This past Friday, I was lucky enough to tour the NCAR’s (National Center for Atmospheric Research) instrument packed C-130 aircraft. This winter, dozens of scientists and students will load into this heavily modified aircraft in search of winter cyclones over the US. They will collect samples of tiny ice crystals and cloud particles in hopes of better understanding, and predicting winter weather. The aircraft is equipped with 2 computer networks, a 1800 watt Doppler radar, laser particle scanners, and the ability to drop temperature sensors to take samples of the atmosphere as they parachute to earth! The C- 130 has a 10-hour flight endurance, a 2,900 nautical mile range at up to 27,000 ft, and a payload capacity of up to 13,000 lbs. Here are a couple pictures of the inside of the aircraft and its sensors.

Posted under science

What is Virga you may ask? It is simply rain that does not quite make it to the ground. It is caused by a layer of moist air in the atmosphere situated over a layer of very dry air. With this setup, today it was literally raining over us, but was so dry near the ground that it never quite made it!

Weather buffs may have heard of a meteogram, but for those of you that haven’t, it is an image of our atmosphere as if you were looking at it sideways. Time is along the bottom, and elevation is along the sides. I included a picture of our atmosphere represented this way in this post. For our purposes, focus in on the bottom left portion of the picture. Notice how there is moisture above the ground (about 1-3 miles up) over-top of very dry air (0-1 miles up).

This virga was also seen on our 13 Future Track radar as the beam was able to pick it up at this altitude! The final image is of the virga off of Meridian Road on my way to the station today The view is looking to the west around the time of the radar image.

Posted under science, weather

With the balloon boy hoax taking center stage this week, I thought we should take a look at some real science.

Meet Joe Kitinger. In 1960 he took a balloon up, outside of the earth’s atmosphere. At 20 miles, he took the first leap in outer space and sped back to earth.

Thanks to Jay Podzimek for sharing!

Posted under science, space

A rocket carrying a U.S. military weather satellite has been launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Posted under science

Once upon a time, I blogged about the CoCoRaHS program.  I’ll bring it up again, though, since it’s a neat idea that’s really taken off well.  But what exactly is it?  From the CoCoRaHS website…

“CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network.  CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow).   By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We currently operate in many states across the country. If we are not in your state please drop us a line and let us know that you have an interest in participating.  This helps us know where a desire exists for the network and where to focus our future expansion efforts.”

You don’t need much, either.

“The only requirements for participation are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how the weather can affect and impact our lives. You must also use the standard 4-inch rain gauge to measure your precipitation. Even if you already have some other type of rain gauge such as a digital or automatic gauge often included with home weather stations, you will need to use the standard rain gauge.”

Here’s the information on the rain gauge:

“If you do not currently have a 4-inch rain gauge, you can order your CoCoRaHS rain gauge from weatheryourway.com for only $23. This is a special price for CoCoRaHS observers, and you will not find a lower price anywhere else. You can get a discounted rain gauge by going to WeatherYourWay.com at http://www.weatheryourway.com/cocorahs/index.html and entering a username of ‘coco’ and password of ‘rahs’.”

Interested?  Signing up is a snap!

“It’s easy to sign-up to become an observer - click on “Join CoCoRaHS” and complete the on-line application form. Once you sign up, you will receive a login and password. After you have a rain gauge and begin making observations, you can log in and report them. Your precipitation observations will start showing up daily on our county maps.”

Posted under drought, flooding, rain, science, severe weather, snow, weather, winter storm

Graphic shown on 13News July 19th

Back in July, many of you thought it was odd to hear locusts (actually cicadas) so early in the season. Folklore suggested that we were in for a mighty cold weather pattern for August 29th and 30th. I’ve gotta hand it to the cicadas and Justin Gehrts. First, the cicadas were very accurate in their forecast. Now we didn’t see any frost, but it was down to 38° in Rochelle this morning with near record-lows in Rockford this morning. Justin Gehrts is on the ball because he remembered this graphic and posted it on the 13 Weather Authority Facebook page.

So, what do you think of this? I think it’s awesome because it’s something that can’t be accurately explained. What pieces of folklore do you believe to be accurate? Please share!

Posted under cold blast, science, weather, wildlife

Because the weather’s so quiet (our last raindrop fell Sunday and our next comes this Sunday), I thought I would post this video of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. Did you ever know that bridges flex? This timelapse photography shows how the bridge moves up and down under the weight of cars, trucks, and a commuter trainline. Cool? Creepy?

Posted under science