Fog Bank, August 27, 2013

Hey there, Weather Brains listeners (and if you aren't, you should be!)  Thanks for checking out the Fog Bank.  You can send me links on Twitter, where I'm @skydaver, or just post them here as comments.


Mike Moss  sent a link of an interview he did with Susan Strom, who passed away in early August.
@spann @nsj @wxhistorian @HelenaWx @SkyDaver Tribute to Susan "Lightning Lady" Strom who died a few days ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdD-c5RCUco&feature=youtu.be

An article from EarthSky on the rainfall in the US Southeast this year.
http://earthsky.org/earth/u-s-southeast-experiencing-extreme-rainfall-in-2013?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffereeb85&utm_medium=facebook

Storm Geek@hamradioskywave 11:51 AM
Wind force unification scale, "Cade Kinetic Energy Factors": Compares Beaufort, Fujita, and Saffiir-Simpson: tinyurl.com/WxPro

I'll close with a set of different smart phone apps.
Yet another crowd sourcing weather app; this one seems to be a current conditions point of view, but I haven't fully explored it.
The app is called Weezoo. I'll provide the Google Play store link; I think it's also an iPhone app.  I haven't found it to be very engaging or informative.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wezzoo

WeatherCaster, another weather app for your smart phone.  Seems to be pretty good, with a nice main display of information, and a decent drill down.
When I first installed it, the app would crash half the time you brought it up. It does seem to be working better now.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.belo.weathercastermini

The AccuWeather app is back on my phone.  I'd deleted it a while ago, after perceiving a gross error in current conditions reporting.  In retrospect, if I'm going to declare a weather app a crap app, I need to have specific details.  AccuWeather gets a second chance.  So far, so good.

Thanks for listening, Skydaver out.

For JB
From Earth Science Picture of The Day, a great picture of an Alpine Thunderstorm
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/08/alpine-thunderstorm.html

Audio for Fog Bank

Fog Bank, August 19, 2013

My first pick this week is from ESPOD Circumhorizon Arc
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/07/circumhorizon-arc-above-post-falls-idaho.html

Capital Weather Gang posted a set of nice pictures of mammatus clouds in the DC area, from Thursday, August 1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/02/stunning-mammatus-clouds-south-of-washington-d-c-thursday-evening/

back to ESPOD with Crepuscular rays,
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/08/views-of-crepuscular-rays.html

Mike Moss sent a link from the Capital Weather Gang, with another good story of lightning sprites.
I think he sent this to Nate, too.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/13/sprites-rare-red-lightning-photographed-on-atmospheric-research-mission/

Finally, I subscribe to a forum on risks to the public in computer and related systems.  Paul Fenimore sent in an item about the NWS website.  He wrote:

Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 09:23:48 -0600
From: Paul Fenimore <fenimore@swcp.com>
Subject: Easter Eggs in Infrastructure Software

The US National Weather Service's website <www.weather.gov> returns a
forecast for Manhattan when the location "evil" is searched. Finding rogue
search results for a US Government service that is critical to safety is
concerning enough, but when I tried to make an HTTPS connection to the
National Weather Service's website to verify the "validity" of the results,
I immediately received a warning that the SSL certificate is invalid. The
cert was valid, but for Akami Technologies (07:27:A4:69), and was flagged
for possible hijacking of the connection.  The risks? Farming out important,
probably even critical, parts of the Weather Service's infrastructure with
loss of control or even knowledge of what is going on, the opportunity for
faked connections to www.weather.gov, and the introduction of incorrect
behavior into critical code, probably for the sake of a very bad taste
"joke".

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, @skydaver 
Thanks for listening, Skydaver out.


Sent to JB
A great video on Astronomy Picture of the Day, showing Aurora & Noctilucent clouds
If you can send this video to your TV … do it!
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130819.html


Audio Fog Bank

Fog Bank, August 12, 2013

Welcome to the Fog Bank, everyone. Please follow me on Twitter, @skydaver.

First up,Jason Samenow of the Capital Weather Gang rips AccuWeather to shreds about their 45 day so-called 'forecast'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/06/accuweather-you-cannot-be-serious-new-45-day-forecasts/

I had the Accuweather app on my phone, and when it gave current conditions that were totally inaccurate, I removed it.
If they can't get current conditions correct, how can they do 45 days?

Second,
SpaceWeather.com had an article about Red Sprites, a very high altitude electrical storms
http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=08&month=08&year=2013

Third, The WeatherNation Facebook page had a picture of thunderstorms taken from the International Space Station
https://www.facebook.com/WeatherNation/posts/10151806752209874

The next pic came from Karen Nyberg, currently a resident aboard the international space station. She put a picture on Twitter of an clound formation she liked.
Karen L. Nyberg@AstroKarenN 5:50 PM 26 Jul
Never tire of finding shapes in the clouds! These look very botanical to me. Simply perfect. July 26. pic.twitter.com/57v8LQG0Rk

I'll close with a picture from the MODIS satellite of cloud streets over the Bering Sea.
http://www.nasa.gov/content/cloud-streets-over-the-bering-sea/#.UfaLoVNIjss

Thanks for listening, Skydaver out.

sent to JB
A webpage from a French storm chaser, showing some very nice lightning & cloud photos from a storm on July 26, 2013
http://www.keraunos.org/actualites/chasseurs-orages/saison-2013/chasse-aux-orages-des-26-juillet-thibault-cormier.html


Audio Fog Bank

Fog Bank, August 5, 2013

Hello fellow weather geeks, this is Dave Phillips. Follow me on Twitter, @skydaver. Tell your friends to follow me, too.

First pick is a bunch of different lightning photos, Capital Weather Gang, Reed Timmer, and the Great Falls and Albequerque offices of the NWS

Capital Weather Gang retweeted a great lightning photo from Kerri Patton@Kerri_lane 11:47 AM
Summer Storm over my home pic.twitter.com/DOCTmgtJgc

A composite photo of lightning strikes, from the Great Falls Montana NWS office
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=569746493067571&set=a.197469093628648.50125.194560663919491&type=1&theater

Another lightning photo, this one posted on the NWS Albuquerque
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=586436091379386&set=a.202185579804441.44214.199245073431825&type=1&theater

Josh Alecci (@aleccijosh) tweeted a link from Reed Timmer of a lightning strike video in very close proximity to the camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQiIL69RdAc&feature=youtu.be&a

My second pick comes from Anthony Sagliani, a thunderstorm picture from Denver Digital Photography on Facebook.  Anthony wrote "Real, or manipulated?"
http://twitter.com/anthonywx/status/359147946308153344/photo/1

That sets up my third  pick, an article from the Capital Weather Gang about false weather photos in social media
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/08/05/snuffing-out-social-medias-fake-weather-photos/

Fourth, From the Earth Observatory twitter account, @NASA_EO, a picture from the Terra/MODIS satellite of a dust storm off Africa
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/imagery/single.cgi?image=WestAfrica.A2013200.1155.1km.jpg

I'll close with WeatherBug, and a short essay on Hawaii's relative lack of hurricanes
http://weather.weatherbug.com/hurricanes/hurricane-news.html?story=9905

I guess when they wrote that, they didn't know that TS Flossie hit North Carolina last month, crossed all the way over the continent, managed to stay together over the Rockies, and back into the Pacific, where it was headed towards Hawaii.

Thanks for listening
Skydaver out.

Sent to JB
Earth Science Picture of the Day had a photo of waterspouts, plural, in the Adriatic Sea
http://epod.usra.edu/blog/2013/07/waterspouts-over-the-adriatic-sea.html


Audio Fog Bank, August 05, 2013

Fog Bank, July 29, 2013

Hello Weather Brains listeners, this is Dave Phillips.   Don't forget to follow me, @skydaver on Twitter.  You might hear a little background noise; my windows are wide open, with a 56F dew point today.

Brad Panovic posted a neat twitter update last week. He wrote:
One of my favorite quirks of NC is that the driest & wettest locations are just one county apart http://twitpic.com/d4pevw

HT to George R. Chisenhall@grcjr for a tweet about
Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program products. Great information for tropical season. He sent that to Nate & me.
http://www.hfip.org/products/


Space Weather.com for July 18 had an entry on the calculated height of noctilucent clouds
http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=18&month=07&year=2013

A Washington Post article about radar gaps & downtime
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/07/25/storms-flying-under-the-radar-when-radar-gaps-and-down-time-turn-dangerous/

What's the smell of rain?  WB guest Aubrey Urbanowicz has the answer in her blog.  It isn't Brian's old socks.
http://www.whsv.com/blogs/whsvweatherblog/Weather_Questions_The_Smell_of_Rain_216074701.html

Thanks for listening,
Skydaver out.

Sent to JB
Capital Weather Gang with a nice explanation of pop up thunderstorms
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/07/22/the-pulse-of-summer-when-pop-up-thunderstorms-turn-severe/

Audio Fog Bank, July 29