COMET 2011: Front-Mountain Interactions

Opening Challenge

You are working a forecast shift in Elko, Nevada at 1500 UTC 25 March 2006 as a surface cyclone penetrates inland into interior North America. You have access to the following:

CMC Analyses

Model Analyses

Satellite Images

Radar Images

MesoWest data

Surface station plot at 1500 UTC with point clickable time series

Questions

1. What surface fronts or baroclinic troughs can you identify at 1500 UTC?

The two cold fronts identified in the 1200 UTC surface analysis moving inland
One cold front and one baroclinic trough moving inland
Only one cold front/baroclinic trough moving inland (i.e., the other has dissapated)
No surface fronts or baroclinic troughs (i.e., both have disappated)

2. What do you expect to see over the Intermountain West as the system moves inland?

An intense cold-frontal passage
A typical cold-frontal passage
A weak transition from continental to cooler Pacific air (or two weak cold-frontal passages)
No major airmass change