P1.43
Mid-Level Instrusion and Warm Core Structure in Hurricane Bonnie (1998) During Landfall
Gerald M. Heymsfield, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD; and J. Halverson
On 26 August 1998 during CAMEX-3, Hurricane Bonnie was overflown by the NASA ER-2 aircraft instrumented with the EDOP X-Band radar and other instrumentation. Bonnie was an asymmetric storm on this day with several prominent features during its brush with the East coast. One of these features was strong intrusion of dry air on the west side of the storm. During the interaction of this westerly shear with the storm, the precipitation band rotates cyclonically from northwest to the south of the storm center. In this paper, we examine the structure of this dry intrusion and its effect on the storm. The EDOP observations are analyzed along with dropsondes, flight-level observations (NASA DC-8 and NOAA P3), and satellite data. The most apparent feature of the EDOP observations are the strong shears in the interface between the western eyewall updraft, and the dry intrusion. Mammatus are formed along this interface reminiscent of convective rear inflows, and suggestive of intense drying of the air through subsidence. This observation as well as other aspects of the analysis are related to recent numerical simulations of Hurricane Bonnie.
Poster Session 1, Posters
Wednesday, 5 May 2004, 1:30 PM-1:30 PM, Richelieu Room
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