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.
779
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3
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1answer
121 views
Why do hurricanes hitting the US East Coast seem to go north once hitting land?
Question says it all really. It appears that every hurricane hitting the US East Coast directs itself north once on land.
Hurricane Florence is predicted to hit North Carolina then turn toward Canada
...
10
votes
1answer
703 views
How could humans alter storm intensity or direction other than cloud seeding?
I am familiar with the concept of cloud seeding, where precipitation can be induced with aerosols, thereby altering storm intensity further downwind. Are there methods that could be used to ...
1
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0answers
47 views
What is the most powerful kind of extratropical cold core cyclone and why?
I want to understand what makes for a very strong extratropical cyclone. So which kind on Earth is the strongest in terms of windspeed or pressure? Southern ocean storms, nor'easter, European wind ...
8
votes
2answers
307 views
Are there websites where I can get “lightning frequency maps” in near-real time (worldwide)?
I have an NASA Inspire VLF-3 radio receiver kit that I'm going to put together. It amplifies VLF electromagnetic signals that are already in the audio frequency range and makes them audible. One of ...
3
votes
1answer
55 views
How would a particle travel in a hurricane?
How would a particle other then water travel in a hurricane? At what buoyancy or height would a small air born life preserver be safe from the ground in a hurricane? How fun would that be?
4
votes
0answers
253 views
Why does this contrail diverge and then converge?
I observed this contrail above me today, and I noticed that the two inner contrails diverge outwards to merge with the two outer contrails. Then, as the contrails dissipate after several seconds they ...
4
votes
0answers
61 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 ...
7
votes
5answers
13k views
Rain without clouds?
Is it possible to have rain without visible clouds?
As far as I know, clouds are liquid water and eventually the liquid water in them falls down, producing rain. Therefore one would expect clouds ...
5
votes
3answers
185 views
Can weather radar be used to track swarms other than mayflies?
Along the Mississippi River swarms of emerging mayflies have been seen on radar. The radar and image below are from a July 11, 2017 emergence near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. On the radar you can see the ...
8
votes
1answer
191 views
Does the global temperature vary daily (hotter and colder days)?
Earth's current average global temperature (i.e. including hot deserts and cold polar caps) is reported be somewhere between 14°C and 16°C (depending on sources and methods).
This temperature varies ...
17
votes
3answers
22k views
Why does the Inter tropical Convergence Zone shift?
I am currently learning at school about the climatic conditions (mainly winds, difference in pressure, Coriolis effect, etc.) that cause and affect the monsoons received by India.
One of the factors ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
Interpolate Gaussian grids to regular fixed grids using bilinear interpolation?
I want to regrid GCM data available on Gaussian grids to regular grids, say at 1 deg X 1 deg.
How to do this using CDO or Python ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
Why can't the meteorologists predict for sure if the day would be rainy even on the beginning of the day sometimes?
Why do the meteorologists still cannot predict if a day would be rainy or cloudy or blizzardy even on the beginning of the day sometimes?
My life circles around weather and an avid weather watcher.
...
6
votes
1answer
133 views
Does a hurricane classification exists where estimated rainfall is taken into account?
Hurricanes are classified with the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale. However an extreme amount of rainfall can cause a disaster although the windspeeds are not extreme. Is there some sort of ...
2
votes
1answer
49 views
Estimating Average Rainfall
In a question related to my previous one. I am in the process of building a fantasy world. I have the landmasses with elevation worked out along with the air/wind directions at the various latitudes ...
2
votes
1answer
83 views
Interdisciplinary sciences which combine earth sciences with computer science
Are there interdisciplinary sciences which combine earth sciences (like geophysics, climatology, meteorology etc.) and computer science? or something like biotechnology which combine biology with ...
3
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0answers
147 views
Why is the atmospheric pressure in a tropical cyclone lowest in the eye, even though it contains sinking air?
The lowest atmospheric pressure in a tropical cyclone is generally located in the eye at the center of the cyclone; however, the air in the eye is descending, while the air in the surrounding portions ...
6
votes
6answers
313 views
Are there any weather services that provide hourly forecasts beyond 7 days?
I'm working on a small project and am trying to find a way to get the very extended hour-by-hour forecast for a location. Most services (Darksky, etc.) seem to offer 7-day extended hourly forecasts, ...
10
votes
1answer
98 views
North Indian ocean tropical cyclones
Why are tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal more frequent and stronger than those in the Arabian Sea?
3
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0answers
38 views
Does the hour of the day and the position on the sun have any influences on the formation of a hurricane?
I am writing an essay and cannot find if a hurricane is influenced by the position of the sun or the hour of the day.
12
votes
1answer
67 views
Why is the diurnal temperature range on the Cascade volcanoes so small?
Ski-mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest I am frustrated that the snow pack isn't refreezing at night.
There is about a 20F difference between the day and night temperatures in Seattle. Looking at ...
10
votes
3answers
25k views
How to interpolate scattered data to a regular grid in Python?
I have three txt files for longitude, latitude and temperature (or let's say three lists lon, lat, temp) from scattered weather station in the UK. I would like firstly to interpolate these data in ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
Can cloud seeding make a much hotter summer, at a middle latitude, at the area that receives less water than expected?
My country, Spain (40ºN), receives clouds from the Atlantic Ocean during the summer. Our most visited beaches are on the Eastern coast, which sits on the Mediterranean Sea, there is typically more dry ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
Extract a GFS variable
I'm trying to extract the APCP variable from a GFS file, with this code:
wgrib2 gfst.grb2 -match ":(APCP):" - grib gfst.grb2.small
I get a
...
4
votes
0answers
41 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 ...
13
votes
1answer
429 views
Why (actually) is the night sky so bright in the city? How far up is that happening?
The recent news reported by the New York Times, the BBC and the NPR web sites (for example) as well as in the Iceland Review and Iceland Magazine sites, about the shutting-off of Reykjavik's ...
4
votes
1answer
70 views
Uncertainty In ERA-Interim data
Greeting,
What is the estimated uncertainty value in Temperature, relative humidity, U and V winds of ERA-Interim data?
2
votes
0answers
50 views
For how long can the wind blow unabated on a “trade wind route”?
Take a specific point at sea level (less than 100 meters above it) on a "trade wind" oceanic route. For example, somewhere on Labrador-Ireland route, at roughly 50 degrees of latitude north. Let's say,...
10
votes
1answer
4k views
What causes the 'calm before the storm'?
The old adage "The calm before the storm" certainly has an observational scientific meaning to it -- something that many (including myself) have experienced -- that on a hot summer's day, when a ...
20
votes
4answers
3k views
Can the previous weather be computed from the current situation?
If one applies today's state-of-the-art weather forecast computations "backwards", i.e. computing how the systems was X days before the current situation based on knowledge of today's situation, at ...
1
vote
0answers
50 views
Plotting moist static energy fluxes
I'm trying to plot Moist static energy fluxes (vectors) and their divergence like the attached Figure. I have monthly means of u, v, temperature, specific humidity and geopotential from(1000-100 hPa) ...
3
votes
1answer
463 views
How to calculate the solar radiation at any place, any time
The solar radiation is one of the important factors controlling the formation of $O_3$, and thereby impacting the levels of various secondary species in the atmosphere.
However, in the campaign of ...
1
vote
0answers
35 views
Is there a conventional name for when wind speed increases as a result of a large descending air mass?
I remember reading a long time ago in a meteorology book that certain dust storms were caused by a rapid descent of a large air mass. As the air is pressed against the ground, it is forced to spread ...
2
votes
2answers
117 views
Can you have a low pressure with no clouds?
My understanding is that low pressure is usually associated with cloudy skies, however in the last week I observed a day that had low pressure reading but no clouds. Is this possible or did I perhaps ...
1
vote
1answer
410 views
Relationship between pressure, temperature and density in meterology
I have been learning meteorology a bit on my own, and one thing that never gets answered clearly is the relationship of pressure, temperature, and density.
When I looked it up, the density of air at ...
7
votes
1answer
196 views
Could a “sunbrella” parked at L1 block enough solar energy to counter global warming?
What part of the Earth should be "shaded"; the poles or the equator?
Since the size of the sunbrella would depend on its ability to reduce certain wavelengths of radiation; what material or ...
30
votes
2answers
44k views
At what humidity does it start to rain?
As far as I understand it is perfectly valid for air to have 100% humidity. At that point, all water can still exist in form of vapor, non-condensed.
Does it immediately start to rain if humidity is >...
4
votes
1answer
632 views
Are you more likely to get a sunburn at the pole than the equator?
After looking at this post I can see that a flat object is more exposed to the sun at the equator. Does this mean that a person walking around (standing up), is much more likely to burn at the poles ...
2
votes
1answer
165 views
Could a firestorm create a hurricane-like cyclone?
Mesocyclones form when air rises and rotates in a "pillar" of sorts. It's sometimes associated with thunderclouds and tornado formation.
A certain kind of cumulonimbus, the cumulonimbus flammagenitus,...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Precipitation Totals past days online?
I am looking for a website that can I look for to check and see the precipitation totals for past days..
I go to this site : https://www.cocorahs.org/ . It lacks in some areas where I live in the ...
3
votes
1answer
72 views
Ocean air reaching maximum humidity
How many miles (or how many hours/days) does air have to travel over the ocean to reach maximum humidity or carry the maximum amount of water it would hold at typical humidity assuming a wind speed of ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
Why do clouds have ceilings and bases?
What is the point called when water can not rise above or visually seem to have a ceiling in the atmosphere? What makes that point ideal?
0
votes
1answer
113 views
Does the Columbia Basin, North Cascades and Idaho Panhandle/Clearwater get a lot of violent, rotating supercellular thunderstorms?
Every storm season, supercells erupt in Montana and Wyoming. Wayward cold-core setups can trigger supercells or even long-tracked strong tornadoes in the Columbia/Willamette Valley and the rest of SW ...
5
votes
1answer
285 views
How does the tornado chaser locate the spot?
In my opinion, tornado is hard to forecast in three different aspects:
The size of tornado is about 100 ~ 1000 m which can't be represented well in weather model or detected by limited weather ...
3
votes
0answers
34 views
Where to find meteorological data from road stations?
I am involved on a project that aims to analyze data from road weather stations, like the ones you can see from a German site here:
https://www.dwd.de/EN/ourservices/bufr_extensions_national/...
3
votes
0answers
65 views
Do NO2 and O3 titrate each other out in the atmosphere?
Here is a plot of the vertical column densities of NO2 and O3 from an ultraviolet-visible spectrometer in Fairbanks, Alaska. It is interesting to see that when NO2 dips, O3 rises, and vice versa. Also,...
1
vote
2answers
280 views
What is the highest balloons possible in a chain?
The BU60-1 balloon attained an altitude of 53.0 km (32.9 mi; 173,900 ft).
Weather permitting, would a series of climbable balloons in a chain be able to be linked from the ground to that height of ...
3
votes
1answer
171 views
Is there a maximum size for a single snowflake?
Just based on my previous experiences a wetter snow, in general, has larger flakes. Some online sources say that raindrops do have a maximum size before they start to break apart when surface tension ...
3
votes
1answer
24 views
Data of terrestrial evapotranspiration over large areas?
I have been looking for information regarding the total amount of water that evaporates from terrestrial systems and found some global estimates like this one
http://www.waterandclimatechange.eu/...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Are there areas of desert sands which experience blizzards?
Building off of another question I recently asked (Is there sand in Antarctica?) I want to ask a broader question coming from the same motive described there.
Are there desert sands that experience ...
