CIMSS

Today at the CIMSS online Weather Camp we had two broadcast meteorologists join us. Dr. Matt Sitkowski from The Weather Channel and Emma Hietpas from WKOW here in Madison. The students learned about the varied career paths of both of our speakers along with the joys and challenges of presenting weather information live on-air.

There has been a lot of effort recently to better understand the dynamics associated with vortex alignment in hurricanes and it's role in rapid intensification. Alex DesRosiers from the National Academy of Sciences dropped by our online CIMSS Weather Camp just yesterday to share some of his research on this very topic with our 55 high school students. All this weak CIMSS is conducting this online Weather Camp to give students an opportunity to learn about the science of hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms and other weather topics. Each day features a guest speaker from a sub-specialty in meteorology.

NOAA Hurricane Hunter Radar Scans Reveal Vortex Alignment Patterns A new NOAA-led study drawing on nearly three decades of Hurricane Hunter airborne radar data has pinpointed four storm characteristics that signal when a tropical cyclone is likely to achieve vertical alignment and undergo rapid intensification, offering forecasters earlier warning tools.

Here is a nice example of value added by commercial weather satellites along with the collaboration with NOAA through the Commercial Data Program (CDP). Typhoon Dolphin is currently undergoing rapid intensification on it's way to a likely powerful super typhoon. There have been no recent microwave passes since the 0743Z SSMIS F-16 pass which did show a developing eyewall and good banding. CIMSS gets the data from NOAA through the CDP to provide value added tropical cyclone products. Two Tomorrow.io TMS passes came in at 1103Z (TMS09) and 1116Z (TMS06) that provided estimates of 105 knots, 20 knots higher than the 80 knot best track intensity (dashed line below) at the time from JTWC. These support the ongoing rapid intensification from 60 to 100 knots in 12 hours. JTWC is now at 100 knots in agreement with these estimates putting that estimate well above the subjective Dvorak estimates which ranged from 77-90 knots. This also underscore the idea that tropical cyclone analysis is a multi-spectral problem requiring multiple types of satellites and sensors/frequencies. A single satellite image rarely tells the full story.

How can you tell whether the air is comfortable? What does wet bulb temperature mean? Ask the Weather Guys!

What is the wet-bulb temperature? The wet-bulb temperature is the lowest temperature to which unsaturated air can be cooled by ev***rating liquid water into it.This may sound horribly obscure, but it serves as a very useful measure of human comfort. It combines atmospheric humidity and temperature in a way that helps determine our c...

Can we get forecasts for fires? Ask the Weather Guys!

Does NOAA conduct fire weather forecasting? Wildfire outbreaks require the alignment of several factors, including temperature, humidity, winds and the lack of moisture in fuels such as trees, shrubs and grasses. These factors have strong direct or indirect ties to current weather, climate variability and climate change. The National Oceanic....

What's a "wake low"? Ask the Weather Guys!

What is a “wake low”? Wake lows are short-lived mesoscale phenomena. Mesoscale weather ranges from about 5 kilometers to 1,000 kilometers in size.Wake lows are relatively uncommon. They produce strong winds after a storm moves out. The term

Our product that helps identify Saharan Air Layer events showed up in this story below. This is the time of year that these outbreaks can make it into the US causing respiratory issues. NASA's GEOS model that can show the transport of dust indicates that a more significant plume of dust will impact Florida in about 5 days then Texas next week. These events also mark very dry air that tends to suppress hurricane activity. MSN

Massive cloud of Saharan dust set to engulf parts of the US in days with lung-penetrating particles A giant dust plume from the Sahara Desert is making landfall in the US in the coming days. The plume is carrying fine particles that can cause health issues when breathed in.

How does wind shear affect thunderstorm development? Ask the Weather Guys!

What causes a thunderstorm? Thunderstorm development requires three basic ingredients: moisture, unstable air and upward motion.Moisture comes from regions like oceans, lakes and vegetation that provide the water v***r necessary for cloud formation and precipitation. Continue reading →

The first Atlantic storm of the season has formed with Tropical Storm Arthur. Sustained winds are 45 mph mainly in the heavy thunderstorm activity that located well to the east of the center. The poorly organized center seen via visible satellite imagery is right along the Texas coast. Note there is not much thunderstorm activity associated with that swirl of clouds. Station KGVW an oil platform off the coast of Galveston has reported hurricane force wind gusts though the anemometer is higher than the standard 10 meters at 37 meters. The primary threat with this system continues to be heavy rainfall and a tornado threat.