Abstract

VALDES MANZANILLA, Arturo; CORTEZ VAZQUEZ, Miguel  and  PASTRANA FRANCISCO, Juan José. An exploratory study of Mesoscale Convective Systems of Mexico. Invest. Geog [online]. 2005, n.56, pp.26-42. ISSN 2448-7279.

An exploratory study of Mesoscale Convective Systems in Mexico was done, using infrared satellite images of one year. During the analyzed period 548 MCSs were found with a maximum in july and a minimum in january and february. The MCSs monthly variations are consistent with the monthly variations of rainfall in Mexico. The zones with the highest formation of MCSs are the southern coastal plains of the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula and marine zones in front of Southern Pacific coast of Mexico. There are zones with seasonal maximum o minimum number of MCSs, reflecting climatic intraseasonal events like North America monsoon season in the Northwest Mexico, and the canicula in Northeast and Central-Southern Mexico.The MCSs trajectories are from the east in the main rainy season (may to october) and from the west during the rest of the year, reflecting the dominant wind circulation over the studied region in these periods. The MCS mean duration is seven hours, reaching until ten hours in fall. In general, MCSs start to develop during the late afertnoon and dissipate at midnight.

Keywords : Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs); convective activity.

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