mesoscalen.
/ˈmɛsə(ʊ)skeɪl/, U.S. /ˈmɛzəˌskeɪl/; see also meso- comb. form. Chiefly Meteorology.
The scale of distance over which phenomena such as storms occur (typically of the order of tens of kilometres), which is intermediate between the scale of high and low pressure weather systems and that of microclimates. Frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > [noun] > intermediate scale of weather
mesoscale1956
1956 T. Fujita Mesoanalysis of Illinois Tornado Apr. 9, 1953 (Univ. of Chicago Dept. Meteorol. Technical Rep. to U.S. Weather Bureau, Contract No. Cwb 8613) 2 A method of analyzing mesoscale charts.
1959 Modernizing Aviation Weather Service (U.S. Weather Bureau) 39 This meso-scale is considered a necessary link between the present synoptic scale and local weather events.
1982 R. G. Barry & R. J. Chorley Atmosphere, Weather & Climate (ed. 4) p. xxiii Mesoscale systems, such as thunderstorms, extend some 10 km horizontally with a life time of a few hours.
1990 Sci. Amer. Oct. 62/2 The seas are..dominated by what oceanographers call mesoscale fields: fluctuating, highly energetic flows whose velocity at times reaches 10 times the mean velocity of the major currents.
2000 Pop. Sci. June 27/3 The planet's huge atmospheric storms—massive versions of our own mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs)—are not driven by the sun as they are here on Earth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1956