2016년 1월 23일 제주도에 일어난 국지규모 폭설의 원인과 특징에 관한 사례 연구

A Case Study on Causes and Characteristics of the Local Snowstorm in Jeju Island During 23 January 2016

The development mechanisms of an unusual heavy snowfall event, which occurred in the coast of Jeju Island on 23 January 2016 were investigated through a thermodynamic approach. The formation of heavy snowfall was attributed to the enhanced thermal convection in two ways. First, the convection was enhanced by the air-sea temperature difference between the cold air advection in low-troposphere associated with the strengthening of the Siberian High and abnormal warm sea surface temperature, which is $1{\sim}2^{\circ}C$ higher than normal year over the Yellow Sea (YS). Second, the convective instability was increased by the vertical temperature gradient between the 7 days-sustained cold air advection in low-troposphere and the abrupt cold air intrusion in mid-troposphere induced by the southward shift of a cold cut-off vortex ($-45^{\circ}C$) at the formation stage. Compared to the twelve hours prior to the formation, the low-level moisture increased by 5% through the moisture supply from the YS, and the air-sea temperature difference increased from $18.5^{\circ}C$ to $28.5^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, the upward sensible (latent) heat flux increased 1.5 (1.2) times over the YS before the twelve hours prior to the formation. Thereafter, the sustained moisture supply and upward turbulent heat flux helped to maintain the snowstorm.