Weather

[Sea Ray]

I thought I'd start a thread to discuss weather this and weather that. I do hope Dan will take an active role in this thread but I must say I did not ask him privately if he would be willing to give us educated answers to our questions.

I'll start with mine:

I just got back from Northern Michigan and the weather was crazy as it often is this time of year. Temps were bottoming out in the mid to lower 30s and it was blustery.

1) What causes water spouts? I know tornadoes do but I heard on the local weather forecasts that water spouts were likely. I know they weren't talking about tornadoes.

2) What causes lake effect snow and rain? We had both while I was there. Strange. One area got 4" and another a few miles away got no accumulation.

I'm very interested in weather and I miss the Weather Channel's 24 hr weather. Local radar channels have also been dropped in the Cincinnati area.

[SunDeck]

I know vaguely why these happen but I couldn't explain it better than Wikipedia. But I like this idea; as a sailor I am very interested in understanding what clouds tell us about approaching weather, what skies look like for fairest winds, etc.

[RedsManRick]

Lake effect explained:

[RedEye]

[Sea Ray]

Anyone heard what changes are coming for the Weather Channel? They've cut Al Roker and Sam Champion is down to his last week. Stephanie Abrams has been "reassigned" . They also say that they're cutting out their primetime reality shows. I sure hope they get back to weather, live weather

[SunDeck]

Anyone heard what changes are coming for the Weather Channel? They've cut Al Roker and Sam Champion is down to his last week. Stephanie Abrams has been "reassigned" . They also say that they're cutting out their primetime reality shows. I sure hope they get back to weather, live weather

I don't know, but I haven't gotten any weather information from the Weather Channel in years. I use Weather Underground, Windfinder, NOAA. The reason has nothing to do with the quality of their information, but rather I suppose I've been living with a perception that the Weather Channel had become focused on weather shows, rather than actual forecasts.

[cumberlandreds]

What is The Weather Channel? I have Verizon Fios TV and they cut it from their lineup back in the winter. I haven't really missed it either. They did have a weather scan channel that had local forecast,radar etc.. and I missed that more. They put on Accuweather as a replacement but it is pretty awful. Nothing much locally and the people on it don't seem very knowlegeable.

[RedEye]

I wasn't aware that weather buffs were a thing. The things I learn...

[Dom Heffner]

I wasn't aware that weather buffs were a thing. The things I learn...

Oh man, weather is fascinating. It's the planet in action.

We get water spouts here in Tampa and they are simply beautiful. As long as nobody gets hurt.

[cumberlandreds]

I wasn't aware that weather buffs were a thing. The things I learn...

Just don't be buff in the weather. That could hurt.

[WrongVerb]

I thought I'd start a thread to discuss weather this and weather that. I do hope Dan will take an active role in this thread but I must say I did not ask him privately if he would be willing to give us educated answers to our questions.

I'll start with mine:

I just got back from Northern Michigan and the weather was crazy as it often is this time of year. Temps were bottoming out in the mid to lower 30s and it was blustery.

1) What causes water spouts? I know tornadoes do but I heard on the local weather forecasts that water spouts were likely. I know they weren't talking about tornadoes.

2) What causes lake effect snow and rain? We had both while I was there. Strange. One area got 4" and another a few miles away got no accumulation.

I'm very interested in weather and I miss the Weather Channel's 24 hr weather. Local radar channels have also been dropped in the Cincinnati area.

I just now saw this thread. I'll try to answer clearly:

Waterspouts are tornadoes over water. What gives a tornado much of its appearance is the dust and debris it picks up while on land. It's not an extension of the cloud all the way to the ground. So if a tornado is over the water, then it's picking up water (and likely fish and other stuff as well), thus the tornado takes on a watery appearance. Also, if a water spout moves from water to land, it starts picking up dust and debris and will become a tornado.

As for lake effect snow, there's a couple things to know. In the winter, large masses of water are almost always warmer than the surrounding air and land, and as long as its liquid, the temperature of the water is above freezing.* Further, an air mass is heated or cooled by the surface it is traveling over. Thus, when colder air travels over warmer surfaces, it tends to pick up moisture. Warm air can hold more moisture than colder air. And when that relatively warm, moist air goes over the colder land, the moisture condenses, freezes and falls as snow in a very quick time over a very small area. (I think last year Buffalo had something like 6 feet of lake effect snow fall along the coast and blocks away the streets were clear.)

Finally, here's a link to the NWS Doppler Radar from the NWS office in Wilmington. I find that looping the base reflectivity gives the most useful views of what is going on with the weather. I also go to weather.gov to get the best and most up to date forecast information for my area.

*technically this isn't always true for salt water, but the Great Lakes are fresh water, so we won't worry about that

[Sea Ray]

I don't know, but I haven't gotten any weather information from the Weather Channel in years. I use Weather Underground, Windfinder, NOAA. The reason has nothing to do with the quality of their information, but rather I suppose I've been living with a perception that the Weather Channel had become focused on weather shows, rather than actual forecasts.

Those are sites and not tv channels. For what it's worth, if you're watching wunderground, you're now watching the weather channel 'cause it was bought by the WC a short while ago

[Sea Ray]

I just now saw this thread. I'll try to answer clearly:

Waterspouts are tornadoes over water. What gives a tornado much of its appearance is the dust and debris it picks up while on land. It's not an extension of the cloud all the way to the ground. So if a tornado is over the water, then it's picking up water (and likely fish and other stuff as well), thus the tornado takes on a watery appearance. Also, if a water spout moves from water to land, it starts picking up dust and debris and will become a tornado.

As for lake effect snow, there's a couple things to know. In the winter, large masses of water are almost always warmer than the surrounding air and land, and as long as its liquid, the temperature of the water is above freezing.* Further, an air mass is heated or cooled by the surface it is traveling over. Thus, when colder air travels over warmer surfaces, it tends to pick up moisture. Warm air can hold more moisture than colder air. And when that relatively warm, moist air goes over the colder land, the moisture condenses, freezes and falls as snow in a very quick time over a very small area. (I think last year Buffalo had something like 6 feet of lake effect snow fall along the coast and blocks away the streets were clear.)

Finally, here's a link to the NWS Doppler Radar from the NWS office in Wilmington. I find that looping the base reflectivity gives the most useful views of what is going on with the weather. I also go to weather.gov to get the best and most up to date forecast information for my area.

*technically this isn't always true for salt water, but the Great Lakes are fresh water, so we won't worry about that

Thanks for the reply.

It was 35 degrees when I heard about the chance for water spouts yet we heard nothing about a tornado watch or anything. Tornadoes don't generally happen in 35 degree weather do they?

[WrongVerb]

Thanks for the reply.

It was 35 degrees when I heard about the chance for water spouts yet we heard nothing about a tornado watch or anything. Tornadoes don't generally happen in 35 degree weather do they?

Generally they don't but they can. Also the water temperature was probably higher, which is why they were likely to form there but not over land. But still, that's a pretty low temperature for the convection needed to form a funnel cloud.

[Sea Ray]

Generally they don't but they can. Also the water temperature was probably higher, which is why they were likely to form there but not over land. But still, that's a pretty low temperature for the convection needed to form a funnel cloud.

Water temps were upper 50s