Geography

 At times, a pronounced trough of low barometric pressure extends from equatorial Africa northward, over the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean countries, i.e., the Red Sea Trough. The associated weather is usually hot and dry, and consequently the atmosphere becomes conditionally unstable. In cases in which additional moisture is supplied and dynamic conditions become supportive, as the case analyzed here, intense thunderstorms occur, with extreme rain rates, hail and floods. The storm herein analyzed caused extensive damage both in casualties and property and evolved in two main consecutive phases: In the first a Mesoscale Convective System that moved from Sinai northward over Israel dominated, and in the second deep convection was organized mainly along a cold front. Data analysis indicates several synoptic-scale factors that had a supportive effect on the storm formation and intensification: Conditional instability established by the Red Sea trough, mid-level moisture transport from Northern Africa, and upper-level divergence imparted by both polar and subtropical jet streams over the Middle-East. Mesoscale features were further investigated by means of a hydro-meteorological observational analysis with high spatio-temporal resolution using raingauge and radar data, and satellite imagery. It is shown that local factors, particularly topographic effects, play a major role in the evolution, intensity and spatial organization of the convective activity. Our findings support results of a numerical study of another autumn rainstorm associated with the Red Sea trough. In the present case we identify an additional contributing factor, i.e., a mid-latitude upper-level trough that further intensified the storm as it was approaching the Middle-East.

Daily precipitation chemistry data from nine consecutive summers (1993–2001) at a central Pennsylvania site were analyzed by objective and subjective methods and classified into key synoptic-scale circulation types. Significant differences in acidity and analyte concentrations were found among the seven storm types. The Convective type had the highest mean concentrations for all major ions compared to the Warm-Front (WF) type, which featured the lowest concentrations. The highest sulfate-to-nitrate ratio (2.36), assigned to the Warm-Sector (WS) type, indicates that acidity within air-masses transported to central Pennsylvania from the southwest is primarily in the form of H2SO4. About 20% of the overall acidity in precipitation during summer is neutralized by base cations. Both the Low-to-South and WF types have the lowest magnitudes of neutralization due to a lack of base cations of crustal origin. Both circulation systems are featured by an onshore flow from the Atlantic Ocean. Meteorological indicators for each weather type were developed based on values and geographical locations of anomalies of synoptic-scale variables, expressed as significant departures from their long-term means (as extracted from the Reanalysis NCEP/NCAR Model). The results suggest distinctive patterns for the regional position of the anomalies for the differing circulation systems. The two warm-weather types (High-to-South and Convective and WS) are featured by negative anomalies of sea-level pressure (SLP) and 850 hPa geopotential height (GPH) located northwest of the site and positive anomalies of the 850 hPa temperature to the east. Both are also associated with deep convection. The Cold-Front and Low-to-East types manifest an opposite symmetrical position of the anomalies, i.e., negative anomalies of SLP and 850 hPa GPH to the northeast and negative 850 hPa temperature anomalies northwest of the site. Both types are characterized by lower lifted indices, indicating weak atmospheric instability.