This document examines severe weather events in the Mid-Atlantic region, specifically derechos and spearhead echoes. It finds that on average, 27-28 derechos or spearhead echoes impact the region each year between May and September, accounting for a large portion of severe weather reports. Through case studies and climatological analysis using radar data and weather reports, it determines that derechos and spearhead echoes are responsible for widespread wind damage in the Mid-Atlantic. The document aims to improve forecasting and public communication of these dangerous weather phenomena.
Memo from EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Convening Project to Examine ...Marcellus Drilling News
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Memo from EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Convening Project to Examine ...Marcellus Drilling News
The EPA OIG is beginning a new project that will "determine and evaluate what regulatory authority is available to the EPA and states, identify potential threats to water resources from hydraulic fracturing, and evaluate the EPA’s and states’ responses to them." In other words, the OIG wants to push its way into regulating oil and gas drilling too--along with their parent EPA. I.e., a federal takeover of drilling regulation.
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USGS Links:
Water Alert - https://maps.waterdata.usgs.gov/mapper/wateralert/
National Water Information System: Web Interface - https://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/current?type=flow
Water Services - https://waterservices.usgs.gov/
Texas Water Dashboard - https://txpub.usgs.gov/txwaterdashboard
NWS Austin/San Antonio - weather.gov/sanantonio
TWDB Links:
Water Data for Texas – https://waterdatafortexas.org/
Flood viewer - https://map.texasflood.org/#/
TexMesonet - https://www.texmesonet.org/
LCRA Hyrdromet - hydromet.lcra.org
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Applied Geovisualization for Hurricane Surge Risk Awareness and Emergency Man...Keith VanGraafeiland
Presented at the 2013 CERF Conference in San Diego, California - While storm tracks, intensity forecasts, and tabular metrics have become ubiquitous, they do little to convey the highly localized effects of potential flooding at municipal or facility scales. Visualizations of storm surge forecasts offer opportunities to improve risk awareness and communication in emergency situations. Enhanced visualizations that better communicate “on the ground” potential flooding impacts play an increasingly critical role in risk communication and emergency response. Recent storm surge modeling efforts in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia will be discussed for their contributions to enhanced risk communication and provision of diverse forms of storm surge geovisualization. In these case studies, GIS and cartographic techniques combine surge forecasts, orthophotography, and building planimetrics for determination of critical infrastructure accessibility, economic losses, and identification of social vulnerabilities. Such applications require cautious and informed use of disparate data (meteorological, geospatial, infrastructural). Awareness of surge model limitations, factors inhibiting spatial representation, and technical and communications challenges is required.
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Presentation by Bart van den Hurk, Scientific Director at Deltares, at the Delft-FEWS User Days (Day 1), during Delft Software Days - Edition 2021. Monday, 8 November 2021.
Getting the Most From Weather Data - Daniel Pearson, Mark Lenz, Nelun Fernand...TWCA
TWCA Fall Conference 2019 - (helpful links below)
USGS Links:
Water Alert - https://maps.waterdata.usgs.gov/mapper/wateralert/
National Water Information System: Web Interface - https://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/current?type=flow
Water Services - https://waterservices.usgs.gov/
Texas Water Dashboard - https://txpub.usgs.gov/txwaterdashboard
NWS Austin/San Antonio - weather.gov/sanantonio
TWDB Links:
Water Data for Texas – https://waterdatafortexas.org/
Flood viewer - https://map.texasflood.org/#/
TexMesonet - https://www.texmesonet.org/
LCRA Hyrdromet - hydromet.lcra.org
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Keith Nislow (Forest Service and Northeast Climate Science Center) presented at the Adapting Forested Watersheds to Climate Change Workshop, at Antioch University New England, Keene, NH on April 4-5, 2017. The workshop was hosted by the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS), USDA Climate Hubs, and Trout Unlimited.
The U.S. Drought Monitor: Percentiles, Parameters, People, Process, Policy, a...
Hollings SHE power point
1. An Examination of High Impact Severe
Weather Events in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Joe Egan
Valparaiso University
Major: Meteorology
Weather-Ready Nation
National Weather Service/ WFO State College, PA
Richard Grumm (Mentor)
Charles Ross (Secondary Mentor)
5/18/2016 1
3. Objectives
• Severe thunderstorms are quite frequent in
the Mid Atlantic in late spring and summer
– Wind Damage main threat, often in narrow lines
• My Interests:
– Weather History
– Forecasting Convection
– Keeping Public Informed
• Hypothesis: Derechos and spearhead echoes
are responsible for large amounts of wind
damage in the Mid Atlantic
5/18/2016 3
4. Background
• Most widespread severe wind event: Derecho
– 240+ mile concentrated swath of wind damage
– Severe (58mph+) wind reports along path
– Several “well separated” 75mph+ wind gusts
– Source: Storm Prediction Center
•Types of Derechos
– Progressive
– Serial
– Hybrid
5/18/2016 4
Damage in Washington, D.C.from 29 June
2012 Derecho (Bloomburg/AP)
5. DATE REMARKS CATEGORY
7/7/2003 DERECHO from IL to PA Progressive
7/8/2003 DERECHO in OH/PA Progressive
8/26/2003 DERECHO from IN to coast; including PA Progressive
5/21/2004 DERECHO from IN to VA, including PA Progressive
6/30/2005 DERECHO in OH and PA; also in south Plains and in Ozarks Progressive
8/4/2010 DERECHO from OH through WV and PA to VA Progressive
4/19/2011 DERECHO in OH Valley and SE, including in east OH/west PA Serial
7/11/2011 DERECHO from OH to PA/MD/VA and in VA (from KY) Progressive
6/28/2012 DERECHO in PA and NJ (into morning of 6/29) Progressive
6/29/2012 DERECHO from IL to Mid Atlantic Progressive
7/26/2012 DERECHO in PA, NJ, WV, MD, eastern OH Serial
6/12-13/2013 DERECHO in OH and western PA (late night of 6/12 into AM of 6/13) Progressive
6/25/2013 DERECHO from OH to PA, MD, and NJ Progressive
7/10/2013 DERECHO in OH and PA Serial
7/8/2014 DERECHO in PA, MD, and northern VA Serial
5/11/2015 DERECHO in OH, PA along/east of I-71 Serial
Data Table of Large Derechos
Dates link to Storm Reports images June 2012 “Super Derecho”
5
Hole in reports partially
due to communications
outages but appeared in
other events.
5/18/2016
7. SHE Background
• Focus on Spear Head Echoes
(SHEs; Fujita and Byers 1977)
– Contain appendage pointed
in direction of motion
– “Parent Echo” ahead of SHE;
ingested into SHE
– Main threat: Wind Damage
(downdraft CAPE; SPC)
– Too short-lived to be
derechos
5/18/2016 7
Image Courtesy: Fujita and Byers (1977)
8. Methodology
• Created a general severe weather climatology
from 2000-June 2015 using SPC Storm
Reports
• Documented linear patterns of wind damage
in Mid Atlantic
– Classified PA events as Derecho, classic
SHE, frontal SHE, or hybrid
• Examined radar data from select events with
NCDC archive radar data and GR2Analyst
5/18/2016 8
11. SHE/Derecho Climatology
• Average 27-28 SHE/Derecho events per year in Mid
Atlantic
• Climate period (2000 – 2014*)
• Includes SHEs/derechos along cold fronts
• Nearly 90% occur between May and September
– Through June 2015
• 180 events affected PA (through June 2015)
– 16 Derechos
– 86 classic SHEs (non-frontal)
5/18/2016 11
*Did not use 2015 for SHE/Derechos
average; year incomplete
12. Case Study: 7 July 2012
5/18/2016 12
Notice the
coherent
line in the
wind
reports in
PA
Map Courtesy: Storm Prediction Center
13. Case Study: 7 July 2012
5/18/2016 13
Images created with GR2 Analyst and NCDC archive radar dataStorm-following
14. Case Study: 7 July 2013
5/18/2016 14
Map Courtesy: Storm Prediction Center
Notice the
coherent
line in the
wind
reports in
PA
15. Case Study: 7 July 2013
5/18/2016 15
Images created with GR2 Analyst and NCDC archive radar data
Storm-
Following
16. Case Study: 4 August 2010
5/18/2016 16
Map Courtesy: Storm Prediction Center
Notice
the
coherent
line in
the
reports
in SE OH
into WV
17. Case Study: 4 August 2010
5/18/2016 17
1928 UTC 2106 UTC
Images created with GR2 Analyst and NCDC archive radar data
Parent Echo
Spearhead
Echo
18. Summary
• SHEs and derechos account for a significant number
of Mid Atlantic severe weather reports
– Average of 27-28 events in Mid Atlantic per year
• SHEs:
• Shorter-lived but locally as damaging as derechos
• Often account for significant amount of severe reports
during many events
• Recognition of SHEs on radar important to ensure
timely, accurate warning decisions
5/18/2016 18
19. Future Research
• Synoptic and mesoscale conditions
favorable for SHEs and Derechos
– Difficult to forecast (SPC)
– Downdraft CAPE and cold pools
• Communication of threats to life and
property
– Outreach events critical
195/18/2016
20. My Next Steps
• Rising Senior at Valparaiso University
• Considering attending Graduate School
• Career Goal: Operational Meteorology
– Public or Private Sector
– Emergency Management
5/18/2016 20
21. Acknowledgments
• Thank you to my mentors, Richard Grumm
and Charles Ross, for taking me on
• Thank you to the staff of the NWS WFO in
State College
5/18/2016 21
22. References
• Bloomberg, 2013: The 11 Most Damaging U.S. Weather Disasters of 2012. Accessed 8 July 2012.
[Available online at http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-01-03/the-11-most-damaging-u-s-
weather-disasters-of-2012.html#slide8]
• Fujita, T. T, and H. R. Byers, 1977: Spearhead echo and downbursts in the crash of an airliner. Mon. Wea.
Rev., 105, 129–146, doi:10.1175/ 1520-0493(1977)105,0129:SEADIT.2.0.CO;2
• GR2 Analyst Software Package
• Grumm, Richard and Elyse Colbert/NWS State College, 2012: End of heat-event severe event of 7 July
2012. Accessed 10 June 2015. [Available online at
http://cms.met.psu.edu/sref/severe/2012/07Jul2012.pdf]
• Grumm, Richard and Elyse Colbert/NWS State College, 2013: Severe Event of 7 July 2013. Accessed 8 July
2015. [Available online at http://cms.met.psu.edu/sref/severe/2013/07Jul2013.pdf]
• NCAR, 2014: Image Archive. Accessed 27 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www2.mmm.ucar.edu/imagearchive/]
• NOAA, 2015: MRMS Single Product Map Viewer. Accessed 11 June 2015. [Available online at
http://nmq.ou.edu/applications/qvs_2d_maps_main.html]
• NOAA/NWS/ERH, 2013: Derecho Event 29 June 2012. Acessed 29 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rlx/science/derecho/]
• NOAA/NCEP/NCDC, 2015: HDSS Access System. Accessed 19 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/has/has.dsselect]
• NOAA/NWS/NCEP/SPC, 2015: About Derechoes. Accessed 24 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm]
• NOAA/NWS/NCEP/SPC, 2014: Downdraft CAPE. Accessed 25 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/mesoanalysis/help/help_dcape.html]
• NOAA/NWS/NCEP/SPC, 2015: Severe Weather Summaries. Accessed 10 June 2015. [Available online at
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/online/]
• NOAA/NWS/NCEP/SPC, 2015: SPC Severe Weather Events Archive. Accessed 10 June 2015. [Available
online at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/events/]
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