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.
262
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
27
votes
0
answers
549
views
Is it possible for a sting jet to form over a continental landmass?
Sting jets are thought to be responsible for some of the most damaging winds associated with extratropical cyclones in the mid-latitudes. So far they have only been confirmed in the European region, ...
- 2,115
13
votes
0
answers
103
views
How are scatterometer observations standardised before being fed into reanalysis models?
This very basic question occurred to me during a talk on reanalysis data sets. Often we know the observations produced by a particular instrument, say rain radar, are biased from one year to the next ...
- 173
12
votes
0
answers
155
views
Is there a distinction between gap winds and channelled flow?
I have seen gap flows mentioned in the literature, for example [Gohm et al. 2004, Zängl 2002, Mayr et al. 2007]. Whiteman 2000 defines a gap as a "major erosional opening through mountain ranges" and ...
- 410
10
votes
0
answers
305
views
What is the smallest grid spacing that Eulerian air quality models should use?
The University of Washington runs the Advanced Research Weather Research & Forecasting (WRF) model in predictive mode, and then tests the skill of the model anywhere from 12 - 84 hours out from ...
- 13.5k
9
votes
0
answers
106
views
Was this spherical device used in weather forecasting in the 1960's?
The New York Times obituary Robert M. White, Who Revolutionized Weather Forecasts, Dies at 92 shows the image below. It looks like it might be a model of the Earth but I can't tell for sure.
Can the ...
- 7,074
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 ...
- 190
9
votes
0
answers
151
views
What meteorological factors contribute to springtime Trans-Pacific air-pollution events?
The transport of tropospheric ozone, ozone precursors, carbon monoxide, etc from Asia to North America is an active area of research (see J.L. Ambrose, et al., 2011) These types of events occur ...
- 13.5k
9
votes
0
answers
154
views
Relation of El Niño to Monsoons
Scientists are forecasting a weak to moderate El Niño event to emerge in the coming months, what causes this to happen? Once developed, how will the El Niño conditions effect progressive monsoon ...
user668
8
votes
0
answers
60
views
Was the Earth a lot foggier millions of years ago?
Quoting a sign in Redwood National Park:
Redwoods once covered large expanses of the world. Millions of years ago some of these redwoods were preserved as fossilized trees when volcanic ash buried ...
- 523
8
votes
0
answers
111
views
Worldwide weather maps database
I am searching for a database (a free one would be great) that would give me, for any chosen rectangular area on earth, historic data about pressure, sea water temperature, wind (including both speed ...
- 313
8
votes
0
answers
445
views
Calculating Monthly Accumulation value of the Clearness Index KT
I have an hourly data file of a particular location which contains the following variables (extracted from the Meteonorm7.0 data base, for a typical one year of data):
GlobHor (W/m2): Horizontal ...
- 123
8
votes
1
answer
156
views
Is there any link between the weekly human cycle and weather?
I am interested in the linkage between the cyclical timing of human activity, and whether that has a direct affect on weather. Most obvious to me is the weekly cycle, which is observed by most of the ...
- 13.5k
7
votes
0
answers
62
views
Could the Pineapple Express collide with cold air, resulting in extreme snowfall?
The pineapple express is a colloquial term for the strong atmospheric river produced by the polar jet stream, which drives excessive moisture and warmer air towards north-western North America.
With ...
- 171
7
votes
0
answers
162
views
5G interference with weather observation, a thing already?
The scientific community expressed concern that global 5G would potentially threaten weather forecasts by scrambling frequencies in the microwave spectrum used for water vapor, atmospheric temperature ...
user18607
7
votes
0
answers
315
views
Why is wind shear consistently high in the South Atlantic?
I have read that perhaps the largest reason that tropical cyclones are so rare in the South Atlantic is due to chronically-high vertical wind shear which inhibits their structural development. But ...
- 355
7
votes
0
answers
104
views
Using salinity to predict rainfall
Recently, a new method has been proposed by Ray Schmitt (WHOI) and collaborators to use salinity patterns in the ocean to predict weather events (more specifically, rainfall) at scales from weeks to ...
- 15.4k
7
votes
0
answers
137
views
How does fog affect the conductivity/breakdown voltage of air?
Could the breakdown voltage of air significantly go down in very foggy weather (especially very salty fog from seawater)? Kind of a hypothetical question, but if anyone has something on this, I'd ...
- 233
7
votes
0
answers
155
views
Are extratropical cyclones the same as baroclinic waves?
Are extratropical cyclones the same as baroclinic waves?
I'm aware of the fact that extratropical cyclones form in 'baroclinic zones' and that they start of as waves. But are these what are referred ...
7
votes
0
answers
87
views
Using Acummulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) for non-tropical cyclones
Accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) is used to measure and compare the activity of individual hurricanes and entire tropical cyclone seasons. It is calculated as an integral of the squares of hurricane ...
- 15.4k
7
votes
0
answers
88
views
Spatial variability in ocean surface winds
For the near-surface winds over the ocean, many model products and satellite footprints have spatial resolutions on the order of tens of kilometers. I'm interested in knowing how much the winds (both ...
- 1,811
7
votes
1
answer
494
views
What factors influence cloud height and type?
What factors influence cloud height and type? For example, why do altocumulus clouds fail to form at 6400m in high latitude locations, but will form at this height at a lower latitude? Is it simply ...
6
votes
0
answers
118
views
What has been going on in the atmosphere over the past couple weeks?
First there was a once-a-century bomb cyclone 2000 miles wide that froze the entire Eastern US. Gigantic US winter storm leaves millions without power and cancels holiday plans
Then Europe had a ...
- 161
6
votes
0
answers
123
views
Is there a certification process for automated weather stations?
I'm in the market for a new automated weather station and of course there's a glut of them on the internet. I mostly will be using the data for myself and my own amusement but do plan to submit ...
- 426
6
votes
0
answers
86
views
Why is the air above the Himalayas warmer than surrounding areas?
Looking at earth.nullschool.net on 13.09.2021 you can see that the temperature above the Himalayas appear warmer than the surroundings (at 700 hPa):
At the surface ...
- 161
6
votes
0
answers
98
views
Why does Panama have a dry season?
So, I understand that during much of the year, Panama gets regular rain due to moist air being carried in by the trade winds from the Caribbean.
However, the country also has a "dry season" from ...
- 61
6
votes
0
answers
206
views
How are global cloud cover estimates generated and how is the data accessed?
The website ventusky.com offers three models to produce cloud estimate: ICON, GFS and GEM. They extract a fractional cloud number, shown in percentage.
From the ERDDAP portal to the GFS model (...
- 301
6
votes
0
answers
104
views
Are there rules to estimate average temperature
I have temperature data from a weather station, but there are missing data (not more than 80% of the daily temperature observations). The World Meteorological Organization has some rules to validate ...
- 395
6
votes
0
answers
62
views
Estimating fog incidence based on ocean temperature
In the tropics, say the Caribbean, I have read that there is very often a lot of nighttime and morning fog. I have read that the crucial factors are
The ocean temperature
Cool nighttime air ...
- 161
6
votes
0
answers
49
views
What is the strongest observed static stability in the troposphere?
I know that typical values for the Brunt–Väisälä frequency, $N$, are of the order $10^{-2} \mathrm{s}^{-1}$, but what is the strongest observed stability? And how deep are such strong layers?
I am ...
- 410
6
votes
0
answers
87
views
NCEP reanalysis latitude and longitude represent center of cell?
I can't find any information regarding the lat and long in the NCEP Reanalysis. Do they represent the center of the cell?
- 667
6
votes
0
answers
198
views
Is there anywhere on Earth *without* a rain shadow where we would otherwise expect one?
My understanding of rain shadows is that they occur in a region where year-round wind direction is the same (or nearly so), and there's a mountain range close by, such that the mountains block ...
- 2,155
6
votes
0
answers
200
views
Bulk and dynamic viscosity in the atmosphere
I'm studying the physics of the atmosphere but I'm struggling with the matter of viscosity (Navier-Stokes equation) for gravito-acoustic waves. From Landau-Lifschitz :
$$
(T)_{ij} = -p\delta_{ij} + \...
- 161
5
votes
0
answers
53
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
5
votes
0
answers
136
views
Why does Hurricane Ian show a long tail off to the North-East on doppler radar?
I was looking at the radar on the Weather Channel website and I noticed something that I don't think I've ever seen before.
Screen shot from 11:30 AM EST 9/29
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ian can be seen ...
- 151
5
votes
0
answers
76
views
Confusion about the horizontal pressure gradient force being equal to the gradient of the geopotential in pressure coordinates
I asked this in the physics exchange and thought I would ask here as well:
I see many sources in atmospheric dynamics express the following:
$\frac{1}{\rho}(\nabla p) = \nabla_p \phi$
For example this ...
- 163
5
votes
0
answers
87
views
Formation of Clouds in High Pressure Systems (Western Australia - Perth)
High pressure systems are normally correlated with stable atmospheric conditions with little to no cloud cover, but due to this minimal cloud cover, doesn't that open up the ocean / ground moisture to ...
- 151
5
votes
0
answers
30
views
What was the weather like in Pangaea's equatorial regions ( i.e. 23 latitude North to 23 latitude South )?
I've been having this burning question about the tropical climate of Pangaea but not sure how to ask until now.
So far I've read that the carbon dioxide levels back then were much higher than it is ...
- 103
5
votes
0
answers
89
views
Range of frequencies of the Schumann resonance?
Crossposted at Physics SE
As the surface-ionospheric gap acts as a resonator for electromagnetic waves, it should have several harmonic values from the base, fundamental frequency of 7.83 Hz.
These ...
- 271
5
votes
0
answers
93
views
What are those precipitation and water droplet characterization instruments called that they put on meteorological aircraft? How do they work?
A long time ago I did some reading on Mie scattering and atmospheric particulate counting and I got sidetracked on raindrop characterization.
I remember reading about light and laser based ...
- 7,074
5
votes
0
answers
162
views
Free historical weather data API
Where can I find a free Python API that provides historical weather data (temperature, rainfall)? I'd need data of an Italian city, at least with hourly granularity.
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
103
views
Weather produced by symmetric cold core cyclones
I know that, although rare, there are symmetric cold core cyclones (with a few of them even having a shallow cold core). They encompass some occluded extratropical cyclones, some dissipating tropical ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
495
views
Extracting point data from ERA5 CDS API
I have been extracting ERA5 data through the Web API. Now I am shifting to CDS API. In the web API I used the below code to download time series data at a particular lat/lon. In the CDS API, I can't ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
84
views
Why aren't tornadoes embedded in squall lines or tornadoes in high-precipitation supercells destroyed by downdrafts?
I often hear that tornadoes die when the RFD (Rear Flank Downdraft) strengthens and destroys their source of inflow... How do tornadoes get any inflowing updrafts when they are embedded in rain? How ...
- 139
5
votes
0
answers
96
views
Roughly what proportion of a cloud does 'rain out'?
What proportion of the water in a cloud will 'rain out'?
Or, comparing the cloud before and after it has rained, what proportion of the water is left afterwards?
I really have no idea so am just ...
- 151
5
votes
0
answers
115
views
How do the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) waves originate?
I was reading about tropical cyclones and tropical waves and there I saw a study mentioning its relationship with MJO activities. I saw several research papers which discuss about MJO waves. They only ...
- 635
5
votes
0
answers
908
views
Are clouds more common at night?
Clouds obviously have a strong effect on surface temperatures. By blocking sunlight they can decrease the temperature by several degrees. At night they have a blanket effect that traps warm air and ...
- 151
5
votes
0
answers
147
views
What colors can lightning be and what causes the different colors?
I've always thought of lightning as being either bright white or yellow in color. However, in the summer I've also seen lightning appear red as so called "heat lightning". What I'm wondering is what ...
user11318
5
votes
0
answers
53
views
How big does something have to be to cause an atmospheric event upon entry to the Earth's atmosphere?
The question is about a foreign object, ranging from an asteroid to a spaceship. How large does it have to be in order for its presence to start messing with the weather patterns, causing the like of ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
53
views
What software for cloud motion forecasting
I have a large sequence of images in .png (10 second resolution) from sky image system. Is there any inexpensive software for processing images and forecasting cloud motion?
I have found out that ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
253
views
How do we calculate an average temperature for the air above a specific point from weather data?
I'm doing a school project on cosmic rays (using data from the HiSPARC database), and we need to be able to calculate the average temperature of the atmosphere above specific cities on a specific date ...