RAINFALL ANOMALY OVER THE LEE SIDE OF MOUNT CARMEL (ISRAEL) AND THE ASSOCIATED WIND-FIELD

Yagur and other rain gauge stations located on the lee side of Mount C armel in Israel experience much higher amounts of precipitation than t hose measured on the windward side of the mountain at a similar altitu de and more rain than stations on the mountain itself. This phenomenon is consistently observed, and in the current study it is investigated primarily by means of simultaneous rain-wind observations and by usin g a two-dimensional simplified orographic model. Orographic model simu lations suggest the existence of a Bow disturbance at the lee of Mount Carmel, which might cause local rain enhancement. Results from the an emograph placed at Yagur. along with other wind measurements in the Ca rmel region, support the findings of this model. Observations depict t he disturbed flow that occurred at the lee of Mount Carmel and was ass ociated with rain enhancement. The channeled Bow caused horizontal con vergence, which is in accordance with the second hypothesis. Observati ons during the rainy periods indicate that the rain enhancement in Yag ur is associated with the ridge-parallel flow on the lee side of the m ountain. it is hypothesized that the horizontal convergence of the lee side flow with the flow over the mountain causes the local enhancement of precipitation.