Convergence and Divergence

The driving forces of convergence and divergence are usually large-scale processes
which help create high and low pressure cells and fronts, but they can form updrafts on
the regional, mesoscale or microscale as well.

Convergence

Convergence is the process whereby streams of elements come together into a much
smaller central area, either by opposing flow directions or by some faster elements
catching up to those ahead. Since I am writing this in Spring, imagine we are in a blimp
flying over Wrigley Field on Opening Day of the baseball season. Hours before the game
begins, we can see from our lofty vantage point the fans coming toward -- converging on
-- Wrigley Field from all over Chicagoland.

As the fans enter the ballpark, they are forced to come closer together until they reach a
level of maximum density, the seating capacity. In order to add more fans to the crowd
without making those within angry, some must move upward, into the upper deck of the
grandstand. If the Cubs management wanted to add many more fans on a regular basis,
they would have to build more upper levels. Thus, the convergence of people causes the
upward movement of some to higher seats (elevation).

In the atmosphere, when winds

converge over a relatively small area,
the push of the air-molecule crowd
forces those in the centre to form an
upward air current, our updraft. (The
solid ground below, of course,
prevents the air from creating a
downdraft.) Surface air convergence
may be initiated by topography or
solar heating or some combination.
However, convergence zones also
form when surface air masses,
particularly those of contrasting
properties -- heat/cold, moist/dry -- are forced into each other by the winds, zones we
commonly call fronts.

There are many areas on Planet Earth where convergence zones can regularly be found,
but none is as striking as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a belt that encircles
the Earth around the equator. Here, the high influx of solar energy produces rising air
currents that reach into the upper atmosphere and send heat poleward into both
hemispheres. The high heat, humidity and continually ascending air produces nearly
constant cumulus clouds and regions of heavy rainfall under the ITCZ . Many of the
world's jungles are located in the ITCZ regions.

Section of ITCZ west of Central America

GOES 11 Photo courtesy NASA

Some of the most striking, early weather satellite pictures detailed cloud-capped islands
in mid-ocean, surrounded by clear skies. Here is an example of how several updraft-
forming mechanisms work together. First, the rising sun heats the island surface of sand
or rock much quicker than it can heat the surrounding waters. By heating the air in
contact with the surface, its density is lowered, the air rises, and a small region of
relatively low pressure forms over the island, initiating a sea breeze.
 Clouds forming over Mangaia I., Cook Islands
Photo courtesy NASA-Johnson Space Center

Assuming the island is rather flat and of moderate areal extent, the sea-breeze winds from
opposite shores will meet around mid-island, forming a convergence zone that forces the
air to rise further. Once this rising column of air over the central island reaches its
condensation level, cumulus clouds will form, capping the island like the wooly ball atop
a toque. Thunderstorms generally develop by late afternoon with such regularity that you
can set your watch.

Surface-level convergence in rugged

terrain can produce updraft regions,
which may generate clouds and
convective showers. One notable
terrain-induced convergence zone is
the Puget Sound Convergence Zone
near Seattle, Washington. Along the
coast west of Seattle, westerly winds
off the Pacific Ocean have a difficult
time crossing the high and rugged
Olympic Mountain range. One of the
easiest paths for the air to follow
inland is eastward through the Strait
of Juan de Fuca into the Georgian
Basin and then southward through the channels of Puget Sound. Some air, however, does
manage to traverse the coastal range further south, skirting some peaks, rolling over low
ones, and then flowing through fjords to eventually push northward into the Sound. The
favoured location where these air currents meet is called the Puget Sound Convergence
Zone. Here, the rising, moist marine air produces convective rain showers that help to
reinforce Seattle's wet reputation.
Warm and cold fronts are prime areas for updraft formation, combining the forcing of
convergence with that of buoyancy. Along the warm front, the warm air converges on the
colder air and being less dense, slides upward over the cold air. Within the cold frontal
zone, on the other hand, it is the cold air converging on the warm. The cold air pushes
under the warm because it is more dense, and thus it lifts the warm air aloft. Lifts at the
cold front are more explosive, and the resulting updrafts more rapid, causing convective
clouds to grow into thundershowers or thunderstorms.

Weather forecasters look for regions of surface convergence on their weather charts
because they favour the formation of convective precipitation and severe storms. The
convergence of winds along a frontal boundary will often spark the development of a
major extratropical cyclonic storm, particularly if an upper-level divergence zone is also
present.

Divergence

Divergence is the opposite situation to convergence, the moving away of elements from a
common area. In our baseball example above, divergence is the moving of fans away
from Wrigley Field after the game, dispersing back to their homes. Those who had been
seated in the upper deck descend to street level before leaving the park before diverging.

In the lower atmosphere, surface divergence causes air to sink

from above to replace that moving outward from the divergence
zone, therefore surface divergence zones are the place to look
for indications of downdrafts. Downdraft zones are generally
characterized by clear skies or only thin cloud layers. Pancake-
shaped cumulus humilis in mid-afternoon are frequently the best
the sun can do to form clouds in a divergence zone.

On the other hand, high in the atmosphere, where the physical barrier of the solid surface
is too far below to be effective, an elevated zone of divergence can establish an updraft
region below it. Upper-level divergence that can induce sustained updrafts from the
surface is one sign that severe-weather forecasters look for as an indicator of cyclone
formation or severe thunderstorm potential.