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Category Archives: Meteorology
How does factory exhaust contribute to snowfall?
An article in the Wisconsin State Journal reported that on November 26, 2024, a factory near Menomonie, Wisconsin contributed to a narrow band of snow that extended for nearly 100 miles. This can occur only with certain atmospheric conditions. A … Continue reading
How and when do Madison lakes freeze?
The surface of a lake exchanges energy with the air above. Cold air cools the lake surface through energy exchanges with the atmosphere, determined by the weather above. As cool surface water cools, it becomes denser than the warmer water below and so the cooled water sinks. Water from below then rises to the surface where it begins to cool.
What is unique about the H2O water molecule is that as liquid water cools, its density increases until about 39°F (4°C). At that point, the colder water becomes less dense, stays at the surface, and continues to cool. Once the surface water cools to approximately 32°F, the water molecules crystallize into interlocking lattice-like patterns and ice is formed. For a lake surface to freeze, the entire lake needs to be at a temperature of 39°F; only then as the surface cools will the temperature of the liquid water at the surface remain less dense than the water below and thus float and begin to form ice. Shallower lakes usually freeze before deeper lakes since shallower lakes contain less water that needs to be cooled.
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Do thunderstorms cause milk to spoil?
No, but it was once widely thought that summertime thunderstorms could cause fresh milk to curdle.
This thinking was based on observations that raw milk would spoil during lightning and thunderstorms. But it was neither the thunderstorms nor lightning that caused the spoiling; rather it was the atmospheric conditions. The conditions that are optimum for thunderstorm development are the same as those that would cause milk to spoil. Continue reading
Are thunderstorm rain amounts hard to predict?
Meteorologists would generally agree that summer is the most challenging time of year for making accurate rain forecasts.
During summer, there generally is enough moisture and atmospheric instability to help fuel the development of rain showers. Scattered thunderstorms are one of the most difficult weather events to forecast. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Severe Weather
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What is a heat dome?
“Heat dome” is a term used by the news media to explain extreme heat conditions across large geographic regions.
The American Meteorological Society maintains a glossary of meteorological terms and added the term “heat dome” and this definition in March 2022: “An exceptionally hot air mass that develops when high pressure aloft prevents warm air below from rising, thus trapping the warm air as if it were in a dome.” Continue reading
