Abstract
Midlatitude cyclones develop off the Carolinas during winters and move north producing gale-force winds, ice, and heavy snow. It is believed that boundary-layer and air-sea interaction processes are very important during the development stages of these East Coast storms. The marine boundary layer (MBL) off the mid- Atlantic coastline is highly baroclinic due to the proximity of the Gulf Stream just offshore.
Typical horizontal distances between the Wilmington coastline and the western edge of the Gulf Stream vary between 90 and 250 km annually, and this distance can deviate by over 30 km within a single week. While similar weekly Gulf Stream position standard deviations also exist at Cape Hatteras, the average annual distance to the Gulf Stream frontal zone is much smaller off Cape Hatteras, normally ranging between 30 and 100 km.
This research investigates the low-level baroclinic conditions present prior to observed storm events. The examination of nine years of data on the Gulf Stream position and East Coast winter storms seems to indicate that the degree of low-level baroclinicity and modification existing prior to a cyclonic event may significantly affect the rate of cyclonic deepening off the mid-Atlantic coastline. Statistical analyses linking the observed surface-pressure decrease with both the Gulf Stream frontal location and the prestorm coastal baroclinic conditions are presented. These results quantitatively indicate that Gulf Stream-induced wintertime baroclinicity may significantly affect the regional intensification of East Coast winter cyclones.
