Numerical Study on the Initiation of the Severe Convective Weather in Chongqing on 6 May 2010

As a follow-up of a previously published article on the synoptic background of the development of the severe convective weather that happened in Chongqing on 6 May 2010, this study further examines the initiation of the severe convective weather via a better high-resolution simulation with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. It is found that the cold front approaching Chongqing from the northwest played a critical role in the initiation of the severe convective weather. As the cold front approached Chongqing, the low-to-mid level updrafts ahead of the front acted to increase the atmospheric lapse rate via the stretching effect, which in combination with the low-level diabatic heating induced by the sensible heat fluxes and infrared radiation emitted from the ground surface led to the continuous decrease of the low-level static stability and the increase of the convective available potential energy (CAPE) in Chongqing area. This provided necessary unstable energy for the development of deep moist convection. Furthermore, along with the reaching of a nearly east-west-oriented mesoscale convergence line from the southeast of Chongqing, the outflow right above the cold front began to interact with that above the mesoscale convergence line and induced distinct convergence at the altitude of approximately 1-2 km in the triangular area sandwiched by the cold front and the mesoscale convergence line. It is found that the updrafts associated with this convergence provided lifting necessary for the initiation of the severe convection. The sensitivity experiment without the terrain west of Chongqing indicates that the local topography did not play an important role in the initiation of this severe convective weather.