Convective Outbreak over the Red Sea and Downstream Easterly Waves

Abstract This study analyzes a convective outbreak over the Red Sea on 25 August 2009 that generated easterly waves over the Sahel, floods in Ouagadougou, and a hurricane in the east Atlantic. The convective outbreak occurred on the equatorward flank of the African easterly jet 18°–22°N and associated meridional heating gradients over the Arabian Peninsula. The Rift Valley mountains induced a vertical orographic undulation and cyclonic perturbation. Two thunderstorm clusters over the southern Red Sea received moist inflow from the Ethiopian highlands and northern Red Sea. This group of three easterly waves intensified downstream over the Sahel. One of the convective triggers was enhancement of the Arabian Ridge by the northern subtropical jet. Statistical analyses indicate that African easterly waves and subsequent tropical storms are more influenced by upstream kinematic shear than thermodynamic energy. The work offers new insights on the formation of easterly waves over the northern Rift Valley.