No, Cirrus is NOT a microbrew as you may have thought from the title and if you were visiting this site for the first time. (and to continue being juvenile from yesterday’s “Dusty Parhelia” submission because that’s who I am….) In fact, Cirrus clouds are the exact opposite of a microbrew. Cirrus is a high… Continue reading More Cirrus on tap today
Category: Virga
Plethora of storms ahead; Catalina snow day still being foretold for Feb. 25th which is only nine days away now!
To help understand that odd word, “plethora” in the title in case you are befuddled by it, I have added a YouTube teaching module to help you out: “What is a ‘plethora’?” Well, one of the great model runs of our time has come out once again last night after yesterday’s great model run of… Continue reading Plethora of storms ahead; Catalina snow day still being foretold for Feb. 25th which is only nine days away now!
Sprinkles! (coded as “RW- -” if you are keeping a weather diary!) (Its not drizzle!)
Pretty excited up there, as usual. The Cumulus and Stratocumulus clouds began filling in yesterday, and some shed ice/snow virga in the late afternoon. With that a few drops of rain (melted snow, of course) plopped down on Catalina. In case you missed those drops, here they are. Also, here are a few shots of… Continue reading Sprinkles! (coded as “RW- -” if you are keeping a weather diary!) (Its not drizzle!)
Some more of that Catalina climo
Here is a 35 year record showing what days have had measurable rain in January. Sometimes “singularities” in weather show up in these kinds of charts of tempearture or precipitation, such as the “January thaw” that seems to occur with some regularity in the East but is “unexplained.” You would be looking at our chart… Continue reading Some more of that Catalina climo
Invasion of the water molecules
At least more of them…. Overnight (take a look here), the dewpoint temperature, a measure of how much frost would build up in your refrigerator freezer and/or drip down the walls of it if you left the doors open and the refrigerator on, climbed a whopping ten degrees early this morning! Yay, “mo better”… Continue reading Invasion of the water molecules
The Twelve…rain drops in Catalina, that is
Well, maybe there were about 27, but anyway….not very many; still, those drops were to be treasured after not seeing a single “hydrometeor” display in SE AZ in so–ooooo LONG A TIME! ———————————- PG-13 advisory; DRIZZLE is discussed I have to warn you at this point. That rain event yesterday WAS NOT DRIZZLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will… Continue reading The Twelve…rain drops in Catalina, that is
Yet another nice sunset
This shot, yesterday just after 7 PM. Light snow (virga) is falling from relatively thick Altocumulus (opacus) clouds. Just above the horizon you can see some little turrets poking up from a row of cloud bases making those clouds Altocumulus castellanus. Bases of these clouds, according to the balloon data obtained from Tucson Int AP… Continue reading Yet another nice sunset
In case you missed it…yesterday morning’s sunrise
A belated post, to be sure Yesterday morning’s sounding when the Altocumulus clouds were overhead. Bases about -18 C, tops -27 C. Lots of ice visible along with widespread virga. Whenever you see this much ice in small Altocumulus clouds like these, you should automatically assume that the temperature at the top is less than… Continue reading In case you missed it…yesterday morning’s sunrise
Exit right (or to the east)
Here’s what happened on top of us yesterday, that gorgeous snow day with so many wonderful sights to see. These maps below, courtesy of San Francisco State University , for 500 millibar pressure level, about 18,000 feet above sea level, for 5 AM LST as the snow band moved through Catalina, and then 5PM LST, a… Continue reading Exit right (or to the east)
“Send in the clouds”….then the wind, the rain, the cold front, the snow
Too bad Steven Sondheim wasn’t a meteorologist. He might have written some great weather songs. Instead, he chose to write about “clowns.” Hmmmm. Perhaps he WAS thinking about some weatherman in those days when he used the word “clowns.” Who can forget that the LA Times headline about weather forecasting in 1981; the headline that… Continue reading “Send in the clouds”….then the wind, the rain, the cold front, the snow