Very Cold Weather thru Jan.17

CanisLupusArctos · 01-13-2009, 04:09 PM

The simplest reason for Canadian weather in the winter and Gulf of Mexico weather in summer is the angle of the sun. Cold air is nature's aggressor, like a football player. It lives north of us. In the winter, the sun completely disappears from up there, which is like feeding vitamins and protien supplements to the football player. It starts barging everything out of its way and claiming lots of territory.

When the sun gets higher in the sky, it takes away the vitamins from the football player, who then must remain on the sidelines. When that happens, the opposing team of geeks (warm air) can take the field and win, because the cold air is on the bench.

How cold the air gets in any given winter depends on a lot of things. But the whole reason our weather comes from the north in winter is because the cold air builds to a point where it starts spilling. It's heavy stuff... like water. Warm air is lightweight.

All through this past summer, however, the cold fronts remained active. That is why we had so much severe weather. Severe weather is caused by cold fronts barging warm moist air out of the way.

Our weather actually does come from the south a good deal in winter, too. That's what gives us snowstorms. The north is very, very dry. In order to have snow you need moisture. We get snowstorms when the southern moisture comes at us while there's northern cold in place.

The best snowstorms happen when the southbound cold makes it as far south as the Georgia coast and meets warm moist air on a northbound course, forming a snowstorm that also takes that course.

Regarding Mount Washington, they aren't high enough to get their own weather that's independent of the rest of New England. They get their own version of what's happening in the rest of New England.

When it's windy and cold in all of New England, they will be colder by far. And a lot windier. When it's clear/calm/cold, and the valleys are getting down to -35, the summit might be at zero... warmer... because in calm conditions with clear skies (no blanket of cloud to hold the heat in) the cold air pools down into the valleys (as water would) and the day's heat rises toward the stars. When the White Mountains are having a big storm, the summit of Mt. Washington will have the biggest storm... but since snow is a low-level phenomenon (and lakes region snow doesn't always show up on Gray ME's radar as a result) it is not uncommon for Mt. Washington to break into the clear (with "undercast") while the lower summits are still in the snow.

Snowstorms often do that when they're departing... you'll start seeing moonlight--meaning all the upper level clouds are gone--but it'll keep snowing another inch or two and it probably won't show up on radar, either. The activity might be confined between the ground and 5,000 feet. The radar beam from Gray ME is angled up from its origin so as to reduce the amount of "ground clutter" they pick up, and so it passes over the lakes region at about 9,000 feet. That's just fine for summertime severe weather, when you have rain & hail columns 45,000 feet tall.

When "the unseen snow" happens, you could head over to Laconia Airport and take a plane up "above the deck", maybe 6,000 feet, to get some great pics of the storm's remnants below. To the north, you'd probably see Mount Washington's summit cone sticking up above the deck, too.

The best way to understand weather is to "think in 3D." The biggest challenge for most people is that air flows in ways that are similar to water, but we can SEE water. So everyone understands rivers and lakes better than the atmosphere. Take turbulence, for example. Waves in the sky, similar to waves on the lake. Once people get that analogy, weather tends to "click" a lot better for them.

As for the rest of this week, I think we're going to be hearing a lot of cracking and booming coming from the lake ice. It's going to be growing. Once we get some wind to blow off some of the powdery snow on the ice, combined with very dry air to help evaporate some of it, there won't be as much snowy insulation on top of the ice. I don't think Friday's daytime temps around here will get above zero.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

01-13-2009, 04:09 PM	#1
CanisLupusArctos Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,049 Thanks: 15 Thanked 472 Times in 107 Posts	The simplest reason for Canadian weather in the winter and Gulf of Mexico weather in summer is the angle of the sun. Cold air is nature's aggressor, like a football player. It lives north of us. In the winter, the sun completely disappears from up there, which is like feeding vitamins and protien supplements to the football player. It starts barging everything out of its way and claiming lots of territory. When the sun gets higher in the sky, it takes away the vitamins from the football player, who then must remain on the sidelines. When that happens, the opposing team of geeks (warm air) can take the field and win, because the cold air is on the bench. How cold the air gets in any given winter depends on a lot of things. But the whole reason our weather comes from the north in winter is because the cold air builds to a point where it starts spilling. It's heavy stuff... like water. Warm air is lightweight. All through this past summer, however, the cold fronts remained active. That is why we had so much severe weather. Severe weather is caused by cold fronts barging warm moist air out of the way. Our weather actually does come from the south a good deal in winter, too. That's what gives us snowstorms. The north is very, very dry. In order to have snow you need moisture. We get snowstorms when the southern moisture comes at us while there's northern cold in place. The best snowstorms happen when the southbound cold makes it as far south as the Georgia coast and meets warm moist air on a northbound course, forming a snowstorm that also takes that course. Regarding Mount Washington, they aren't high enough to get their own weather that's independent of the rest of New England. They get their own version of what's happening in the rest of New England. When it's windy and cold in all of New England, they will be colder by far. And a lot windier. When it's clear/calm/cold, and the valleys are getting down to -35, the summit might be at zero... warmer... because in calm conditions with clear skies (no blanket of cloud to hold the heat in) the cold air pools down into the valleys (as water would) and the day's heat rises toward the stars. When the White Mountains are having a big storm, the summit of Mt. Washington will have the biggest storm... but since snow is a low-level phenomenon (and lakes region snow doesn't always show up on Gray ME's radar as a result) it is not uncommon for Mt. Washington to break into the clear (with "undercast") while the lower summits are still in the snow. Snowstorms often do that when they're departing... you'll start seeing moonlight--meaning all the upper level clouds are gone--but it'll keep snowing another inch or two and it probably won't show up on radar, either. The activity might be confined between the ground and 5,000 feet. The radar beam from Gray ME is angled up from its origin so as to reduce the amount of "ground clutter" they pick up, and so it passes over the lakes region at about 9,000 feet. That's just fine for summertime severe weather, when you have rain & hail columns 45,000 feet tall. When "the unseen snow" happens, you could head over to Laconia Airport and take a plane up "above the deck", maybe 6,000 feet, to get some great pics of the storm's remnants below. To the north, you'd probably see Mount Washington's summit cone sticking up above the deck, too. The best way to understand weather is to "think in 3D." The biggest challenge for most people is that air flows in ways that are similar to water, but we can SEE water. So everyone understands rivers and lakes better than the atmosphere. Take turbulence, for example. Waves in the sky, similar to waves on the lake. Once people get that analogy, weather tends to "click" a lot better for them. As for the rest of this week, I think we're going to be hearing a lot of cracking and booming coming from the lake ice. It's going to be growing. Once we get some wind to blow off some of the powdery snow on the ice, combined with very dry air to help evaporate some of it, there won't be as much snowy insulation on top of the ice. I don't think Friday's daytime temps around here will get above zero.