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DEFINING A "VORT MAX" AND A "VORT LOBE"

METEOROLOGIST JEFF HABY

A vorticity max is the highest value of positive vorticity (point location) within a region of positive vorticity. A vorticity lobe is an axis of high positive vorticity values. You can think of a vorticity max as a "bullseye" and a vorticity lobe as an "elongated bullseye". Elongated regions of high positive vorticity that stretch over a large region are referred to as vort lobes. The amount of elongation of the vort lobe determines how large the region of PVA / NVA will be. If air flows through a vort lobe, ageostrophic circulations will promote uplift in the PVA region (downstream region) and sinking in the NVA region (upstream region). The PVA / NVA region with a vort max tends to be smaller but more intense. Vort lobes tend to occur with highly amplified synoptic troughs and a vort max tends to occur with shortwaves. Below is an example of a vort max and a vort lobe.