Final Mission: The Long Island Sea Breeze Front

The final mission of the DREAMS Project, Mission #12 if you are keeping track, took place on Monday, July 8th. The goal of the mission was to target the Long Island sea breeze front and any possible pop-up convection in the area. The forecast was very supportive of a robust sea breeze forming around noon so the decision was made to travel to Calverton Airport (EPCAL) to capture it.

The forecast for July 8 called for westerly winds which meant that, unlike the previous sea breeze missions with a southerly wind, the sea breeze front wouldn't be pushed towards the Sound so quickly. If any clouds formed, they should move to the east in a noticeable line. The DOW left Stony Brook University at 10:15 AM and was set up and ready to scan by 11:00 AM. By noon, large cumulus clouds had formed indicating that there were converging winds along the sea breeze front that allowed for near-surface moist air to ascend and form clouds. As the forecast suggested, most of the clouds moved east.

 

The DOW under clouds formed along the sea breeze front in Calverton.

The reflectivity and velocity data both showed a convergent wind boundary indicative of the sea breeze front for most of the afternoon. The pod was deployed which took surface air measurements before the sea breeze front moved to our north and then shifted back to our south. The changes in the surface air characteristics aren't expected to be that apparent because of the characteristics of the surface near the pod, mainly that it was surrounded by sun-soaked concrete.

The DOW under the clouds along the sea breeze convergence boundary. (Photo credit: Matt Sienkiewicz)

A sounding was launched from the New York City office of the National Weather Service in Upton at around 2:00 PM. From that vertical profile of the environmental temperature and dew point, the boundary layer (air near the surface extending up a few thousand feet) showed a temperature profile and wind shift when compared to the air above it that provided further evidence of the sea breeze front. Additionally, the sounding showed that there was only a little bit of instability, one of the main ingredients for convection so the chance for storms looked very small.

The sea breeze front evaporated to scattered cumulus clouds by 3:00 PM and the lack of convection in the area allowed for the final mission of the DREAMS Project to officially wrap up. While the field work is over, the more tedious data analysis begins! However, students understand that hours of staring at a computer screen will be eased by the thought that the data was collected by them personally. With the DOW's visit over, a huge thank you goes out to Rachel H. for being there for us through sea breezes, stratiform rain, and a broken down DOW. Another huge thank you goes out to all the folks at the Center for Severe Weather Research (CSWR) for making the DREAMS Project come true. And lastly, a huge thank you is due to the lead investigators and organizers, Drs. Brian Colle and Kelly Lombardo and NWS liason Jeff Tongue! And, of course, this project would have been nothing without the eager and excited participation of the students, especially those of Stony Brook University.

The posts found on this blog may be updated with more information about the data that was collected once it is analyzed, so feel free to check back. Thank you so much for reading and for following the DREAMS Project!