Analysis of coastal lee waves along the coast of Texas observed in advanced very high resolution radiometer images

We examine a group of wave-like cloud patterns that occurred along the coas t of Texas on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite a dvanced very high resolution radiometer IR images taken on January 22, 1999 . These wave-like cloud patterns were interpreted to be signatures of a coa stal lee wave packet on the basis of simultaneous field observations and th eories developed by Zheng et al. [1998a]. The wave packet contains 13 waves with crest lines generally parallel to the coastline. The lengths of leadi ng wave crest lines are longer than 500 km. The average wavelength is 9.5 k m, ranging from 6.2 to 14.7 km. The width of the horizontal distribution ba nd of the wave packet is as wide as 113 km. This case represents the most e nergetic coastal lee wave packet that has ever been reported.