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You are browsing the archive for June 2012 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.

30 June 2012

Midwest and DC Rocked by Derecho

Many people now know a term that only meteorologists and weather geeks usually know. Derecho. (It’s pronounced “da ray show”) A derecho is a fast-moving cluster of thunderstorms that produces very high winds, and moves very rapidly. They like to form in June and July, and they favor certain areas of the country like the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic/Pennsylvania. They also tend to form on the north side of …

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29 June 2012

Colorado Wildfire Smoke Reaches U.S. East Coast

I could see the smoke in the air at sunset here in Salisbury, Maryland tonight as well. The folks at Climate Central has an interesting graphic that explains the wildfires. The much reduced snow pack has to be the main factor. The dead trees from the Pine Beetle most certainly are aggravating the situation. It was 108 (44.5C) in St. Louis today, and Indianapolis had the warmest June day on record. Records in Indianapolis go back to the …

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27 June 2012

All Time Records Tumble in Rockies and Plains. Fires Threaten NCAR.

The massive heat wave spread from Montana to Louisiana Tuesday with several more all time record highs broken. Hill City, KS and McCook, Nebraska hit 46 degrees C or 115 degrees F. Both, the warmest temperatures ever recorded in those cities. Winds gusted to 40 mph at Denver International and all along the front range of Colorado in the afternoon. Lightning from thunderstorms sparked wildfires and they grew rapidly. The …

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26 June 2012

Brutal heat and Severe Flooding

Highs reached 109 (over 40 degrees C for the rest of the more enlightened the world) in Oklahoma on Monday and it was 105 in Limon Colorado and above 105 across much of Kansas. It even reached 102 in NW Alabama but I think the heat will get much worse later this week and spread over an unusually large region fo the U.S. In 33 years of forecasting I have never seen an NWP …

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24 June 2012

Debby Drifting Northeastward- NHC Track Change

As I wrote earlier today, the track on Debby remains very difficult but now the Euro model is drifting it slowly into the Florida Panhandle. Heavy rains, and even some tornadoes have been reported over mainland Florida and more is on the way. The story of Debby will be water, not wind. If you had plans for the Gulf Coast this week from Pensacola eastward, it’s time to cancel them. Debby may …

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Forecast Track For Debby: You’re On Your Own Son!

Sometimes when I make a forecast, I know that it will be correct. I might miss the high or the low by a degree or two, but in general the weather will play out almost exactly as I expected. Then, there are those days when I know that it very likely will be just the opposite! Sometimes, I would just like to use that famous line from Blazing Saddles, “You’re …

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23 June 2012

Tropical Trouble Brewing In The Gulf

UPDATE 4PM EDT Saturday: As I thought- Tropical Storm Debby has formed. NHC Issued tropical storm warnings for the Louisiana Coast. We may already have a tropical depression in the Gulf this afternoon, and we may have Tropical Storm Debby in a few hours. The area of thunderstorms is definitely looking more organised and a weak circulation is visible. There is no convection around the center yet, so it may …

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20 June 2012

Simpson of Saffir- Simpson is 100

Happy Birthday to Robert Simpson who is now 100 years old! He developed the scale with Herbert Saffir, and it will likely be used for many more years. Doyle Rice at USA Today wrote a great piece on Simpson which also has a quote from my friend Bobby Henson at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. The scale:

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19 June 2012

Incredible Global Warmth Continues In May

  From NCDC: The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for May 2012 was 0.66°C (1.19°F) above the 20th century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F). This is the second warmest May since records began in 1880, behind only 2010. The Northern Hemisphere land and ocean average surface temperature for May 2012 was the all-time warmest May on record, at 0.85°C (1.53°F) above average. The globally-averaged land surface temperature for May …

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18 June 2012

Live in Maryland? The water you are drinking fell as rain and snow over a million years ago!

I saw this press release form the USGS today. Pretty amazing when you think about it. With little doubt, drinking water will be THE issue of this next century. Million Year Old Groundwater in Maryland Water Supply A portion of the groundwater in the upper Patapsco aquifer underlying Maryland is over a million years old. A new study suggests that this ancient groundwater, a vital source of freshwater supplies for the …

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