Weather 201

[bertusgeert 1]

What's a good source to learn more advanced weather interpretation? Wunderground is nice for temp high & cloud cover, but I'm talking about beginning to understand these:

http://aviationweather.gov/data/products/swl/ll_12_3_cl_new.gif

I'm interested both in the macro patterns, as well as the micro - mostly to predict thermal activity :-)

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[theplummeter 14]

You used to be able to get a combined lifted K/Composite Stability index from aviationweather.gov, but unfortunately the FAA and NOAA are moving away from making raw data plotting available and drifting towards more user friendly content.

The surface prognostic chart you linked to basically shows the forecast movement of pressure systems at the surface for the forecast effectivity period. While frontal movement will show lifting it's mostly used for thunderstorm prediction.

[shropshire 0]

"Meteorology and flight - A pilot's guide to weather" - by Tom Bradbury (ISBN 0-7136-5676-X)

I'm a paraglider pilot (20 years) and this one is the dogs bollocks



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meteorology-Flight-Pilots-Guide-Weather/dp/0713668318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309967380&sr=8-1

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[bertusgeert 1]

Quote

You used to be able to get a combined lifted K/Composite Stability index from aviationweather.gov, but unfortunately the FAA and NOAA are moving away from making raw data plotting available and drifting towards more user friendly content.

The surface prognostic chart you linked to basically shows the forecast movement of pressure systems at the surface for the forecast effectivity period. While frontal movement will show lifting it's mostly used for thunderstorm prediction.

I remember learning in high school how the pressure systems determine wind direction with Coriolis, and what the ensuing weather will be. Also cloud types and what they mean. That's the forgotten knowledge I am after, and looking to expand.

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!

[Meso 38]

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You used to be able to get a combined lifted K/Composite Stability index from aviationweather.gov, but unfortunately the FAA and NOAA are moving away from making raw data plotting available and drifting towards more user friendly content.

The weather agencies everywhere tend to be moving away from raw data which sucks for us storm chasers and severe weather enthusiasts, though relying on global model data can be useful as well.

Things such as CAPE, LI (lifted Index), Velocity values, K-Index are easy to get hold of in model output format, most typically the GFS model.

Just an example since I have this bookmarked: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/african_desk/swdfp/day0/00/

I rarely rely on local products because of how pathetic they are, and when I do it's usually through aviation charts.

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I remember learning in high school how the pressure systems determine wind direction with Coriolis, and what the ensuing weather will be. Also cloud types and what they mean. That's the forgotten knowledge I am after, and looking to expand.

Luckily the cloud information is limited and easy to learn. Though most text books fail to note the 'fun' clouds (mammatus, roll clouds, shelf clouds)

When you start breaking down into the sub-categories of clouds it can get a bit tricky though. Fact of the matter is the best information I've found on clouds was on wikipedia, they have a dedicated list of names and if you search each of the names you're usually linked to an indepth article on how they're formed, what precipitation if any they bring etc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cloud_types

With regards to ridges, troughs and cut-off lows and their wind directions, it's also pretty easy to learn.

The fun stuff still begins with hurricane formation, how environmental factors such as shear, dry air and SAL affect them. Severe thunderstorm and supercell development and then tornadoes.

[bertusgeert 1]

Excellent - I ordered that book recommended.

Wikipedia has certainly been good for filling in a lot of gaps for me. The one thing I'm struggling to understand at this point is soundings & what they mean. Trying to interpret pressure, humidity, dew point & understanding how that relates to thermal size/topout.

I dream of constructing a weather model in excel over the next few months. Sourcing all kinds of historical data (esp. wind data) to determine averages for time of month & highlighting how this month is different from previous, or even just centralizing live feed information in one place to make better decisions as to where to go fly when I wake up in the morning.

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As jy dom is moet jy bloei!