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5 September 2017
Fire and Rain, and a Whole Lot of Wind
Big Trouble Coming Irma has become a real monster today with sustained winds at 185 mph. Only one hurricane is known that was stronger. This storm reminds me of the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 with 200 mph wind gusts in the Florida Keys. A reminder, when looking at the NHC track forecasts, you should ignore the center line and focus on the cone, which is based on the average forecast …
29 June 2015
Smoke From Canada Fires Turns Skies Orange Across the Plains
Raging wildfires in Western Canada have spread smoke over much of the northern/central U.S. this evening. The plume of smoke now extends over 2000 km, and it will likely move into the Eastern U.S. over the next few days, with the summer blue skies turning a milky white. You can see what the smoke looks like from Fargo, ND here. Very dry conditions coupled with recent extreme heat have caused …
7 August 2014
Wildfire Smoke Dims Sun Over Eastern U.S. and Canada
Dense wildfire smoke (from forest fires in Canada) has once again moved into the NE U.S. The smoke is bringing a hazy sky this evening to the Eastern Great Lakes, and across NY and into Maryland,Virginia, and Delaware. The smoke was brought southward by the cool front that passed through last night. A closer view of the smoke is below: Click the images above for a much larger version. The …
25 July 2014
Wildfire Smoke Reaches New York and Ontario
The wildfires from Washington and western/northern Canada continue to send a shroud of dense smoke to areas thousands of miles away. It’s been an almost autumn like afternoon over the Northeast U.S., and here in Maryland we have a deep blue sky with low humidity. No deep blue sky to our north however, where a dense layer of smoke covers southern Canada and New England. Below is the temperature anomalies …
20 August 2013
Smoke From Idaho Fires Spreads Over Much Of The Plains
The fires keep burning, and at low sun angles you can easily see how widespread the smoke is. Much of the Great Plains has a layer of smoke now. This is likely holding daytime temps. down a degree or two, and perhaps more in some areas. Click the image below for a higher resolution view. Image is from the GOES East.
29 January 2013
Salt Lake City Smog Approaches Beijing Levels
Despite those ski resort images of a deep blue sky and wonderful white powder, the air just down the mountain from such ski resorts as Snowbird and Alta has been a rather toxic soup recently. Salt Lake City has endured yet another winter episode of smog that makes the view look more like Beijing than what you would normally picture for Utah. A group of physicians in the city spoke …
12 January 2013
Deadly Frozen Smog Closes In On Beijing
Temps in Beijing are running around -5C and visibility is less than 200 meters in places. There is a large high pressure system over the region that is causing a strong temperature inversion. This means the air aloft is warmer than the air at the surface so smoke and soot from factories and trucks gets trapped over the city. A blob of warm smoke from a factory smoke stack will begin to rise because it is …
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 …
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 …
12 June 2012
More of The West Burns While Pensacola Floods
The intense drought out west is likely to cause more of these fires and the huge number of dead trees in the forests (due to the Pine Beetle) are certainly aggravating the situation. The opposite is true on the Gulf Coast with a deep layer of tropical moisture moving ashore over the weekend. Over 20 inches of rain fell in western Florida. As of late May, 37% of the U.S. …
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.