropospheric low
hasn’t moved too
much
• Upper low is TROUGH AXIS
situated over
eastern Lake
Superior.
 Example of Cyclone Development Forced by Upper Flow

SFC at same time:

•Surface cyclone is
also over eastern Lake
Superior!
•This means that the
surface cyclone is no
longer in a favorable
position for PVA (or
upper divergence and
ascent)
•At this point, the
surface cyclone will
weaken!
•Cyclone is “vertically
stacked.”
 Temperature Advection

Consider a longwave over a stationary front, seen in (a). The height lines and the
isotherms are parallel to each other, we can say the atmosphere is barotropic.

At time (b) a shortwave moves into the longwave trough and intensifies. The shortwave
caused the isotherms to cross the height lines, thus the atmosphere is baroclinic
West of the height trough, a region of (CAA). Here, the cold air is more dense and will
cause sinking motions.
East of the trough, a region of (WAA). Here, the warm air will produce rising motions.
 Jet Streaks and Shortwaves

If a shortwave trough is intensified in a longwave trough, height lines are

forced together:
•large PGF in the base of a shortwave trough
•We have seen before that large PGF corresponds to large wind speeds.
 Jet Streaks and Shortwaves

•Largest wind speeds where height lines are the closest together on an
upper level map.
•Wind speed decreases outward from this point.
•Therefore we have a convergence of wind to the left/west of a trough and
the divergence of wind to the east/right of a trough.
 Jet Streaks and Shortwaves

If we look at the full vertical structure we will see that the

divergence and convergence associated with a jet streak
are directly above the low and high pressures at the
surface.
The full picture
 Creating a Cyclone
If an upper level shortwave intensifies in a
longwave :
• Jet streak creates upper level
convergence and divergence
• Surface convergence occurs directly
below upper level divergence
• Cyclone begins to develop
Cyclone Intensifies and Fades
• Cyclone goes through its life cycle,
intensifies, its low pressure decreases, warm
front and cold front move
• Upper level low to west of surface low
(westward tilt with height)
• Upper level trough begins to catch up to
surface low (tilt decreases)
• When cyclone is vertically stacked (no tilt),
cyclone begins to die
(no divergence above the surface convergence)