Dynamically Induced Displacements of a Persistent Cold-Air Pool

Abstract

We examine the influence of a passing weather system on a persistent cold-air pool (CAP) during the Persistent Cold-Air Pool Study in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, USA. The CAP experiences a sequence of along-valley displacements that temporarily and partially remove the cold air in response to increasing along-valley winds aloft. The displacements are due to the formation of a mountain wave over the upstream topography as well as adjustments to the regional horizontal pressure gradient and wind-stress divergence acting on the CAP. These processes appear to help establish a balance wherein the depth of the CAP increases to the north. When that balance is disrupted, the CAP tilt collapses, which sends a gravity current of cold air travelling upstream and thereby restores CAP conditions throughout the valley. Intra-valley mixing of momentum, heat, and pollution within the CAP by Kelvin–Helmholtz waves and seiching is also examined.