Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola
On 23 December 200923/12/2009, windstorm Xola struck mainland Portugal, causing serious damage in a small area north of Lisbon (Oeste region) and in the south region, inflicting economic losses of over EUR 100 million. In both areas, several power towers, designed to withstand up to 46 ms<sup>...
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doaj-58d4dc80e7ef40958301e21422f9a8622020-11-25T03:11:47ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-06-011169269210.3390/atmos11070692Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm XolaPaulo Pinto0Margarida Belo-Pereira1Meteorology and Geophysics Department, Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), 1749-077 Lisbon, PortugalMeteorology and Geophysics Department, Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA), 1749-077 Lisbon, PortugalOn 23 December 200923/12/2009, windstorm Xola struck mainland Portugal, causing serious damage in a small area north of Lisbon (Oeste region) and in the south region, inflicting economic losses of over EUR 100 million. In both areas, several power towers, designed to withstand up to 46 ms<sup>−1</sup> winds, were destroyed. The causes of these two distinct damaging wind events were investigated. Xola was revealed to have a prominent cloud head and a split cold front structure. In the southern region, the damages were due to downburst winds, associated with a mesovortex, observed in a bow echo line triggered by an upper cold front. The cloud head presented several dry air intrusion signatures, co-located with tops progressively lowering towards the hooked tip. This tip revealed features consistent with the presence of slantwise convection, the descending branches of which may have been strengthened by evaporating cooling. At the reflectivity cloud head tip, a jet streak pattern was identified on weather radar, with Doppler velocities exceeding 55 m s<sup>−1</sup>, just 400 m above ground. This signature is coherent with the presence of a Sting jet, and this phenomenon was associated with the strongest wind gusts (over 40 ms<sup>−1</sup>) and the largest damages in the Oeste region.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/692Windstormcloud headsting jetbow echomesovortexsplit cold front |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Paulo Pinto Margarida Belo-Pereira |
spellingShingle |
Paulo Pinto Margarida Belo-Pereira Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola Atmosphere Windstorm cloud head sting jet bow echo mesovortex split cold front |
author_facet |
Paulo Pinto Margarida Belo-Pereira |
author_sort |
Paulo Pinto |
title |
Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola |
title_short |
Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola |
title_full |
Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola |
title_fullStr |
Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola |
title_full_unstemmed |
Damaging Convective and Non-Convective Winds in Southwestern Iberia during Windstorm Xola |
title_sort |
damaging convective and non-convective winds in southwestern iberia during windstorm xola |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Atmosphere |
issn |
2073-4433 |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
On 23 December 200923/12/2009, windstorm Xola struck mainland Portugal, causing serious damage in a small area north of Lisbon (Oeste region) and in the south region, inflicting economic losses of over EUR 100 million. In both areas, several power towers, designed to withstand up to 46 ms<sup>−1</sup> winds, were destroyed. The causes of these two distinct damaging wind events were investigated. Xola was revealed to have a prominent cloud head and a split cold front structure. In the southern region, the damages were due to downburst winds, associated with a mesovortex, observed in a bow echo line triggered by an upper cold front. The cloud head presented several dry air intrusion signatures, co-located with tops progressively lowering towards the hooked tip. This tip revealed features consistent with the presence of slantwise convection, the descending branches of which may have been strengthened by evaporating cooling. At the reflectivity cloud head tip, a jet streak pattern was identified on weather radar, with Doppler velocities exceeding 55 m s<sup>−1</sup>, just 400 m above ground. This signature is coherent with the presence of a Sting jet, and this phenomenon was associated with the strongest wind gusts (over 40 ms<sup>−1</sup>) and the largest damages in the Oeste region. |
topic |
Windstorm cloud head sting jet bow echo mesovortex split cold front |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/7/692 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT paulopinto damagingconvectiveandnonconvectivewindsinsouthwesterniberiaduringwindstormxola AT margaridabelopereira damagingconvectiveandnonconvectivewindsinsouthwesterniberiaduringwindstormxola |
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