MESOSCALE ANALYSIS OF A CAROLINA COASTAL FRONT

During the Intensive Observation Period (IOP) 7 (22 February 1986) of the Genesis of Atlantic Lows Experiment a persistent coastal front was observed along the Carolina coast in the eastern United States. An in tensive baroclinic zone, associated with the cold air damming to the e ast of the Appalachian Mountains, and the warm marine atmospheric boun dary layer over the Gulf Stream, resulted in a northeasterly low-level geostrophic wind maximum near the coast. Two convergence zones were o bserved, one near the shore and the other near the western edge of the Gulf Stream. The convergence zone near the coastline was relatively w eaker than that near the Gulf Stream. The differential surface thermal forcing caused enhanced convergence associated with the frontogenesis , and a meso-low was observed over the offshore front. The terms in th e frontogenesis equation are estimated, and the diabatic term is found to be larger than the frontogenetic confluence term along the shore.