Dr. Mike Witiw Aviation Weather Expert has just accepted a position at The University of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (UTAA)and will have the title Professor Doctor there starting in February 2016. Dr. Witiw will continue as Associate Professor Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide (meteorology, exploration in physics, mathematics-algebra through calculus, graduate course in statistics). Dr. Witiw
Read More
How Midwestern blizzards are born. A Midwestern blizzard, the most common type, is born when a cyclonic, deep low spins next to a very cold, very high-pressured anticyclonic Canadian air mass while it pushes southeasterly into the upper Midwest. If the pressure gradient between the two air masses tightens, wind speeds increase. Moisture in the
Read More
Blizzards and winter storms can be more dangerous than summer storms. America’s worst winter weather comes from blizzards, which can be generated by specific conditions in the upper Midwest and by nor’easters on the east coast. Other regions of the US are seldom hit. The National Weather Service issues a blizzard warning when it projects
Read More
How much snow is on the ground where you live. In Seattle 2-4-2015 we do not have any snow.
Read More
Spanish for “straight,” a derecho is a wide, straight-¬line wind storm with speeds over 58 mph that generates a continuous series of severe thunderstorms. Wind speeds in a derecho typically increase after the passing of its associated front and approach 100 mph. The strongest recorded have peaked around 130 mph. Low¬-level warm air advection, rich
Read More
Hail is best detected by radar, which shoots radiation in all directions and measures the density of the beams that the nearby environment reflects back. Areas of higher reflectivity indicate more atmospheric content, which indicates the storm cell observed is likely close to maturation. This means it has a speedy, tall updraft and copious ambient
Read More
What’s in the past is in the past, so why focus on yesterday’s weather? Understanding what the weather was yesterday, last week, or even farther back in time can be immensely useful for a variety of purposes. Insurance companies solving disputes, attorneys using scientific testimony in court, airlines and government rely on forensic meteorologists to
Read More
Hail originates as tiny cloud droplets with diameters of 0.02 mm. After large masses of these droplets are sucked into updrafts, they elevate to heights that are much colder than the surface. Their rapid transport and the lack of ice nuclei in their paths cause them to cool below 0°C without freezing (supercool.) Soon, additional
Read More
Before tornadoes, there exist mesocyclones: giant, rotating columns of low-pressure air that sink below the height of their surrounding cloud basins. Sometimes subsidiary vortices called tornadoes spawn under them. The already swiftly-moving air circulating above is restrained into a smaller diameter and, due to the conservation of angular momentum, wind speed is increased. If the
Read More
Nature’s deadliest surprises, tornadoes can spontaneously develop in supercell thunderstorms, along squall lines, near the ends of bow echoes, and within hurricanes after they’ve moved ashore. They may generate the strongest winds of any atmospheric phenomenon: over 200 mph. Annually, they kill dozens and injure hundreds. Typically they are responsible for around $100 million in
Read More
