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Category Archives: Meteorology
Is there any difference between ‘partly cloudy’ and ‘partly sunny’?
The National Weather Service denotes sky condition using the portion of sky covered by opaque cloud cover.
In meteorology, an okta is a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of cloud cover at a given location. Cloud conditions are estimated in terms of how many eighths of the sky are covered with opaque cloud, ranging from 0 oktas (completely clear sky) to 8 oktas (completely overcast). It does not include transparent clouds, such as thin cirrus. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology
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What were the weather highlights of 2023?
As we begin a new year, let’s look back on the weather of 2023. The most recent, and odd, weather event of the year was the warm temperature on Christmas Day, with a high of 54 degrees in Madison. That was only the seventh time since 1869 that the maximum temperature exceeded 50 degrees on Christmas.
The state received less than one-third of its usual precipitation in November. The statewide average temperature for the meteorological autumn (September, October and November) was 2.5 degrees above normal, which made it the eighth-warmest autumn on record. In October, the 4.14 inches of statewide average precipitation was 1.13 inches above the 1991-2020 normal. This helped to alleviate our drought conditions. Continue reading
What happens on the winter solstice?
Astronomical winter begins at the winter solstice, which happened this year for the Northern Hemisphere at 9:27 p.m. Central Standard Time on Thursday, Dec. 21. Winter south of the equator begins in June.
The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice occurs at the time the sun is at its southernmost point in the sky. At this time, the sun is overhead at noon on the Tropic of Capricorn, approximately 23.4 degrees south of the equator. Continue reading
Why is the wind often calmer at night than during the day?
The cycle of daytime heating and night time cooling explains why, under most circumstances, calm winds are near the surface at night.
The wind usually increases with height above Earth’s surface. The wind several thousand feet above the ground is almost always stronger than that experienced near the ground. Friction causes the wind close to the ground to move more slowly. Friction decelerates the wind in the same way a rough road surface slows down a bicycle. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Phenomena
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How can there be frost on the ground when my thermometer reads 36 degrees?
This set of circumstances does not mean that her thermometer is faulty and in need of replacement. Instead, it reflects a nearly daily reality that goes undetected for most of the year until the cold season. It turns out that the air does not radiate heat away nearly as well as the solid ground beneath it. As a consequence of this difference, given 13 hours of nighttime with clear skies, the ground radiates a lot more energy away (and cools rapidly) while the air above struggles to cool as efficiently. Over those many hours, this difference results in a big difference between the ground temperature and the air temperature even as little as 5 or 6 feet above the ground. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Phenomena
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