Observations and numerical modeling of an elevated mixed layer

The EML formed as a dry convective boundary layer over the higher mountainous terrain of western Colorado, and then advected eastward, producing upper-level warming over the eastern plains. This upper-level warming generated a strong capping inversion at the top of a surface-based plains convective boundary layer that formed concurrently with the EML. A model trajectory analysis indicated that air from the plains boundary layer was detrained into the EML in a zone of convergence along the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Blocking of the plateau-level winds by the plains breeze proved to be the primary constraint on advection of the EML and its underlying lid over the adjacent plains. -from Authors