High-resolution simulation of the genesis of Tropical Storm Gert (2005)

This presentation will describe a high-resolution (2-km grid spacing) simulation using the WRF model of the genesis of Tropical Storm Gert, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico during NASA's Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes Experiment in July 2005. Although Gert officially became a tropical storm on July 23 over the Bay of Campeche, the simulation (initialized at 12 UTC 21 July) suggests that the mesoscale vortex that became Gert formed much earlier to the east of the Yucatan Peninsula on July 22 in association with a major mesoscale convective system. The potential vorticity (PV) anomaly and its associated convection weakened as they moved over the peninsula. The PV anomaly then re-intensified on July 23-24 as convection redeveloped. The role of vortical hot towers and their mergers in this development will be examined.