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February Banter 2021


George BM
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2 minutes ago, high risk said:

      It absolutely accounts for balloon drift.    The GPS sensors in the sonde relay lat/lon info at each level, and the data is assimilated at the actual location.

 

12 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

Question for the red taggers - I'll tag a few in hopes that I can get an answer. @high risk @WxUSAF @MN Transplant - How does NWS account for the balloon launches drifting in the wind? In other words, say that in a very strong wind the balloon has drifted tens of miles by the time it samples a warm nose in today's case. Not sure if that's even realistic - but when that data is ingested into the models - does it treat the entire sounding as if it was directly above IAD/LWX - or does it account for the data at different levels being taken at potentially different geographic locations? 

@high risk is correct. Most offices utilize a Sippican GPS radiosonde that has 1 sec or less response with GPS coordinates updated to the nearest 0.0001 of a degree, so it's insanely accurate when properly calibrated. We go through a process prior to sending up the sonde to make sure it's within tolerance levels specified via the company involved. The Upper Air process is very very thorough to have the most accurate data possible for a specific geographic region.  

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I will admit that snow affects my mood - sorry if that makes me a bad person.

I will also note that many of the lectures on how snow should not affect mood come from people who live in areas where a butterfly farts and it snows. 

In any event, and to sum up, I wish it would snow more readily over this way. It used to. 

The snow is here now in downtown Balt. That is helping my mood. 

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11 minutes ago, high risk said:

      It absolutely accounts for balloon drift.    The GPS sensors in the sonde relay lat/lon info at each level, and the data is assimilated at the actual location.

I figured - but wanted to get the true answer! Thanks!

2 minutes ago, MillvilleWx said:

 

@high risk is correct. Most offices utilize a Sippican GPS radiosonde that has 1 sec or less response with GPS coordinates updated to the nearest 0.0001 of a degree, so it's insanely accurate when properly calibrated. We go through a process prior to sending up the sonde to make sure it's within tolerance levels specified via the company involved. The Upper Air process is very very thorough to have the most accurate data possible for a specific geographic region.  

The red taggers on here never disappoint. So in "theory" that warm nose being sampled on the LWX/IAD sonde could have actually been sampled a bit away from the launch site? I assume for the purposes of a day like today, it wouldn't have drifted TOO far - and would probably still be representative of the atmosphere above the site? 

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Just now, Kmlwx said:

I figured - but wanted to get the true answer! Thanks!

The red taggers on here never disappoint. So in "theory" that warm nose being sampled on the LWX/IAD sonde could have actually been sampled a bit away from the launch site? I assume for the purposes of a day like today, it wouldn't have drifted TOO far - and would probably still be representative of the atmosphere above the site? 

This is correct. Wx Balloons have specified mins for launch and we increase the amount of He in a balloon based on wx elements during the launch process. It takes less than 10 mins to reach between 850-700 mb, so even with a powerful LLJ, it won't be too far removed from the geographic launch point. 

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14 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

I figured - but wanted to get the true answer! Thanks!

The red taggers on here never disappoint. So in "theory" that warm nose being sampled on the LWX/IAD sonde could have actually been sampled a bit away from the launch site? I assume for the purposes of a day like today, it wouldn't have drifted TOO far - and would probably still be representative of the atmosphere above the site? 

@MillvilleWx likely has a way better feel for this than I do, but the largest drift is going to be at the upper levels where the winds are stronger, and some drift has already taken place during the ascent.     The amount of drift by the time the sonde reaches 850 is much less.

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37 minutes ago, North Balti Zen said:

I will admit that snow affects my mood - sorry if that makes me a bad person.

I will also note that many of the lectures on how snow should not affect mood come from people who live in areas where a butterfly farts and it snows. 

In any event, and to sum up, I wish it would snow more readily over this way. It used to. 

The snow is here now in downtown Balt. That is helping my mood. 

I'm dealing with the same. Last week the trend in the wrong direction for Monday worsened my existing depression and I spent most of Friday (or maybe it was Thursday) in bed. Today is not as bad but it still dampens the mood...and I'm a bit depressed about future snow prospects now. There's just this feeling of somebody withholding a bit of happiness from you for no reason at all. And you come in this forum and the "it's not fair!" aura perpetuates itself. And then you look at the calendar...and see Spring isn't far away, and you don't know how to move on from the winter failure. Spring is nice with new beginnings, but knowing that also means a long wait till even a CHANCE at seeing snow--assuming that there will be chances--is a bit depressing.

BUT...every year we all find a way to move on.

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2 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said:

I'm dealing with the same. Last week the trend in the wrong direction for Monday worsened my existing depression and I spent most of Friday (or maybe it was Thursday) in bed. Today is not as bad but it still dampens the mood...and I'm a bit depressed about future snow prospects now. There's just this feeling of somebody withholding a bit of happiness from you for no reason at all. And you come in this forum and the "it's not fair!" aura perpetuates itself. And then you look at the calendar...and see Spring isn't far away, and you don't know how to move on from the winter failure. Spring is nice with new beginnings, but knowing that also means a long wait till even a CHANCE at seeing snow--assuming that there will be chances--is a bit depressing.

BUT...every year we all find a way to move on.

Yeah but when we get a 2016 it all seems worth it doesn't it? That's what you get being a snow lover down here, years of madness with days of bliss once every few years.

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2 minutes ago, BlizzardNole said:

It's understandable since so many have missed the good snows with every system this winter, and this would have been an amazing thump had it been snow.  It's frustrating.

Taking this to banter...

This is exactly right. I appreciate that this was progged as rain late last week and that we're getting frozen instead - believe me, I really do - but it's all about what's happening right now. And what's happening right now is that MBY got f-slotted again and will end up on the low end of frozen precip totals for yet another storm this winter.

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1 minute ago, mattie g said:

Taking this to banter...

This is exactly right. I appreciate that this was progged as rain late last week and that we're getting frozen instead - believe me, I really do - but it's all about what's happening right now. And what's happening right now is that MBY got f-slotted again and will end up on the low end of frozen precip totals for yet another storm this winter.

I totally agree, gimme a break people saying just be happy it's frozen.  This was a great setup for at least a few hours of heavy snow for everyone and we got the rug pulled last minute AGAIN.  I'm pissed.  We missed out on sick rates for more shitty ice.

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2 minutes ago, EHoffman said:

I totally agree, gimme a break people saying just be happy it's frozen.  This was a great setup for at least a few hours of heavy snow for everyone and we got the rug pulled last minute AGAIN.  I'm pissed.  We missed out on sick rates for more shitty ice.

The amount of sleet is pretty amazing. It's not very typical to get buckets of sleet like this at once. Not sure about you - but I'm into meteorology for interesting weather. It's why I'm here in severe season and winter a like. I love snow - but I love interesting weather - a massive sleet bomb is meteorologically interesting. But I understand your POV if you were hoping for snow and don't give a s*** about any other type of weather. 

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1 minute ago, Kmlwx said:

The amount of sleet is pretty amazing. It's not very typical to get buckets of sleet like this at once. Not sure about you - but I'm into meteorology for interesting weather. It's why I'm here in severe season and winter a like. I love snow - but I love interesting weather - a massive sleet bomb is meteorologically interesting. But I understand your POV if you were hoping for snow and don't give a s*** about any other type of weather. 

I would be more satisfied if I was around where you are; you are dumping sleet right now.  DC just missed even the heavy sleet returns.  I am in for interesting weather for sure, but IMBY this storm wasn't that interesting.  I had heavy sleet for like 5 minutes.

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2 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

The amount of sleet is pretty amazing. It's not very typical to get buckets of sleet like this at once. Not sure about you - but I'm into meteorology for interesting weather. It's why I'm here in severe season and winter a like. I love snow - but I love interesting weather - a massive sleet bomb is meteorologically interesting. But I understand your POV if you were hoping for snow and don't give a s*** about any other type of weather. 

What if you didn't get a sleet bomb? I'd have been all about it if it had really ripped sleet for hours, but it didn't.

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7 minutes ago, mattie g said:

Taking this to banter...

This is exactly right. I appreciate that this was progged as rain late last week and that we're getting frozen instead - believe me, I really do - but it's all about what's happening right now. And what's happening right now is that MBY got f-slotted again and will end up on the low end of frozen precip totals for yet another storm this winter.

And not only that - it's not like EVERYONE is missing out. It is the usual crew missing out. On top of all the other misses. 

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Just now, WxWatcher007 said:

I’d punt the Great Blizzard of 2016 10 times out of 10 if it meant I was guaranteed a normal winter annually. 

Obviously it’s not a choice but what’s the value of a big 24 hour snow (and week of tracking for those inclined to enjoy that aspect) if it means half a decade of garbage?

I wouldn't trade 2016 for anything. It's why I go through all of this pain and despair.  It was incredible.

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