July 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
Categories
WeatherGuys Links
Author Archives: Weather Guys Editor
What can we learn from Hurricane Sandy?
Nearly a week after Hurricane Sandy struck the Mid-Atlantic coast of the United States, the affected region is still reeling from the shock. This really was an unprecedented storm in the truest sense of that word.
Among the amazing aspects of the event was the extraordinarily accurate and early forecasting of the storm. Numerical forecast models were latching on to the correct scenario, including the unusual and rapid leftward turn off the Mid-Atlantic coast, as early as five to seven days before the event (depending on the particular model in question). Continue reading
Category: Tropical
Tags Climate impacts, Dangers, Meteorology, Severe Weather, Tropical
Comments Off on What can we learn from Hurricane Sandy?
Tags Climate impacts, Dangers, Meteorology, Severe Weather, Tropical
Comments Off on What can we learn from Hurricane Sandy?
Are wind turbines detected by weather radars?
While a single wind turbine is unlikely to confuse a radar return signal, a wind farm, particularly one 20 square miles or larger, will pose a problem. For example, the radar returns from the weather radar in Sullivan continually measures what looks to be a rain cloud to the north. This signal is always there and is the location of a wind farm. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology
Tags Measurement, Meteorology, Wind
Comments Off on Are wind turbines detected by weather radars?
Tags Measurement, Meteorology, Wind
Comments Off on Are wind turbines detected by weather radars?
How were recent heavy rains so well-predicted so many days in advance?
Though we have been relatively dry for much of the autumn, on the weekend of Oct. 13-14 we received a soaking rain of 0.86 inches on Saturday followed by 1.74 inches on Sunday. Two aspects of this heavy rain event are noteworthy to us. First, though Madison averages an inch of rain in a single day about six times each year, the 1.74 inches that fell on Sunday was the most in a single calendar day in Madison since 3.61 inches of rain fell on July 22, 2010. That long stretch includes two full summers (2011 and 2012) in which we never received such a rain. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology
Tags Meteorology, precipitation
Comments Off on How were recent heavy rains so well-predicted so many days in advance?
Tags Meteorology, precipitation
Comments Off on How were recent heavy rains so well-predicted so many days in advance?
What is an air mass?
An air mass is a large body of air whose properties of temperature and humidity are similar in any horizontal direction. Air masses can cover hundreds of thousands of square miles. Air masses are formed when air stagnates for long periods of time over a uniform surface. The characteristic temperature and moisture of air masses are determined by the surface over which they form. An air mass acquires these attributes through heat and moisture exchanges with the surface. Continue reading
What are cooling degree days?
A degree day is a measure of heating or cooling. A degree day is defined as a departure of the mean daily temperature from a given standard: one degree day for each degree of departure above (or below) the base temperature during one day. The degree day is related to the outside temperature and is not related to time. Continue reading
Category: Climate
Tags Climate, Climate impacts, Temperature
Comments Off on What are cooling degree days?
Tags Climate, Climate impacts, Temperature
Comments Off on What are cooling degree days?
