Use a Weather Map when Chasing StormsWe know meteorologists spend a great deal of time chasing storms and systems across their weather maps.
Remember Katrina 2005? They engage in analysis of mid-tropospheric circulation. And the maps help them complete the task.Many of those maps portray the state of the atmosphere at standardized levels in the upper atmosphere. Changes we hear about in our weather forecasts show up as bumps or waves on these continuous curves. Meteorologists deal with a range of altitudes where nearly all horizontal motion in the air consists of systems following storms and sliding across the either the upper or surface weather map. They call this transformation. And systems at these altitudes have a minimum change in size over time and distance. Technically we call this the level of non-divergence, the LND. And it happens about halfway up the troposphere, the bottom layer of the atmosphere earth has. Formally, the World Meteorological Organization has set this vertical level at
500 mb,
which is about 20,000 feet above sea level. This convenient level is used because air moving up or down can continue moving up or down easily without needing to change directions. For example a sudden change in direction would occur after hitting a solid boundary such as the earth's surface or an impassable layer like the stratosphere. How many different ways can air flow?To help you figure out how to read meteorology weather maps with their curves and funny symbols, you might want to understand these four flow variables:1) Translation chasing storms horizontally across the map. Storms move from one location to another, 2) Deformation change in shape, like squeezing a ball of dough without altering its size. Weather systems change shape all the time, 3) Divergence (and convergence) spreading out and increasing (or decreasing) a parcel's flow area, or apparent size. This one relates to changes in a storm's intensity, and 4) Vorticity rotation about a vertical axis, which may also be moving. A good indicator of precipitation intensity. It may also lead to tornadoes. A good fictional film about weather people experimenting and chasing storms is Twister with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. See it sometime.
Loved it or Hated it?
Have you seen the show? Have you heard too much about it? Are you sick of it or did you love it? Good criticisms already sent.See contributions from other visitors to this page...
Twister = good, Bill Paxton = bad
never got a chance to watch it.
The Perfect Storm
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I loved the movie Twister.
Interesting Weather Facts
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Not rated yet Sometimes all four of the modifications mentioned above are happening to the same air parcel at the same time, Pressure related systems are defined at higher levels by the altitudes above sea level one must go until the ambient pressure decreases to a specified millibar level. Generally the height for each standard level decreases as you move toward the north or south pole. For example, look at a North American map with USA weather contours at 500 millibars. Here you will see heights differing by 500 metres or more in different parts of the country. From a thermodynamic point of view, that makes sense. The colder surface based air following or chasing storms in mid latitudes is more dense, in grams per cubic metre than the warmer, more humid air found elsewhere. Therefore, one should expect a sharper decrease in pressure with increasing altitude in the cold regions. Considering that the corresponding sea-level pressures do not differ too greatly. It makes little difference whether were chasing storms by attending to a low spot on a height contour map like this one, or a minimum pressure area on a constant altitude map, such as our normal sea-level pressure maps. The lows and highs shown behave in similar fashions. Things to keep in mind. The flow goes counter-clockwise around a low and clockwise around a high in the northern hemisphere. Lows are associated with increased cloud, while highs are often located near clearer skies. Want to dig deeper into this? Here are some other criteria. Radiosondes and Upper Air AnalysisApply the first law thermodynamics.Weather balloons carry radiosondes that gather data. You can use the first law of thermodynamics and other scientific principles to interpret this information. Of course the balloon relies on buoyancy to transport its instruments. Water vapor maps and other tools. Meteorologists use water vapor maps from radiosonde data to incorporate vital moisture information into their forecasts. Unique temperature conversions for weather forecasters A new way to look at temperatures - average temperature conversions for scientists. Weather balloon wireless thermometers Traits of radiosonde instruments such as wireless thermometers and remote instruments that gauge humidity. Rough weather convection currents Patterns of instability cause air mixing, weather convection currents and maybe severe storms to chase. Lapse rates and inversions and the role they play. How different types of clouds form Different air motions result in different types of clouds. Air moving up and down give the clouds their shapes. Explain humidity and its consequences Forecasters spend great effort to explain humidity and its implications. Why? It easily converts into heat energy which drives severe storms. Figure out Thunderstorm Cumulonimbus Clouds. When you hear a thunderstorm cumulonimbus clouds can not be too far away. Can we forecast them? Causes of lightning thunder and storms What are the causes of lightning thunder and severe storms? Do instability and convection appear out of nowhere? Possibly. Stable air, weather inversions What conditions do we get with weather inversions? What causes them? Get the brief rundown.  #9 Search this site for more information now. You might see special results at the top of the page, above the word WEB. They're ads, but they might be important to you. Happy searching!
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