ACC Weather Tips and Tricks

Transcription

1 ACC Weather Tips and Tricks Public Forecast Sites Environment Canada - or Environment Canada Lightning Maps - Environment Canada Radar - Environment Canada Satellite - The Weather Network Weather Underground Alberta Forestry Weather Forecast - Canadian Avalanche Centre Weather Forecast (BC)-

2 NavCanada Aviation Forecast Select the region of interest, likely BC or Alberta.

3 Select the appropriate time. Edmonton (-6h UTC in Summer/-7h UTC in Winter)

4 Charts like this will appear. Updated every 6 hours. Forecast extents only to 12 hours into the future. Gives you a picture of what is happening in your area. They are coded into abbreviated format. Some detailed info on how to read them can be found here: %20Information.html#Graphic%20Area%20Forecasts%20%28GFA%29

5 Model Sites Meteorologist David Jones - or Provides info for model data access under the Numerical Models header. GFS 16 Day Model Guidence NOAA/NWS - GFS Select the Model Guidance, Model Area and the Model Type.

6 Above, its good to select the larger sized images. Then select the data you would like to see. Precip_06 for precipitation every 6 hours, 100_500_thick, for precipitation every 6 hours plus the temperatures of the area, or 700_rh_ht for the relative humidity (clouds) at approximately 10,000 ft which is where most of the weather will be occurring.

7 Once you ve made your selection, choose loop all.

8 Precipitation chart example every 6 hours. One thing to note with precipitation charts. The amount of precipitation given on the chart is the amount of precipitation over the course of the last 6 hours (or whatever time step the images are for). So for example, if the chart is valid for 12UTC, the precipitation labeled on the chart is precipitation falling from 06UTC to 12UTC. All precipitation models work this way.

9 Relative Humidity chart example every 6 hours. The green areas simulate cloud. The dark green implies higher relative humidity and therefore the more likelihood of cloud/thicker cloud.

10 Precipitation and Temperature chart example. The precipitation is the green/blue areas. The temperature lines are the dashed lines. The line labelled 540 is the approximate 0 degree temperature line.

11 MM5-NAM The MM5 computer model run by the University of Washington is a very good weather model. Of interest to us, the 12km resolution model. It does give us a small view of the BC/AB southern areas. If your heading to Mt. Rainier this could be a very useful model to view.

12 They have several products which may be of interest. The 12km resolution PRECIP, and the 12km Mid Cloud Water are likely the most common products of interest. We can also browse the 12km Low Cloud Water if interested.

13 If you wish to have a larger map view, you can use the 36km MM5 model. It unfortunately does not label the BC/AB border so it might be a little hard to use. There is also a high resolution model at 4km, which doesn t show much of BC/AB but could be useful if your visiting Mt. Rainier.

14 A Weather Moment A very good site to use to view model data, satellite, and radar images.

15 This page should be relatively self explanatory. Select your choices on the left side of the map. I would use the GEM Regional under the Model selection as much as possible. You can also use the GFS if you wish. The others are not really necessary. Select Western Canada for your window location. Use the surface under category box, then you can look at either the 3hr or 6hr QPF which is precipitation. Click load product and you can use the animation controls underneath to view your maps and the time of choice. Some other selections of interest may be: Category: Surface Product: Temperatures/or Wind Surface Temperature/Surface Winds Category: 700mb Product: Relative Humidity/ or Wind 10,000ft Clouds/ 10,000ft Wind. Category: 850mb Product: Relative Humidity/ or Wind 5,000ft Clouds/ 5,000ft Wind.

16 Example Images.

17 Example Images.

18 This site is one of the better sites for viewing live satellite imagery in animation. Select either the Daytime Blended 1 or Night Blended 1 depending on the time. Select the Saskatchewan Satellite Product; however the images show parts of BC and all of Alberta.

19 Radar imagery is also available here. You can select the radar region of your choice. Under the product tab, you should select 1.5km CAPPI (Rain) in the summer or 1.0km CAPPI (Snow) in the winter. Then Load Product and use the animations controls as needed. Remember that in the mountains it is difficult to use the radar as the beam is usually deflected by the terrain. Sometime it appears as if the precipitation isn t moving. This is likely a false return and isn t precipitation at all.

20 Spot Wx You can simply type in the name of the location that you are interested in, use the Lat/Long coordinates of your point of interest, or allow your phone to automatically detect your location based on the GPS. Once the area is entered, the list of available models will appear. I suggest using the HRDPS for a short term forecast (1-2 Days), the RDPS as well for a short term (1-2 Day forecast) or the GDPS for a long term trend forecast (5-10 days). The GFS is also available, however you can also view the maps as explained above. However this SpotWx site gives you the exact same data just in a different viewers format. The map on the right just gives you an idea of the area that the model is sampling. Everywhere in the colored block would have the exact same forecast. It allows the user to see, that model forecast encompasses a large area, and therefore isn t always accurate as the area can be significantly large with many different local effects.

21 This is a typical output meteogram from SpotWx. The charts are generally self explanatory. The most complicated would be the Lifted and Showalter Indices. These are used for thunderstorm potential. When the Lifted Index and or the Showalter Index is below 0, the potential for thunderstorms exist. The more negative the number, the more likely they are to occur. Cape and Helicity are complicate and can be ignored. SpotWx also can provide this data in Tabular format by selected that format at the top left of the page.

22 Mountain Forecast You can type in your Specific Mountain, or lookup the mountain by selecting it from the mountain range/sub-range drop down boxes. Once you ve selected your mountain of choice you can view, forecast for several elevations, browse nearby observations, or look at some computer generated maps.

23 Most of this data is computer generated, and likely not reviewed by a forecaster. The text blurb maybe useful to have an idea what is happening in the area. Good for finding Freezing Levels, Temperatures at elevation, Wind Speeds/Directions. They also provide a snow forecast during the winter.

24 College of DuPage A good site for those that want to look at model data.

25 This site may take a while to get use to. Using the interactive sidebar and timebar at the top, the user can select the model run, and products of interest. Typically the user will select the Current Run under the Model Run menu. Under sector view select Northwest/Canada. For products to view, I would limit this site to SLP and Precipitation for an idea of precipitation in the area, 700mb wind speeds for an estimate of winds that are expected to occur at or near 10,000ft, or 850mb wind speeds for an estimate of winds that are expected to occur at or near 5,000ft. Under the surface tab, temperatures may also be of interest, but they are labelled in Fahrenheit which is a downside.

26 UManitoba - Provides some resources for satellite and radar data. You can explore this if you wish.

27 Satellite Resources

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29 See Above See Above Radar Resources Here you can view all the radars across Canada, or select an individual radar in the area of interest. You can then loop the specific radar using the animation controls. These images will automatically select the correct Radar setting unlike A Weather Moment site. You can toggle on and off Road, Rivers, Cities, etc. Remember that in the mountains it is difficult to use the radar as the beam is usually deflected by the terrain. Sometime it appears as if the precipitation isn t moving. This is likely a false return and isn t precipitation at all.

30 See Above See Above s Always good to use @bcstorm

31 Contact Numbers ATAD Automatic Telephone Answering Device Region Phone Number Additional Areas Edmonton St Albert, Sherwood Park, Fort Sask, Leduc, Tofield, Wetaskawin, Mayerthorpe, Spruce Grove Calgary Airdrie, Cochrane, Olds, Sundrie, Brooks, Strathmore, Vulcan, Drumheller, Three Hills, Okotoks, High River, Claresholm Jasper Banff Canmore, Kananaskis Edson Rocky Mountain House Revelstoke Castlegar W Kootenay, Arrow & Slocan Lake, Hwy-3 Vancouver ( ) (Paulson-Kootenay) Fraser Valley,Whistler, Howe Sound, Southern Gulf Islands Smithers Bulkey Valley NW, BV- SE/Burns Lake, Hwy-16 (to Whitehorse Terrace) Yukon, NW BC Google ATAD Environment and you should find these numbers. Also Weather Radio is an alternative.

32 Links Cloud Types and Formations Apps gradar RadarScope Degrees Canada Wx AeroWeather SpotWx Alberta 511 AMA Road Reports Drive BC Google Maps for Traffic Road Reports AMA Road Reports Alberta Transportation Drive BC The Weather Network Highway Conditions -

33 Paid Resources Personal Weather Services: MeteoExploration Expedition Weather Environment Canada Service (Credit Card Only) Climate Data EC Climate Statistics Wikipedia for lots of locations Education Resources Comet/MetEd Cliff Mass Blog Text Mountain Meteorology Fundamentals and Applications