#2355 "Cold Frontal Rain Sunrise"

A cold front was on the way. The deformation zone on the eastern horizon told the weather story. A vorticity minimum chain of deformation zones typically precedes the cloud with a cold frontal boundary. This was the best part of the day which would soon turn into a cool, overcast rain - the kind of day when it felt really good to just stay home with the wood stove crackling away. The actual sun was burning a hole through the Long Reach forest. It would crest above the trees in another ten minutes.

The thin deformation zone chain preceding
the axis of maximum winds is
what I painted in the sunrise sky.

The leading edge of the precipitation is shaped by
the vorticity minimum chain.
The trailing edge is shaped by
the vorticity maximum chain.

The altocumulus were stretched from south to north with the lift being provided by the cold front. The rain and weather preceded the actual front which is characteristic of a katabatic cold front. With an anabatic front the weather occurs at and behind the actual surface change in air masses.

This level of meteorological detail seldom gets into the forecast. Swirls in the atmosphere shape the weather.

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