I love weather writing. Look at today's whallop of snow and stuff as described by our boys and girls in Buffalo at the National Weather Service.
THE SNOW WILL BECOME MODERATE TO HEAVY AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS WESTERN NEW YORK AND THE GENESEE VALLEY AS COLDER AIR ADVECTS IN BEHIND THE LOW...WHILE THE UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE INCREASES AHEAD OF THE CUTOFF LOW. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND INCREASING NORTHEAST WINDS AHEAD OF THE LOW WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT WHITEOUTS...RESULTING IN VERY TREACHEROUS DRIVING CONDITIONS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.First, what the heck is "diffluence"? An on-line dictionary says "A flowing off on all sides; fluidity." I need to adopt this into my daily use. Maybe as in "my interest in your comments is subject to a natural and overriding diffluence." Second, can weather like this really be called "treacherous"? Doesn't that mean the act of a traitor layering on a heavy dose of the likelihood of betrayal of trust? So how is a whacking big storm with every sort of warning both logical and bureaucratical (meteorologically speaking) impart the trust in the first place that it then can pull the rug in infamy out from under us in an act of pull undiluted treach?
I think the better description for the expected driving would be "very bad".
Comments
David Janes - March 8, 2008 9:30 am
Diffluence is another word for "divergence", which means either isobars are moving apart <i>or</i> the wind velocity is increasing. I assume here they mean the latter, which means:
<blockquote>
In the lower atmosphere, surface divergence causes air to sink from above to replace that moving outward from the divergence zone, therefore surface divergence zones are the place to look for indications of downdrafts. Downdraft zones are generally characterized by clear skies or only thin cloud layers. Pancake-shaped cumulus humilis in mid-afternoon are frequently the best the sun can do to form clouds in a divergence zone.
</blockquote>
<p>
I.e. sudden dangerous gusts and (apparently) whiteouts from the same will intensify during the day, forming a hazard to transportation of all sorts.
<p>
(started this research from my handy copy of Meteorology Today).
sean liddle - March 8, 2008 10:33 am
Whoops, sorry Alan. Typed Captcha instead of my name in the name bar again.
sean
Alan - March 8, 2008 10:39 am
I recognize the MO now.
Alan - March 8, 2008 1:23 pm
Oops - your post got deleted in an admin spam sweep. TO make up for it I recommend this link to the local US weather service radar. Kingston should be getting hammered in about 19 minutes.