Sting jet

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The Great Storm of 1987

A sting jet is a meteorological phenomenon which has been postulated to cause some of the most damaging winds in extratropical cyclones, developing according to the Shapiro-Keyser model of oceanic cyclones.

Concept

Conceptual model for a European Windstorm and the associated strong wind 'footprints'. Note that storm track, footprint locations and footprint sizes vary by case, and that all footprints are not always present.[1]

Following reanalysis of the Great Storm of 1987, led by Professor Keith Browning at the University of Reading, researchers identified a mesoscale flow where the most damaging winds were shown to be emanating from the evaporating tip of the hooked cloud head on the southern flank of the cyclone. This cloud, hooked like a scorpion's tail, gives the wind region its name the "sting jet".[2]

It is thought that a zone of strong winds, originating from within the mid-tropospheric cloud head of an explosively deepening depression, are enhanced further as the "jet" descends, drying out and evaporating a clear path through snow and ice particles. The evaporative cooling leading to the air within the jet becoming denser, leading to an acceleration of the downward flow towards the tip of the cloud head when it begins to hook around the cyclone centre. Windspeeds in excess of 80 kn (150 km/h) can be associated with the sting jet.[3]

It has since been reproduced in high-resolution runs with the mesoscale version of the Unified Model. The sting jet is distinct from the usual strong-wind region associated with the warm conveyor belt and main cold front. There are indications that conditional symmetric instability also plays a role in its formation but the importance of these processes remains to be quantified.[4][5]

One North Atlantic storm, Cyclone Tilo (November 6–11, 2007) has also been analysed and found not to display a sting jet, despite displaying strong surface winds and a fractured cold front.[5]

Globally

The sting jet mechanism has been considered less significant in Pacific Northwest windstorms which occur over the Pacific Ocean (which impact the Northwestern United States and British Columbia).[6] Evidence of mesoscale high wind areas has not been noted in most large windstorms occurring there, along with cloud geometry associated with the phenomena being absent in satellite imagery of major Pacific Northwest storms.[6] High resolution computer models of the phenomena have also shown realistically strong winds without the need for sting jet dynamics.[6]

List of sting jet cyclones

Cyclone Type Date Reference Location
Great Storm of 1987 European windstorm October 15-17, 1987 [7][8][9] Southern England
Oratia European windstorm October 30, 2000 [9][10] North Sea (Lincolnshire to Norway)
Anna European windstorm February 26, 2002 [11] Central Pennines, England
Jeanette European windstorm October 27, 2002 [12][13] Wales and the English Midlands
Erwin European windstorm January 2005 [13][14][15][16] Northern England
Friedhelm European windstorm December 8, 2011 [17][18][19] Central Belt Scotland
Ulli European windstorm January 3–4, 2012 [20][21][22][23][24][25] Central Belt Scotland

List of proposed sting jets

Cyclone Type Date Reference Location
New Year's Day Storm European Windstorm January 1, 1992 [26][27] Norway
Renate European windstorm October 3, 2006 [27] Bay of Biscay and Aquitaine, France
"Oeste storm" European windstorm December 23, 2009 [28] Portugal
October 2010 North American storm complex Great Lakes cyclone October 26–27, 2010 [20] Midwest USA
2011 Halloween nor'easter Nor'easter October 30–31, 2011 [20][29] Northeastern USA
Unnamed Extratropical cyclone March 12, 2012 [30] Upper Midwest USA
Gong European windstorm January 19, 2013 [28] Portugal
St Jude storm (Christian) European windstorm October 28, 2013 [31][32] Possibly developing over East Anglia then over the North Sea, skirting the Netherlands coast to Germany/Denmark.
Cyclone Tini/storm Darwin European windstorm February 12, 2014 [33] Southern Ireland, Irish Sea, Wales.
Arthur Extratropical cyclone ex–Hurricane July 5, 2014 [34][35] Canadian Maritimes
Elon (Nathan) European windstorm January 9, 2015 [36][37][38] Scotland

External links

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Meteorological glossary Booty.org, retrieved 2007-17-10
  4. ↑ Cyclonic storms UWERN newsletter, retrieved 2007-17-10
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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