Clear air mesocyclone during the JAWS project

Abstract

Documentation is furnished for the clear air mesocyclone that propagated through the network of the Joint Airport Weather Studies project near Denver, CO, on June 5, 1982. Despite present classification as a mesocyclone, the analyses here reported have revealed two separate features affecting the area: a mesocirculation, defined by the kinematics of the wind field, and a mesolow, determined on the basis of the pressure field. The occurrence of these two conditions in the Denver area, in relation to the synoptic scale environment, raises a question as to whether this phenomenon is an example of cyclogenesis in the lee of a large mountain range.