Comments on: A Picture Worth a Million Dollars (and it cost about that much too!) http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2009/07/a-picture-worth-a-million-dollars-and-it-cost-about-that-much-too/ Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:21:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Dan Satterfield http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2009/07/a-picture-worth-a-million-dollars-and-it-cost-about-that-much-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2869 Dan Satterfield Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:20:16 +0000 http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/?p=1473#comment-2869 IR pictures are showing nothing but temperature Chris. Cold clouds can e interpreted as very high clouds. Cold temps on a thunderstorm would indicate the top is quite high. I wouldnot go as far as to say you can always assume that a cold cloud was pushed up there by convection though. High cirrus clouds will form at very high and cold levels but are not a threat. Also keep in mind that on a night like tonight with very cold air over the lower 48 states, IR images will show snow on the ground as a cloud because the temperature is as low or lower than mid level clouds are usually. So interpret the image with caution and with the known weather in mind. A good place to get some additional training on weather is from the COMET program. www.meted.comet.ucar.edu It is mainly for operational forecasters but there are several modules that you would find helpful I think. Dan IR pictures are showing nothing but temperature Chris. Cold clouds can e interpreted as very high clouds. Cold temps on a thunderstorm would indicate the top is quite high. I wouldnot go as far as to say you can always assume that a cold cloud was pushed up there by convection though. High cirrus clouds will form at very high and cold levels but are not a threat.

Also keep in mind that on a night like tonight with very cold air over the lower 48 states, IR images will show snow on the ground as a cloud because the temperature is as low or lower than mid level clouds are usually. So interpret the image with caution and with the known weather in mind.

A good place to get some additional training on weather is from the COMET program. http://www.meted.comet.ucar.edu
It is mainly for operational forecasters but there are several modules that you would find helpful I think.

Dan

]]> By: Chris http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2009/07/a-picture-worth-a-million-dollars-and-it-cost-about-that-much-too/comment-page-1/#comment-2864 Chris Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:19:30 +0000 http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/?p=1473#comment-2864 I was doing research on the IR image, and what it tells me as a pilot, and I came across this site. There aren't enough sites with good info. that a pilot can use to understand weather. I have a question regarding the IR image. Is the image that I see showing clouds, or just the temp. of the air? If it's clouds and the air is very cold the only way it could get that cold is by cooling adiabatically, and that would mean highly unstable air and storms. Is this correct? I was doing research on the IR image, and what it tells me as a pilot, and I came across this site. There aren’t enough sites with good info. that a pilot can use to understand weather. I have a question regarding the IR image. Is the image that I see showing clouds, or just the temp. of the air? If it’s clouds and the air is very cold the only way it could get that cold is by cooling adiabatically, and that would mean highly unstable air and storms. Is this correct?

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