The Weather that Makes the Dots
TESSE 22 July 2008
Eric Kelsey
Institute for the Study of Earth, Ocean and Space - UNH
0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000Age (yr BP)
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Tem
p. in
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Projected Concentration After 50 More Years of Unrestricted Fossil Fuel Burning
Temperature Cycle over 7 Glacial Cycles
CO
2 [
pp
mv]
0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000Age (yr BP)
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600 Projected Concentration After 50 More Years of Unrestricted Fossil Fuel Burning
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Seasonal Temperature Cycle over 7 Years?
0100,000200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000Age (yr BP)
500
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600 Projected Concentration After 50 More Years of Unrestricted Fossil Fuel Burning
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
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