The Weather that Makes the Dots

TESSE 22 July 2008

Eric Kelsey

Institute for the Study of Earth, Ocean and Space - UNH

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Projected Concentration After 50 More Years of Unrestricted Fossil Fuel Burning

Temperature Cycle over 7 Glacial Cycles

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Seasonal Temperature Cycle over 7 Years?

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Diurnal Temperature Cycle over 7 Days?

Temperature at Mount Washington, NH

June 2007

Climate vs Weather

climate-Meteorological elements that

characterize the average and extreme conditions of the atmosphere over a long period of time at any one place or region of the earth's surface.

(Environment Canada)

weather-The state of the atmosphere

with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness.

(Massachusetts Dept. of Education)

Fractals

Fractals-fronts

Supercell Thunderstorm

Extratropical cyclone

warmcool

warm

cool

Supercell in southeast NH July 18, 2008Prompted issue of Tornado Warning for Durham

and surrounding towns

Supercell with small hook-echo

Storm ReportsStorm Prediction Center

US water vapor imagery

If above link doesn’t work you can get it here:http://rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite

How do clouds form?

Cool air until it is saturated

- also, radiative cooling until air reaches saturation: fog

Cohos Trail near Dixville Notch

orographic uplift

What weather phenomena impact New England weather

and climate?

Time and Space Scales of Weather Phenomena

Common Storm Tracks

Alberta Clipper

Colorado (Lee) Low

Coastal Track

moist

warm, moist

warm

cold, dry

Orographic Effects

Seabreeze

Ocean & Lake Effect Snow

Short-lived, localized events

Gulf Stream & Gulf of Maine SSTs

NOAA

Westerly Mid-latitude Winds

Nor’easters, Coastal Storms

Blizzard of Feb. 2006Energy gained from contrast betweencold-dry and warm-moist air masses

Hurricanes

Hurricane Bob 1991

El Niño (Dec. 1997) La Niña (Dec. 2000)

http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html

ENSO: Tropical Pacific SST

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensocycle/meanrain.html

El Nino-Southern Oscillation: Tropical Pacific SST

North Atlantic Oscillation

Variability onOrder ofWeeks

+Warmer andless snow

-Colder andmore snow

Land Use Effects

Mount Washington

Fun Facts

• July:warmest month (ave high: 54F)

2nd driest month (8.02”)

Least snowiest: 1.1” most ever

3rd highest temp (71F)

2nd least windiest: 25.3mph ave.

Coldest month: January

(14F ave high)

Wettest: November (10.49” ave)

Snowiest: December (55” ave)

Coldest temp: -47F (Jan 1934)

Windiest: Jan 46.3mph

Helpful Links

• Storm Prediction Center:

spc.noaa.gov

• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research:

rap.ucar.edu/weather

• National Weather Service

nws.noaa.gov