Factors Influencing Elevated Convection during the Hurricane Joaquin (2015) Event

South Carolina experienced an elevated convection event while Hurricane Joaquin (2015) was located near the Bahamas. An investigation of the event was organized in order to determine the cause of elevated convection. Hurricane Joaquin (2015), along with an extratropical cyclone located over the Southeast and a stationary front located just off the East Coast, could have contributed to the elevated convection and intense precipitation over South Carolina. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) – Advanced Research WRF (ARW) model, several different simulations of the event from 0000 UTC 01 October 2015 to 1200 UTC 05 October 2015 were analyzed. A control run modeled the actual event as closely as possible. Following the methodology of Tang et al. (2013), a vortex removal technique in the WRF model was used to remove the vortex associated with Hurricane Joaquin (2015) from the model initial conditions and integration, as well as to remove the extratropical cyclone. The same simulations were duplicated with the added manipulation of reduced topography. Further, the excess moisture associated with Hurricane Joaquin (2015) was removed to eliminate the moisture plume that was directed toward South Carolina. Analysis of the simulations revealed differences in elevated convection over the Carolinas depending on which atmospheric factors were in play. For example, stronger inversions are present in simulations with a vortex removed and wind patterns around 850 hPa become westerly rather than southeasterly when the terrain is removed from the control run. An in-depth analysis will reveal exactly how each factor contributed to or restricted the elevated convection event.