The Earth Day afternoon sky presented terrific examples of cloud streets, gravity waves and terrain induced changes in low level instability. These are cloud streets that originated from Georgian Bay aided by the heating over the land trajectory and moisture supplied by the lakes.
The Arctic air in the wake of the cold front was below freezing. In the morning, these cloud streets do not make it far inland from their Georgian Bay source. With daytime heating, the cloud streets progressed further inland as witnessed by the transition from gravity wave banding of the cloud tops in the morning to wind parallel streets in the afternoon. The increased instability in the boundary layer allow the clouds within each street to achieve greater heights and even produce precipitation. The separation between the interacting helical circulations in the cloud streets increases proportionally with the growth in the cloud heights.
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Afternoon gusty winds and temperatures
climbing above freezing |
This cloud transition can really only be viewed by examining a bird's eye view of the atmosphere. Satellite imagery was a vital tool for me as a meteorologist. That science continues to develop and reveal more of the mysteries of the environment that are essential in order to become better stewards of the globe.
For this and much more art, click on Pixels. Thank you.
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