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On the dynamics of a case study of explosive cyclogenesis in the Mediterranean

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Abstract

In this study, a case of explosive cyclogenesis over the central Mediterranean is examined with the aid of the MS Cyclone Detection and Tracking Scheme along with the Vertical Tracing Software and the Parcel Trajectory Software that were developed in Melbourne University, employing a regular 0.5° × 0.5° latitude–longitude grid of the ERA-Interim dataset. It is found that the explosive cyclogenesis occurred as a result of the downward intrusion of high-PV cold stratospheric air into the upper troposphere combined with a low-level warm environment surrounded by the bent-back structure of the cold front in the poleward side of a jet streak. The positive effect of the diabatic processes in explosive cyclogenesis is demonstrated. When cold air masses cross the warmer sea of the central Mediterranean, positive surface sensible and latent heat fluxes generate a low-level warm and moist environment, favorable for convective activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Physics-Meteorology, Faculty of Physics, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    J. Kouroutzoglou, H. A. Flocas & M. Hatzaki

  2. School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    K. Keay & I. Simmonds

  3. Regional Meteorological Centre of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece

    A. Mavroudis

Authors
  1. J. Kouroutzoglou
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  2. H. A. Flocas
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  3. M. Hatzaki
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  4. K. Keay
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  5. I. Simmonds
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  6. A. Mavroudis
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Correspondence to H. A. Flocas.

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Responsible Editor: J.-F. Miao.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 1.

Table 1 Parameters of the vertical tracking scheme specified for each isobaric level
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Kouroutzoglou, J., Flocas, H.A., Hatzaki, M. et al. On the dynamics of a case study of explosive cyclogenesis in the Mediterranean. Meteorol Atmos Phys 127, 49–73 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-014-0357-x

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