#2984 "October 25th Singleton Sunset"

#2984 "October 25th Singleton Sunset" 
16 x 20 (inches) oils on stretched canvas.
 Started 9:30 am on Monday, November 3rd, 2025

The western shore of Singleton Lake was in darkness at 6 pm on Saturday, October 25, 2025. If you look closely, the details of the homes can still be seen in the dim. The west basin of the lake was rippled by the northwesterly breeze and thus reflected the sky overhead. The eastern basin in the lee of the Singleton forest was calm and mirrored the sunset hues. The stratocumulus clouds were shaped by the brisk upper winds. The low water levels had recovered a bit, and only the head of the "swimming bear" could be seen adjacent to the second "Turtle Island". I never tire of the natural beauty of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere. 

Now for some interesting science. 

Everything in the atmosphere ocean can be described as either lines or swirls. The two are intrinsically connected through the Deformation Zone Conceptual Model. The interactive connections between lines and swirls are explained within the three-dimensional fluid. Every sky is an opportunity to apply these basic principles. You can start with either a line or a swirl. They both lead you to a better understanding of what is actually occurring in the world around you. In sharp contrast, I find it is best to never try to understand politics; nature actually makes sense. 

The following satellite images summarize most everything that you need to know. Every line and swirl tells a story. Singleton is located at the yellow star. The large occluding low was well to the southwest.

The deformation zone conceptual model can be applied to my ground-based painting location. Singleton, located at the yellow star, was actually under the small cyclonic swirl on the opposite side of the large deformation zone that was controlling the larger weather pattern. 

The col in the deformation zone can be found along the divergent edge of the relative cloud-free delta-shaped zone; the green triangle labelled "D" in the above graphic. Neither companion of the warm conveyor belt can effectively deliver moisture into this "Bermuda Triangle" of the atmosphere. The rising anticyclonic circulation on the warm, right side of the jet stream carries high, cirrus clouds. The descending dry and cold conveyor belts spin up the cyclonic swirl, especially at mid and lower levels of the atmosphere.  Lower layers of cloud get caught up in that cyclonic swirl but are not directed into the green triangle. 

Young and developing systems will typically not have the high-level cirrus flow wrapped cyclonically around the low/X swirl. I have grey-stippled out the cyclonic branch of the high-level cirrus flow in the following graphic to illustrate this point. That cirrus, cyclonic branch is only seen in older and mature weather systems referred to as cut-off or occluded lows.   

The relative intensity of the swirls, as diagnosed from their size and shape, can reveal much about the age, strength and motion of the storm.  The low/X swirl in the storm of October 25th was more pronounced than the high/N and actually included the high-level, cyclonic cirrus flow. The occluded low was mature, strong and slow-moving. 

As a brief refresher, it is important to remember that the atmospheric patterns are churned within the atmospheric frame of reference, moving with the mean flow. My easel is affixed to the rotating Earth, which is a very non-inertial, or accelerating, frame of reference. This means that an object in this Earth frame will have an acceleration even if no real forces are acting on it.

Because of the Earth's rotation, objects appear to move in ways not explained by real forces alone, requiring the introduction of fictitious forces like the Coriolis force and centrifugal force. The Coriolis force deflects moving objects, causing them to veer right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the essence of the Coriolis Hand approach I use to describe the resulting horizontal and vertical motions in the atmosphere. It is most appropriate that your right hand is your Coriolis Hand if you live in the Northern Hemisphere, and your left hand should you live south of the equator. The rotation of the Earth greatly impacts large-scale movements of air and water, and the effects are explained by the Coriolis Force for the sake of convenience.  

A previous painting, #2982 "Singleton Sunset on the Ides of October", goes into some details on the important conceptual models and their application. You can also find more information in The Art and Science of Phil the Forecaster Blog. 

This time, let's just appreciate the peace and quiet of a sunset created by the small cyclonic swirl well ahead of the storm. The weather does not need to be big to be beautiful. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint 2024 Collection. Thank you for reading!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick