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Colorado Low
A Colorado low is a low-pressure area that forms in southeastern Colorado or northeastern New Mexico, typically in the winter. After forming, the system moves across the Great Plains. Colorado lows can produce heavy wintry precipitation, and have a general east to northeast movement, impacting regions as far north as Winnipeg and as far east as the Atlantic coast. If upper-level conditions are right, the jet stream can push the low farther south, bringing wintry precipitation as far as Texas. When pushed this far south, the system is often referred to as a " blue norther". On the more typical track, a Colorado low can be similar to an Alberta clipper. In the winter Colorado lows are responsible for a majority of the snow that the Midwest receives; however, summer systems can trigger long-lasting convective systems, including severe weather. Spring and early summer Colorado low cyclogenesis can result in significant tornado outbreaks over the Great Plains and Midwest. See also * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colorado Low
A Colorado low is a low-pressure area that forms in southeastern Colorado or northeastern New Mexico, typically in the winter. After forming, the system moves across the Great Plains. Colorado lows can produce heavy wintry precipitation, and have a general east to northeast movement, impacting regions as far north as Winnipeg and as far east as the Atlantic coast. If upper-level conditions are right, the jet stream can push the low farther south, bringing wintry precipitation as far as Texas. When pushed this far south, the system is often referred to as a " blue norther". On the more typical track, a Colorado low can be similar to an Alberta clipper. In the winter Colorado lows are responsible for a majority of the snow that the Midwest receives; however, summer systems can trigger long-lasting convective systems, including severe weather. Spring and early summer Colorado low cyclogenesis can result in significant tornado outbreaks over the Great Plains and Midwest. See also * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are sometimes called thundershowers. Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus. They are usually accompanied by strong winds and often produce heavy rain and sometimes snow, sleet, or hail, but some thunderstorms produce little precipitation or no precipitation at all. Thunderstorms may line up in a series or become a rainband, known as a squall line. Strong or severe thunderstorms include some of the most dangerous weather phenomena, including large hail, strong winds, and tornadoes. Some of the most persistent severe thunderstorms, known as supercells, rotate as do cyclones. While most thunderstorms move with the mean wind flow through the layer of the troposphere that they occupy, vertical wind shear sometimes caus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extratropical Cyclones
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to severe gales, thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. These types of cyclones are defined as large scale (synoptic) low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone. Terminology The term " cyclone" applies to numerous types of low pressure areas, one of which is the extratropical cyclone. The descriptor ''extratropical'' signifies that this type of cyclone generally occurs outside the tropics and in the middle latitudes of Earth between 30° and 60° latitude. They a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panhandle Hook
A panhandle hook (also called a pan handle hook or Texas hooker) is a relatively infrequent winter storm system whose cyclogenesis occurs in the South to southwestern United States from the late fall through winter and into the early Spring (season), spring months. They trek to the northeast on a path towards the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region, as the southwesterly jet streams are most prevalent, usually affecting the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Panhandle hooks account for some of the most memorable and deadly blizzards and snowstorms in North America. The name is derived from the region of surface cyclogenesis Cyclogenesis is the development or strengthening of cyclonic circulation in the atmosphere (a low-pressure area). Cyclogenesis is an umbrella term for at least three different processes, all of which result in the development of some sort of cycl ... in the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma panhandle regions. In some winters, there are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nor'easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use of the term in North America is associated with storms that impact the upper north Atlantic coast of the United States and the Atlantic Provinces of Canada. Typically, such storms originate as a low-pressure area that forms within of the shore between North Carolina and Massachusetts. The precipitation pattern is similar to that of other extratropical storms. Nor'easters are usually accompanied by heavy rain or snow, and can cause severe coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane-force winds, or blizzard conditions. Nor'easters are usually most intense during winter in New England and Atlantic Canada. They thrive on converging air masses—the cold polar air mass and the warmer air over the water—and are more severe in winter whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulf Low
A Gulf low or Texas Low is a low pressure area that forms or intensifies over the Gulf of Mexico and move northeast on the western side of the Appalachian mountains and sometimes on the Atlantic coast to become a nor'easter. Because they move from over or near the Gulf of Mexico, these storm systems are capable of transporting copious amounts of moisture with them. At their strongest, these storm systems are even more potent snowfall producers than panhandle hooks, primarily because of the mixing of Atlantic Ocean moisture into the storm system once they cross the Appalachian Mountains. Because of the general west to east movement of weather systems in the mid latitudes of the northern hemisphere, Gulf Lows rarely affect areas west of the Mississippi River. One such exception was the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. Types There are two types of "Gulf Lows": West and East Gulf Cyclones or Types Ga and Gb.as per the California Institute of Technology (CIT) As western storms (Alberta cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone
The Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone (DCVZ) is an orographically-induced atmospheric phenomenon characterized by convergent winds in the High Plains just east of the Denver metropolitan area, typically in length and oriented in a north-south direction. This meteorological feature was subject to scientific scrutiny following a large outbreak of Denver-area tornadoes in 1981 and is implicated in the propensity of the area to spawn landspout (misocyclone) and supercell (mesocyclone) tornadoes. The DCVZ is often associated with the Denver Cyclone effect, which some consider as a more fully developed iteration of the DCVZ, although the Denver Cyclone is considered a distinct atmospheric phenomenon by some scientists.Pietrycha, A. Email correspondence quoted by Sam Barricklow, http://www.k5kj.net/DCVZ.htm Characteristics DCVZ conditions form when a low-level moist, southeasterly flowing air mass meets the Palmer Divide, a ridge that extends east of the Colorado Front Range. If the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tornado Outbreak
__NOTOC__ A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least two rotational locations (if squall line) or at least two supercells producing multiple tornadoes. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the same region. Most definitions allow for a break in tornado activity (time elapsed from the end of the last tornado to the beginning of the next tornado) of six hours. If tornado activity indeed resumes after such a lull, many definitions consider the event to be a new outbreak. A series of continuous or nearly continuous tornado outbreak days is a tornado outbreak sequence. In the United States and Canada, tornado outbreaks usually occur from March through June in the Great Plains, the Midwestern United States, and the Southeaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclogenesis
Cyclogenesis is the development or strengthening of cyclonic circulation in the atmosphere (a low-pressure area). Cyclogenesis is an umbrella term for at least three different processes, all of which result in the development of some sort of cyclone, and at any size from the microscale to the synoptic scale. * Tropical cyclones form due to latent heat driven by significant thunderstorm activity, developing a warm core. * Extratropical cyclones form as waves along weather fronts before occluding later in their life cycle as cold core cyclones. * Mesocyclones form as warm core cyclones over land, and can lead to tornado formation. Waterspouts can also form from mesocyclones, but more often develop from environments of high instability and low vertical wind shear. The process in which an extratropical cyclone undergoes a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure (24 millibars or more) in a 24-hour period is referred to as explosive cyclogenesis, and is usually present during the format ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Severe Weather
Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric conditions. High winds, hail, excessive precipitation, and wildfires are forms and effects of severe weather, as are thunderstorms, downbursts, tornadoes, waterspouts, tropical cyclones, and extratropical cyclones. Regional and seasonal severe weather phenomena include blizzards ( snowstorms), ice storms, and duststorms. Extreme weather phenomena which cause extreme heat, cold, wetness or drought often will bring severe weather events. One of the principal effects of anthropogenic climate change is changes in severe and extreme weather patterns. Terminology Meteorologists have generally defined severe weather as any aspect of the weather that poses risks to life, property or requires the intervention of authorities. A narrower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It was officially named the North Central Region by the Census Bureau until 1984. It is between the Northeastern United States and the Western United States, with Canada to the north and the Southern United States to the south. The Census Bureau's definition consists of 12 states in the north central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The region generally lies on the broad Interior Plain between the states occupying the Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian Mountain range and the states occupying the Rocky Mountains, Rocky Mountain range. Major rivers in the region include, from east to west, the Ohio River, the Upper Mis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low-pressure Area
In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible rain or storms), while high-pressure areas are associated with lighter winds and clear skies. Winds circle anti-clockwise around lows in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, due to opposing Coriolis forces. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the upper levels of the atmosphere (aloft). The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as cyclogenesis. In meteorology, atmospheric divergence aloft occurs in two kinds of places: * The first is in the area on the east side of upper troughs, which form half of a Rossby wave within the Westerlies (a trough with large wavelength that extends through the troposphere). * A second is an area where wind divergence aloft occu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
