Questions tagged [meteorology]
The study of how the earth's atmosphere works, including weather forecasting. Use this tag for questions about the earth's weather. When asking questions specifically about the atmosphere, also include the [atmosphere] tag.
1,169
questions
3
votes
2
answers
164
views
At 100% relative humidity, why does the air still feels dry?
At 100% relative humidity, the dew point temperature is the same as the current temperature. One would probably conclude that water would start condensing on surfaces.
But seems that is not always the ...
- 183
3
votes
1
answer
46
views
Why is latent heat of water vapor included in specific enthalpy of moist air?
In a lecture book we read about latent heat of moist air.
I would have guessed, that the total specific enthalpy of moist air, comprised of $m_d$ kg of dry air and $m_v$ kg of water vapor is (we have ...
CommunityBot
- 1
5
votes
0
answers
59
views
Are clouds aerosol?
I recently came across a science writer's page according to which clouds are liquid water. I pointed out to this author that in reality clouds are made up of a dispersion of water micro-droplets in a ...
- 161
3
votes
1
answer
54
views
How Low pressure moves across land
I understand that low pressure systems (like hurricanes), can move across oceans since they are constantly fed by warm air from below.
But what is it that enables it to move across land? Especially in ...
- 24.6k
2
votes
0
answers
29
views
(topic: dynamic meteorology) Problem understanding a picture from Holton version 2004
I'm studying for an exam and I'm having a problem understanding a picture from book "An Introduction to Dynamic Meteorology" by James R. Holton (fig 6.6 in version 2004).
I'm not sure if I ...
- 24.6k
1
vote
0
answers
46
views
How do we detect thunderbolts in real time?
When I look at radar data (in Windy for example), and I'm looking into a thunderstorm, I often see thunderbolts appearing in 'real time' on the map. How does that work ? I assume some satellites have ...
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
First to Sail the Jet Stream Around the World
My questions are related to a scenario discussed on Earth Science: A huge (heavier-than-air) kite sailing in and out of the jet streams.
The kite:
The scenario:
The assumptions:
Such an airship ...
- 1
13
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Is there any correlation between La Niña/El Niño and seismic activity?
I've read in the past that extreme precipitation levels may have an effect on seismic activity, and wondered if anyone has ever analysed the La Niña / El Niño cycles to see if there is any correlation ...
- 233
19
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Why does the Hadley cell descend at 30 degrees latitude?
George Hadley's initial model of the Hadley cell described air as being heated at the equator, ascending, and then moving aloft pole-wards where it would cool and descend. Meanwhile surface air would ...
- 24.6k
29
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Equinoxes and solstices: start of the season or mid-season?
In the United States, the upcoming autumnal equinox is marked on most calendars as the "first day of autumn." Similarly the solstices are commonly called the "first day of summer" and "first day of ...
3
votes
1
answer
60
views
Why does relative vorticity in spherical coordinates have an extra term as compared to the usual cartesian derivation?
With $u, v$ denoting the components of wind velocity along zonal (x) and meridional (y) direction, atmospheric (relative) vorticity is usually defined by
$$\zeta_z = \frac{\partial v}{\partial x} -\...
- 3,666
3
votes
0
answers
34
views
Drawing the cloud cover bar of Skew-T plot
I'm trying to display cloud cover info by altitude from sounding data in a compact widget of an app for free-flight pilots. It's basically the vertical bar showing different shades of gray according ...
- 131
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is this spaceship-shaped cloud?
This tweet from the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Spanish account show a striking photo of a round, flat, "space-ship-shaped" cloud in an otherwise completely clear sky. The stars are out so I assume ...
1
vote
2
answers
64
views
Why is U used for relative humidity in atmospheric measurement equipments?
RH is the symbol of relative humidity in many textbooks. But, in my experience, U is often used in atmospheric measurements. For example, Vaisala PTU300 means pressure, temperature and humidity.
I ...
- 732
1
vote
0
answers
45
views
Water on our planet, where did it come from? [closed]
Water on our planet, where did it come from?
A water molecule is created when two atoms of hydrogen combine with one atom of oxygen. W
The volume of all water (on our planet) is about 332.5 million ...
- 24.6k
10
votes
3
answers
712
views
How bad is geo-engineering?
It is just curiosity that forced me to ask this question. At some point in time, if we can't control global $\sf{CO_2}$ emissions, temperature will increase until a tipping point and it will be a ...
- 11.6k
1
vote
0
answers
2k
views
Safest place on Earth during the pole shift
Where is the safest place on Earth in relation the magnetic poles as it is moving that will provide the most protection against solar radiation? I imagine the topography may effect the magnetic fields....
- 1
2
votes
0
answers
35
views
Three cell model of prevailing winds
I understand the Coriolis Effect, but how does that make the rising air cool 1/3 of the way to the poles, as opposed to non rotating Earth?
- 24.6k
1
vote
2
answers
64
views
Historic weather station data with hourly temporal resolution
I'm working with ERA5 weather data and am trying to understand some wind & temperature patterns that I'm seeing in my statistics. In order to do that I'd like to compare with some point ...
CommunityBot
- 1
9
votes
1
answer
501
views
What is the difference between the freezing level and 0 C isotherm in NOAA's GFS?
I'm playing around with NOAA's GFS forecast data and I see that it contains both a "0 °C isotherm level" and a "Highest tropospheric freezing level".
Could someone tell me the ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
0
answers
47
views
Better method to identify seasons in temperature time series?
I'm trying to find a way to automatically detect the start/end of the 4 seasons based on a time series of daily mean temperature.
According to this paper summer and winter can be defined as (smoothed) ...
- 211
13
votes
2
answers
7k
views
What is the loudest thunder ever recorded (dB) at ground level and where did it occur?
Sound travels fastest through warm air and conditions such as temperature inversions can help to amplify the sound of thunder (source). Conversely, during a thundersnow event the falling, and ...
- 813
1
vote
1
answer
296
views
How to measure voltage differential across different altitudes
Imagine two points, one directly above the other.
Point A - 10,000 feet (PA)
Point B - 20,000 feet (PB)
Imagine there's voltage potential between those two points.
Questions:
How could you measure ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
1
answer
315
views
Why was the flooding in Derna, Libya so catastrophic?
I have watched storm Daniel on the internet while it was in Greece and what I saw was much heavier rain than what came down in Libya. But in Libya, property damage and death toll were much heavier, ...
- 1
4
votes
3
answers
122
views
How to open AVHRR files downloaded from NOAA CLASS?
I have been making RGB photos of AVHRR images from NOAA CLASS using the preview images (channel 2 & channel 4)
As you can see, it isn't very good. I have been wanting to use channel 1 and channel ...
- 11.6k
1
vote
0
answers
125
views
Can firecrackers be used to subside thunderstorms due to cumulonimbus clouds
Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with thunderstorms. Firecrackers which go up high in the sky and then burst into glittering show, can such crackers be injected in a cumulonimbus cloud and then ...
- 427
1
vote
1
answer
256
views
Why are eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington so dry?
Why are eastern Oregon, southeastern Washington and southern Idaho so arid, as compared to the humid and lush western Oregon and Washington? In Oregon and Washington there is quite an abrupt boundary ...
CommunityBot
- 1
0
votes
0
answers
67
views
Mass weighted vertical average of stream function in python
I have a netCDF file of stream function (psi) having dimension (latitude, level), level is pressure level. There are 5 pressure levels (700,600,500,400,300 hPa). I need to compute the mass weighted ...
- 24.6k
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is the most optimal latitude on Earth for the generation of extreme maximum temperatures?
First question on this StackExchange, so here goes...
Overall, reaching high temperatures is dependent on 2 factors:
The (maximum) solar angle in the day. The greater the solar angle, the more ...
- 171
1
vote
1
answer
133
views
Dew-point temperature and absolute humidity
I am looking for a reference (e.g. book, peer-reviewed paper) that asserts that
absolute humidity is "equivalent" to the dew-point temperature.
Such statement should be true, AFAIU. Online, ...
- 383
3
votes
4
answers
6k
views
How thin is our atmosphere relative to the size of Earth?
According to the GRC NASA website, Earth's atmosphere is a thin sheet of air extending from the surface of the Earth to the edge of space. Some videos on youtube also point out that if the Earth is ...
1
vote
1
answer
102
views
Weather record last month in the UK
On 22 June 2023 in my village in LE8, south Leicester, UK, there was a large deluge of rain and my house got lightly flooded - the only time ever in 30 years. I'm trying to make a claim now; the ...
5
votes
2
answers
901
views
Is there any video evidence of animals raining from the sky?
I image most people have heard stories of fish, frogs, or other small animals raining from the sky. I found quite a few articles on line with many instances of such occurrences but they were mostly ...
2
votes
1
answer
120
views
Why do tropical areas have low air pressure?
From the question Why are pressure levels raised on warm days?, my understanding is that the air pressure at surface level is not affected by temperature, as the mass of the imagined air column stays ...
- 8,713
6
votes
1
answer
157
views
Could we cool the ocean by reflecting away sunlight to influence hurricanes?
I was wondering if we could possibly reduce the severity of, or steer a hurricane by changing albedo (e.g. dying the part ocean with a temporary light colored dye)? My thought would be to put this ...
- 24.6k
3
votes
0
answers
46
views
How to explain "Vacuum Cleaner Effect" for upper level PV anomaly?
In Jonathan Martin's Book "Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics" there is a chapter dedicated to anomalies of potential vorticity (PV). The scenario shown in the image below depicts a situation,...
- 855
1
vote
0
answers
27
views
How to use 1D function metpy.parcel_profile in ERA5 xarray dataset open with dask
I really need help, I'm working on ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels. I've extracted relative humidity and temperature on several atmospheric pressure levels. I use Metpy's '...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
48
views
Why air laterally diverges before entering a cyclone/anticyclone?
I'm a newbie in meteorology so sorry if this is a dumb question.
I get the general idea of how cyclones form, but one thing I can't wrap my head around is why must the air diverge laterally when ...
- 8,713
1
vote
0
answers
65
views
What is the highest evaporation rate in the world? I know evaporation rates for Australia
I have been searching for the above answer for more than 25 years.
I am providing a map of Australia for comparison
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/maps/averages/evaporation/
Is evaporation rate 4000 ...
- 24.6k
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
How to use CMIP6 to predict windspeed in the future?
I'm very new to climate modelling and forecasting, I have chosen a project to forecast wind energy output in the future using wind speed prediction, I wish to use CMIP6 to predict. But I have very ...
- 1
12
votes
4
answers
7k
views
What causes clouds to appear blue?
In a thunderstorm cloud about sunset time, I saw these clouds, including some (in the upper right) that were a unique shade of blue. I don't think I've seen clouds quite that color before. I tried ...
- 300
1
vote
1
answer
79
views
How did we find out about the relationship between the temperature of the air and the distance from the ground? [closed]
Simply as the title states, how did we find out about the relationship between the temperature of the air and the distance from the ground?
I tried googling, but found nothing. I searched for "...
CommunityBot
- 1
3
votes
2
answers
71
views
Radially symmetric rainfall radar pattern?
I notice this radially symmetric weather radar pattern over London, UK today.
Is this a real weather pattern, or a measurement or model artefact? If it is a real weather pattern, what causes it?
The ...
- 24.6k
5
votes
1
answer
348
views
How is this global temperature chart compiled?
In this BBC News article, there is a chart labelled "Hottest day on record globally - Daily average air temperature, 1940-2023". It shows temperatures that are higher in summer and lower in ...
- 24.6k
6
votes
1
answer
352
views
Will the hot Atlantic shape global/local weather and if so, how?
So the Atlantic Ocean exhibits record-breaking temperatures currently with about 1 degree Celsius above-average mean surface temperatures. This article, for example, mentions that a more severe ...
CommunityBot
- 1
23
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Where does wind come from?
Wind is (according to Wikipedia) the flow of gases on a large scale.On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air.
What forces would cause such a mass movement of air?
- 5,800
1
vote
0
answers
25
views
Visualization of formation of cirrus vertebratus?
I am trying to understand how Cirrus Vertebratus are formed.
My book and many web pages simply say "waves orthogonally to the initial cloud formation direction, in fitting conditions, forming ...
- 233
3
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How to calculate water vapor flux divergence from temperature, relative humidity, u wind and v wind?
I have temperature, u wind, v wind and relative humidity. I am wondering to calculate water vapor flux divergence and convergence.
Would anybody kindly help to find our a solution for this?
- 21
4
votes
0
answers
47
views
Why positive PV Anomaly moves westwards?
In Jonathan Martin's Book "Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics" there is a chapter about PV anomalies. As an example, a positive PV anomaly is discussed.
What is the reason, that high PV is ...
- 855
3
votes
3
answers
868
views
Conditions at the bottom of a VERY deep hole
I'm a science fiction author looking to describe what conditions might be like at the bottom of a cylindrical shaft ~ 30 meters across and ~ 35 km deep. It's located somewhere on the edge of ...
- 89