It’s now March which means we will soon begin the transition from winter weather to the stormy weather. We ran a story Monday on The Morning Show about a microburst that happened in Arizona. I gave a brief explanation of what it is. It’s basically a strong blast of wind from a thunderstorm that’s confined to a relatively small area. But here on Ken’s Korner, I want to give a bit more detail.

These things set up when thunderstorms are getting to their maturity state. The maturity stage is when storms are raining their hardest and at their strongest. In side the rain cloud, there is a lot  of cooling taking place. As a note, cold air is more dense than warm air. So, with all those cooling, the air is getting heavier, so to speak. Eventually it gets too heavy and it “falls” out of the cloudy. It “falls” at a high rate of speed and can often be confused with a tornado. The “fall” is also part of the storm downdraft.  When this air hits the surface, it spreads out in all directions. This lasts for several seconds. I have attached some pictures to illustrate.

There are two types of microbursts; wet and dry. Dry has no rain and wet is with rain. Microbursts will knock over trees and cause other damage. It’s also very dangerous to airplanes. If a plane gets caught in one, the microburst disrupts the flow over the wings which eliminates the lift. This causes the plan to go down and possibly crash.

They happen all the time, and could happen as we get into the summer season. Stay safe!

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Once again, Michiana got hit by a winter storm. It dropped over seven inches of snow across the area, making for an interesting couple of days. All of this snow prompted school closures and that meant kids were able to have a SNOW DAY!

Many kids spent the day sledding, skiing, or trying to have snowball fights. However, those kids likely didn’t have much luck in making snowballs. Below is an explanation of why making snowballs or snowmen was a little tough. I also explain what’s the best kind of snow for snowballs.

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Yet another winter storm moved through Michiana and it brought a mixed bag of goodies. We got snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet and more snow. However, I want to talk about freezing rain. This is the stuff that causes all of the icing problems during the winter. It’s probably one of the more damaging aspects of winter.

So what in the world is freezing rain? As it’s name implies, it’s rain that freezes. Here is how it all works. Way up in the sky, ice melts and turns into rain drops. Generally, when you go up higher in the sky, temperatures decrease. But in the case of freezing rain, there is a layer of warm air that creates the water drops. Once the drops get past this warm layer, they hit a layer of freezing air. As the droplets pass through the layer of cold air, they get colder and eventually cool to a temperature that’s below freezing (32F). This is called supercooled. It’s called this because these droplets don’t freeze back into a solid. It will not become a solid again until it hits something on the ground that’s below freezing. Generally, these drops freeze on contact with the surface. When the drops hit, they create what’s known as glaze.

When ice storms move through the area, it’s all because of freezing rain. It’s dangerous stuff. It can build up on trees and snap them like match sticks. It brings power lines down and keeps people in the dark for days until the ice melts. And it makes driving virtually impossible.

If you ever hear a meteorologist say freezing rain is in the forecast, it’s probably best to listen up.

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This is going to be a short one. On November 24th, Michiana woke up to dense fog across the area. While having thick fog isn’t new, it does give me a chance to explain what happened.

The fog on that morning was known as radiation fog. For this kind of fog, certain conditions have to be present. First, winds have to be light to calm. Skies have to be pretty clear. And it has to be cool. At night, the Earth’s surface radiates energy back into the atmosphere. This is known as radiational cooling. When this happens, it cools the surrounding air. As a result, temperatures drop and eventually reach the dew point. When that happens, condensation occurs and BOOM, you have fog.

Once the sun comes up, it begins to warm up the fog and eventually the fog dissapates.

Of course, when it comes to fog, always remember to drive with your low beam headlights. You need to also drive a little slower since visibility is always reduced.

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If you watched the Fox 28 Morning Show on November 4th, I talked about virga. Some people thought I was talking about Viagra, but I wasn’t. Steve did clarify that viagra is what keeps the sun up. HA!

So just what is virga? You’ve probably seen and never realized what it was. Basically, virga is rain that is falling from the clouds and evaporating before it hits the ground. Rain is falling into very dry air and, without getting into too much science, evaporated to try and make up for the lack of moisture in the air.

It’s common to see virga in the southern U.S. and desert areas. It can also happen in the plains states.

Here are some pictures of what virga looks like. Enjoy!

If you ever see something cool happening in the weather, please email me the pictures. I will try to get them on the air and will definitely get them on Ken’s Korner. kgarcia@fox28.com.

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Over the past weekend, the New England states got hit by a Nor’easter. The word, as you can likely figure out, is a combination of the words north and east. If you watched the Patriots-Titans game on Sunday, you saw quite a bit of snow falling. Nor’easters can bring a lot of rain or snow (depending on temperatures…but since they tend to happen during the cold months it’s snow), strong winds, and cold temperatures. It gets the name “Nor’easter” because of the counter clockwise rotation. In other words, the winds come from the northeast (this is the area that gets the snow and cold weather).

So what is a Nor’easter? Basically it’s a low pressure system that sets up residence just off the coast of New England. They can form further south, but the “classic” Nor’easters happen north. The systems tend to form in the south in the Gulf of Mexico and then move up along the east coast. While it’s in the gulf, it picks up a lot of moisture which it holds onto as it moves north.

Example of rotation.

Once it gets far enough north, it maintains it’s moisture thanks to the Gulf Stream. The Gulf stream is a current of warm water that flows from southern Florida to the north Atlantic. Since low pressure systems spin counter clockwise, the moist and warm air from the gulf stream is sent to the coast. The system also brings in cold air from northern Canada to mix with the moist air coming in. When those two things mix…BOOM…snow. Lots of snow. It’s a similar concept to the lake effect we feel here in Michiana. The main differences are the fact the snow from a Nor’easter is much more wide spread and the winds make for blizzard like conditions.

Nor’easter Blizzard of 1978.

There is a lot more to these system, but I have given you the very basic info on them. I know we will never get a Nor’easter here in Michiana, but I thought I would pass along a little info on what is going on. I’m sure there will be more as we move further into the cold season.

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It was bound to happen, and it finally did as snow fell on parts of Michiana on October 15. It wasn’t a lot of snow, thank goodness. Officially it’s being calculated as a trace at the South Bend Airport. Believe it or not, that’s a record amount of snow for the day. Usually the first measurable amount of snow doesn’t start falling around here until the 23rd.

This little bit of snow, and the recent bout of cold weather, is a reminder that Old Man Winter isn’t too far off. Based on the cool summer we had and the current cool October, some might come to the conclusion the winter is going to be a rough one. What if I told you it may be the opposite case?

On October 15th, the Climate Prediction Center released their forecast for the upcoming winter season. For Michiana, it looks like we will have a “normal” winter as far as temperatures are concerned. With that said, Michiana could end up with slightly warmer or colder temperatures when all is said and done. We will also have our share of very cold weather outbreaks. As for snow and rain, it looks like it will be drier than “normal”. The main drive for this forecast is El Nino.

El Nino is expected to continue, and even strengthen in the Pacific through the winter season. For a refresher, El Nino is when the currents in the Pacific are altered and warmer water is pushed closer to South America. When this happens, it influences the weather here in the North America.

One thing I know will happen… there will be cold temperatures and there will be snow. Sorry.

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Several days ago, we celebrated Labor Day. It’s a holiday designed to honor the American workforce and of course enjoy that last big bar b Que. It also means the end of summer vacation for kids and the unofficial end to summer.

It doesn’t seem fair that summer has to end once Labor Day passes. The actual season still has two more weeks until the fall equinox. Temperatures don’t automatically drop to fall averages. This year, temperatures were very close to 80 right after Labor Day. Normally I would head to the pool to cool off, but no luck. The pool at my apartment complex closed the day after Labor Day. But, that’s the way it is when you live up north. That let down is one thing I’ve had a hard time adjusting to (the other being snow).

I personally think pools should stay open until it gets too cool.  Sometimes on those warm weekends in September I look at the pool and think, “I would love to do a cannon ball into that water right now”. But the deck remains empty, the gate remains locked tighter than Fort Knox and the water stays calm.

I know one of the reasons for the early closing time is to prepare pools for the winter, but really cold weather tends to not get here until October. I can’t imagine it takes that long to get a pool winter ready.

I won’t even bother going into the Halloween candy and costumes I saw in the stores. Oh, and I did see some Thanksgiving and even some Christmas decorations. The post Labor Day transition to fall and winter happens way too fast.

I am not completely negative on this transition. I enjoy the fall colors and the hints of cool weather to come. But the main thing is the return of football. I am a big college football fan and I look forward to the start of the season and the opportunity watch to my Florida Gators!

No matter how you feel about the post Labor Day time, just remember this… Only eight months until Memorial day and the unofficial start to summer.

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The numbers are in and as to be expected the summer season turned out to bee a cool one. Yes, we are still in summer until September 22, but meteorological summer ended on August 3st. Meteorological summer is June 1st through August 31st.

So how did we do? Well, the average high for the three months was 78.3. That’s 2.7 degrees below the normal of 81. As for the average low, it turned out to be fairly close to average. The three month stretch had an average low of 59.4. That’s .6 degrees below average.

As for the average daily temperature (that’s a combination of all high and lows), it turned out to be 68.8. As to be expected, that’s 2.2 degrees below the average. This is the ninth coolest summer on record for South Bend.

As for rain, South Bend got more than what usually falls. The three months received 16.48 inches. That’s 4.58 inches above average.

Hopefully the fall will be “normal”!

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If you follow the news at all, you’ve probably heard about the major wildfire that’s burning near Athens, Greece. The 90 fires have burned over 30,000 acres and is the worst disaster since 2007. Nearly 20,000 residents of an Athens suburb are out of their homes due to this fire. As I write this, crews continue to fight, but winds are not being much help. The cause is unknown.

The weather conditions there in Greece, this time of year, are usually hot and dry. It’s known as a Mediterranean climate (makes sense since the Mediterranean is right there) with wet winters and dry summers. This same climate is felt in southern California. Just like in Greece, wildfires tend to flare up in California (and much of the Western U.S.) in the summer.

The fires feed on the dry land with winds helping move the flames. This is why these fire grow so fast and are very hard to contain.

What causes this dry weather during summer? Well, it’s a combination of several things but the main ones are ocean currents and the circulation in the atmosphere. When it comes to the atmosphere, there is what’s known as Subtropical High Pressure. These are present across the globe, but the one that influences Greece is centered just off the coast of northern Africa. It’s known as the Azores High. This system migrates with the changing of the seasons and during the summer it moves north and areas under its influence tend to have dry conditions. California is influenced by the Pacific High.

There is also ocean currents. Just off the northwestern coast of Africa, there is a current of colder water known as the Canary Current. The reason this causes dry weather is because that cold water prevents upward movement of the air which is what eventually leads to rain. A cold current off the coast of California known as the California Current does the same thing there.

If you’re wondering about Michiana, our climate is generally wet all year with hot summers and cold winters. Believe it or not, but that same high that keeps Greece dry in the summer actually helps keep us wet. It helps direct moisture from the ocean our way. It all works together!

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