NWS Unified Surface Analysis Manual
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Air Masses and Fronts
CHAPTER 4 AIR MASSES AND FRONTS Temperature, in the form of heating and cooling, contrasts and produces a homogeneous mass of air. The plays a key roll in our atmosphere’s circulation. energy supplied to Earth’s surface from the Sun is Heating and cooling is also the key in the formation of distributed to the air mass by convection, radiation, and various air masses. These air masses, because of conduction. temperature contrast, ultimately result in the formation Another condition necessary for air mass formation of frontal systems. The air masses and frontal systems, is equilibrium between ground and air. This is however, could not move significantly without the established by a combination of the following interplay of low-pressure systems (cyclones). processes: (1) turbulent-convective transport of heat Some regions of Earth have weak pressure upward into the higher levels of the air; (2) cooling of gradients at times that allow for little air movement. air by radiation loss of heat; and (3) transport of heat by Therefore, the air lying over these regions eventually evaporation and condensation processes. takes on the certain characteristics of temperature and The fastest and most effective process involved in moisture normal to that region. Ultimately, air masses establishing equilibrium is the turbulent-convective with these specific characteristics (warm, cold, moist, transport of heat upwards. The slowest and least or dry) develop. Because of the existence of cyclones effective process is radiation. and other factors aloft, these air masses are eventually subject to some movement that forces them together. During radiation and turbulent-convective When these air masses are forced together, fronts processes, evaporation and condensation contribute in develop between them. -
Surface Cyclolysis in the North Pacific Ocean. Part I
748 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW VOLUME 129 Surface Cyclolysis in the North Paci®c Ocean. Part I: A Synoptic Climatology JONATHAN E. MARTIN,RHETT D. GRAUMAN, AND NATHAN MARSILI Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of WisconsinÐMadison, Madison, Wisconsin (Manuscript received 20 January 2000, in ®nal form 16 August 2000) ABSTRACT A continuous 11-yr sample of extratropical cyclones in the North Paci®c Ocean is used to construct a synoptic climatology of surface cyclolysis in the region. The analysis concentrates on the small population of all decaying cyclones that experience at least one 12-h period in which the sea level pressure increases by 9 hPa or more. Such periods are de®ned as threshold ®lling periods (TFPs). A subset of TFPs, referred to as rapid cyclolysis periods (RCPs), characterized by sea level pressure increases of at least 12 hPa in 12 h, is also considered. The geographical distribution, spectrum of decay rates, and the interannual variability in the number of TFP and RCP cyclones are presented. The Gulf of Alaska and Paci®c Northwest are found to be primary regions for moderate to rapid cyclolysis with a secondary frequency maximum in the Bering Sea. Moderate to rapid cyclolysis is found to be predominantly a cold season phenomena most likely to occur in a cyclone with an initially low sea level pressure minimum. The number of TFP±RCP cyclones in the North Paci®c basin in a given year is fairly well correlated with the phase of the El NinÄo±Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as measured by the multivariate ENSO index. -
Soaring Weather
Chapter 16 SOARING WEATHER While horse racing may be the "Sport of Kings," of the craft depends on the weather and the skill soaring may be considered the "King of Sports." of the pilot. Forward thrust comes from gliding Soaring bears the relationship to flying that sailing downward relative to the air the same as thrust bears to power boating. Soaring has made notable is developed in a power-off glide by a conven contributions to meteorology. For example, soar tional aircraft. Therefore, to gain or maintain ing pilots have probed thunderstorms and moun altitude, the soaring pilot must rely on upward tain waves with findings that have made flying motion of the air. safer for all pilots. However, soaring is primarily To a sailplane pilot, "lift" means the rate of recreational. climb he can achieve in an up-current, while "sink" A sailplane must have auxiliary power to be denotes his rate of descent in a downdraft or in come airborne such as a winch, a ground tow, or neutral air. "Zero sink" means that upward cur a tow by a powered aircraft. Once the sailcraft is rents are just strong enough to enable him to hold airborne and the tow cable released, performance altitude but not to climb. Sailplanes are highly 171 r efficient machines; a sink rate of a mere 2 feet per second. There is no point in trying to soar until second provides an airspeed of about 40 knots, and weather conditions favor vertical speeds greater a sink rate of 6 feet per second gives an airspeed than the minimum sink rate of the aircraft. -
International Agencies O World Meteorological Organization (Https
International Agencies o World Meteorological Organization (https://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html) o WMO Regional Climate Centers (http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/wcp/wcasp/rcc/rcc.php) o World Air Quality Index (http://waqi.info) o International Research Institute for Climate and Society (https://iri.columbia.edu/) o Climate Research Institute (http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk) o Australia Bureau of Meteorology (http://www.bom.gov.au) o Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Studies (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu) U.S. Agencies National Centers for Environmental prediction (https://www.ncep.noaa.gov) o Aviation Weather Center (https://aviationweather.gov o Climate Prediction Center (http://www.cpc.noaa.gov) o Environmental Modeling Center (http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov) o National Hurricane Center (www.nhc.noaa.gov) o Ocean Prediction Center (http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov) o Space Weather Prediction Center (https://www.swpc.noaa.gov) o Storm Prediction Center (www.spc.noaa.gov) o Weather Prediction Center (www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (https://noaa.gov) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov) Formerly National Geophysical Data Center and National Climate Data Center National Severe Storms Laboratory (http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/) National Snow and Ice Data Center (http://nsidc.org/) National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (www.nohrsc.noaa.gov) National Drought Mitigation Center (https://drought.unl.edu/) National Environmental Satellite, Data, & Information Service -
Weather Charts Natural History Museum of Utah – Nature Unleashed Stefan Brems
Weather Charts Natural History Museum of Utah – Nature Unleashed Stefan Brems Across the world, many different charts of different formats are used by different governments. These charts can be anything from a simple prognostic chart, used to convey weather forecasts in a simple to read visual manner to the much more complex Wind and Temperature charts used by meteorologists and pilots to determine current and forecast weather conditions at high altitudes. When used properly these charts can be the key to accurately determining the weather conditions in the near future. This Write-Up will provide a brief introduction to several common types of charts. Prognostic Charts To the untrained eye, this chart looks like a strange piece of modern art that an angry mathematician scribbled numbers on. However, this chart is an extremely important resource when evaluating the movement of weather fronts and pressure areas. Fronts Depicted on the chart are weather front combined into four categories; Warm Fronts, Cold Fronts, Stationary Fronts and Occluded Fronts. Warm fronts are depicted by red line with red semi-circles covering one edge. The front movement is indicated by the direction the semi- circles are pointing. The front follows the Semi-Circles. Since the example above has the semi-circles on the top, the front would be indicated as moving up. Cold fronts are depicted as a blue line with blue triangles along one side. Like warm fronts, the direction in which the blue triangles are pointing dictates the direction of the cold front. Stationary fronts are frontal systems which have stalled and are no longer moving. -
Cloud Characteristics, Thermodynamic Controls and Radiative Impacts During the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (Goamazon2014/5) Experiment
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14519–14541, 2017 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14519-2017 © Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Cloud characteristics, thermodynamic controls and radiative impacts during the Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) experiment Scott E. Giangrande1, Zhe Feng2, Michael P. Jensen1, Jennifer M. Comstock1, Karen L. Johnson1, Tami Toto1, Meng Wang1, Casey Burleyson2, Nitin Bharadwaj2, Fan Mei2, Luiz A. T. Machado3, Antonio O. Manzi4, Shaocheng Xie5, Shuaiqi Tang5, Maria Assuncao F. Silva Dias6, Rodrigo A. F de Souza7, Courtney Schumacher8, and Scot T. Martin9 1Environmental and Climate Sciences Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA 2Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA 3National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, Brazil 4National Institute of Amazonian Research, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil 5Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA 6University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Brazil 7State University of Amazonas (UEA), Meteorology, Manaus, Brazil 8Texas A&M University, College Station, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, TX, USA 9Harvard University, Cambridge, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, MA, USA Correspondence to: Scott E. Giangrande ([email protected]) Received: 12 May 2017 – Discussion started: 24 May 2017 Revised: 30 August 2017 – Accepted: 11 September 2017 – Published: 6 December 2017 Abstract. Routine cloud, precipitation and thermodynamic 1 Introduction observations collected by the Atmospheric Radiation Mea- surement (ARM) Mobile Facility (AMF) and Aerial Facility The simulation of clouds and the representation of cloud (AAF) during the 2-year US Department of Energy (DOE) processes and associated feedbacks in global climate mod- ARM Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Ama- els (GCMs) remains the largest source of uncertainty in zon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign are summarized. -
History of Frontal Concepts Tn Meteorology
HISTORY OF FRONTAL CONCEPTS TN METEOROLOGY: THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE NORWEGIAN THEORY by Gardner Perry III Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June, 1961 Signature of'Author . ~ . ........ Department of Humangties, May 17, 1959 Certified by . v/ .-- '-- -T * ~ . ..... Thesis Supervisor Accepted by Chairman0 0 e 0 o mmite0 0 Chairman, Departmental Committee on Theses II ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research for and the development of this thesis could not have been nearly as complete as it is without the assistance of innumerable persons; to any that I may have momentarily forgotten, my sincerest apologies. Conversations with Professors Giorgio de Santilw lana and Huston Smith provided many helpful and stimulat- ing thoughts. Professor Frederick Sanders injected thought pro- voking and clarifying comments at precisely the correct moments. This contribution has proven invaluable. The personnel of the following libraries were most cooperative with my many requests for assistance: Human- ities Library (M.I.T.), Science Library (M.I.T.), Engineer- ing Library (M.I.T.), Gordon MacKay Library (Harvard), and the Weather Bureau Library (Suitland, Md.). Also, the American Meteorological Society and Mr. David Ludlum were helpful in suggesting sources of material. In getting through the myriad of minor technical details Professor Roy Lamson and Mrs. Blender were indis-. pensable. And finally, whatever typing that I could not find time to do my wife, Mary, has willingly done. ABSTRACT The frontal concept, as developed by the Norwegian Meteorologists, is the foundation of modern synoptic mete- orology. The Norwegian theory, when presented, was rapidly accepted by the world's meteorologists, even though its several precursors had been rejected or Ignored. -
Effect of Wind on Near-Shore Breaking Waves
EFFECT OF WIND ON NEAR-SHORE BREAKING WAVES by Faydra Schaffer A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The College of Engineering and Computer Science in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida December 2010 Copyright by Faydra Schaffer 2010 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to thank her mother and family for their love and encouragement to go to college and be able to have the opportunity to work on this project. The author is grateful to her advisor for sponsoring her work on this project and helping her to earn a master’s degree. iv ABSTRACT Author: Faydra Schaffer Title: Effect of wind on near-shore breaking waves Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Manhar Dhanak Degree: Master of Science Year: 2010 The aim of this project is to identify the effect of wind on near-shore breaking waves. A breaking wave was created using a simulated beach slope configuration. Testing was done on two different beach slope configurations. The effect of offshore winds of varying speeds was considered. Waves of various frequencies and heights were considered. A parametric study was carried out. The experiments took place in the Hydrodynamics lab at FAU Boca Raton campus. The experimental data validates the knowledge we currently know about breaking waves. Offshore winds effect is known to increase the breaking height of a plunging wave, while also decreasing the breaking water depth, causing the wave to break further inland. Offshore winds cause spilling waves to react more like plunging waves, therefore increasing the height of the spilling wave while consequently decreasing the breaking water depth. -
Weather Maps
Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________ Student Exploration: Weather Maps Vocabulary: air mass, air pressure, cold front, high-pressure system, knot, low-pressure system, precipitation, warm front Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. How would you describe your weather today? ____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 2. What information is important to include when you are describing the weather? __________ _________________________________________________________________________ Gizmo Warm-up Data on weather conditions is gathered from weather stations all over the world. This information is combined with satellite and radar images to create weather maps that show current conditions. With the Weather Maps Gizmo, you will use this information to interpret a variety of common weather patterns. A weather station symbol, shown at right, summarizes the weather conditions at a location. 1. The amount of cloud cover is shown by filling in the circle. A black circle indicates completely overcast conditions, while a white circle indicates a clear sky. What percentage of cloud cover is indicated on the symbol above? ____________________ 2. Look at the “tail” that is sticking out from the circle. The tail points to where the wind is coming from. If the tail points north, a north wind is moving from north to south. What direction is the wind coming from on the symbol above? ________________________ 3. The “feathers” that stick out from the tail indicate the wind speed in knots. (1 knot = 1.151 miles per hour.) A short feather represents 5 knots (5.75 mph), a long feather represents 10 knots (11.51 mph), and a triangular feather stands for 50 knots (57.54 mph). -
Worldwide Marine Radiofacsimile Broadcast Schedules
WORLDWIDE MARINE RADIOFACSIMILE BROADCAST SCHEDULES U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NATIONAL OCEANIC and ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE January 14, 2021 INTRODUCTION Ships....The U.S. Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) program needs your help! If your ship is not participating in this worthwhile international program, we urge you to join. Remember, the meteorological agencies that do the weather forecasting cannot help you without input from you. ONLY YOU KNOW THE WEATHER AT YOUR POSITION!! Please report the weather at 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC as explained in the National Weather Service Observing Handbook No. 1 for Marine Surface Weather Observations. Within 300 nm of a named hurricane, typhoon or tropical storm, or within 200 nm of U.S. or Canadian waters, also report the weather at 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2100 UTC. Your participation is greatly appreciated by all mariners. For assistance, contact a Port Meteorological Officer (PMO), who will come aboard your vessel and provide all the information you need to observe, code and transmit weather observations. This publication is made available via the Internet at: https://weather.gov/marine/media/rfax.pdf The following webpage contains information on the dissemination of U.S. National Weather Service marine products including radiofax, such as frequency and scheduling information as well as links to products. A listing of other recommended webpages may be found in the Appendix. https://weather.gov/marine This PDF file contains links to http pages and FTPMAIL commands. The links may not be compatible with all PDF readers and e-mail systems. The Internet is not part of the National Weather Service's operational data stream and should never be relied upon as a means to obtain the latest forecast and warning data. -
Extratropical Cyclones and Anticyclones
© Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Courtesy of Jeff Schmaltz, the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC/NASA Extratropical Cyclones 10 and Anticyclones CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION A TIME AND PLACE OF TRAGEDY A LiFE CYCLE OF GROWTH AND DEATH DAY 1: BIRTH OF AN EXTRATROPICAL CYCLONE ■■ Typical Extratropical Cyclone Paths DaY 2: WiTH THE FI TZ ■■ Portrait of the Cyclone as a Young Adult ■■ Cyclones and Fronts: On the Ground ■■ Cyclones and Fronts: In the Sky ■■ Back with the Fitz: A Fateful Course Correction ■■ Cyclones and Jet Streams 298 9781284027372_CH10_0298.indd 298 8/10/13 5:00 PM © Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. NOT FOR SALE OR DISTRIBUTION Introduction 299 DaY 3: THE MaTURE CYCLONE ■■ Bittersweet Badge of Adulthood: The Occlusion Process ■■ Hurricane West Wind ■■ One of the Worst . ■■ “Nosedive” DaY 4 (AND BEYOND): DEATH ■■ The Cyclone ■■ The Fitzgerald ■■ The Sailors THE EXTRATROPICAL ANTICYCLONE HIGH PRESSURE, HiGH HEAT: THE DEADLY EUROPEAN HEAT WaVE OF 2003 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ■■ Summary ■■ Key Terms ■■ Review Questions ■■ Observation Activities AFTER COMPLETING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: • Describe the different life-cycle stages in the Norwegian model of the extratropical cyclone, identifying the stages when the cyclone possesses cold, warm, and occluded fronts and life-threatening conditions • Explain the relationship between a surface cyclone and winds at the jet-stream level and how the two interact to intensify the cyclone • Differentiate between extratropical cyclones and anticyclones in terms of their birthplaces, life cycles, relationships to air masses and jet-stream winds, threats to life and property, and their appearance on satellite images INTRODUCTION What do you see in the diagram to the right: a vase or two faces? This classic psychology experiment exploits our amazing ability to recognize visual patterns. -
December 2013
Oklahoma Monthly Climate Summary DECEMBER 2013 A frigid and sometimes icy December seemed a fitting way to 1.53 inches, about a half-inch below normal, to rank as the close out the boisterous weather of 2013. Preliminary data from 59th wettest December on record. That total is possibly an the Oklahoma Mesonet ranked the month as the 17th coolest underestimate due to the frozen precipitation, although the December on record at nearly 4 degrees below normal. Records moisture pattern across various parts of the state was quite of this type for Oklahoma date back to 1895. The statewide clear. Far southeastern Oklahoma received from 3-5 inches average temperature as recorded by the Mesonet was 35.2 during the month while western areas of the state received degrees. As chilly as it seemed, however, that mark provided less than a half-inch, in general. little threat to 1983’s record cold of 25.8 degrees, but also far cooler than 2012’s 42.1 degrees. There were two significant The cold December propelled 2013’s statewide average winter storms during December, each creating headaches for annual temperature to a mark of 58.9 degrees, 0.8 degrees travelers and power utility companies. The first storm struck on below normal and the 27th coolest calendar year on record for December 5-6 in two separate waves and brought freezing rain, the state. That mark stands in stark contrast to 2012’s record sleet and snow across the state. Significant snow totals of 5-6 warm year of 63.1 degrees.