Ever wondered how seemingly benign cloud formations can unleash fury? This paper analyzes a cold-air comma cloud that struck southern Britain, causing strong gusts and convective precipitation. The mesoscale analysis focuses on the comma cloud observed during FASTEX (Fronts and Atlantic Storm-Track Experiment), linking its development to an upper tropospheric potential vorticity (PV) anomaly. Using three-hourly soundings from UK radiosonde stations, alongside rainfall radar and satellite data, the research identifies the comma cloud tail as ana-form and the polar cold front as kata-form. The investigation pinpoints that the polar cold θw front and the comma cloud front were converging, suggesting a transition of the kata-cold front to an ana-form in the presence of the upper tropospheric positive PV anomaly. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of comma cloud dynamics and their impact on regional weather. This analysis offers valuable insights for meteorologists and weather forecasting, enhancing our ability to predict and prepare for similar weather events. Further research could explore the predictability of these transitions and their broader implications for climate models.
Published in Meteorological Applications, this paper aligns with the journal's focus on practical meteorology and climatology. By examining a specific weather event, the study contributes to the journal's exploration of atmospheric dynamics and mesoscale weather systems. The paper's analysis of the comma cloud's structure and development offers insights relevant to forecasting and understanding similar meteorological phenomena.