Atmospheric flow and the associated precipitation patterns in the mesoscale mountain range experiment SKÚR

During the summer and autumn of 2007, precipitation was observed by 40 automatic raingauges in the mesoscale mountain range of Reykjanes, SW-Iceland (SKÚR). The mountain range has a southwest-northeast orientation and a length on the order of 50 km. The mountain width is approximately 25 km and the maximum height is nearly 700 m with the range rising nearly directly from sea-level. The observational data is explored and the observed phenomenona are related to the atmospheric flow. During the period, cases of e.g. excessive lee-side drying and very strong orographic enhancement were observed. Selected cases are compared to simulations of the flow at a high horizontal resolution, some of which are used for operational forecasting in Iceland.