Hurricane
7 Innovations Since the Last Time a Major Hurricane Made Landfall in the United States
By Ian Livingston and Brendan Heberton Hurricane Wilma in October 2005 was the last major hurricane to make landfall in the United States. That storm came ashore in Cape Romano, Florida as a Category 3, with sustained winds of 120 mph. It caused an estimated $35.6 billion (2016 dollars) in damage and killed more than 60 people. Times have changed a lot in the 11-year period since Wilma. The change has arguably come at the quickest pace in h
Steamboat Weather Summit
Notes from the Steamboat Weather Summit 2016
Out of dozens of conferences a year I prefer one, the Steamboat Weather Summit. The venue is perfect, obviously. The number and content of speakers are appropriate and broadly based. The members are a perfect blend of mets across the country from various tv stations/networks. The entire group is given a chance to learn, play, and bond. Perhaps the week of the year I look forward to the most. Unlike the big conferences where discussion and questions wait till the end, this is a week of dialog. T
Weather
What is the Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone?
The Denver Convergence Vorticity Zone (DCVZ) is a unique mesoscale, terrain-driven feature that occurs east of the Front Range, primarily during the warm season (May-August). The American Meteorological Society defines the DCVZ as "A mesoscale flow feature of convergent winds, 50 to 100 km in length, usually oriented north-south, just east of Denver". The location of a DCVZ can vary, however it is usually confined to areas east of I-25 and can extend as far north as For
Lake Effect
Lake-effect Snow Explained
This past week, we have been hit another meteorology buzz term of “Lake-effect Snow” (known in the meteorological community as LES). Buffalo, NY was inundated by heavy snow amount with some places receiving > 80” in a 5-day period. It snowed so much that the NFL had to postpone and relocate the Buffalo Bills football game this past Sunday to Monday night in Detroit. Even the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, got into the LES talk by blaming the National Weather Service (NWS) about their terrib
Weather Stats
Winter Comes to a Close
Although the calendar says spring starts today, in the meteorological community spring started March 1st. We consider December, January, and February as the winter months. The biggest headlines from winter 2013/2014 will certainly be the cold outbreaks that hit the eastern US, and the west coast drought -- namely California . The lower 48 just finished its 34th coldest winter and 9th driest si