Investigation of a coastally trapped disturbance

The relatively shallow marine boundary layer adjacent to steep coastal topography along the California Coast give rise to a number of mesoscale phenomena, including coastally trapped disturbances (CTD's), expansion fans, land/sea breezes, low-level jets, and cyclonic eddies. CTD's occur several times each year during the period from May to early October and are easily distinguished in satellite imagery due to the distinctive narrow tongue of low clouds and fog propagating to the north along the coast. In the present study, we investigate a CTD event which occurred 15-16 June 2000. We use the Naval Research Laboratory's nonhydrostatic COAMPS/sup TM/ model to simulate this event.