Guadalupe Island Cloud Trail

Clive E. Dorman San Diego State University, San Diego, California

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Abstract

Clouds were observed forming in the lee of Guadalupe Island under a special sequence of events. One cloud was a narrow, linear cloud, 200 km long, that could not have been advected. Instead, a transparent linear wake was advected downwind. Later, synoptic-scale convergence caused the wake to condense, forming the linear cloud trail. That weak synoptic-scale variation may cause a linear cloud trail and has important implications for understanding ship cloud trails.

Abstract

Clouds were observed forming in the lee of Guadalupe Island under a special sequence of events. One cloud was a narrow, linear cloud, 200 km long, that could not have been advected. Instead, a transparent linear wake was advected downwind. Later, synoptic-scale convergence caused the wake to condense, forming the linear cloud trail. That weak synoptic-scale variation may cause a linear cloud trail and has important implications for understanding ship cloud trails.

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