Mesoscale meteorology

The earliest networks of weather observations in the late 1800s and early 1900s could detect the movement and evolution of larger, synoptic-scale systems like high and low-pressure areas.

[2] The term "mesoscale" originated from M. G. H. Ligda at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who suggested a need to study phenomena at such scales in 1951:[2][3] It is anticipated that radar will provide useful information concerning the structure and behavior of that portion of the atmosphere which is not covered by either micro- or synoptic-meteorological studies.

[8] Features the size of an individual thunderstorm are also known somewhat informally as "storm-scale", typically meso-gamma but sometimes meso-beta[9] or microscale.

[7] For many mesoscale phenomena, the vertical acceleration of air is sufficiently large enough that calculations cannot assume hydrostatic balance.

On weather maps mesoscale fronts are depicted as smaller and with twice as many bumps or spikes as the synoptic variety.