Mesoscale Observational Analysis of Isolated Convection Associated with the Interaction of the Sea Breeze Front and the Gust Front in the Context of the Urban Heat Humid Island Effect

Abstract

An isolated convection was unexpectedly initiated in the evening of 1 August 2019 around the Tianjin urban region (TUR), which happened at some distance from the shear line at lower level and the preexisting convection to the South, analyzed by using ERA5 reanalysis data and observations from surface weather stations, and a S-band radar. The results show that, 42 min before the initiation of the convection, the atmospheric thermodynamic conditions around TUR were favorable for the initiation of the isolated convection, although the southerly and vertical shear of the horizontal wind at the lower level was weak. A sea-breeze front approached the TUR and continued to move West, leading to the triggering of the isolated convection in the context of the urban humid heat island (UHHI) effect. Subsequently, the gust front, which was formed between the cold pool away from the TUR and the warm and humid air of the UHHI, moved northward, approached the convection, and collided with sea breeze front, resulting in five reflectivity centers of isolated convection being merged and the convection’s development. Finally, the isolated convection split into two convections that moved away from the TUR and disappeared at 20:36 Beijing Time. The isolated convection was initiated and developed by the interaction of the sea breeze front and gust front in the context of the UHHI effect. The sea breeze front triggered the isolated convection around TUR in the context of the UHHI effect, and the gust front produced by the early convective storms to the south played a vital role in the development of the isolated convection.

Keywords

• isolated convection
• Tianjin urban region
• sea breeze front
• gust front
• cold pool