I've Been Thunderstruck

In my last post, I talked a bit about the National Weather Service, and how it contributes to predicting the chances of precipitation. We learned that they send up a radiosonde twice a day, from locations all over the country, to collect data about the atmosphere. Quite a bit of that data they post online for anybody to look at, and combined with other bits of data from things like satellites and ground observations, you can get an amazing picture of how things are shaping up in your area (or almost anywhere in the world!). Let’s take a look at a few of the things you can find online at the National Weather Service web site.

Current observations are an important part of determining what will happen with the weather. If you know how conditions are now, and how they have changed from the past, you can get a clue as to how they might be in the future. One tool that the NWS provides is a Surface Plot graph.

Surface Plot Chart

The official term for this is Mesonet Observations. According to wikipedia, “a mesonet is a network of automated weather stations designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena. Dry lines, squall lines, and sea breezes are examples of phenomena that can be observed by mesonets. Due to the space and time scales associated with mesoscale phenomena, weather stations comprising a mesonet will be spaced closer together and report more frequently than synoptic scale observing networks, such as ASOS. The term mesonet refers to the collective group of these weather stations, and are typically owned and operated by a common entity.” So, basically, this is a series of stations that report current observations on wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity, and other items. If you know how to read these reports, and can spot trends, you can tell when a frontal system moves through, or when you might expect a thunderstorm. It’s good on the ground information.

One area at the NWS site that I spend a lot of time checking during stormy periods is the local weather radar image. This image gives me a great idea of where precipitation is occurring at the moment, and in what amounts and intensity. This is particularly valuable if you are going storm chasing, as you can see where the local thunderstorm cells are dumping their rain. It also provides a time-lapse ability, so you can see what direction the storm is moving. I enjoy watching the radar, especially when storms are headed my way.

Radar Image

Now, let’s say you’re interested in what the current forecast is for your region. The NWS is particularly good at providing that information, and does so in a wonderful graphical format. You can find out great things like temperature, wind speed and direction, dew point (handy in the summer for monsoon prediction), sky cover, precipitation, and more for up to the next week or so. This is very handy for planning activities, and the graphical format of the data is exceptional.

Graphical Forecast

Finally, though by no means even close to the end of the great things you can get from the NWS, is the Weather Story that they produce from time to time. In Tucson, I tend to see these when a weather event is on the way, and right after an event. Any significant change in the expected weather pattern also seems to generate a Weather Story. Essentially, these are a couple slides that show the basics of what’s going on in the area, and what to expect in the near future. I find them interesting because it’s a good synopsis of what’s going on. I don’t know if all major locations produce weather stories, but I suspect they do.

Weather Story

So, there you have it…some of the free products that you can get from the NWS. These items only touch on the rich repository of information that is the National Weather Service. If you are interested in weather, I encourage you to take some time and look around. You’ll find data on things that you didn’t even know they collected data on!

I’ve been thinking about this blog recently, and decided to take it in a new direction. I’ve really wanted to do a blog about weather related subject, and while thinking about a blog name, I realized I already had the perfect one in “Thunderstruck!” So, starting in the very near future, you can expect this blog to be almost 100% weather related. I’ll focus both on weather basics, as well as severe weather subjects. I’m really hoping to go storm chasing in Tornado Alley this spring or summer, and expect to return back with tons of pictures like the one below (not taken by me).

I hope you like the new direction of this blog, and I look forward to and welcome your comments. Thanks for visiting “Ive Been Thunderstruck!”

An awesome looking supercell!

I recently had to take a defensive driving class online. One of the things they do to make sure you’re not skimming the material is to place random sentences in the text, and then quiz you on them later. Below is a list of those random bits of information that I was able to learn about, in addition to understanding how to be a better driver!

• A frog is a mechanical switching device on a railroad track.
• Bob Denver was a teacher before Gilligan’s Island.
• A car operates at maximum economy at speeds between 25 and 35 miles per hour.
• Half an ounce of gasoline is used to start the average automobile
• Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com was originally going to name his web venture Cadabra.
• The last twelve cylinder car produced in the United States was the 1948 Lincoln Continental.
• The student who designed the Nike swoosh logo was paid $35.00
• Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures.
• Thermometers were once filled with brandy instead of mercury.
• The highest selling domain name is business.com for $7.5 million.
• White light is a mixture of every other color in the spectrum.
• The Concorde jet guzzles 300 gallons of fuel per hour while idling.
• The wing flaps of a Boeing 767 come from Italy.
• The household refrigerator was patented in 1899.
• Cross-dressing Corporal Max Klinger on the sitcom M*A*S*H wore size 10 pumps.
• Gray lenses in sunglasses best protect the eyes against the Sun’s rays.
• At age 14, Bill Gates formed a company that sold traffic counting systems.

I actually missed one question pertaining to these tidbits. They gave a list of colors, and which was not part of white. I believe the answer to be Black. Just as White is the reflection of all the colors combined, Black is the absorption of all the colors in the spectrum. But, I still managed to pass that lesson!

I came across an interesting post today, called The Dreams of which Stuff is Made. This is the sort of thoughts about our physical world that totally get me thinking about just how amazing all this really is. Consider these few items, and then head over to the post for more :

• Tightly coiled in the nucleus of every cell of your body is six feet of DNA bearing your genetic code. Since the body has around 10 trillion cells, there are about 10 billion miles of DNA inside you.
• With your eyes, you can see the past. Look at the North Star and you are looking at 1300 A.D. Today’s light left that star nearly 700 years ago.
• Right now, as you remain “still,” you’re moving 400 times faster than a bullet. You are traveling 1,000 miles an hour with Earth’s daily rotation, 67,000 mph with Earth’s yearly journey around the sun, 550,000 mph with the solar system’s revolution around the Milky Way, and 1.3 million mph with the galaxy’s motion through the universe. A bullet goes about 3,000 mph.

I try and talk with people about this stuff all the time, but I can tell they just don’t get how amazingly complex this world…this universe…really is. They get angry when an email doesn’t reach them in 2 seconds, but never stop to think of how amazing that process really is. Or they take the light from stars for granted, not realizing what they are looking at could actually be gone.

Take some time to think about the universe, and what’s really going on. Fun stuff!

For those of you living in Arizona and New Mexico, and who own Garmin GPS receivers, I have created a mapset called Southwest Trails that you may find useful on your outdoor adventures.

Southwest Trails is a transparent map overlay that you can put on your map-enabled Garmin GPS receiver. This allows you to see, and follow, trails using whatever maps you normally would on your GPSr…be it topo maps, City Navigator, or any other sort of map that you have on your GPS. Using data provided by The Trails Co-Op, as well as my own data and user submitted data, I hope to build an extensive mapset of trails across the Southwest. This should help make your outdoor experiences more enjoyable, and more safe.

Using Southwest Trails on your Gamin GPSr extends your ability to have a fun, safe time in the wilderness. No longer are you contrained to adding a few trails or tracks to your GPSr, limited by the design of the device. Since Southwest Trails is a complete mapset, you simply load it with all the other maps you want to have on your device, and any trail in the mapset is available for your use at all times. Now, the only limitation is the number of trails that come with Southwest Trails! It’s my hope that Southwest Trails will enhance your wilderness enjoyment, and keep you safe on your travels.

Southwest Trails is available for both Windows and Mac users. The current version, v0.51a, is available for download at Outdoor Resources.

Filling station and garage at Pie Town, New Mexico (LOC)

Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

I came across the Library of Congress collection of photos on Flickr today, and was browsing through some of them. These images are all copyright free, with no known restrictions on their use…which means you can use them for anything at all (but don’t take credit for taking the picture…that would be wrong). But, I digress. I thought this picture was cool because I like the old style gas stations, and because it would be sweet to live in a place called Pie Town!

It’s always easier to talk a good talk than to walk a good walk! The proof is in the pudding, as they say.