Report written by Qingfang Jiang and James Doyle, Monday, May 3
West of Independence; 30 m/s winds at this time
2100 UTC
by Alex Reinecke
Synoptic overview:
Associated with a short wave moving in from the Pacific, strong northwesterly flow was present over the Sierra mountain range.
The plan of operations for IOP 16 on April 28-29:
1. MAPR: on all the time
2. MISS: on all the time
3. Radiosonde launches from MAPR at 12 UTC and 18 UTC April 28 and 00 UTC, 03 UTC, and 06 UTC April 29
4. Radiosonde launches from MGLASS at 12 UTC (Fresno), 18 UTC and 21 UTC April 28 (Madera) and 00 UTC and 06 UTC April 29 (Madera)
5. Lemoore: no activity
Summary of operations and observations:
IOP 16 featured the strongest surface gust observed during the two-month long field project. According to station 1, the surface wind was northwesterly during 0800 and 1600 PST with a peak value of 80.5 mph. Strong northwesterly gusts were observed across the valley. Soundings from the valley showed strong northwesterly flow up to 40 knots at the mountain top level, which is consistent with MISS and MAPR observations. No inversion was present in the lower and middle troposphere. MAPR also indicated flow descent between the 1 and 4 km level from 0700 to 1000 PST of April 29.
North of Big Pine, facing north
2321 UTC
by Alex Reinecke