 |
| #3023 "Next Adventure at Parry Sound" 20 X 24 inches, oils on canvas. Started at 9:15 am, Wednesday, June 24th, 2026 |
There is nothing really unique about this particular deformation zone, which I described in #3023 "Next Adventure at Parry Sound". Some features require a bit more description so that when you witness another deformation zone, those additional lines will speak to you and tell a more complete tale about the weather.
Satellite data was a very new tool when I became a meteorologist in 1977. Weather was not to be discovered within the intersection of Venn Diagrams! The atmosphere was much more complicated and beautiful. My artistic background fused with the satellite patterns that we were witnessing for the first time.
The Chinese "yin and yang" philosophy describes how seemingly opposite forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent. That philosophy is so very true. I could "see" yin and yang in the satellite patterns. They speak to me. Nature and the weather are all about balance.
The pattern above on the lower right illustrates what can happen when the straight-line deformation zone (DZ) is distorted. There are three distinct DZ flavours: Convex (above lower right); the Double Cyclonic Pattern and the Double Anticyclonic Pattern (below left). Convex and concave DZs are the same pattern of cyclonic and anticyclonic vortices, only differing in your perspective.
The shape of the deformation zone reveals the types and relative strengths of the four vortices that underlie the deformation-zone conceptual model. This provides a much deeper understanding of the weather without any mathematics.
This additional explanation was required to completely describe those Parry Sound clouds. It is unlikely that anyone else would explain these patterns except me.
While in Edmonton in 1980, I attended a presentation by Roger Weldon of NOAA (1937-2023). His lecture opened a lot more doors, including the deformation zone conceptual model.
Skip ahead a decade or two of studying the real atmosphere. Night shifts were the best for really concentrating and learning while preparing the all-important first forecasts for a new day. I sketched the following patterns countless times for anyone who might be mildly interested. The pattern on the left below shows how a constant-area rectangle of moisture must be deformed in a divergent streamline flow on an isentropic surface. That box of moisture would morph into a line and never proceed past the col and the two confluent asymptotes which comprise the deformation zone conceptual model. The approaching flow is split, with one curving cyclonically (probably rising) and the other turning anticyclonically (probably subsiding). The real atmosphere taught me these lessons.
Search for any or all of "wind, waves and swells" in The Art and Science of Phil the Forecaster. There will be several posts that explain in more detail what follows below. One post you might consider is Wind Waves and Swells and Lines in the Sky
The most interesting flow in the atmosphere is the warm conveyor belt since it is responsible for most of the weather we experience.
The jet core located between the X and the N in the above graphic is responsible for strong vertical motions, which essentially shake the isentropic levels of the atmosphere like a blanket. These vertical motions create strong wind waves like on the ocean. These waves propagate with the flow, evolving into swells, a long distance from where they were first created. The rising crests of the swell are more likely to be thick clouds than the descending wave troughs. The thicker clouds in the gravity waves make them more apparent to observers. It is important to remember that water vapour and clouds are tracers for atmospheric motions, but those motions are always present with or without tracers.
The crests of the swells behave in the same manner as the constant-area boxes of cloud in my simple sketch above. Multiple lines of cloud and no cloud crowd into the deformation zone, one for each swell.
Wind gravity waves superimposed on the swells can also be generated along the confluent asymptotes of the deformation zone. These gravity waves occur on both sides of those asymptotes but require tracers to make them visible. The best spot to see them is in the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. The following graphic attempts to describe this process.
 |
| Swell-Wind-Wave Graphic |
The following is another attempt to describe the process. I had written "The Radar Palette - an Operational Approach to Radar Meteorology" for COMET back around 2009. It was modelled after "The Satellite Palette" but remains unpublished.
I realized that a bit more explanation was required to clearly describe the interaction of swells and wind waves. My hand-waving approach at the Weather Centre was sometimes sufficient but not for this. The Swell-Wind-Wave Graphic above was intended as a tool to deduce what the addition of gravity waves might look like for any condensation level. The following illustrates that application for the anticyclonic companion of the warm conveyor belt. The result reproduces what nature actually constructs.
The above descriptions and conceptual models are intended to explain the remaining bits of meteorology that were included in #3023 "Next Adventure at Parry Sound". The patterns we see in nature really make sense. The laws of physics create the patterns effortlessly. With a little deduction, we can comprehend what they mean. The following graphic describes each of them.
Note that the blue sky only appears in the very bottom of the swell trough and the wind wave trough in my painting. The swells are quasi-perpendicular to the wind waves along the confluent asymptotes away from the deformation zone col. This is an example of condensation level 4 in the Swell-Wind-Wave Graphic.
Finally, distinct deformation zones occur at different levels in the atmosphere, even though they may appear to be at the same level when looking down from a satellite perspective. Each quasi-horizontal cloud layer intersects the three-dimensional deformation skin, creating a linear feature. In contrast, gravity waves (wind waves and swells) occur on the same stable layer in the atmosphere.
Gravity waves are always perpendicular to the flow creating them. The deformation zone parallels the generating flow when those winds are increasing in speed. In decreasing wind speeds, the deformation zone is perpendicular to those winds.
The following real-life deformation zones viewed from the ground illustrate how the cloud lines intersect the three-dimensional deformation skin that encloses the warm and moist air mass.
For more illustrations of the deformation zone conceptual model, you may be interested in the following.
 |
| Dustin Hoffman as Rain Man |
I actually do an acceptable interpretation of Dustin Hoffman's "Rain Man," although I am not acting. Perhaps we are all on the spectrum... and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Being dyslexic has actually been good for my art and science.
Many thanks to my friend Cam for being intrigued by what he saw in the sky.
If anyone wandered this far into the murky depths of cloud lines and patterns, you deserve a "Gold Star". Thank you so very much for taking the time and caring about the yin and yang of cloud patterns and nature.
For this and much more art, click on Fine Art America or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you so very much for reading, and stay well!
No comments:
Post a Comment