A sublimation-initiated mesoscale downdraft and its relation to the wind field below a precipitating anvil cloud

A simple, one-dimensional model is developed to examine the potential for a sublimation-initiated mesoscale downdraft to influence the dynamics of the subanvil region by advecting horizontal momentum from a high-level precipitating anvil cloud downward into the middle or lower troposphere. Model results suggest that this vertical advection can occur on a time scale of several hours or less, although it is found to be highly dependent upon the snow mixing ratio within the overlying anvil cloud and lapse rates in the environment below. -from Authors