The role of orography in the regeneration of convection: A case study from the convective and orographically-induced precipitation study

A case study that took place during the Convective and Orographically-induced Precipitation Study (COPS) is presented. A squall-line embedded with convective precipitation, which was associated with the outflow boundary of a mesoscale convective system (MCS) regenerated above the crests of the Black Forest. This followed an initial decay of convection as the MCS descended in the lee of the Vosges to cross the Rhine valley. High resolution simulations using the WRF numerical model will demonstrate that the Black Forest mountains were instrumental in causing significant modification to the distribution and intensity of convection in the region. Fine scale detail of the orography was, however, found to be unimportant. Instead, modelling errors are attributed to poor boundary layer representation.