A comparison between frontogenesis in the two‐dimensional Eady model of baroclinic instability and summertime cold fronts in the Australian region

Abstract A two‐dimensional, anelastic, numerical model with a simple turbulence parametrization is integrated with Eady's linear normal mode solution for an unstable baroclinic wave as initial condition. The structure of the surface front which develops after five days of model integration is compared with data on summertime cold fronts, or ‘cool changes’, in south‐eastern Australia obtained during recent field experiments of the Australian Cold Fronts Research Programme. It is shown that the ridge‐trough structure of an amplifying baroclinic wave and its attendant surface front captures many of the important features of ‘cool changes’, together with the broad‐scale flow in which they develop. Indeed, it is argued that the model provides a useful theoretical framework in which the dynamics of the Australian summertime ‘cool change’ may be understood.