Summer thermal lows in the Iberian peninsula: A three‐dimensional simulation

A summary of some of the most relevant climatological characteristics of summer thermal lows in the Iberian peninsula is given followed by a description of a high‐resolution numerical model which has been used to simulate the mesoscale system of a typical summer's day. The results from this model show the appearance of small low‐pressure centres before noon, one of which prevails over the others and intensifies during the afternoon. Other small‐size structures related to this system, and not evident in the analysis from the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts) forecast model, appear in the simulation, such as the existence of areas with strong convergence near the surface, and the deviation towards the interior of the peninsula of the surface winds as the depression intensifies. Also, the structures associated with certain variables, such as potential temperature, vertical velocity and potential vorticity, become more noticeable in the model's simulation compared with the ECMWF analysis. Finally, a detailed description of the dynamical development of the simulated surface low‐pressure system is presented, taking all these findings into consideration.