Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Weird obs for May 27, 2008

This time we go to China, where the recent earthquake may have contributed to this (although I have no proof).

Harbin:
ZYHB 271800Z 19008KT 3000 SA BKN026 14/10 Q0994 NOSIG=
Sand. Not blowing sand, but sand. Well, I guess it can't really be blowing sand if the wind is only 8 knots.

Changchun:
ZYCC 270300Z 28018KMH 240V310 0500 R24/1400N SS SCT020 16/08 Q0997 NOSIG=
The very rarely used METAR code for sandstorm.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Kansas, May 23, 2008

Quite a few members of the U of M storm chase team were there today. (Well, now it's yesterday.)

Big day.

I'll invite the chasers to share their pictures over the next week or two, as well as a written summary of their stories.

Once I stop being green with envy, I'll be happy for them.

(Psst: it might take a while.)

Friday, May 23, 2008

Oh, fer cryin' out glayvin

I'm in Vancouver right now because of my brother's graduation from UBC. I'm glad to be here.

But.

The timing could not have been much worse. There's a major league multi-day tornadic supercell outbreak happening in the central and southern plains states. Some of my friends are down there chasing, including some former students of the chase course and, of course, Paul and the gang.


I'm jealous. Crazy jealous.

Ah well, as wxdog always says, there'll always be more storms.

Friday, May 09, 2008

Whew.

It ain't gonna happen.

I'm glad.

I just hope it rains soon. My lawn is so dry and I want to plant my garden.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

More snow in May?

It appears there might be a shot of snow on Friday night here in Winnipeg. The system that's currently giving lots of precipitation to western Alberta will slowly move eastward over the next couple of days. Whether it hits us or skirts souhward is still up for debate; the potential exists, though, for maybe 5 cm of snow here on Friday night.

Will winter ever end?

Lightning!

As we enter into the summer severe weather season, it warms the cockles of my heart (who knew a heart had shellfish--although I know it can sometimes be selfish--heeheehee) to see that new personal lightning detection systems are coming online. The newest one (at least newest to me) is in Regina. (I have added the link to the Weather Central information page.)

I don't think I'll end up getting one, myself, in the near future, as there are 2 good ones in the Winnipeg area already--another one would just be redundant. However, it would be nice (hint hint) to see one in the Edmonton area, and perhaps detectors in the Edson and Fort McMurray region. Just saying.

I can foresee getting a personal weather station, however, for my backyard. I live fairly close to the one that's already there in Fort Richmond, but hey--in this case, the more the merrier!

Vostok, South Pole and Macapá

I'm looking at observations from all over the place right now. A few interesting things come up.

First off, Vostok, on the Antarctic ice cap, is a stunning -65°C. And they're not the coldest!. At the Concordia station, operated by the Australians, it's a ridiculous -68.9°C. By comparison, the actual south pole is balmy. But I wouldn't want to experience it. It's -63.0°C. (All of these, by the way, are still way off the world record, set at Vostok, of -89.6°C.) The funny thing about the observations at the south pole is that the winds are always out of the north (heehee). To actually tell the wind direction, they have set up a local grid system. So the winds are expressed in degrees relative to that grid. So far as I know, it's the only observation site in the world that does that.

Here's a couple of obs:
NZSP 061150Z 08008KT 9999 FEW020 -59/ A2908 RMK ALL WNDS GRID=
NZSP 061750Z 09008KT 9999 FEW020 -60/ A2901 RMK ALL WNDS GRID=
NZSP 062350Z 08009KT 9999 FEW020 SCT060 -62/ A2894 RMK ALL WNDS GRID=

Following data from Wednesday May 07 2008

NZSP 070550Z 10005KT 9999 FEW020 SCT060 -63/ A2891 RMK ALL WNDS GRID=

On the other end of the spectrum is a place at the mouth of the Amazon River, 2 minutes north of the equator. It is currently sitting at 25°C. This isn't too interesting, to be sure. It's the Amazon in Brazil. But consider this: since meteorological records have been kept, Macapá has never experienced a temperature below 18°C!

Now, I'd be willing to bet that other places in the world experience much the same, if not warmer, but this place has intrigued me for a long time.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Ahem, it **is** May

So it's May 4th. The day before Cinco De Mayo.

And what's happening? It's snowing in Winnipeg.

Fan-friggin-tastic.

Ugh.

At least CoD caught a tornado the other day. I'm happy for Paul and the gang. Just ... enough snow already!