Boundary-Layer Phenomena in the Vicinity of an Isolated Mountain: A Climatography Based on an Operational High-Resolution Forecast System

Granite Peak, located in the Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) in western Utah, is an isolated mountain rising ~800 m above the surrounding terrain. It has an approximately ellipsoidal shape oriented in the NNW-SSE direction and its main axes are respectively ~10- and ~6-km long. A flat dry lake (playa) lies west and northwest of the peak, while a NW-sloping plain covered by herbaceous vegetation extends to the eastern part of DPG. Because of these topography and land-use features, a variety of different flow phenomena are expected to occur over and around Granite Peak. These include upslope and drainage winds, local breeze systems, gap flows, dynamically accelerated downslope winds and potentially boundary layer separation and the formation of wakes. Consequently, the area is an ideal location for studying the interaction between mountain flows and the atmospheric boundary layer. Since the 1990s, DPG has used a continuously operating meso-gamma-scale analysis and forecast system (4DWX) developed by the NCAR's Research Applications Laboratory (RAL). The system is based on WRF, runs with a grid spacing of 1.1-km in its innermost domain, applies observational nudging in a three-hour cycle, and provides weather analyses and forecasts at hourly intervals. In this study, model output from the 4DWX system is used to build a short-term climatography (2010-2012) of the prevailing boundary layer flow regimes in DPG. Measurements from the network of Surface Area Mesonet Stations (SAMS) operative at DPG are used to verify the quality of 4DWX simulations and their ability to reproduce the dominant flow patterns. The study then focuses on boundary-layer separation (BLS) events: near-surface wind, temperature and pressure fields from 4DWX are analysed in order to identify the most favorable regions for the onset of separation. A limited set of events, identified by means of an objective procedure, is then studied in detail in order to understand the preferred conditions for the development of the phenomenon. S-SW flows with considerable near-surface veering and an embedded low-level jet are found to be the most common scenario leading to leeside boundary-layer separation. Example of a BLS event in the lee of Granite Peak (near gridpoints x=12, y=15). Near-surface wind speed (in m/s) and vectors are displayed on the 4DWX model grid (Δx: 1.1 km).