1 / 24

Winter Weather Pattern Recognition

Winter Weather Pattern Recognition . Ice Storm (500mb). Trough or upper level low to the west Source for upper level divergence (rising motion) and southerly winds which bring moisture and low-level warmer air northward Short wave trough or long wave trough generally to the northeast

sissy
Download Presentation

Winter Weather Pattern Recognition

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Winter Weather Pattern Recognition

  2. Ice Storm (500mb) • Trough or upper level low to the west • Source for upper level divergence (rising motion) and southerly winds which bring moisture and low-level warmer air northward • Short wave trough or long wave trough generally to the northeast • Source of near surface cold air • Cold front associated with the upper level trough • Typically shallow arctic air

  3. Ice Storm (500mb)

  4. Ice Storm (500mb)

  5. Ice Storm (850mb) • Southerly component to the wind • Warm air advection • Warm (above freezing) temperatures • Must melt the falling snow

  6. Ice Storm (850mb)

  7. Ice Storm (Surface) • Surface temperatures obviously must be below freezing • Low pressure tothe west • High pressure in the northern plains or upper Midwest • Northerly component to the winds • Cold air advection

  8. Ice Storm (Surface)

  9. Typical Sounding

  10. Blizzard/Snow Storm (500mb) • Long wave trough with embedded short wave trough or upper-level closed low • Upper-level low tends to track over northern Texas

  11. Blizzard/Snow Storm (500mb)

  12. Blizzard/Snow Storm (850mb) • Low pressure to the east • Cold air (below freezing) • Northerly winds • Cold air advection • Frequently strong • Blizzard • Gulf moisture to the east or southeast • Advected around the cyclone

  13. Blizzard/Snow Storm (850mb)

  14. Blizzard/Snow Storm (850mb)

  15. Blizzard/Snow Storm (Surface) • Surface low to the east • Sustained winds (or frequent gusts) of 35+ mph and visibility of less than ¼ mile • Must be present for at least 3 consecutive hours for a blizzard • Dense packing of isobars (blizzard) • “Tight” pressure gradient • Strong winds • Northerly component to wind

  16. Blizzard/Snow Storm (Surface)

  17. Typical Sounding

  18. 500mb Vorticity Average Tracks From Vanyo 2010

  19. Ice Storm, Blizzard, or Snow Storm? 1

  20. 1

  21. 2

  22. 2

  23. 3

  24. 3

More Related