Gulf Stream Locale -A Field Laboratory for Cloud Process

Clouds associated with the Gulf Stream Locale, (Figure 1) are in general due to the cyclogenesis or redevelopments of the storms off the east coast of the United States in winters, movement along the coast of the storms that are generated over the Gulf of Mexico in the spring and fall and mesoscale convective circulations present in all seasons. During the summer and early fall ,this region is also susceptible to hurricanes moving from the south. There have been several attempts to reproduce some of the observed synoptic and mesoscale features of these systems (e.g., Krei1zberg and Perkey 1977; Holt et al. 1990; Huang and Raman 1990, 1992; Liou et al. 1990). In the winter, even when no storms are present and an arctic high-pressure system controls the weather in the region, cold air outbreaks produce convective clouds over a wide area (Wayland and Raman 1989; Grossman and Betts 1990; Chou and Zimmerman 1989). Even with clear weather conditions, mesoscale convergence induced by the horizontal surface temperature gradients produces clouds over this region (Huang and Raman 1991).