Mesoscale Convective Systems in Weakly Forced Large-Scale Environments. Part I: Observations

During a 24-h period, beginning 1200 UTC 11 May 1982, a series of five mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) developed within a weakly forced large-scale environment. Analyses indicate that the large-scale flow created a broad region of potential buoyant energy, but owing to a restraining inversion and weak large-scale upward motion, convection was initiated only where lifting associated with mesoscale features was able to eliminate the inversion. The series of MCSs developed sequentially and moved eastward across the moist axis. Two of these systems had a large component of motion against the mean tropospheric flow and propagated in a direction nearly opposite to that of the traveling upper-level disturbances. Each system produced an outflow of cold downdraft air that spread progressively farther south than that from the preceding system. This description of the development and evolution of convection is very different from traditional ones where convection develops and moves more or less in phase with traveling upper-level disturbances. Simple analytic models are used to determine the likely mechanisms of upstream propagation. These results suggest that the combined effects of both density currents and internal gravity waves produce the upstream propagation of the region of convection. Density currents dominate the propagation of convection once it forms, while internal gravity waves may help initiate new convection upstream of the region of existing convection, thereby producing a jump in the region of convective activity.