Review and Weird Weather
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REVIEW AND WEIRD WEATHER Weather processes such as wind, clouds, and precipitation are all the result of the atmosphere responding to uneven heating of the Earth by the Sun. The uneven heating causes temperature differences, which in turn cause air currents (wind) to develop, which then move heat from where there is more heat (higher temperatures) to where there is less heat (lower temperatures). The atmosphere thus becomes a giant "heat engine", continuously driven by the sun. High and low pressure areas, wind, clouds, and precipitation systems are all caused, either directly or indirectly, by this uneven heating and the resulting heat redistribution processes. BUT WHAT CAUSES WEATHER? This all interacts together to create fronts, clouds, precipitation, wind And sometimes extreme weather etc. creates some very odd phenomenon indeed… What we think of as weather... WEIRD WEATHER!!!!! TORNADO–BOW? • SEEING EITHER A TORNADO OR, TO A LESSER EXTENT, A RAINBOW, IS A RARE SIGHT. • ON MARCH 9, 2017, A GHOSTLY- WHITE TORNADO ALIGNED WITH A RAINBOW FOR AT LEAST A FEW MINUTES IN THE BAVARIAN TOWN OF KÜRNACH, ABOUT 60 MILES EAST- SOUTHEAST OF FRANKFURT. HURRICANE PATRICIA • IF THE STRONGEST HURRICANE ON RECORD IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE WAS HEADED FOR A LANDFALL, YOU MIGHT FEAR FOR THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS, IF NOT THOUSANDS IN ITS PATH. • AT ITS PEAK, HURRICANE PATRICIA PACKED MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 346KM/HR (215 MPH) IN LATE OCTOBER 2015 OFF THE SOUTHWEST MEXICAN COAST. IT'S LOWEST CENTRAL PRESSURE WAS LATER FOUND TO BOTTOM OUT AT 872 MILLIBARS, ONLY 2 MILLIBARS FROM THE GLOBAL RECORD SET BY SUPER TYPHOON TIP IN 1979. • STILL POWERFUL, PATRICIA WEAKENED TO A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL BUT DID SO IN A RATHER SPARSELY POPULATED AREA NORTH OF MANZANILLO, MEXICO. • "HAD THE CENTER JOGGED ONLY 20-30 MILES EAST, THE CORE WOULD'VE BEEN OVER AN AREA WITH 10 TIMES THE POPULATION DENSITY," SAID MICHAEL LOWRY, UCAR SCIENTIST AND FORMER HURRICANE SPECIALIST WITH THE WEATHER CHANNEL. • PATRICIA'S SMALL WIND FIELD AND THE STEEP OCEAN FLOOR OFFSHORE MEANT IT COULDN'T GENERATE A HUGE STORM SURGE, ACCORDING TO LOWRY. • ONLY TWO DEATHS WERE DIRECTLY ATTRIBUTED TO HURRICANE PATRICIA, FROM A FALLEN TREE ON A CAMPSITE BEFORE AND AFTER 7 TORNADOES IN ONE NIGHT! • ONE NEBRASKA CITY MORE THAN TRIPLED THAT IN ONE AWFUL JUNE EVENING. • SEVEN TORNADOES WERE SPAWNED BY A SINGLE, SLOW-MOVING SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM IN LESS THAN THREE HOURS ON JUNE 3, 1980, IN AND NEAR GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA. • THANKS, IN PART, TO THE PARENT SUPERCELL'S SLOW MOVEMENT, THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO, RATED F4, STRANGELY MOVED FROM EAST OF TOWN WESTWARD INTO THE SOUTH SIDE OF GRAND ISLAND BEFORE TURNING SOUTH. • THE OTHER AREA TORNADOES ALSO TOOK ERRATIC, LOOPY PATHS OVER THEIR PREVIOUS DAMAGE PATHS. • FIVE WERE KILLED AND ANOTHER 193 WERE INJURED, WITH DAMAGE ESTIMATED AROUND $300 MILLION PHOTO FINISH… • THE STORY HERE ISN'T SO MUCH ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF THE PHOTO ABOVE, BUT ITS INCREDIBLE JOURNEY. • A STUDY LED BY UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. JOHN KNOX UTILIZED SOCIAL MEDIA TO TRACK DEBRIS LOFTED BY THE VIOLENT TORNADOES OF THE APRIL 27, 2011 OUTBREAK. • THE TOWN OF PHIL CAMPBELL, ALABAMA, WAS LEVELED BY AN EF5 TORNADO THAT DAY. • AMIDST BUILDINGS SWEPT AWAY LEAVING ONLY THE SLAB FOUNDATION, A CAR WRAPPED AROUND A DEBARKED TREE, AND A SECTION OF HIGHWAY'S PAVEMENT SCOURED AWAY, THE TORNADO SWEPT UP A PHOTO, BEGINNING A 354 KM (220-MILE) TRIP, FALLING BACK TO THE GROUND IN LENOIR CITY, TENNESSEE. • ACCORDING TO THE KNOX, ET AL. STUDY, A SECOND OBJECT FROM PHIL CAMPBELL WAS DEPOSITED NEAR KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE. NOT SO SUNSHINE STATE… • FLORIDA AND SNOW SOUND LIKE POLAR OPPOSITES, BUT IT IS ACTUALLY A TAD LESS RARE IN THE SUNSHINE STATE THAN IT SOUNDS IN NORTH FLORIDA. • HOWEVER, ON JAN. 19, 1977, RESIDENTS AND CANADIAN SNOWBIRDS ESCAPING NORTHERN WINTER WERE SHOCKED TO SEE SNOW FALLING IN SOUTH FLORIDA, INCLUDING MIAMI, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY. • SNOW WAS REPORTED AS FAR SOUTH AS HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA, AND WAS EVEN REPORTED IN FREEPORT, ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND. UNLUCKY ISLAND… • OTHER THAN THE MONTHS-LONG SOAKINGS DURING THE WET PHASE OF THE ASIAN MONSOON IN INDIA, NOWHERE ON EARTH SEES HEAVIER RAINSTORMS THAN LA REUNION ISLAND, A TINY FRENCH ISLAND ABOUT 500 MILES EAST OF MADAGASCAR. • IN MID-LATE JANUARY 1980, TROPICAL CYCLONE HYACINTHE STALLED NEAR THE ISLAND FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS, DUMPING UP TO 608.30 CM (239.49 INCHES, OR ALMOST 20 FEET) OF RAIN IN 15 DAYS. • LA REUNION'S VOLCANIC PEAKS OVER 10,000 FEET PROVIDE STRONG LIFT TO MOIST AIR RAMMING INTO ITS SLOPES. THE ISLAND IS ALSO AT THE CLIMATOLOGICAL LOCATION WHERE INDIAN OCEAN TROPICAL CYCLONES PIVOT FROM A WEST-SOUTHWEST TRACK TO A MORE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST TRACK. SOMETIMES THIS TURN OCCURS PAINFULLY SLOW. • HYACINTHE'S FLOODING KILLED 25 AND LEFT 7,000 RESIDENTS HOMELESS ON THE ISLAND. MEDICANES? • CAN TROPICAL STORMS, EVEN HURRICANES, FORM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA? • ONE ARGUMENT FOR SO-CALLED "MEDICANES" IS THE APPEARANCE OF SOME RECENT STORMS VIA SATELLITE RESEMBLING SMALL HURRICANES, INCLUDING AN EYE. • IN EARLY NOVEMBER 2011, A LOW OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA APPEARED TO HAVE TRANSITIONED TO AT LEAST A SUBTROPICAL STORM, IF NOT A TROPICAL STORM. NOAA/NESDIS DESIGNATED THIS TROPICAL STORM 01M, ALSO CALLED "ROLF," ON NOV. 7. • WEATHER UNDERGROUND'S DR. JEFF MASTERS, HOWEVER, NOTED WATER TEMPERATURES NEAR THE CYCLONE WERE QUITE COLD, ON THE ORDER OF 17ºC (63 FAHRENHEIT), WELL BELOW THE TYPICAL THRESHOLD NEEDED TO MAINTAIN A TROPICAL CYCLONE (USUALLY AROUND 26ºC). • NEVERTHELESS, THE STORM MADE LANDFALL IN SOUTHEAST FRANCE, PRODUCING UP TO TWO FEET OF RAIN, TRIGGERING MAJOR FLOODING IN PARTS OF FRANCE, SPAIN, AND ITALY. TWELVE WERE KILLED. FOURTEEN YEARS OF RAIN IN 24 HOURS • CHILE'S ATACAMA DESERT IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S DRIEST PLACES. THE PORT CITY OF ANTOFAGASTA PICKS UP A MERE 0.07 INCHES OF RAIN A YEAR. • IN LATE MARCH 2015, ANTOFAGASTA PICKED UP ALMOST AN INCH OF RAIN IN 24 HOURS -- 0.96 INCHES, TO BE PRECISE. • WHILE THIS MAY NOT SOUND LIKE MUCH, METEOROLOGIST NICK WILTGEN NOTED, "WITHOUT SOIL AND PLANT COVER TO HELP ABSORB RAINFALL, IT JUST RUNS OFF INSTANTLY AS TORRENTS OF WATER." • UNFORTUNATELY, THIS PROVED DEADLY. • THE TORRENTIAL RAIN FLOODED THE COPIAPO RIVER, CLAIMING AT LEAST NINE LIVES. CHILE'S DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER MAHMUD ALEUY CALLED THE FLOODING "THE WORST RAIN DISASTER TO FALL ON THE NORTH IN 80 YEARS." UPWARD LIGHTNING • UPWARD LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE CAUSED BY A CHARGE SEPARATION BETWEEN CLOUDS AND THE GROUND, WHETHER THAT BE WITHIN CLOUDS, WITHIN A SINGLE CLOUD OR BETWEEN A CLOUD AND THE SURROUNDING AIR. UPWARD DISCHARGES OF LIGHTNING MOST OFTEN OCCUR FROM TOWERS, TALL BUILDINGS OR MOUNTAIN TOPS. THEY ARE USUALLY TRIGGERED BY A RAPID CHANGE IN CHARGES IN THE SKY CAUSED BY A RECENT LIGHTNING STRIKE. • PHOTO: (LSM/CALEB ELLIOTT/THE WEATHER CHANNEL) SLIDING ROCKS OF DEATH VALLEY • THESE SLOW MOVING ROCKS HAVE PUZZLED RESEARCHERS FOR YEARS; THE TRAILS THEY LEAVE BEHIND CAN BE STRAIGHT, OR THEY CAN CURVE. SOMETIMES, TWO TRAILS RUN ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER. (NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER/FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS) MYSTERY SOLVED? • A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS FROM THE SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY AT UC SAN DIEGO DECIDED THEY WERE GOING TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY ONCE AND FOR ALL. IN THE WINTER OF 2011, THEY BROUGHT IN A HIGH-RESOLUTION WEATHER STATION TO MEASURE WIND AT ONE-SECOND INTERVALS, AND BROUGHT IN 15 ROCKS FITTED WITH GPS DEVICES (SINCE THE NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO USE THE NATIVE ROCKS). • SINCE THE STONES MOVE SO RARELY, THOUGH -- MAYBE ONCE EVERY 10 YEARS -- THEY WERE PREPARED TO SETTLE IN FOR A LONG WAIT. HOWEVER, THEY HAD A STROKE OF LUCK. STUDY CO-AUTHORS JIM NORRIS AND RICHARD NORRIS VISITED THE SITE IN DECEMBER 2013 TO DISCOVER THE PLAYA COVERED IN WATER 3IN (7CM) DEEP. AS IT TURNS OUT, THE MOVEMENT REQUIRES THE PERFECT CONCATENATION OF EVENTS. FIRST, THE PLAYA HAS TO FILL WITH WATER, WHICH MUST BE DEEP ENOUGH TO FORM FLOATING ICE DURING WINTER, BUT STILL SHALLOW ENOUGH THAT THE ROCKS ARE EXPOSED. WHEN THE TEMPERATURE DROPS AT NIGHT, THIS POND FREEZES INTO THIN SHEETS OF "WINDOWPANE" ICE, WHICH THEN MUST BE THICK ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN STRENGTH, BUT THIN ENOUGH TO MOVE FREELY. FIRE TORNADOES • FIRE-TORNADOES CAN BE PRETTY SCARY WHEN THEY APPEAR, NOT TO MENTION INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS. THEY EMERGE WHEN A TORNADO SPINS TOO CLOSE TO A FOREST FIRE, OR WHEN A LOT OF HEAT FROM BURNING TREES OR A HILLSIDE SHIFT AGAINST COMPETING AIR TEMPERATURES AND SPEEDS TO CAUSE OF WHIRL OF FLAMES. ALTHOUGH THEY TEND TO EXTINGUISH BY THEMSELVES QUITE QUICKLY, SOME CAN LAST A LONG TIME IF THE HEAT AND SURROUNDING GASSES ARE ABLE TO STAY AFLOAT. • PHOTO: (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE HEADQUARTERS/WIKIMEDIA) DUST STORMS • STRONG WINDS PERSISTENTLY GUSTING IN EXCESS OF 60MPH OVER DRY SOILS TEND TO RESULT IN A DUST STORM. USUALLY FORMING IN LARGE-SCALE DUSTY AREAS, THEY CAN CARRY SMALL PARTICLES OF DUST AND DEBRIS ACROSS VAST DISTANCES, CAUSING HAZARDOUS RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS AND DANGEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. (KCBD COMMUNITIES/FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS) RAINING FISH? TOADS, FISH, FROGS, SPIDERS, BIRDS… • RAINING ANIMALS IS A RARE • RAIN OF FLIGHTLESS ANIMALS AND THINGS METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENON IN WHICH HAS BEEN REPORTED THROUGHOUT FLIGHTLESS ANIMALS FALL FROM THE SKY. HISTORY. SUCH OCCURRENCES HAVE BEEN REPORTED • IN THE FIRST CENTURY ROMAN IN MANY COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT NATURALIST PLINY THE ELDER HISTORY. ONE HYPOTHESIS IS THAT DOCUMENTED STORMS OF FROGS AND FISH. TORNADIC WATERSPOUTS SOMETIMES PICK • IN 1794, FRENCH SOLDIERS WITNESSED UP CREATURES SUCH AS FISH OR FROGS, TOADS FALL FROM THE SKY DURING HEAVY AND CARRY THEM FOR UP TO SEVERAL RAIN AT LALAIN, NEAR THE FRENCH CITY OF MILES.