Type B cyclogenesis in a zonally varying flow

Abstract

An earlier formulated hypothesis that surface cyclogenesis in the Northern-Hemisphere storm-track regions can be described by the structural modification of baroclinic wave packets traversing a zonally varying flow field was tested using a linear quasi-geostrophic model with a zonally varying basic state and a zonally varying Ekman layer eddy viscosity. The results of eigenvalue calculations and initial value integrations confirm the proposed mechanism for Type B cyclogenesis. It is shown that a disturbance initiated upstream of the midchannel baroclinic zone rapidly evolves into a wave packet with the maximum amplitude near the tropopause; the wave packet undergoes a structural modification upon entering the low-level baroclinic zone, developing maximum amplitude at the surface. The proposed model of Type B cyclogenesis is consistent with numerous case studies.