Time-lapse clouds

Via Bad Astronomy is this awesome series of time-lapse photographs in the Canary Islands. Bad Astronomy posts a lot of these and they are all amazing. They also feature a lot of stars. Duh.

But the linked to above is more about the clouds. Clouds at high elevations pushing into the mountain almost look like waves on the ocean. Beautiful shots of lenticular clouds over the mountain peaks. Lenticulars are beautiful to look at, but in my old job forecasting turbulence for airlines, they were a sign of trouble in the air. They are an indicator for mountain waves, which can cause some pretty severe turbulence. You can see this happening over alot of high, sharp peaks, like the Rockies and the mountains in southern Alaska. There isn't much that gets a dispatchers attention faster than a mountain wave forecast right through their flight plan.

Pulling a Voltron

"Pulling a Voltron" is the lovely turn-of-phrase used by Brian Palmer, who wrote this article in Slate about the recent rash of storms impacting parts of the southeastern U.S.

Now I don't buy multiple tornados will merge into one. As the article states, the larger storm will pull energy from the weaker when and cause the weaker to collapse completely. One storm splitting into two, now that is a different story.

5 Bizarre Ways the Weather Can Kill You Without Warning

Via Cracked.com, here are some fun things the weather might do, just to mess with your mind.

2011 Hurricane Predictions

Meteorologists at Colorado State University have released a long-term tropical forecast for the upcoming hurricane season and, if they are right, it may be a big one. They predict sixteen named storms, nine of which will be hurricanes.

How do they come up with that? Atlantic hurricanes aren't just dependent on local weather, but also what is happening in the Pacific. In this, warmer than usual waters in the Atlantic coupled with cooler waters in the eastern Pacific can mean a greater chance for more strong storms.

In other words, Atlantic hurricane frequency is tied into what is called ENSO (El Nino Souther Oscillation). El Nino events, with warm waters in the eastern Pacific, can mean fewer Atlantic storms. In the case of forecasts for this coming year, cooler waters (La Nina) are forecasted, meaning a greater number of tropical storms are expected.

On Turbulence

CNN posted a report on flying through turbulence. It's a good layman's discussion on why you don't have to worry about crashing if you feel a few bumps on your way from NYC to Vegas.

Winds and nuclear cloud

I don't there are many people out there who haven't heard about the fire at one of the nuclear facilities caused by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan. As of right now, there is a no-fly zone in parts of Japan because of this.

The winds currently are blowing out of the west and out to sea (see Al Roker). As long as this continues people not in the immediate vicinity of the facility will avoid the worst of exposure.

But what about flights coming from the U.S.? Well, that's where the problem comes in. In order to get to Tokyo from the U.S., flights will fly over the far northern part of the Pacific or Alaska. This is because the flight path is shorter when flights move toward the poles. For a long flight like NYC to Tokyo, this will mean flying near the northeastern part of Japan, right where the radiation cloud would be. While it might not be as bad at higher elevations, people will be careful. As of right now, the no-fly zone is about 18 miles around the facility, which most flights should be able to avoid. If the winds shift or if it gets worse, this will obviously change.

For me to poop on...

Triumph the Insult Dog does the weather. Enjoy!

5 bizzard ways weather can kill you

Courtesy of Cracked.com.

Not ready for some football

I've been a bad son and brother recently. I've been chuckling over the all the snow my family in the Upper Midwest has been seeing in the past couple of months while I keep seeing rain where I am (though I do want it to snow...).

Well, another snow storm hit Minnesota over the weekend. Some areas saw as much as two feet of snow. Along with blizzard like conditions, it wasn't a good time.

That includes for the football team that plays indoors. Why? Here's why. I'm sure you've seen the video already, but man! The Vikings wanted to play outdoors on Monday at the stadium where the University of Minnesota plays, but a) the New York Giants (their opponent) didn't bring cold weather gear. Which they would need because the wind chills will be below zero. In fact, the temps might be below zero.

Edmund Fitzgerald

I haven't been posting much, but thought this deserved a mention. CNN.com has a really interesting article on the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk in Lake Superior in the 70s due to a strong storm that tore through the region.

To this day, because of this event, ships will wait in port for a storm to pass rather than set out to wherever their going. Just goes to show how much the weather can affect everyday life.

I love science

I really do. It's fun, interesting, and it makes you think about the world around you. Take, for instance, this article (drawing on a new study published in Nature).

In the study, the researchers used data from a new satellite (active since around 2003), to study the affect on solar radiation on Earth's atmosphere. The sun is just now starting to come out of a minimum. During that time, the solar radiation across the entire spectrum was low, as expected. However, the researchers found that the UV radiation was actually lower than expected, while energy in the form of visible light was higher than expected. This is sort of contrary to what is expected, and will definitely lead to more research into the matter.

For instance it will be interesting to see what happens as the sun ramps up an expected maximum in solar radiation in the next couple of years (the sun has a well-documented 11-year cycle in radiation output). Will the visible radiation decrease as the UV radiation increase? If so, that will cause some thinking to be done across a number of science fields, including astronomy and climate science.

The smart people over at RealClimate are already pondering this and that. Naturally, there's a big wait-and-see component. As Gavin Schmidt points out, there is some movement to the data that implies there might be a minor flaw in the data due to satellite instability in orbit. From RealClimate:

"While it does seem clear that the overall trend [of visible light data] from 2003 to 2009 is an increase, closer inspection suggests that this anti-phase behaviour only lasts for the first few years, and that subsequently the trends are much closer to expectation. It is conceivable, for instance, that there was some undetected or unexpected instrument drift in the first few years. The proof of the pudding will come in the next couple of years. If the SIM data show a decrease while the TSI increases towards the solar maximum, then the Haigh et al results will be more plausible. If instead, the SIM data increase, that would imply there is an unidentified problem with the instrument."

Check out the RealClimate article for the image refenced in the above quote.

That's the fun of science. You get a data set and you need to figure out what it's telling you. Thinking is good for your brain. There might be a study about that somewhere...

They might need a new name

Not that it's funny, but the natural phenomona that give Glacier National Park it's name is disappearing. I think we all know the cause, if even certain head-in-the-sand types don't want to speak its name.

It's more than just the glaciers disappearing that is the issue here though. The glaciers are a source of water that is necessary for the wildlife in the region. Heck, us humans require water too, and the western U.S. isn't exactly flowing with rivers like the easter half is. With the glaciers disappearing, people and animals will be affected.

Science fiction atmospheric study

This paper is great fun. All hail nerds!

Flooding in the Midwest

As a native Midwesterner, this is something of a concern for me. With storms that have dumped nearly a foot of rain in a short period, rivers across parts of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin have overtopped. As the floodwater moves south, areas of Iowa will be under the gun next.

No rain is in the forecast for a while though, so hopefully will see a recession of the flood waters there soon.

Why to stay inside during lightning storms

I need to be struck by lightning like I need another hole in my... wait, what?

Told ya

As I said a few days ago, I knew I wasn't going to be last to make bad puns about Earl.

Earl from space

It's all Earl all the time here this week. This time it's not some practical or boring like a forecast. It's a pretty picture of Hurricane Earl from space.

More Earl

Hurricane Earl is still out there.

The forecast track for Hurricane Earl will bring it on the closest approach to tri-state Friday evening. The current position is south of the Outer Banks of North Carolina and east of northern Florida. It will continue to track north-northwest, turning north and then northeast as it moves up the coast. The hurricane is expected to remain out to see as it passes by North Carolina, but it will be close enough that they will be affected by hurricane force winds and heavy rain late this evening and overnight. Earl will continue to move up the coast and will affect much of the Tri-State with heavy rain and gusty winds. The areas that will be most affected by the system will be Long Island, eastern Connecticut and coastal areas where strong storm surges and pounding waves are expected. The rain will begin for the northeastern U.S. Friday morning for parts of New Jersey and in the afternoon and evening for other parts of the region. Strong gusty winds up to 50 mph will be possible, with the strongest winds affecting eastern parts of the region. The storm will pass quickly up to the Cape Cod area, which will be affected by hurricane force winds Friday night and early Saturday morning. The system will move away quickly, leaving Saturday mostly sunny, though still windy.

More Earl

Hurricane Earl brought lots of wind and rain to the parts of the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The storm's track will take it up the U.S coast. While it is forecasted to remain offshore, some uncertainty is still in the track. Parts of the Outer Banks of North Carolina will want to keep an eye on this in the next couple of days, as well as parts fo the northeastern U.S.

It's Name is Earl

Oh, come on! I won't be the last to use that pun. I'm probably not even the first.

Anyway, I'm sure that you've heard that Hurricane Earl is being a little worrisome for the northeastern U.S. Well, I'll definitely be watching the system, both here and especially at my website. It's not time to buy bottled water yet.