All Questions
Tagged with weather or meteorology
1,216 questions
4
votes
1
answer
204
views
Do I understand pressure coordinates in the right way?
The question is simple: I still have problems with atmospheric pressure coordinates:
Given the pressure dependence in the picture, what are the velocity coordinates of an air parcel moving with $\vec ...
3
votes
0
answers
69
views
How is Wind oriented in a Jet Streak?
Recently I found this tutorial video about Jet streaks (want to mention I'm only in second term so my knowledge is not advanced yet). Originally I was looking for the topic because of a particular ...
1
vote
1
answer
247
views
What is 0 degree isotherm and how to calculate it?
I want to look at different areas of alpine glaciers and understand the position of 0 degree isotherm to do a comparative climate analysis. Given the mean annual air temperature and altitude, how do i ...
2
votes
1
answer
139
views
My snarky cousin tossed a monkey into my ability to see large cloud at 300 miles HELP!
The top of a cumulonimbus cloud is usually about 40,000 feet and can reach heights of over 60,000 feet, which would be visible for a distance of 245 or 300 miles, respectively. from How far away can ...
4
votes
1
answer
158
views
Estimating atmospheric vertical motion from 3D fields in WRF output
I have WRF data on isobaric levels that unfortunately does not contain a z-wind or omega field within the output, and I would like to produce some estimate as to the magnitude of synoptic-scale ...
1
vote
0
answers
16
views
How to deduce the atmospheric mixed time-space domain energy cycle formulae, and where can Arpe et al. (1986) be found?
(Where can I know) How these formulae in the figure (Ulbrich and Speth, 1991), called mixed space-time domain formulation of the energy cycle, were deduced?
And the reference Arpe et al. (1986), I can ...
1
vote
0
answers
175
views
Is it possible to calculate dew point at pressure levels from ERA5 data?
I would like to calculate dew point values at different pressure levels from the ERA5 data set. Is this possible and if so, how exactly can it be done? I have found an approximate formula that use ...
2
votes
1
answer
24
views
Is there an open high frequency (1-0.2 Hz) wind measurement dataset from a marine station?
I want to conduct a statistical analysis of high-frequency wind measurements. This analysis aims to define relevant parameters for competitive coastal sailboat racing so the sampling frequency should ...
1
vote
1
answer
99
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 "...
1
vote
0
answers
15
views
How to add more outdoor weather sensors to Software Defined Radio (Weather Station)
How to add more outdoor weather sensors to Software Defined Radio (Weather Station) ?
I am looking for seismographic outdoor radio sensors to work for Software Defined Radio (Weather Station).
So ...
2
votes
1
answer
119
views
Why are there different Notations of Vorticity Equation?
I'm a student of meteorology in first year. This time my question is not about a particular problem I have, but rather about teaching and learning: In a recent lecture on atmospheric dynamics we ...
1
vote
0
answers
76
views
Query on the 'namelist.input' file for running WRF-Chem to study aerosol-cloud-climate interaction
I have a small inquiry about the setup of some variables in 'namelist.input' file for running WRF-Chem to study aerosol-cloud-climate interaction. After going through various research papers on ...
2
votes
0
answers
50
views
Limitations of satellite radar for precipitation measurement?
Companies like tomorrow.io are promising satellite-based weather radar. However, I can easily imagine several flaws (especially in combination with the greater distance to storms than a ground-based ...
4
votes
0
answers
40
views
Reconstructing the climatology of a station using reanalysis
We have lots of data measured by weather stations in our network, but unfortunately their temporal coverage is not sufficient to compute a full 30 years climatology (e.g. over the 1991-2020 period). ...
2
votes
2
answers
196
views
Is 1 inch of rain in an hour enough to damage growing crops?
An odd discussion came up on a role-playing game forum recently. Some people were speculating about how a mediaeval society would be different if it had wizards, with the spells described in the game ...
31
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Why aren't weather balloons left in the atmosphere permanently?
I was reading about weather balloons and the articles said that weather balloon flights usually last about two hours. When I looked up why, some articles said that when the balloons get high enough in ...
1
vote
0
answers
29
views
How does Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) affects Tropical cyclones, onset of monsoon and the ENSO Cycle?
How does Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) affects Tropical cyclones, onset of monsoon and the ENSO Cycle?
I cant seem to find any "general explanation" (concept wise) for how MJO affects the ...
3
votes
0
answers
91
views
Hurricane/Cyclone movement direction
I know that, hurricanes/cyclones move from east to west because they are caught up in the trade winds, which blow from east to west near the equator. Once a hurricane/cyclone moves north of about 30 ...
1
vote
0
answers
64
views
Rossby waves in the atmosphere
I have trouble understanding the Rossby waves in the atmosphere.
Sometimes they are said to be caused by the jets moving from west to east. But the phase velocity of the waves is in the west direction ...
2
votes
1
answer
581
views
Geostrophic wind vs surface wind
According to Buys Ballot's law:
When you stand with your back to the wind in the Northern Hemisphere,
low pressure is always to your left. (In the Southern Hemisphere,
low-pressure systems will be on ...
2
votes
0
answers
67
views
What are the next meteorology breakthroughs? [closed]
It seems to me that not much attention is given to meteorology these days. I am wondering if this is because it is an almost "solved" science in terms of what could be possibly known and ...
17
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Why does the temperature change about every 50-100 meters near hills
So I was in this place called Chamundi hills, Mysore.
I was riding back at around 7pm down hill and noticed this strange behavior. About every 50-100 meters the temperature fluctuated.
It was ...
2
votes
0
answers
56
views
What is the highest recorded temperature on Earth in the place with snowy precipitation? [closed]
Main question: What is the highest recorded temperature in degrees of Celsius during the snow/sleet?
2
votes
0
answers
110
views
Moist adiabatic lapse rate
I asked this question in the Physics SE but it still lies unanswered. Hopefully Earth Science SE is more knowledgeable in the matter.
Wikipedia gives the following equation to calculate the moist ...
3
votes
1
answer
109
views
Why air parcel is on a circular trajectory when considering Coriolis force
According to Coriolis force an air parcel is deflected in the absence of other forces by the acceleration (Holton, 4th Edition):
These equations lead to circular motion.
This figure is from a Matlab ...
1
vote
0
answers
201
views
Forecasted temperature in the shade vs. theoretical "feels-like" temperature in the sun
I understand that different objects absorb different amounts of light (blackbody absorption). I wonder how feasible it would be to calculate the approximate temperature in the sun based upon the ...
4
votes
2
answers
241
views
How much fresh water could be produced by pumping warm humid air through a pipeline up to the top of a mountain?
I have been doing a lot of research on the Internet lately about various desalination processes which are being used today and this led me to begin studying about mountain weather and the orographic ...
1
vote
0
answers
29
views
What would the effect on the weather be if the southern and northern latitudes received 90% less sunlight? [closed]
I had this thought the other day, not as a good idea but as a thought experiment. What would be the effects of putting some kind of sun-blocking satellite/s at the L1 Lagrange point which blocked 90% ...
5
votes
0
answers
121
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 ...
4
votes
2
answers
224
views
Does the cloud pattern in the image have a name?
The image was taken about 5 p.m. in January, 2017.
4
votes
3
answers
252
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 ...
6
votes
3
answers
558
views
What is this warm circle in the middle of Russia?
I noticed on World Weather Map over the last 2 days Russia has had an isolated circular warm spot which seems very uniform and hasn't changed for at least 2 days: see here and in below image.
Any ...
2
votes
1
answer
61
views
How can speed of geostrophic wind change when forces are always perpendicular to speed?
Equation for acceleration of an air parcel is
$$D \vec U/Dt = -2 \vec \omega \times \vec U -\frac{1}{\rho} \vec \nabla p + \vec g$$
Now, for geostrophic wind, U is parallel to the contour lines of ...
2
votes
1
answer
58
views
What does the index "p" mean in the gradient of geopotential in pressure coordinates?
Currently I hear a series of tutorial videos on atmospheric dynamics as a first starting preparation for reading more detailed material, such as Holton. In particular I refer to this part:
https://www....
4
votes
0
answers
124
views
Book on atmosphere dynamics
I plan to study a good introductory book on atmospheric dynamics:
which one is more recommended? My background is a university degree in physics, but I'm new to meteorology.
An Introduction to
...
7
votes
2
answers
768
views
Why does Earth's atmosphere have a whiter color near the horizon?
Why does Earth's atmosphere have a whiter color (paler) near the horizon? (on a clear, cloudless day when the sun is highest in the sky)?
The amount of air being greater in this direction, why is the ...
2
votes
0
answers
240
views
Why are nocturnal winter clouds so bright or so easily illuminated at night, compared to clouds in the summer?
In the winter when it's overcast, clouds at night are much brighter or more easily illuminated (unsure if they appear above cities/towns only) than in summer, making them look orange at night. I don't ...
6
votes
1
answer
643
views
Why is the eastern United States green if the wind moves from west to east?
I was always under the impression that evaporated water from the Atlantic Ocean traveled west to hydrate the eastern U.S. and that not only did the western U.S. have to deal with rain shadows from ...
2
votes
0
answers
112
views
Why is the quantity "Geopotential" important in meteorology?
So far I understood, geopotential $\Phi$ is just defined by
$$\vec \nabla \phi = \vec g$$
But because g can be taken to be constant within troposphere, it is nothing but
$$\Phi(z) = g \cdot z + C$$
So ...
3
votes
1
answer
272
views
How is centrifugal force identified in equations of fluid motion in the rotating reference system of earth?
I spent already days on the following: In one of my meteorology scripts the equations for conservation of momentum in the rotation reference system of earth are given by:
The apparent forces are in ...
6
votes
2
answers
379
views
Weather Forecast prediction accuracy metric
I'm looking to better understand the following statement on the reliability of weather forecasts from NOAA's SciJink:
A seven-day forecast can accurately predict the weather about 80
percent of the ...
2
votes
1
answer
152
views
Where can I find high-resolution, historic weather data for urban areas (like ERA5 but higher spatial resolution)?
Pretty much what the title says. For my work I need historic (at least starting 2010), atmospheric weather data (mostly temperature at 2m, wind velocity and direction, humidity respectively dewpoint, ...
4
votes
0
answers
1k
views
How to calculate the moist adiabatic lapse rate?
I'm trying to calculate the saturated moist adiabatic lapse rate with the following formula:
$L_m = \frac{y_d}{1+\frac{L_v}{c_p}\frac{d_q(s)}{dT}}$
with:
$y_d = 9.8 (K\ km^{-1})\\\\$,
$L_v = 2.5*10^6 ...
3
votes
0
answers
269
views
How can a single layer atmospheric model for the greenhouse effect be consistent with adiabatic temperature gradient and optical depth considerations?
I'm completely lost...In an elementary course on meteorology, we recently learned how to explain the greenhouse effect in terms of a simple single-layer atmosphere model.
Based on the image below ...
2
votes
0
answers
40
views
Under which conditions would you see the MOST lake effect precipitation?
It's well known that the Great Lakes produce large amounts of precipitation in the Fall. When cold polar air moves over the lakes it causes large amounts of relatively warm moist air to rise, ...
3
votes
1
answer
90
views
What are the main differences between the reference temperature and the average air temperature?
Last week when I was dealing with the North American Multi-Model Ensemble (NMME) seasonal forecasting system, a variable named “tref,” or Reference Temperature, caught my attention.
I read some ...
3
votes
0
answers
78
views
Question on BRN Shear
The BRN Shear, which is the denominator of the bulk Richardson number, a parameter used in severe weather forecasting (described here), is (from Stull's Practical Meteorology):
$$\mathrm{BRN\;Shear} = ...
4
votes
1
answer
78
views
Why south of Japan has a zone with winds facing each other?
This is an image of the wind in est Asia, south of Japan.
How do you explain this zone I circled in pink, where winds from north and south face each other? Thanks
3
votes
0
answers
82
views
Meteorology and Deep Learning, where to start?
I come from a background in research in pure Mathematics and, after a period of self-learning, I am currently looking for a career in Deep Learning. I recently applied for a job in Deep Learning and ...
4
votes
0
answers
117
views
Highest amount of sun hours in the ocean
Solar panels create electricity from (sun)light. It stands to reason that more hours of light equals more electricity. This is a gross simplification of the problem, as light strength, heat, how ...