Low-Level Jet Climatology from Enhanced Rawinsonde Observations at a Site in the Southern Great Plains

A climatology of the Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) is developed from 2 yr of research rawinsonde data obtained up to eight times per day at a site in north-central Oklahoma. These data have better height and time resolution than earlier studies, and show that jets are stronger than previously reported and that the heights of maximum wind speed are closer to the ground. LLJs are present in 47% of the warm season soundings and 45% of the cold season soundings. More than 50% of the LLJs have wind maxima below 500 m above ground level (AGL). Because the 404-MHz radar profiler network in the central United States has its first data points at 500 m AGL, it is likely to miss some LLJ events and will have inadequate vertical resolution of LLJ wind structure. Previous studies have identified LLJs on the basis of a wind speed profile criterion. This criterion fails to separate the classical southerly LLJs from the less frequent northerly jets, which differ in both structure and evolution. Classical southerly jets are more frequent; they occur year round, with the highest frequency in the summer and at night. Southerly LLJ wind speed maxima are most frequently found at 300–600 m AGL, and peak speeds, typically between 15 and 21 m s21, are attained at 0200 CST. The height of the wind speed maximum varies little during nighttime—a period when surface-based inversions grow in depth but generally remain below the jet. Winds at the nose of the southerly jets exhibit a distinct diurnal clockwise turning in wind direction and an oscillation in speed. Northerly jets occur year round. They are generally associated with cold air outbreaks and are found in the cold air behind southward-moving cold fronts. In winter, their frequency of occurrence rivals that of the southerly jets. Their occurrence, however, is less dependent on time of day, with a weak daytime maximum. They are more variable in the heights of their wind speed maxima, are associated more frequently with elevated frontal inversions, and do not exhibit a clockwise turning with time. The heights of the jet speed maxima are found to increase with distance behind the surface cold front.