Ask The Weather Expert!

[Donovan]

Yes, Patrick it did help.  Well the first line I thought was coming for us went well east into the Carolinas, but the second one is entering NW GA now and out of nowhere storms start firing immediately around Atlanta. Gotta love those pop up storms.

I hope some of these get to the Charleston Area. We are in drought conditions. My lawn is brown, no notable rainfall in weeks. Deficit about 10-12" for the year now.

[toxictwister00]

Is there a difference between a Subtropical and Extra Tropical Storm?

[phw115wvwx]

Is there a difference between a Subtropical and Extra Tropical Storm?

Yes, an extratropical storm has no tropical characteristics whatsoever.  Tropical characteristics include a warm-core and symmetric system with an upper-level ridge involved.  Our low pressure systems with cold and warm fronts in the mid-latitudes are extratropical as they are cold-core and asymmetric systems with upper-level troughs involved.

Subtropical storms are actually the hybrid breed between extratropical and tropical storms.  They have characteristics of both types, but they'll usually transition fully into one type later in a few days.  If a subtropical storm reaches winds of 74 mph or greater, then it's classified a hurricane by definition and deemed to be completely tropical.

As you can tell, atmospheric systems can freely transition over from one type to another provided that the given background conditions are right.  Hope this response answers your question!

[toxictwister00]

Is there a difference between a Subtropical and Extra Tropical Storm?

Yes, an extratropical storm has no tropical characteristics whatsoever.  Tropical characteristics include a warm-core and symmetric system with an upper-level ridge involved.  Our low pressure systems with cold and warm fronts in the mid-latitudes are extratropical as they are cold-core and asymmetric systems with upper-level troughs involved.

Subtropical storms are actually the hybrid breed between extratropical and tropical storms.  They have characteristics of both types, but they'll usually transition fully into one type later in a few days.  If a subtropical storm reaches winds of 74 mph or greater, then it's classified a hurricane by definition and deemed to be completely tropical.

As you can tell, atmospheric systems can freely transition over from one type to another provided that the given background conditions are right.  Hope this response answers your question!

That helped me understand the difference a lot better. Thanks! 

[gt1racerlHDl]

when the clouds are moving in one way does this usually mean what the wind direction is and how fast the wind speed is?

[phw115wvwx]

when the clouds are moving in one way does this usually mean what the wind direction is and how fast the wind speed is?

Yes, this method will work pretty well for a normal cloud, but it'll only tell you the winds at the cloud's height.  When we deal with thunderstorm clouds, things get a little tricky.  Some storms can build in different directions compared to the wind based on the storm-scale environment.  You could see the wind moving one direction, but the storms could be building the opposite direction to where it appears that the overall storm isn't moving.

[toxictwister00]

I've heard that when hurricanes make landfall, the heaviest precip can shift to the NW side. Is that true?

[phw115wvwx]

I've heard that when hurricanes make landfall, the heaviest precip can shift to the NW side. Is that true?

It depends on the background environment around landfall.  If a hurricane is interacting with an upper-level trough or a front to its northwest as it makes landfall, you will get enhanced lift and precipitation on that side.

[Trevor]

This got me thinking...over in the Tropical Storm Irene topic, Tavores brought up the fact that sometimes, when the pressure goes down, the wind speeds go up. Is this always the case?

[phw115wvwx]

This got me thinking...over in the Tropical Storm Irene topic, Tavores brought up the fact that sometimes, when the pressure goes down, the wind speeds go up. Is this always the case?

Pressure drops in a tropical storm when updrafts from thunderstorms force the air up to the top of the troposphere where the jet stream winds and outflow aloft can push the air away, which means there is less air in that initial column.  So, it creates a deeper low.  The atmosphere doesn't like having differences in anything, so the winds will increase around it to force more air into that deepening hole.  As you can tell, it's a race between two competing processes.

[toxictwister00]

I have another question pertaining to hurricanes. I've also heard that strong hurricanes, let's say Cat. 3 and above have a tendency to create their own environments conductive for them to stay healthy and can also deter away from their projected paths. I think Katrina was an example of this where instead of making a sharp turn north into the FL panhandle as projected, it continued west and turned north towards LA/MS. If that's true could the same be said for Irene as a possibility?

EDIT: Oh and there's one more thing, I've also heard that strong hurricanes can pump heights of ridges to their north which in result can force said hurricane to go more west. Is that true also?

[Localonthe8s]

Could 2 hurricanes make US landfall at the same time? Like, say in the Atlantic, one cat 3 hits TX/LA and another Cat 2 or 3 hits Long Island both around the same day. Could that happen?

[phw115wvwx]

I have another question pertaining to hurricanes. I've also heard that strong hurricanes, let's say Cat. 3 and above have a tendency to create their own environments conductive for them to stay healthy and can also deter away from their projected paths. I think Katrina was an example of this where instead of making a sharp turn north into the FL panhandle as projected, it continued west and turned north towards LA/MS. If that's true could the same be said for Irene as a possibility?

EDIT: Oh and there's one more thing, I've also heard that strong hurricanes can pump heights of ridges to their north which in result can force said hurricane to go more west. Is that true also?

Yes, everything you said is true.  If a hurricane is strong enough and the background conditions surrounding it are right, a hurricane will build its own upper-level ridge due to all the warm air being pumped upward.  However, you have to consider the wind shear and the presence of any upper-level troughs nearby as they will obviously compete against this process.

Could 2 hurricanes make US landfall at the same time? Like, say in the Atlantic, one cat 3 hits TX/LA and another Cat 2 or 3 hits Long Island both around the same day. Could that happen?

Yes, there's nothing stopping the atmosphere from multiple hits at the same time.  During the 1893 and 1998 Atlantic hurricane seasons, there were four hurricanes occurring simultaneously.  In the 1971 and 1995 Atlantic hurricane seasons, there where five named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) occurring simultaneously.  There are even historical records suggesting that two hurricanes have struck the United States only a day apart during at least two different seasons.  So, it could happen.

[toxictwister00]

I have another question pertaining to hurricanes. I've also heard that strong hurricanes, let's say Cat. 3 and above have a tendency to create their own environments conductive for them to stay healthy and can also deter away from their projected paths. I think Katrina was an example of this where instead of making a sharp turn north into the FL panhandle as projected, it continued west and turned north towards LA/MS. If that's true could the same be said for Irene as a possibility?

EDIT: Oh and there's one more thing, I've also heard that strong hurricanes can pump heights of ridges to their north which in result can force said hurricane to go more west. Is that true also?

Yes, everything you said is true.  If a hurricane is strong enough and the background conditions surrounding it are right, a hurricane will build its own upper-level ridge due to all the warm air being pumped upward.  However, you have to consider the wind shear and the presence of any upper-level troughs nearby as they will obviously compete against this process.

Thank you Patrick.

[TWCCraig]

Could someone please explain this, someone who knows a good amount of meteorology. Now, we just had pretty decent thunderstorm, not much thunder or lightning, it was mostly a heavy rain shower; it turned it a to be beautiful when it became a sun shower with double rainbows. Anyway, could someone tell me why did the barometric pressure increase during the shower, and then decreased after it ended. Normally, I would think it should decrease because of an updraft. Could a downdraft cause this? Here's the data from the shower: