Subsynoptic-scale structure in a major synoptic-scale cyclone

An analysis of a major cyclone revealed the presence of several embedded well-defined mesoscale structures, including a low-level jet, a long-lived snowband and a strong upper-level front. A period of weakening after initial surface cyclogenesis was the result of decoupling of the upper-level trough from the surface cyclone, as a consequence of the development of peripheral mesoscale precipitation systems. Redevelopment on the western side of the Appalachians occurred where orographic subsidence was amplified by a strong mesoscale low-level jet. Further intensification then took place when a strong upper-level frontal zone approached the surface cyclone. One of the mesoscale precipitation systems was a snowband, driven by strong synoptic-scale frontogenetical forcing rather than being a spontaneous consequence of conditional symmetric instability. -from Authors