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8 August 2011
Amazing Lightning Video From The Air
Mark Spencer (one of my fellow board members at Sc-Quest science museum) was flying back from Jackson, MS on August 3rd when he captured this amazing video. The flash rate in this storm is incredible, and it’s likely a severe storm. These cells produced 70 mph winds across North Alabama later on that produced extensive damage and power outages. The video was taken with night vision cameras and it’s good …
2 August 2011
Bartlesville, Oklahoma Reaches 110° at Solar Noon (1 PM CDT)
Take a look at the IR GOES image below, and you can clearly see where the hottest ground is. Keep in mind that the thermal IR satellite surface temps. are a combination of trees and grass etc., but it’s still a good look at the areas that will see the worst of the heat today. The amazing heat is even more amazing when you look at the data …
1 August 2011
Baked Sooners
Oklahoma is the world leader in weather research and has the world’s best network of weather stations, called the Oklahoma Mesonet. Take a look at some of the data it has recorded this summer. The number of days with temps. above 100 is approaching the numbers seen during the awful heat wave of 1980. I was in Oklahoma City that summer and remember everyone running outside of the TV station …
19 July 2011
Plains Heat is Moving East, While Iowa & Minnesota Melt Under Extreme Heat
The intense upper level high responsible for the heat in the Plains will move eastward later this week, with heat indexes over 115 are very possible in the Washington, DC area. There are some signs that the heat will abate somewhat next week, especially east of the Mississippi, but the Southern Plains will continue to bake. I saw an 80+ dewpoint in North Dakota yesterday- amazing. Minneapolis tied their highest all time dewpoint at 81F (27.2C).
18 July 2011
The Lake Breeze Around Lake Erie
My fellow AGU blogger John Freeland (over at Terra Central) spotted this gorgeous pic of the lake breeze around Lake Erie and sent it my way. I love images like this because they illustrate an atmospheric circulation that many people are familiar with, especially those who live near the coast, or around the Great Lakes. It was one of the first pieces of atmospheric science I understood well (as …
14 July 2011
Yes, The Heat is Bad, But It’s Going to Get Worse
The torrid heat is going to get worse next week. Much of the Plains is suffering through the hottest summer since 1980 and Texas is enduring a drought that is now called exceptional. In the Southeast the heat index hit 115° (46C) in Greenville, MS. on Wed. and Poplar Bluff in Mo. beat that with 118° on Monday. The heat is being made much worse in the Eastern U.S. by …
9 July 2011
A Very Hot Wind Is Sweeping Down The Plain
Oklahoma is baking this afternoon! Temps last hour were above 110 at several locations and according to Gene Tyner at the NWS forecast office in Norman: “June was one of the hottest months in recent memory for Oklahoma and the hottest June on record in the west central and southwest part of the state where the average daily maximum temperature was above 100 degrees for the month. The average daily …
24 May 2011
Deadliest Tornado Season in 60 Years Continues As Oklahoma Prepares for Violent Tornado Outbreak
A rare HIGH RISK outlook was issued today by the Storm Prediction Center (NOAA) in Norman, OK. The last high risk was on 27 April when the tornado swarm hit Alabama and Mississippi. Without doubt, this will be the deadliest tornado season in at least 60 years and it is frankly amazing in the modern warning era. The death toll in April was over 350 and this week in Joplin …
23 May 2011
Deadly Tornado Wrecks Joplin Missouri (UPDATED)
An intense supercell storm spawned a violent tornado that tore through Joplin Missouri around 5:30 PM Sunday evening. The local paper is reporting 24 fatalities and the main hospital in the city took a direct hit. The hospital is being evacuated and patients transferred to nearby facilities. A friend of mine who is a storm chaser pulled 30 people from the rubble near the high school which appears to be …
24 April 2011
Where The Wind Comes Right behind The Rain (but, not without warning!)
I am back home in Oklahoma this weekend for a climate change seminar at my alma mater, the University of Oklahoma. I graduated from OU in 1981 and it has changed dramatically. OU is now the world’s premiere school for studying the atmospheric sciences and the seminar was in the new National Weather Center that houses the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, (They are responsible for issuing tornado watches nationwide) along …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.