A case study of the CAGES hail storm at Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories /

• Main Author: Plette, Nicole C.
• Other Authors: Yau, Peter M. K. (advisor)
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 2001
• Subjects: Physics; Atmospheric Science; Fort Simpson; Northwest Territories
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33022

This research focuses on the numerical simulation of a rare, high-latitude hail storm observed during the CAGES (Canadian GEWEX Enhanced Study) field experiment. On 11 May 1999, a shortwave trough moved northward from British Columbia and continued its passage over the Northwest Territories. A hail storm developed in an environment of small convective available potential energy. To understand the processes responsible for the formation of the storm, the Canadian Mesoscale Compressible Community Model (MC2) is used to simulate the case. The addition of a second soil type to the lower boundary of the model allows for a realistic simulation of the location and time of the storm. The results indicate that the dynamics associated with the shortwave trough, coupled with diurnal heating effects over the more realistic soil type, produced the weakly-forced hail storm that passed directly over Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories.