| Observing Location | VP |
|---|
| Observational Period | 1000-1015 EDT |
|---|
| Atmospheric Conditions |
| Cloud Cover | Clear |
|---|
| Temperature | 46° F |
|---|
| Wind | Calm |
|---|
| Humidity | High |
|---|
| Barometric Pressure | 30.54" Hg
Steady |
|---|
| Feels Like | Cool |
|---|
|
|---|
| Instruments | Brunton 8x21 compact binocular w/Welco gold shade 14 welder's filter - Charlie |
|---|
| Observing Party | Charlie Ridgway
|
|---|
| Target | Sunspots |
|---|
| Constellation | Vir |
|---|
| Category | Solar |
|---|
Time
yyyymmdd.hhmm | 20081024.1000 EDT |
|---|
| Comments |
Distance
Light Time | 0.994 AU
8m 16s |
|---|
| Angular Size | 32' 13.0" |
|---|
| Altitude | 26.1° |
|---|
Heliographic Latitude
(B0) | 5.06° |
|---|
Heliographic Longitude
(L0) | 352.10° |
|---|
Parallactic Angle
(P) | 25.48° |
|---|
Carrington rotation number
(CR) | 2076 |
|---|
Nothing Seen
| | Groups | Spots | R |
|---|
| North | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| South | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
| R = (Groups * 10) + Spots) |
|
|---|
|
The frost and freeze warnings are moving closer to the City. I decided to take a romp through the NOAA Glossary to find out exactly what these things mean.
- Frost Advisory
- Issued during the growing season when widespread frost formation is expected over an extensive area. Surface temperatures are usually in the mid 30s Fahrenheit.
- Freeze Warning
- Issued during the growing season when surface temperatures are expected to drop below freezing over a large area for an extended period of time, regardless whether or not frost develops.
Other terms used in the forecasts, which are not in the glossary, are "killing frost" and "hard freeze."
And since there is rain on the way I took another look at precipitation.
- Fog
- (abbrev. F) Fog is water droplets suspended in the air at the Earth's surface. Fog is often hazardous when the visibility is reduced to ¼ mile or less.
- Mist
- A visible aggregate of minute water particles suspended in the atmosphere that reduces visibility to less than 7 statute miles, but greater than or equal to 5/8 statute miles. It does not reduce visibility as much as fog and is often confused with drizzle.
- Drizzle
- Precipitation consisting of numerous minute droplets of water less than 0.5 mm (500 micrometers) in diameter.
- Scattered Showers
- When used to describe precipitation (for example: "scattered showers") - Area coverage of convective weather affecting 30 percent to 50 percent of a forecast zone (s). When used to describe sky cover: 3/8th to 4/8th (sky cover is measured in eighths or oktas) of the sky covered by clouds. In U.S. weather observing procedures, this is reported with the contraction "SCT."
- Showers
- A descriptor, SH, used to qualify precipitation characterized by the suddenness with which they start and stop, by the rapid changes of intensity, and usually by rapid changes in the appearance of the sky.
- Rain
- Precipitation that falls to earth in drops more than 0.5 mm in diameter.
- Thunderstorms
- A local storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud and accompanied by lightning and thunder.
- Frost
- (Abbrev. FRST) - Frost describes the formation of thin ice crystals on the ground or other surfaces in the form of scales, needles, feathers, or fans. Frost develops under conditions similar to dew, except the temperatures of the Earth's surface and earthbound objects falls below 32°F. As with the term "freeze," this condition is primarily significant during the growing season. If a frost period is sufficiently severe to end the growing season or delay its beginning, it is commonly referred to as a "killing frost." Because frost is primarily an event that occurs as the result of radiational cooling, it frequently occurs with a thermometer level temperature in the mid-30s.
- Flurries
- Snow flurries are an intermittent light snowfall of short duration (generally light snow showers) with no measurable accumulation (trace category).
- Snow
- Precipitation in the form of ice crystals, mainly of intricately branched, hexagonal form and often agglomerated into snowflakes, formed directly from the freezing [deposition] of the water vapor in the air.
- Sleet
- (PL) - Sleet is defined as pellets of ice composed of frozen or mostly frozen raindrops or refrozen partially melted snowflakes. These pellets of ice usually bounce after hitting the ground or other hard surfaces. Heavy sleet is a relatively rare event defined as an accumulation of ice pellets covering the ground to a depth of 1/2" or more.
- Hail
- Showery precipitation in the form of irregular pellets or balls of ice more than 5 mm in diameter, falling from a cumulonimbus cloud.
- Freezing Fog
- A suspension of numerous minute ice crystals in the air, or water droplets at temperatures below 0º Celsius, based at the Earth's surface, which reduces horizontal visibility; also called ice fog.
- Freezing Rain
- Rain that falls as a liquid but freezes into glaze upon contact with the ground.
There are some qualifiers that are used with the precipitation descriptions that I also ferreted out.
- Possible
- not defined
- Chance
- A National Weather Service precipitation descriptor for 30, 40, or 50 percent chance of measurable precipitation (0.01 inch). When the precipitation is convective in nature, the term scattered is used. See Precipitation Probability (PoP).
- Slight Chance
- In probability of precipitation statements, usually equivalent to a 20 percent chance.
- Slight Risk
- (of severe thunderstorms)- Severe thunderstorms are expected to affect between 2 and 5 percent of the area. A slight risk generally implies that severe weather events are expected to be isolated.
- Likely
- (abbrev. LKLY) In probability of precipitation statements, the equivalent of a 60 or 70 percent chance.
- Occasional
- not defined
