Maximiliano Viale

Climatology of Winter Orographic Precipitation over the Subtropical Central Andes and Associated Synoptic and Regional Characteristics

AbstractWinter orographic precipitation over the Andes between 30° and 37°S is examined using precipitation gauges in the mountains and adjacent lowlands. Because of the limited number of precipitation gauges, this paper focuses on the large-scale variation in cross-barrier precipitation and does not take into account the fine ridge–valley scale. The maximum amount of precipitation was observed on the windward slope of the mountain range below the crest, which was twice that observed on the low-windward side between 32.5° and 34°S. Toward the east of the crest, precipitation amounts drop sharply, generating a strong cross-barrier gradient. The rain shadow effect is greater in the north (32°–34.5°S) than in the south (35°–36.5°S) of the low-lee side, which is probably due to more baroclinic activity in southernmost latitudes and a southward decrease in the height of the Andes enabling more spillover precipitation. The effect of the Andes on winter precipitation is so marked that it modifies the precipitati...

Upstream Orographic Enhancement of a Narrow Cold-Frontal Rainband Approaching the Andes

AbstractUpstream orographic enhancement of the rainfall from an extratropical cyclone approaching the Andes from the Pacific is investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar. The main precipitation from the cyclone over central and coastal Chile fell when a narrow cold-frontal rainband (NCFR) interacted with a midlevel layer cloud deck formed from the orographically induced ascent of the prefrontal “atmospheric river” upstream of the Andes. Model output indicates that low-level convergence enhanced the NCFR where it met low-level blocked flow near the mountains. The NCFR had stronger updrafts with decreasing distance from the mountains, and the NCFR produced larger rain accumulations over the land region upstream of the Andes than over the open ocean. A sensitivity simulation with a 50% reduction in the Andes topography, for comparison to various west coast mountain ranges of North America, demonstrates that the e...

Orographic effects of the subtropical and extratropical Andes on upwind precipitating clouds

The orographic effect of the Andes (30°S–55°S) on upwind precipitating clouds from midlatitude frontal systems is investigated using surface and satellite data. Rain gauges between 33°S and 44°S indicate that annual precipitation increases from the Pacific coast to the windward slopes by a factor of 1.8 ± 0.3. Hourly gauges and instantaneous satellite estimates reveal that the cross-barrier increase in annual precipitation responds to an increase in both the intensity and frequency of precipitation. CloudSat satellite data indicate that orographic effects of the Andes on precipitating ice clouds increase gradually from midlatitudes to subtropics, likely as a result of a reduction of synoptic forcing and an increase of the height of the Andes equatorward. To the south of 40°S, the thickness of clouds slightly decreases from offshore to the Andes. The total ice content increases substantially from the open ocean to the coastal zone (except to the south of 50°S, where there is no much variation over the ocean), and then experience little changes in the cross-mountain direction over the upstream and upslope sectors. Nevertheless, the maximum ice content over the upslope sector is larger and occurs at a lower level than their upwind counterparts. In the subtropics, the offshore clouds contain almost no ice, but the total and maximum ice content significantly increases toward the Andes, with values being much larger than their counterparts over the extratropical Andes. Further, the largest amounts of cloud ice are observed upstream of the tallest Andes, suggesting that upstream blocking dominates there.

Summer Precipitation Events over the Western Slope of the Subtropical Andes

AbstractSummertime [December–February (DJF)] precipitation over the western slopes of the subtropical Andes (32°–36°S) accounts for less than 10% of the annual accumulation, but it mostly occurs as rain and may trigger landslides leading to serious damages. Based on 13 year of reanalysis, in situ observations, and satellite imagery, a synoptic climatology and physical diagnosis reveal two main weather types lead to distinct precipitation systems. The most frequent type (~80% of the cases) occurs when a short-wave midlevel trough with weak winds and thermally driven mountain winds favor the development of convective precipitation during the daytime. The trough progresses northwest of a long-lasting warm ridge, which produces low-level easterly airflow that enhances its buoyancy as it moves over the arid land of western Argentina toward the Andes. The weak winds aloft facilitate the penetration of the moist easterly flow into the Andes. Midlevel flow coming from the west side of the Andes is decoupled from ...

Strong Cross-Barrier Flow under Stable Conditions Producing Intense Winter Orographic Precipitation: A Case Study over the Subtropical Central Andes

Abstract The most intense orographic precipitation event over the subtropical central Andes (36°–30°S) during winter 2005 was examined using observational data and a regional model simulation. The Eta-Programa Regional de Meteorologia (PRM) model forecast was evaluated and used to explore the airflow structure that generated this heavy precipitation event, with a focus on orographic influences. Even though the model did not realistically reproduce any near-surface variables, nor the precipitation shadow in the leeside lowlands, its reliable forecast of heavy precipitation over the windward side and the wind fields suggests that it can be used as a valuable forecasting tool for such events in the region. The synoptic flow of the 26–29 August 2005 storm responded to a well-defined dipole from low to upper levels with anomalous low (high) geopotential heights at midlatitudes (subtropical) latitudes located off the southeast Pacific coast, resulting in a large meridional geopotential height gradient that drov...