Sting jet

Sting jet

A sting jet is a meteorological phenomenon which is believed to be the cause of the most damaging winds in European windstorms.

Following reanalysis of the Great Storm of 1987, led by Professor Keith Browning at the University of Reading, researchers identified a mesoscale flow where the most damaging winds were shown to be emanating from the evaporating tip of the hooked cloud head on the southern flank of the cyclone. This cloud, hooked like a scorpion's tail, gives the wind region its name the "Sting Jet". [ [http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/exhibit.asp?id=3651 Damaging winds from European cyclones] The Royal Society, retrieved 2007-17-10]

It is thought that a zone of strong winds, originating from within the mid-tropospheric cloud head of an explosively deepening depression, are enhanced further as the "jet" descends, drying out and evaporating a clear path through snow and ice particles. The evaporative cooling leading to the air within the jet becoming denser, leading to an acceleration of the downward flow towards the tip of the cloud head when it begins to hook around the cyclone centre (see satellite images). Windspeeds in excess of 80 kn (150 km/h) can be associated with the Sting jet. [ [http://www.booty.org.uk/booty.weather/FAQ/SZ.htm Meteorological glossary] Booty.org, retrieved 2007-17-10]

It has since been reproduced in high-resolution runs with the mesoscale version of the Unified Model. The Sting jet is distinct from the usual strong-wind region associated with the warm conveyor belt and main cold front. There are indications that conditional symmetric instability also plays a role in its formation but the importance of these processes remains to be quantified. [ [http://www.uwern.ac.uk/uwern/Newsletter/Issue2/node2.html Cyclonic storms] UWERN newsletter, retrieved 2007-17-10]

References


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