Forecasting 101: Tornadoes and Severe Storms

With tornado season really starting to rev up, I thought that I would give you all a 101 on tornadoes. First of all a tornado is a rotating column of air that extends from the ground to the cloud.
 
Tornado is such a common word heard all around the United States, but believe it or not tornadoes occur almost every where around the world as well. In fact, New Zealand reports about 20 tornadoes per year.

Although it is not fully understood how tornadoes form, we do know that the most destructive tornadoes form within a rotating supercell thunderstorm. Basically, what I mean is that if thunderstorm is rotating, so there is a good chance that other things with in the thunderstorm are rotating as well.

Now when the Storm Prediction Center, SPC, issues a tornado watch, this means that the conditions are FAVORABLE for a supercell thunderstorm to form and possibly a tornado. When a tornado warning is issued this means that a tornado has either been sighted or indicated by radar or a funnel cloud has been sighted. When a tornado warning is issued for your area take cover immediately!!

So what can you do if you are outside with no radar... look to the clouds of course! I am going to show you two different clouds to look for the first is called a Wall Cloud, which is pictured below. The second picture below I took, it is also of a wall cloud, it is just not as well defined as the first one. If you see this get ready it's about to get nasty!



Another cloud that could mean that severe weather is on the way are called Mammatus clouds. While, you can see mammatus clouds without severe weather. If you know that there could be severe weather that day and you see these clouds, get ready for a nasty storm to roll on through. Remember also that these clouds can be seen after a storm as well! I also put one of my pictures that I took of some mammatus clouds.

Photo From:
dvice.com
wunderground.com
wiki.com

Myth: Wearing metal on your body attracts lightning.

Myth: Wearing metal on your body (jewelry, watches, glasses, backpacks, etc.), attracts lightning.
 
Answer: While metal is a conductor of electricity, wearing metal does not increase your chances of being struck by lightning.

The Science: Isolation, height and a pointy shape are the biggest factors when lightning finds the easiest path to the ground. So wearing jewelry virtually has no effect on whether you get struck by lightning. However, metal fences, bleachers and metal railings are probable not the best thing to be by when a lightning storm hits.  

Photo From:
psychoactif.blogspot.com

Wacky Weather: Flooding in the Plain States

A combination of a couple of big rain producing low pressure systems and snow melting has been causing many rivers in the MidWest to rise over there banks. In St. Louis, Missouri the Mississippi river is 10 to 12 feet above flood stage. If you are concerned about flooding in your area check out the Hydrological Prediction Center or you can visit NWS River Forecast site. 



Photo From:
usatoday.com

Myth: If Trapped Outside And Lightning Is About To Strike, I Should Lie Flat On The Ground

Myth: If Trapped Outside And Lightning Is About To Strike, I Should Lie Flat On The Ground.
 






Answer: Please don't! Continue moving to your shelter or crouch down.

The Science: When lightning strikes the ground the electric currents travels along the top of the ground, and the this electric current can be deadly over 100 feet away. Look at the picture above, this is picturing a ground lightning strike. While lying flat on the ground gets you as low as possible, it increases your chance of being hit by a ground current. The best thing if you cannot reach a shelter would be a combination of being low and touching the ground as little as possible. Meteorologist call this the 'lightning crouch': put your feet together, squat low, tuck your head, and cover your ears.

Photo/ Info From:
srh.noaa.gov

Wacky Weather: Third Spring/ Winter Storm On It's Way

Man spring is taking its sweet time warming the northern states up. This will be our third week in a row (in APRIL I might add) that we are talking about snow showers. And I am not sure if April snow showers will bring May flowers. However, I do know that "cold temperatures" records and "Snowiest Aprils" records are in jeopardy as we head in to next week. Last weeks storm brought 30" of snow in some areas of the upper MidWest, and this next storm should be just as intense. As far a cold temperatures, Fargo, North Dakota has yet to get above 50 degrees Fahrenheit this year, and doesn't look like Fargo will be getting out of the 40's till at least next week. Brrrr!!  I also found a comparison of what the snow depths are today and what they were a year ago.
 

Also remember spring time storms that bring snow to the north mean storm conditions down south. Look out for a tornado outbreak. 

Photo/ Info From:
wundergound.com

Myth: Open Your Windows When A Tornado Is Coming

Myth: Opening your windows when a tornado is coming will equalize the pressure in your house. If you do not open your windows, they will shatter from the intense pressure. 

Answer: This is quite false.

The Science: Although there are many forces at work when a tornado is formed, your windows would have to endure at least 100 to 200 mph winds surrounding the vortex of the tornado to experience the extreme low pressure of a tornado. With that being said, please keep your window close during a tornado threat. Tornadoes are know for throwing large debris that can be very dangerous like the piece of wood that is sticking out of the building above, so opening your window will only allow more debris to enter your home.

I hope everyone is having a lovely Monday!

Photo From:
stormchaser.ca

Wacky Weather: Spring Storm to Bring Alll Sorts of Weather

This strong mid-April storm is bring all kinds of weather across the lower 48. Moving slowly across the country, this storm is producing tornadoes to the south and heavy snow to the north. Below is a forecast map from the National Weather Service. And this storm is going to be moving to the east as the week ends.

Forecasting 101: Wind Chill

Wind Chill is basically an equation that combines the actual temperature and wind speed. Why do we care about Wind Chill, well because the faster the wind blows the faster exposed areas of our body lose heat. Which means that frost bite and hypothermia could occur more quickly then if the winds were calm.
 
Wind Chill is usually calculated with this chart provided by the National Weather Service. Wind Chill is usually given in a range because first you have to predict the temperature for the forecast time and then predict how fast the wind will be blowing. 

Hope you have fun using this chart next time it gets cold and windy!!


Photo/Info From:
noaa.gov
meted.ucar.edu

Originally published on Jan. 15th, 2013

Myth: Manure Piles Smell Stronger Just Before It Rains

Myth: Ditches and manure piles have a more potent smell just before it rains.

Answer: Yes, they do in fact!

The Science: Believe it or not, a foul smell in the air can be an inkling of whether precipitation is in the near future or not. Does it smell like compost? Or does a manure pile smell more than it usually does? When a storm system is approaching, plants will release their waste which can make it smell like compost. Swamps will also release gasses, in loom of an approaching storm, which can lead to unpleasant smells. Plants, swamps, and manure piles do this because of the pressure drop from the approaching storm.


Photo From:
gardeningknowhow.com

Friday: Get Ready It Is The 17th Year

That's right it's the Cicadas! The offspring of the cicadas seen when Bill Clinton was president will be emerging from the ground this spring and summer. Although they don't affect the weather, they will be affecting our day to day activity. I was looking forward to the warm weather but now that I know that these guys will come with it... I'll take back any mean things I said about the cold weather.

Once the temperature get consistently above 64 degrees Fahrenheit, the cicadas will start to emerge from the ground. States who will see as many as 1 million cicadas per square mile include: Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Although cicadas are concentrated in the East other areas of the country can see these huge bugs as well. So in other words get prepared for the humming and buzzing the 17 year Locust is coming this year. I found this site, cicadamania.com, was super helpful in protecting young shrubs and such.

Photo From:
nationalgeographic.com

Throwback: April Fool's Blizzard

This April Fool's Day we all enjoyed opening day of Baseball, however, sixteen years ago in 1997 a late-season snowstorm dropped three feet of snow in some place along the eastern seaboard. Due to the date that the storm fell on people took the warnings less seriously, because they thought is was a prank. Many called it a "Mother Natures April Fool's Joke". Also because the snow storm was so late in the season most of the plows were stored for the summer and shovels were put back into storage. Despite the late of readiness from the public there were only four storm related deaths, three of which were heart attacks from shoveling. Below is Fenway Park in Boston, buried in 24 inches of snow. I also put a figure from the National Weather Service that shows who got the most snow from this storm.



Photo From:
noaa.gov
wcvb.com
politico.com

Wacky Weather: Dust From China Reaches California

Dust from China's Gobi Desert has drifted thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean to central California. The harsh dust storm that occurred in China on March 10th and created dangerously high pollution levels in Eastern China. You can see the dust storm from the NASA Satellite, note the sweeping light brown color, that is the dust. About ten days later the Air Pollution Control District reported some dust in the Owens Valley, which is just east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.


Photo and Info From:
nasa.gov
nbcnews.com

Forecasting 101: Fronts

The boundary between two air masses is called a front. (If you missed last weeks air masses forecasting 101 click on the link.) Today I am going to cover three of the basic types of surface fronts that occur, which include Cold Fronts, Warm Fronts, and Stationary Fronts.

Cold Fronts
A Cold Front is when cooler air is advancing into an area with warm air. Cold fronts are denoted by a blue line with triangles on it. Cold fronts can cause thunderstorms and rain to form at or around the front. The photo below is a cross section view of what is happening at the surface when a cold front is moving into warmer air.

Below is a photo of what a typical cold front would look like if your weatherman was show it on television. 



Warm Fronts
A Warm Front is when warm air is advancing towards an air who's current temperatures are cooler.  A warm front is represented by a red line with half circles. Fun fact, all of the fronts will point in the direction that they are moving. Look at the picture above see how the blue triangles are pointed to the east, well that is the direction the front is moving.  Anyway a warm front can also produce showers and storms at its boundary. I found a cross section of a warm front advancing into cooler air, take a look below.


Stationary Fronts
The last type of front I am going to cover is called a Stationary Front. A stationary front occurs when the boundary of a cool and warm air mass isn't moving in on direction or another, therefore it is "stationary". I found a picture the perfectly describes what is occurring. Also a stationary front is denoted by an alternating warm front and cold front symbol, represented below. Precipitation is often found at this type of air mass boundary as well.
 

These are your main fronts that occur most often. Maybe I'll cover some of the special types of fronts later. 


Photos From:
blogs.wdtn.com
yourweatherblog.com 
rossway.net
sir-ray.com

Myth: If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion.

Myth: If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion. This basically means that if there are harsh temperatures and bad weather in the beginning of March, then by the end of the month things should be better. 
 

Answer: There is not a sufficient amount of evidence to say this myth is true.  

The Science: March has such variable weather, from snow storms to 70 degree weather, that makes it hard to put the data behind the truth of this myth. The ever changing weather of March is what holds this myth true in some years and not in others. Basically, it is just the luck of the draw. This myth is simply more of a rhyme then fact.     

Photo From:
schools.msd.k12.or.us