Monday, September 3, 2007

Felix and More

Hurricane Felix is a monster Category 5 storm. Winds are sustained at 165 mph with gusts running up to 185. Saw a story this morning concerning the hurricane hunter flight. Apparently, they had to quit their mission of measuring the storm due to significant turbulence and graupel. What is graupel? I'll look it up and let you know. :)

Today's Links

National Hurricane Center (latest on Felix)
1935 Labor Day Hurricane (great article)
1935 Labor Day Hurricane-part 2 (article from AlabamaWX.com)
US Hurricanes from 1851-2006 (a must read for ANY hurricane buff!)

Definition of Graupel

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I got a quick question that you probably don't know but I figured I'd got ahead and ask. Does the North Atlantic Oscillation affect weather during the summer months in the Eastern U.S.?

Michael Detwiler said...

Clay...that's a great question and one I've not done a lot of study on...here are a couple of links..maybe you can look at them and let me know what the answer is concerning the summer weather! :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_oscillation

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/NAO/

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/data/teledoc/nao.shtml

http://www.bbsr.edu/Labs/co2lab/research/NAO.html

Unknown said...

Greetings, I live in Cookeville and enjoy your blog. Also I read about you in the H/C newspaper earlier in the summer (correct?). Anyway below is the definition of graupel from the Google website (just type in define: graupel at the google search line)

same as snow pellets or small hail.
www.pnl.gov/atmos_sciences/Cdw/Glossary.html

Small pellets of ice created when supercooled water droplets coat, or rime, a snowflake. The pellets are cloudy or white, not clear like sleet, and often are mistaken for hail.
www.srh.weather.gov/srh/jetstream/append/glossary_g.htm

Ice pellets, generally 2 to 5 millimeters in diameter, formed in a cloud when supercooled water droplets collide and freeze on impact; a form of frozen precipitation. Sometimes applied to snow pellets.
www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/WES/glossary.html

Michael Detwiler said...

Thanks Bill, I appreciate the kind words!!

Yep, that's what Graupel is! Could you imagine that hitting your plane while dealing with the winds of a hurricane?? This is what the crew was dealing with while measuring the strength of Felix!

Again, thanks for the kinds words, I appreciate you taking the time to comment!

Michael Detwiler said...

Bill~
Ooops, almost forgot...yes, the H/C did an article on CoCoRaHS and put my picture on the front page checking a rain gauge...didn't know they were going to put it on the front page! We've got 16 observers now...would love to get a few more to measure the rain!
~Michael

Mike Wilhelm said...

Maybe i'm a glutton for punishment, but I would have liked to have been on that hurricane hunter plane!

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