Analysis and Forecasting of Mesoscale Wind and Temperature Fields in a Mountain Desert Environment

A field program was conducted in the Cedar Mountains and the Great Salt Lake Desert to investigate the mesoscale structure of wind and temperature fields for a variety of environmental conditions. An array of seven portable automated weather stations were deployed along the southwestern slope of the Cedar Mountains and operated for several months to measure slope winds and interactions with ambient flow regimes. The station locations extended from the mouth of a canyon to the mountain desert basin. Tethersonde measurements were made before sunrise on selected days to obtain vertical temperature and wind profiles. These data were enhanced with GOES satellite images and measurements from permanent weather stations at nearby mountain ridge tops and mountain valley locations. Analyses are presented for weak anticyclonic circulations with clear skies, dry soil and snow cover conditions, mountain basin fog event, and post-cold front passages. Comparisons are made with MM5 forecasts and real-time four-dimensional data assimilation (RT-FDDA) analyses in the mountain desert environment. The RT-FDDA is a multi-scale, radidly- cycling mesoscale weather analysis and forecast system for regional and local-scale applications.