10.12.10
Posted in Non-US Weather, Weather News at 11:53 am by Rebekah
This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Copiapó, Chile.
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Mall Plaza Real in Copiapó, Chile. From Wikipedia.
As you’ve probably heard, after spending over 2 months in a collapsed mine, 33 miners in northern Chile are about to be lifted up to safety. The nearest town to this mine is Copiapó, so this week I thought I’d take a look at what the climate is like there.
Copiapó, in northern Chile, was founded in 1744 by the Copiapó River, which has since then dried up. The city is primarily a copper mining town (silver is also mined around there), with agriculture (grapes, olives, tomatoes, avocadoes, and citrus fruits) coming second. Because Copiapó is surrounded by the Atacama Desert, it receives very little rain. The Atacama Desert is the driest desert on Earth, even though it lies on the Pacific Coast. Primary reasons the desert is so dry include the Humbolt Current off the coast (cold waters well up off the coast, keeping the air drier) and the Andes Mountains to the west (wind comes from the west and creates a rain shadow on the leeward side of the mountains). Copiapó is home to 129,091 people.
A few more facts about Copiapó (from Wikipedia):
- Time zone: Chile Standard Time (UTC-4) or Chile Summer Time (UTC-3)
- Elevation: 1,283 feet
- Climate zone: Desert / steppe
- Average high temperature: 79 °F (26 °C)
- Average low temperature: 55 °F (13 °C)
- Average annual precipitation: 0.5 inch (12 mm)
Current weather: Copiapó is the Southern Hemisphere, so it is currently spring there with summer coming soon. High temperatures this week are expected to start in the upper 60s, getting to upper 70s by the end of the week. Lows are forecast to be in the mid-40s to lower 50s. Skies are mostly clear although there is a slight chance of a trace of rain for tonight. Fog is common at night.
Here is a recent visible satellite image for South America, showing the location of Copiapó (from Meteo Chile, click to enlarge):
For weather maps and information on current and forecast Copiapó and Chile weather, see Meteo Chile (Chile’s meteorological agency website, in Spanish), Weather Online UK (maps, models, and forecasts for around the world), and Weather Underground.
For more information on Copiapó, here’s a link to Wikipedia, and here’s a link to Spanish Wikipedia (even more info, just in Spanish).
Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment!
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Posted in General News at 11:14 am by Rebekah
I have obviously been absent from this blog for a couple of weeks, but I hope to get back to more regular posts. I apologize for keeping you waiting!
I have been plagued recently with numerous computer problems, from my primary laptop failing to my older laptop failing. My newer laptop is getting fixed up in the shop, while my older one is now back to working okay…though I don’t trust it at all. I have also had problems with Yahoo!…in case you hadn’t noticed, their servers have had some problems recently and both my webpage and this blog were not available for a little while.
I am also trying to finish my storm chasing DVD in time for the National Weather Festival at the National Weather Center here in Norman…that event is the first Saturday of November. My computer problems have prevented me from working on that for a while, but I’m back to working on it and will spend more time on the project once my college mid-term is over.
That’s what’s been keeping me the most busy…studying. I’m taking two graduate classes (Numerical Weather Prediction and Convective Clouds and Storms), and I just finished a mid-term in one of them and I will have the other mid-term a week from Thursday. Once that’s over, I can hopefully breathe a sigh of relief and move forward with some of my other projects, including the DVD. 🙂
Anyway, just thought I’d share why I have been absent lately. I’ll post the next article in the World Wide Weather series shortly.
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09.24.10
Posted in Tropical Weather, Weather News at 3:54 pm by Rebekah
Check out this 18Z (1pm Central Daylight Time) surface analysis from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (click to enlarge).
There’s an extratropical cyclone just north of Lake Superior, and a cold front extending southwestward through southern Oklahoma. The low pressure system brought lots of rain to the upper Midwest, and is causing flooding problems in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
NWS rainfall and flooding reports here.
Dramatic news footage of a bridge wiped out in Minnesota.
Cooler air is still to come, behind another cold front that is forecast to make it through Oklahoma Saturday night. This front will bring much more fall-like temperatures to the central and possibly eastern US. The NWS forecast low for Norman on Sunday night is just 51 °F!
Note also that Tropical Storm Matthew is on the map; it’s just now making landfall in Nicaragua. Models do show that another tropical system could form in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico within a week. This tropical cyclone could have a chance at making landfall somewhere along the Gulf Coast by the end of next week, although it’s too far out to say if this will actually happen.
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09.21.10
Posted in Non-US Weather, Weather News at 4:06 pm by Rebekah
This week’s post in the global weather and climate series features Sarh, Chad.
Chari River, near Sarh, Chad. From Kejsa Media Network.
This time of year, central African weather is dominated by tropical (aka easterly) waves. Tropical waves are low-level troughs within the tropics, which provide lift for thunderstorms and are a major source for tropical cyclone development.
Sarh, in south central Chad, is currently under a cloud cluster associated with one of these tropical waves. If the tropical wave survives its journey across Africa, it could have a chance at becoming a tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean.
Infrared satellite image over central Africa, showing at least two cloud clusters associated with tropical waves. From Weather Underground. Click to enlarge.
Sarh has a population of 108,061, and is the 3rd largest city in Chad. Located on the Chari River, Sarh is about 30 miles north of the Central African Republic. Sarh, formerly known as Fort Archambault, was founded by the French for returnees from Congo-Ocean Railway labor camps. Today Sarh is a major transport hub and a center for the cotton industry.
A few more facts about Sarh (weather data from World Climate):
- Time zone: West Africa Time (UTC+1)
- Elevation: 1,138 feet
- Climate zone: Tropical savanna
- Average high temperature: 95 °F (35 °C)
- Average low temperature: 71 °F (22 °C)
- Average annual precipitation: 38 inches (969 mm)
Current weather: Sarh is expecting thunderstorms to continue throughout this week and next, as a result of the tropical wave currently over Sarh and the next one coming their way. Highs this week will be in the upper 80s to lower 90s, with lows in the lower 70s and dewpoints in the upper 60s to lower 70s.
For weather maps and information on current and forecast Sarh and Chad weather, see Weather Online UK (maps, models, and forecasts for around the world), and Weather Underground.
For more information on Sarh, here’s a link to Wikipedia.
Next Tuesday I plan to take a look at the climate and weather in another part of the globe. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future cities, please leave a comment on this post!
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09.16.10
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:25 am by Rebekah
Long story short, saw one tornado about a mile east of Mulvane, Kansas, on the Sedgwick County supercell.
I was chasing with Jeff Makowski…we didn’t leave Norman until 3:18pm, and watched the supercell blow up on our drive up I35. We saw this particular tornado at 6:52pm, from less than a mile southeast of the tornado. The funnel cloud in these photos was most of the way to the ground, and I do believe I saw some dust briefly kicked up underneath it.
We followed the storm to just northeast of Winfield, where we suddenly got hit by RFD. The CGs were so frequent and so incredibly close. We were driving south, away from the storm, but got hit by blinding rain and had to pull off the road into a driveway.
We decided to wait it out, as we could barely see the road and it was starting to hail. The biggest stone I saw fall was over golfball size…I’d estimate about or just over 2 inches in diameter. At this time we were hearing reports on the radio of rope tornado sightings about 5 NE Winfield and 12 NW Dexter…really close to where we were! (Too rainy and dark for us to see anything.)
The storm passed to our east, and we went on our way home. Here are a few of my photos…more to come later, once I catch up on web chase logs and photos! There was some incredible structure as well, though I have few good photos of it.
This was my first September and fall season tornado! This was also my first tornado in Kansas this year, and the 7th one I’ve seen this year.
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