The evolution of jet features during the 1993 East Coast White Hurricane: a case study using the Global Spectral Model

Abstract

During the period of 12 through 14 March 1993 a major snow storm, later described as a White Hurricane, formed over the Gulf of Mexico, moved east-northeast across the Florida panhandle, and then headed northeast along the eastern seaboard. The extreme weather produced by this storm was responsible for 243 deaths and $1 billion in property damage. Because the storm was accompanied by unusually strong jet streaks, a diagnostic of the storm kinetic energy contents and generation of kinetic energy was undertaken. The vertically integrated kinetic energy (IKE) and vertically integrated generation of kinetic energy (IGK) are shown to be effective tools in determining how jet streaks influenced the development of this storm. Specifically, IKE can indicate geographically where jet streak maxima are located, whereas IGK can provide a measure of the effect of transverse circulations aloft. In addition, IGK combined with IKE can indicate if the jet streak is weakening or strengthening. The data used in this case study were primarily the National Weather Service's Global Spectral Model aviation forecast and analysis. These data were further interpolated for use in VISUAL, which is a meteorological diagnostic and display program developed primarily at the Naval Postgraduate School.