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How unusual was the rapid intensification of Hurricane Patricia?
The recent extremely powerful Hurricane Patricia off the west coast of Mexico, the most intense hurricane ever measured in the Western Hemisphere, was noteworthy for a number of reasons.
Perhaps primarily, it was characterized by the incredible fact that its central minimum pressure decreased by 100 millibars in 24 hours from Oct. 22-23. Since the average sea-level pressure is just over 1,000 millibars, that means that 10 percent of the atmospheric column over the center of Patricia was somehow evacuated in only one day. Continue reading
Category: Tropical, Weather Dangers
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Will this mild November weather continue?
Not necessarily. Some warm Novembers had some severe extratropical cyclones, particularly around Veteran’s Day (formally known as Armistice Day).
Tuesday marks the 40th year since a winter storm blew across the Midwest, sending the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald to the bottom of Lake Superior with all 29 crew members. Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 ballad “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” helped make this incident the most famous disaster in Great Lakes shipping history. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Severe Weather, Weather Dangers
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Why are cold snaps in autumn so short-lived?
Over the past weekend, southern Wisconsin experienced its first cold snap of the season with widespread morning lows in the upper 20s on Friday and Saturday mornings.
Often, cold snaps in autumn are short-lived, as this recent example was, affecting usually one or two nights at most. Continue reading
What is a 100-year flood?
A flood occurs when water flows into a region faster than it can be stored in a lake or reservoir, absorbed into the soil, or removed by runoff into a drainage basin.
There are several conditions that can result in flooding: a long-lasting rainfall over a watershed, intense thunderstorms, or rainfall that causes rapid snow melt. Continue reading
Is hurricane forecasting improving?
There are two important components of hurricane forecasting: the hurricane track (or where it is going) and hurricane intensity (or how and if its winds are increasing). Track forecasts have improved over the last two decades; intensity forecasts have not improved.
In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, the average three-day forecast error in hurricane track was about 300 miles. Today, a six-day forecast of the typical hurricane track error is now less than 200 miles, more accurate than the three-day forecast was 23 years ago. Continue reading
