#2629 "Grey March Singleton Sunset"

#2629 "Grey March Singleton Sunset"
10x12 smooth panel

This is the Singleton sunset sky at 5.45 pm on Wednesday March 16th, 2022. It was supposed to be a sunny day in the ridge of high pressure. The various numerical weather prediction models (NWP) were certain of that fact. Unfortunately, the NWP often does a poor job in the planetary boundary level. The atmosphere is large and complicated and that is especially true when it interacts with the Earth. The planetary boundary level is where everyone lives though and the expertise of thoughtful meteorologists can still play an important role. 

Visible satellite imagery from the time of the painting.

There were sunny skies nearby as witnessed by the visible satellite imagery. Meanwhile thick fog and stratus cloud prevailed over Lake Ontario and in the southerly onshore flow. That southerly flow included Singleton Lake. The frigid lake water of Lake Ontario kept the inversion from breaking and the lake and shorelines ended up shrouded in a "pea soup" fog and temperatures near freezing. Sunny areas meanwhile enjoyed temperatures soaring into the mid teens. 

From the US National Weather Service - Fahrenheit

There were some breaks in the stratus just at sunset after a day of heating. The sun creates convection currents along the edges of the overcast stratus. These currents gradually mix dry air into the edges of the stratus turning that cloud into stratus fractus and allowing the sun to peak through. The sun effectively nibbles at the outer edges of the stratus with convective swirls until the fog is either all gone or the sunset arrives. As a result, thick stratus always dissipates from the outer edges inward and that is what we were enjoying at Singleton Lake.

Analysing a Hand Plotted Surface Map - the first step

I learned these meteorological lessons from the advection fog banks of the Maritimes during my first posting to CFB Shearwater. The real weather was a wonderful teacher to supplement to training I received on Meteorologist (BSc) Course 33. Satellite imagery was still not commonly available in 1977. I fondly remember the expertise and dedication of the people I worked with in Shearwater - their goal was to provide a service and save lives and I learned a lot from them. Thank you. 

The eastern basin of Singleton Lake was mainly ice free. According to our records dating back to 2006, the average date for an ice free eastern basin is March 10th but those dates range from as early as February 25th to as late as April 8th. Eastern North America remained under a cold trough so 2022 was pretty much near the long term average. 

The painting panel had minimal tooth and I wanted to have some fun with lots of paint. 

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