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Mesonet Logo Tagline
In meteorology and climatology, a mesonet, portmanteau of mesoscale network, is a network of automated weather and, often, environmental monitoring stations designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena and/or microclimates. Dry lines, squall lines, and sea breezes are examples of phenomena observed by mesonets. Due to the space and time scales associated with mesoscale phenomena and microclimates, weather stations comprising a mesonet are spaced closer together and report more frequently than synoptic scale observing networks, such as the WMO Global Observing System (GOS) and US ASOS. The term mesonet refers to the collective group of these weather stations, which are usually owned and operated by a common entity. Mesonets generally record in situ surface weather observations but some involve other observation platforms, particularly vertical profiles of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Other environmental parameters may include insolation and various variables of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HCR OK Mesonet
HCR may refer to: * Hawaii Consolidated Railway *Herbal Cannabis Reef * HCR Corporation, Canadian software company of the 1970s and 1980s * HCR Manor Care * Head count ratio * Health care reform * Heather Cox Richardson * Hill Climb Racing, video game * Hollywood Congress of Republicans * Holy Cross Airport, in Alaska, United States * Home Condition Report, a proposed part of the Home Information Pack * Honey Creek Railroad * Host-Cell Reactivation * Hot Chelle Rae, an American pop band * Hot Club Records * House concurrent resolution, in the United States Congress * Household Cavalry Regiment, in the British Army * Hover Car Racer * Human cognitive reliability correlation * Huntingdon Community Radio * United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road Weather Information System
A Road Weather Information System (RWIS) comprises automatic weather stations (AWS) (often technically referred to as Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS) as they also cover non-meteorological variables) in the field, a communication system for data transfer, and central systems to collect field data from numerous ESS. These stations measure real-time atmospheric parameters, pavement conditions, water level conditions, visibility, and sometimes other variables. Central RWIS hardware and software are used to process observations from ESS to develop nowcasts or forecasts, and to display or disseminate road weather information in a format that can be easily interpreted by a manager. RWIS data are used by road operators and maintainers to support decision making. Real-time RWIS data is also used by Automated Warning Systems (AWS). The spatial and temporal resolution of a station network can be that of a mesonet or sometimes a constituent network in a network of station networks compris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extratropical Cyclone
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. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane (), typhoon (), tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone. A hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the Indian Ocean, South Pacific, or (rarely) South Atlantic, comparable storms are referred to simply as "tropical cyclones", and such storms in the Indian Ocean can also be called "severe cyclonic storms". "Tropical" refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. "Cyclone" refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesoscale Convective Vortex
A mesovortex is a small-scale rotational feature found in a convective storm, such as a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS, i.e. squall line), a supercell, or the eyewall of a tropical cyclone. Mesovortices range in diameter from tens of miles to a mile or less and can be immensely intense. Eyewall mesovortex An ''eyewall mesovortex'' is a small-scale rotational feature found in an eyewall of an intense tropical cyclone. Eyewall mesovortices are similar, in principle, to small "suction vortices" often observed in multiple-vortex tornadoes. In these vortices, wind speed can be up to 10% higher than in the rest of the eyewall. Eyewall mesovortices are most common during periods of intensification in tropical cyclones. Eyewall mesovortices often exhibit unusual behavior in tropical cyclones. They usually revolve around the low pressure center, but sometimes they remain stationary. Eyewall mesovortices have even been documented to cross the eye of a storm. These phenomena have bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wake Low
A wake low, or wake depression, is a mesoscale low-pressure area which trails the mesoscale high following a squall line. Due to the subsiding warm air associated with the system's formation, clearing skies are associated with the wake low. Once difficult to detect in surface weather observations due to their broad spacing, the formation of mesoscale weather station networks, or mesonets, has increased their detection.Mark R. Conder, Steven R. Cobb, and Gary D. Skwira (2006)West Texas Mesonet Observations of Wake Lows and Heat Bursts Across Northwest Texas.American Meteorological Society. Retrieved on 2009-04-24. Severe weather, in the form of high winds, can be generated by the wake low when the pressure difference between the mesohigh preceding it and the wake low is intense enough.. When the squall line is in the process of decay, heat bursts can be generated near the wake low. Once new thunderstorm activity along the squall line concludes, the wake low associated with it weak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesohigh
A mesohigh (sometimes called a "bubble high") is a mesoscale high-pressure area that forms beneath thunderstorms. While not always the case, it is usually associated with a mesoscale convective system. In the early stages of research on the subject, the mesohigh was often referred to as a "thunderstorm high". Formation A mesohigh forms underneath the downdraft in a squall line and is associated with the cold pool of a thunderstorm. It is largely formed by hydrostatic phenomenon, specifically the evaporation of falling precipitation. As precipitation, primarily rain, falls in the downdraft, it evaporates in the unsaturated air, leading to cooling in the downdraft due to an absorption of latent heat. The cooling of the air leads to an increase in the pressure as the air becomes denser. While not the primary mechanism behind the mesohigh, melting or sensible cooling of hail can also lead to increased pressure in the mesohigh. An additional source of increased pressure is hydromete ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesolow
A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed lasting minutes, as opposed to a wind gust, which lasts for only seconds. They are usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to the increase of the sustained winds over that time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event. They usually occur in a region of strong sinking air or cooling in the mid-atmosphere. These force strong localized upward motions at the leading edge of the region of cooling, which then enhances local downward motions just in its wake. Etymology There are different versions of the word's origins: * By one version, the word appears to be Nordic in origin, but its etymology is considered obscure. It probably has its roots in the word ''skvala'' an Old Norse word meaning literally ''to squeal''. * By another version, it is an alteration of ''squeal'' influenced by ''bawl''. Character of the wind The term "squall" is used to refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Wave
In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric stationary waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, above the Krkonoše. They are periodic changes of atmospheric pressure, temperature and orthometric height in a current of air caused by vertical displacement, for example orographic lift when the wind blows over a mountain or mountain range. They can also be caused by the surface wind blowing over an escarpment or plateau, or even by upper winds deflected over a thermal updraft or cloud street. The vertical motion forces periodic changes in speed and direction of the air within this air current. They always occur in groups on the lee side of the terrain that triggers them. Sometimes, mountain waves can help to enhance precipitation amounts downwind of mountain ranges. Usually a turbulent vortex, with its axis of rotation parallel to the mount ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Breeze And Valley Breeze
A mountain breeze and a valley breeze are two related, localized winds that occur one after the other on a daily cycle. They are an example of anabatic and katabatic winds occurring at local scales. These winds are opposite from each other. Mountain winds blow from mountain towards valley after sunset, when mountain cools down and valley zone is comparatively warmer. While valley breezes occur when the warm air rises up the sides of the valley, warm air in a mountain breeze will rise up the middle. Cause Mountain and valley breezes form through a process similar to sea and land breezes. During the day, the sun heats up mountain air rapidly while the valley remains relatively cooler. Convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the c ... causes it to rise, causing a valley b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmospheric Convection
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air masses lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to increased winds, cumulus cloud development, and decreased surface dew points. Moist convection leads to thunderstorm development, which is often responsible for severe weather throughout the world. Special threats from thunderstorms include hail, downbursts, and tornadoes. Overview There are a few general archetypes of atmospheric instability that are used to explain convection (or lack thereof). A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for convection is that the environmental lapse rate (the rate of decrease of temperature with height) is steeper than the lapse rate experienced by a rising parcel of air. When this condition is met, upward-displaced air parcels can become buoyant and th ... [...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 causes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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