Cloud Stalker: November 2012

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Sky Watch

This photo was shot in May 2012 on my way home from work. I love cumulus!!

Cumulus clouds are a type of low-level cloud that can have noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Cumulo- means "heap" in Latin.^[1] They are often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like" in appearance, and are generally less than 6,500 feet (2,000 m) in altitude, unless they are of the vertical cumulus congestus form. Cumulus clouds may appear alone, in lines, or in clusters. Cumulus clouds are often precursors of other types of clouds, such as cumulonimbus, when influenced by weather factors such as instability, moisture, and temperature gradient. Cumulus clouds are part of the larger category of cumuliform clouds, which include stratocumulus clouds, cumulonimbus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds, and altocumulus clouds.^[2]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Happy sky watch Friday!
Jessika aka cloudstalker

Catching up

You know it is so hard to manage time, I really thought i could keep up with my blog even if was just to post a photo a day or even a week. I do admit one of my faults is Facebook, I tend to spend my free moments there reading about other peoples life. Why? I don't know it's kinda like watching T.V. taking a step away from my own reality, I guess. But.....
I am here now to try again, I downloaded the Blogger app to my phone so maybe that will make it easier.

Halloween has come and gone the air is cooler and Barack Obama has been re-elected for another term.
A super storm named Sandy hit the east coast with a fury no one has seen in a hundred years, Super storm Sandy reached 900 miles wide, carried winds speeds of more than 90 mph, caused billions of dollars in damage and claimed at least 100 lives. A storm that will be talked about for generations yet to come and not only that but they were hit again last night with a nor'easter. Weather sure has been weird the last few years, every year we breaking records for something. I know hurricane Sandy will go down in record books.

I started a new job in August, I am finally out of that damn factory!! Yea!!! I am severing at Cracker Barrel at nights. Which is very different from the last four years having nights and weekends off. I don't get to spend anytime with friends but I am making more money and I am working less hours and since my son changed schools I am able to take him to the boss stop in the morning and I am there when he gets home. I just don't get to have a social life a sacrifice I have to make.

Well this entry is gonna come to a close, I am gonna leave you with a few links and some Pictures from Halloween.
If you want to add me to your Facebook friends I have thousands of pictures in my photo albums just click on this link and leave a message on the invite- saw you on blogger-
This is my Twitter link
and you can find me on Instagram under cloudstalker.
I try to spread my love everywhere..lol. Well till my next post, remember to keep them eyes on the sky!
Jessika AKA Cloud Stalker
P.S. I can't share the Halloween pictures because I only uploaded them to facebook. Whoops.

HAIL (3/4 inch or greater)

Hail can cause significant damage to your vehicle, break windows and damage roofs of homes and businesses.
Hail can cause significant bodily injuries such as broken bones and even blindness if wind blown.
Softball (4.5 inches) sized hail was reported in Lake Wales, Florida on March 30, 1996.
Haildrifts, up to four feet deep of dime to nickel sized hail, occurred in low-lying areas near Zephyrhills, Florida on January 29, 1997.
Hailstones the size of softballs can fall at speeds faster than 100 mph

supercell

Supercells derive their rotation through tilting of horizontal vorticity (an invisible horizontal vortex) caused by wind shear. Strong updrafts lift the air turning about a horizontal axis and cause this air to turn about a vertical axis. This forms the deep rotating updraft, the mesocyclone.
A cap or capping inversion is usually required to form a downdraft of sufficient strength. The cap puts an inverted (warm-above-cold) layer above a normal (cold-above-warm) boundary layer, and by preventing warm surface air from sinking too far, allows one or both of the following:
Air below the cap warms and/or becomes more moist
Air above the cap cools
This creates a warmer, moister layer below a cooler layer, which is increasingly unstable (because warm air is less dense and tends to rise). When the cap weakens or moves, explosive development follows.
In North America, supercells usually show up on Doppler radar as starting at a point or hook shape on the southwestern side, fanning out to the northeast. The heaviest precipitation is usually on the southwest side, ending abruptly short of the rain-free updraft base or main updraft (not visible to radar). The rear flank downdraft, or RFD, carries precipitation counterclockwise around the north and northwest side of the updraft base, producing a "hook echo" that indicates the presence of a mesocyclone.