Before the MCS
Before 10 UTC, precipitation was not related to the MCS, but at some instants some heavy convective precipitation could be identified (Figure 10). Namely at 06:00 and 07:45 UTC maximum values of Convective Rainfall Rate (CRR) between 10 and 20 mm/h exist over the island. The highest amounts of AWS precipitation in Funchal (between 9 and 10 UTC) are not particularly related to high CRR values, suggesting heavy precipitation with lower cloud tops, accounting for high precipitation efficiency. To be noted also is that maximum values apparently tend to exist over the island (and not so much in the surrounding), suggesting here a signature for orographic intensification.
Figure 10: Convective Rainfall Rate (CRR, in mm/h) from Meteosat 9 at some instants between 06:00 and 10:15 UTC on 20/02/2010.