Definition
Mesoscale convective systems are thunderstorm regions which may be round or linear in shape, on the order of 100 kilometres (62 mi) or more across in one direction but smaller than extratropical cyclones, and include systems such as tropical cyclones, squall lines, and Mesoscale Convective Complexes (MCCs), among others. MCS is a more generalized term which includes systems that do not satisfy the stricter size, shape, or duration criteria of an MCC. They tend to form near weather fronts and move into areas of 1000-500 mb thickness diffluence, which are areas where the low to mid level temperature gradient broadens, which generally steers the thunderstorm clusters into the warm sector of extratropical cyclones, or equatorward of warm fronts. They can also form along any convergent zones within the tropics. Their formation has been noted worldwide, from the Mei-Yu front in the far East to the deep tropics. Mesoscale convective systems are important to the United States rainfall climatology over the Great Plains since they bring the region about half of their annual warm season rainfall.
Read more about this topic: Mesoscale Convective System
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“One definition of man is “an intelligence served by organs.””
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their children’s negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“... we all know the wag’s definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)