Iconic Confusion
Updated: 2012-04-29 07:23:00
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Saturday , April 28, 2012 Iconic Confusion An interesting aspect of the communication of weather forecasts isthe use of weather icons , those little picture with clouds , raindrops , snowflakes and the like . nbsp You have seen them : often Weather icons are an attempt to quickly and intuitively communicate the type of weather expected , but as we will see , there are some . issues The National Weather Service is a big user of icons and you will see them strewn across the top of the pages when you get a forecast at a : location I asked my colleagues in the NWS where these icons came and I was told one of the offices developed them , without the aid of any social scientists or
Its more of the same for West Alabama over the next few days. High pressure will remain over much of the Southeast for the time being allowing our temperatures to hang around the 90 degree mark. With the high in place and a low over Texas we are seeing a south to southwesterly flow across [...]
Good Friday afternoon to you! Today is a big day for many of us, as we make it through the 1 year mark of the historic tornado outbreak anniversary. 62 tornadoes tracked through Alabama within a 24 hour time stamp and 253 Alabamians died in the storms. As of the moment I’m writing this discussion, [...]
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Thursday , April 26, 2012 Rain Shadow Secrets We moan about the rain around here , but rain shadows define our meteorology in as profound a way . nbsp For Northwesteners looking for relief from the rain , there are few more important topics to master that the details of our local rain shadows . Just a glance at our annual precipitation map screams out with their importance see graphic Add caption There is the rain shadow to the northeast of the Olympics , of course , that drops the rainfall to 15-18 inches around Sequim and downwind . nbsp And the Cascade rain shadow creates the sagebrush desert of eastern Washington , with the driest conditions less than ten inches stretching
Good Thursday evening to you! Above is something meteorologists often look at when building a forecast. This really comes in handy during times of winter weather and severe weather. It’s a computer software program called Bufkit. We run computer models through this program and are able to look at numerous severe weather parameters and the [...]
Good Thursday afternoon to you! Be sure to scroll down to the previous post on April 27th. We’ve been looking back at the 1 year anniversary which is tomorrow. The weather has been rather hot today, as a strong summer ridge builds into our area from the west. Computer data has increased the strength of [...]
Good Wednesday afternoon to you! It’s hot this afternoon, as many locations warm into the middle 80s. We’ve dealt with our last cool snap earlier this week, now we’re beginning a stretch of hot air. Not only will temperatures become hot over the coming days, humidity will give us some problems. The progressive pattern is [...]
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Tuesday , April 24, 2012 Eastside Thunderstorms and Lightning Yesterday , residents of eastern Oregon and Washington was provided with a great show of lightning , thunder , heavy rain and strong winds . The cause A line of strong thundershowers that moved northward out of California and Nevada during the early afternoon , strengthening during the later afternoon and evening . nbsp Here is a visible satellite picture around 5 PM . you can see the east-west line of thunderstorms each individual storm is associated with white oval shapes , which are the anvils of the . convection The Pendleton , Oregon radar got a nice view of the passing storms . here are a few examples an hour
Good Tuesday to you! Here’s a look back at our late April chill-down. Temperatures reached the upper 30s to lower 40s across much of the area lastnight, but some spots were a bit cooler. Here’s a list of lows lastnight: Tuscaloosa: 39 Coker: 37 Ronald Hughes Northport: 36 Barry Durand Hayden: 37 Nathan Hamilton: 32 [...]
A good Tuesday afternoon to you! It’s been a very nice day, with ample sunshine and mild temperatures. Highs have reached the middle 70s across much of the area, with lower 70s north and east of Tuscaloosa. An area of high pressure is positioned over the northern Gulf of Mexico is giving much of the [...]
A good Monday afternoon to you! Cold air advection has taken over the eastern half of the Nation, as a strong north wind and deep upper air trough gives winter one last fight. Temperatures struggled to reach the middle 60s across much of central Alabama. If you can find a protected area from the wind, [...]
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Sunday , April 22, 2012 Extreme Silliness It is happening frequently lately . nbsp A major weather event occurs---perhaps a hurricane , heat wave , tornado outbreak , drought or snowstorm-- and a chorus of activist groups or media folks either imply or explicitly suggest that the event is the result of human-caused anthropogenic global warming . nbsp Perhaps the worst offender is the organization www.350.org and their spokesman Bill McKibben . nbsp Close behind is Climate Central , which even has an extreme weather climate blog The media has noted many times that the U.S . in 2011 experienced a record 14 billion-dollar weather disasters--and many of the articles imply or suggest a
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Friday , April 20, 2012 Caliente The latest model runs are in and it appears clear now that we have an extraordinary weekend ahead--with the only exception being the northwest WA coast . nbsp The trend in model solutions suggest less concern for clouds reducing the highs on Sunday across the western . interior The latest radar imagery Friday 9:30 PM indicates a few shower over SE Washington and that they are dissipating and moving out . rapidly Tomorrow , as the ridge builds , temperatures will warm up considerably from the temperatures we experienced today : mid to upper 50s in the west and the upper 60s over the basin of eastern . Washington Lets take a look what we expect .
Bowling Green, along with much of the Mid South, continues to experience abnormally dry conditions. Â Since the first of the year, Bowling Green is experiencing a rainfall deficit of 3.42 inches, 2.44 of that deficit being since the first of … Continue reading →
An overall quiet weather pattern has been in place for the past few days, with the jet stream over the northern tier of states in the Contiguous United States. Â In general this pattern reflects what is normally seen sometime around … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Wednesday , April 18, 2012 We Win the Spring Weekend Trifecta Hard to believe . three decent weekends in a row . and the upcoming weekend , might be the best for some of . you This last month has been very different form the sorry , soggy , chilly spring of 2011. . April is roughly an inch drier than normal so far . and there is no sign that this pattern will . change To begin , here is an interesting comparison between this year and last , showing you the actual temperatures at Sea-Tac and the average highs and lows . nbsp Last year , we only reached normal highs a few times in March and never during the first 18 days in April . nbsp This year second plot we have seen normal or
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Monday , April 16, 2012 What time of day does it rain the most It is a natural question for a Northwesterner What time of the day is wettest and driest on average When should you schedule that walk or hike , early or late in the day In most places there IS a time when precipitation is most likely , but in some locations the diurnal daily modulation is weak . nbsp The daily precipitation cycle not only varies geographically , but also . seasonally So what causes rainfall to vary around the day Some : reasons 1. As air cools at night , the relative humidity tends to rise , leading to more drizzly fog and stratus during the morning hours with a peak near or just after . sunrise 2. As
On this date fourteen years ago, April 16, 1998, the city of Bowling Green was devastated by a very potent supercell thunderstorm that produced baseball-size hail. Â The storm developed in Logan County, and very quickly produced a tornado that would … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Friday , April 13, 2012 Bird Migration on the Coastal Radar I have mentioned before that we often see birds at night when the radar is in clear-air mode the highly sensitive setting that is used when there is not a lot of precipitation around . nbsp In fact , there is a whole discipline centered around this tool : nbsp radar ornithology Well , we have our new coastal radar and I was wondering how the birds look from a coastal perspective and particularly whether our feathered friends like to fly offshore . nbsp Lets get some answers Here is the composite radar image a little after sunset , when there was still plenty of light in the sky 8:33 PM , Thursday A few echos , with a lot
2-6 foot snow drifts? airly routine in the North in winter.
2-6 foot hail drifts in Texas? ever heard of it.
Until now.
Check out what this storm did in the Texas Panhandle. Story by Associated Press writer Linda Stewart Ball
The weather across Bowling Green this week has been quite tranquil with high pressure in place. Â The big story has been the change in temperatures with lows in the 30s and highs in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Â Monday … Continue reading →
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Wednesday , April 11, 2012 Goodbye La Nina Weekend Forecast and Discussion of Heat Islands on KPLU Finally La Nina's days are numbered , and its expression in the ocean and atmosphere are beginning to fade . nbsp In two months , it should be history , which is fortunately for us in the NW , where it brings cool , wet . weather Here is the proof--something to savor . nbsp Lets start with the key index that meteorologists look at , the sea surface temperature anomaly difference from average in the central Pacific the 3.4 area , see map Here it is . nbsp The cold anomaly a sign of La Nina is rapidly fading Now lets check under the sea surface to see what is happening , since surface
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Saturday , April 7, 2012 Lack of Computer Power Undermines U.S . Numerical Weather Prediction Revised In my last blog on this subject , I provided objective evidence of how U.S . numerical weather prediction NWP and particularly our global prediction skill , lags between major international centers , such as the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting ECMWF the UKMET office , and the Canadian Meteorological Center CMC I mentioned briefly how the problem extends to high-resolution weather prediction over the U.S . and the use of ensemble many model runs weather prediction , both globally and over the U.S . nbsp Our nation is clearly number one in meteorological
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog provides updated forecasts and comments on current weather or other topics Thursday , April 5, 2012 Instability in the Skies There was a grandeur in the skies this afternoon . nbsp Huge cumulonimbus towers developed , pushing up to the 3-7 miles high , with nice anvils of cirriform ice clouds spreading out at the highest levels . nbsp And two funnel clouds were reported--one on each side of the . Cascades To warm up , here are a few pictures I found at the KING-5 weather site taken today by donmonroe near the Skagit . Valley Here is a great video of the convection developing yesterday : nbsp click here Such active convection was not isolated in western Washington , but extended over and east of the Cascades . nbsp You can see the story in the visible
Highlights: -Chance of precipitation Thursday -Much cooler temperatures expected Friday and Saturday morning -Highs returning to average Skies will be mostly cloudy to overcast for the duration of the night and morning as light to moderate showers continue to develop … Continue reading →