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June 8, 2005
New weather resource on the internet
I'm not the only economist who fancies himself an amateur weatherman. Phil Miller is a kindred spirit. And I know there are others.
If you're the type who grabs your camera when the skies turn black, you will appreciate this site from the National Weather Service. It is a new delivery format for their on-line radar images. NWS radar has been on the internet for years, so you might ask what's new about it. This product actually includes Doppler information on wind velocity. If you're in the midwest, that means you have the ability to see tornadoes as they form. Here is a "storm relative motion" radar image taken just a few minutes ago showing a suspected tornado. See the green spot just above the "g" in "Burlington"? That is an area of pretty intense rotation. When you hear them say on TV that Doppler radar indicated a tornado, this is what they mean. This is a very clear image of rotation; it's not always that easy to see.
The tornadoes will probably miss us, but the rain, wind, and hail will not. Last night it was in Phil's neighborhood, this afternoon it's in mine. Same weather system--a particularly nasty one.
Posted by William Polley at June 8, 2005 1:18 PM
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Comments
It's unusual that the same system stays together for 24 hours. This same system started out in Western Wyoming yesterday afternoon. It rolled through my town about 3:15 AM. We didn't get any hail and there were no tornadoes, but we got a heck of a windstorm - about 45" worth of 50 MPH winds with gusts up to 70. Still, that's nothing compared to many tropical systems when they hit land.
Posted by: Phil Miller at June 8, 2005 9:06 PM
Check out this "astronomy picture of the day" photo:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050613.html
Posted by: Phil Miller at June 13, 2005 9:06 PM