Articles | Volume 4, issue 3 
            
                
                    
            
            
            https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-617-2023
                    © Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-617-2023
                    © Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under 
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
                the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
The role of boundary layer processes in summer-time Arctic cyclones
Hannah L. Croad
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
                                            
                                    
                                            Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6ET, UK
                                        
                                    John Methven
                                            Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6ET, UK
                                        
                                    Ben Harvey
                                            Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6ET, UK
                                        
                                    
                                            National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6ET, UK
                                        
                                    Sarah P. E. Keeley
                                            European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Reading, RG2 9AX, UK
                                        
                                    Ambrogio Volonté
                                            Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6ET, UK
                                        
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Philip Browne, Eric de Boisseson, Sarah Keeley, Charles Pelletier, and Hao Zuo
                                        EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3991, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3991, 2025
                                    This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC). 
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                                                An initial estimate of sea ice conditions are required to start modern weather forecasting models. To get these we have to combine observations, typically from satellites, with previous estimates of the sea ice conditions. This paper talks about how we do this in the latest version of the model, where the sea ice state has to be specified for ice of different thicknesses. We describe the method that is used when we produce an estimate for every hour for the past 50 years.
                                            
                                            
                                        Thomas Rackow, Xabier Pedruzo-Bagazgoitia, Tobias Becker, Sebastian Milinski, Irina Sandu, Razvan Aguridan, Peter Bechtold, Sebastian Beyer, Jean Bidlot, Souhail Boussetta, Willem Deconinck, Michail Diamantakis, Peter Dueben, Emanuel Dutra, Richard Forbes, Rohit Ghosh, Helge F. Goessling, Ioan Hadade, Jan Hegewald, Thomas Jung, Sarah Keeley, Lukas Kluft, Nikolay Koldunov, Aleksei Koldunov, Tobias Kölling, Josh Kousal, Christian Kühnlein, Pedro Maciel, Kristian Mogensen, Tiago Quintino, Inna Polichtchouk, Balthasar Reuter, Domokos Sármány, Patrick Scholz, Dmitry Sidorenko, Jan Streffing, Birgit Sützl, Daisuke Takasuka, Steffen Tietsche, Mirco Valentini, Benoît Vannière, Nils Wedi, Lorenzo Zampieri, and Florian Ziemen
                                    Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 33–69, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-33-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-33-2025, 2025
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                                                Detailed global climate model simulations have been created based on a numerical weather prediction model, offering more accurate spatial detail down to the scale of individual cities ("kilometre-scale") and a better understanding of climate phenomena such as atmospheric storms, whirls in the ocean, and cracks in sea ice. The new model aims to provide globally consistent information on local climate change with greater precision, benefiting environmental planning and local impact modelling.
                                            
                                            
                                        Suzanne L. Gray, Ambrogio Volonté, Oscar Martínez-Alvarado, and Ben J. Harvey
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 1523–1544, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1523-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1523-2024, 2024
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                                                Sting jets occur in some of the most damaging cyclones impacting Europe. We present the first climatology of sting-jet cyclones over the major ocean basins. Cyclones with sting-jet precursors occur over the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Oceans, with implications for wind warnings. Precursor cyclones have distinct characteristics, even in reanalyses that are too coarse to fully resolve sting jets, evidencing the climatological consequences of strong diabatic cloud processes.
                                            
                                            
                                        Claudio Sánchez, Suzanne Gray, Ambrogio Volonté, Florian Pantillon, Ségolène Berthou, and Silvio Davolio
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 1429–1455, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-1429-2024, 2024
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                                                Medicane Ianos was a very intense cyclone that led to harmful impacts over Greece. We explore what processes are important for the forecasting of Medicane Ianos, with the use of the Met Office weather model. There was a preceding precipitation event before Ianos’s birth, whose energetics generated a bubble in the tropopause. This bubble created the necessary conditions for Ianos to emerge and strengthen, and the processes are enhanced in simulations with a warmer Mediterranean Sea.
                                            
                                            
                                        Sam Hardy, John Methven, Juliane Schwendike, Ben Harvey, and Mike Cullen
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 1019–1043, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1019-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-1019-2023, 2023
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                                                We examine a Borneo vortex case using computer simulations and satellite observations. The vortex is identified with high humidity through the atmosphere and has heaviest rainfall on its northern flank. Simulations represent circulation and rainfall accumulation well. The low-level Borneo vortex is coupled with a higher-level wave, which moves westwards along a layer with a sharp vertical gradient in moisture. Vortex growth occurs through mechanisms usually considered outside the tropics.
                                            
                                            
                                        Jonathan J. Day, Sarah Keeley, Gabriele Arduini, Linus Magnusson, Kristian Mogensen, Mark Rodwell, Irina Sandu, and Steffen Tietsche
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 713–731, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-713-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-713-2022, 2022
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                                                A recent drive to develop seamless forecasting systems has culminated in the development of weather forecasting systems that include a coupled representation of the atmosphere, ocean and sea ice. Before this, sea ice and sea surface temperature anomalies were typically fixed throughout a given forecast. We show that the dynamic coupling is most beneficial during periods of rapid ice advance, where persistence is a poor forecast of the sea ice and leads to large errors in the uncoupled system.
                                            
                                            
                                        Ambrogio Volonté, Andrew G. Turner, Reinhard Schiemann, Pier Luigi Vidale, and Nicholas P. Klingaman
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 575–599, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-575-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-575-2022, 2022
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                                                In this study we analyse the complex seasonal evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon. Using reanalysis data, we show the importance of the interaction between tropical and extratropical air masses converging at the monsoon front, particularly during its northward progression. The upper-level flow pattern (e.g. the westerly jet) controls the balance between the airstreams and thus the associated rainfall. This framework provides a basis for studies of extreme events and climate variability.
                                            
                                            
                                        Steve Delhaye, Thierry Fichefet, François Massonnet, David Docquier, Rym Msadek, Svenya Chripko, Christopher Roberts, Sarah Keeley, and Retish Senan
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 555–573, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-555-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-555-2022, 2022
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                                                It is unclear how the atmosphere will respond to a retreat of summer Arctic sea ice. Much attention has been paid so far to weather extremes at mid-latitude and in winter. Here we focus on the changes in extremes in surface air temperature and precipitation over the Arctic regions in summer during and following abrupt sea ice retreats. We find that Arctic sea ice loss clearly shifts the extremes in surface air temperature and precipitation over terrestrial regions surrounding the Arctic Ocean.
                                            
                                            
                                        Suzanne L. Gray, Kevin I. Hodges, Jonathan L. Vautrey, and John Methven
                                    Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 1303–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1303-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1303-2021, 2021
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                                                This research demonstrates, using feature identification and tracking, that anticlockwise rotating vortices at about 7 km altitude called tropopause polar vortices frequently interact with storms developing in the Arctic region, affecting their structure and where they occur. This interaction has implications for the predictability of Arctic weather, given the long lifetime but a relatively small spatial scale of these vortices compared with the density of the polar observation network.
                                            
                                            
                                        Wolfgang Woiwode, Andreas Dörnbrack, Inna Polichtchouk, Sören Johansson, Ben Harvey, Michael Höpfner, Jörn Ungermann, and Felix Friedl-Vallon
                                    Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15379–15387, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15379-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15379-2020, 2020
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                                                The lowermost-stratosphere moist bias in ECMWF analyses and 12 h forecasts is diagnosed  for the Arctic winter-spring 2016 period by using two-dimensional GLORIA water vapor observations. The bias is already present in the initial conditions (i.e., the analyses), and sensitivity forecasts on time scales of < 12 h show hardly any sensitivity to modified spatial resolution and output frequency.
                                            
                                            
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                Short summary
            The interaction between Arctic cyclones and the sea ice surface in summer is investigated by analysing the friction and sensible heat flux processes acting in two cyclones with contrasting evolution. The major finding is that the effects of friction on cyclone strength are dependent on a particular feature of cyclone structure: whether they have a warm or cold core during growth. Friction leads to cooling within both cyclone types in the lower atmosphere, which may contribute to their longevity.
            The interaction between Arctic cyclones and the sea ice surface in summer is investigated by...
            
         
 
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
                        
                                         
             
             
            