Mid-morning Update October 31, 2008

Two areas of high pressure, one to our north and one to our east have “sandwiched” a strong region of southwesterly winds and inclement weather over our area.  A wave / weak-trough, of low pressure has been the focal point and we saw storms fire QUICKLY this morning.  The visible satellite shot shows how concentrated [...]

Morning Storms… October 31, 2008

We are dealing with a few isolated storms this morning throughout NWA.  There is nothing severe and the storms are moving very quickly.  These are elevated storms caused by strong low level winds.  We call this a low level jetstream.  A strong low level jet will keep these storms moving very quickly, but we can’t [...]

A LITTLE WAVE… a stray shower. October 30, 2008

Centered on the southern Nebraska / northern Kansas border is a lone wave of low pressure that is undercutting a broad ridge of High pressure.  This wave looks to clip our area tomorrow and coupled with some sunshine, coinciding with peak afternoon heating hours, we probably will see a sprinkle or two or perhaps an [...]

Temperature Spreads October 30, 2008

From low (27) to high (68) in Fayetteville today we climbed 41 degrees.  This seemed to be quite impressive, enough so that it instigated a dig through the data of 2008.  Below are listing of the top five temperature-spreads thus far in Fayetteville. 
 
January 29, Low 16, High 67, Spread: 51 degrees!
 
March 1, Low 27, [...]

Next COLD shot… a little wait! October 30, 2008

refresh screen to animate
Thickness of the 1000-500mb layer (measured in decameters) is proportional to temperature; the thicker the values (higher numbers) the warmer the air and likewise, the less thick the value is, the cooler the mean temperature is within the layer.
 
With this being said watch the lower thickness values circling the northern hemisphere in [...]

STORM CHANCES NEXT WEEK October 29, 2008

We will remain rain free for Halloween and this weekend, but next week we could get a few showers and thunderstorms.  It’s still very far out, but here is what I am thinking.
TUESDAY SURFACE MAP

A cold front will move through the area next week and this will provide the shower and storm chances as it [...]

BIG RIDGE / BIG WARMTH October 29, 2008

A monster ridge of High pressure presently has capped the western half of the country and unseasonable warmth has been the result for locals underneath.  Well, where there’s a “see”, there’s a “saw” and where there’s an “up”, there’s a “down”.  In this case, just “downstream” from the ridge, major unseasonable cold air has even [...]

BUMBLE BEE FLIGHT October 28, 2008

Today’s Drew’s Digital Snapshot winner indirectly is responsible for this neat video post.  The shot was of a bumble in still flight; the wings were clearly miniscule in relation to the bee’s body size.  This sparked a controversy here in the studio about how exactly a bee flies.  The jury is [...]

TUESDAY FREEZE WARNING October 28, 2008

FREEZE WARNING

We are still under a Freeze Warning this morning as temperatures are flirting with the record books.  3 ingredients have come together to give us these extremely cold temperatures.  Light winds, low humidity and a clear sky;  all of these weather variables are with us this morning and that is why our temperatures are [...]

Warmth is near… October 28, 2008

The ridge out to the west will come our way!  That’s the positive news that may warm your super chilly Tuesday morning.  As for Tuesday afternoon, lots of sunshine will warm us up into the mid 50s to lower 60s but the first part of the day will be COLD!
 
We’re looking at our first widespread [...]