A June 2023 case study on the effect of cold-frontal convective cells on frontal synoptic flow

Diabatic processes play a large role in shaping dynamics at both the convective cell scale and synoptic scale, as well as their interactions. One problem in forecasting deep moist convection is our poor understanding of the complex interactions among processes that can act on vastly different spatial and temporal scales. We investigate one type of these scale interactions, specifically between synoptic-scale fronts and convection at the individual cell and mesoscale levels. While flow around convective cells and their influence on upper-level flow (e.g. linked to warm conveyor belts) has been examined, their impact on lower-level synoptic-scale features is not well understood.

Using convection-permitting ICON model simulations with high-temporal (2.5 minutes) and high-spatial (1.25km) resolution, we analyse a June 2023 case study of a cold front passing through Western Europe which led to extreme convection and precipitation over parts of Germany. Using a potential vorticity based framework, we investigate flow anomalies attributed to convective cells to assess their impact on the larger-scale flow features as well as examine the frontal environments that influence convection. Through diagnosing feedbacks and relationships between synoptic cold fronts and warm-season convective cells we aim to hopefully develop a better understanding of not only how frontal environments can shape convective cells, but also how in-turn the convection affects the evolution of the synoptic scale front simultaneously.