March 24, 2010
Lubbock Lake Landmark
Cloudy 49*F Wind speed: 20mph
Have you seen that facebook group? "I'm from Texas, the bipolar state." Or have you heard the saying? "If you don't like Texas weather, give it an hour--it'll change."
To most residents of Lubbock, the weather seems completely random. Cold, hot, blustering wind, massive clouds, spotless sky, rain... all in one day?
Dr. T. let us in on the secret: Turns out weather is not random at all.
Weather in a Nut Shell
Seasons: As the earth revolves around the sun, one hemisphere is closer to the sun than the other. That hemisphere experiences summer, and the other winter. Spring and fall are the transitions.
Wind: this rush of air occurs when bodies of cool and warm air create pressure, forcing each other up and down.
Cold Front: occurs in a place where cool air forms over a cool place and condenses. Warm air moves in to fill the space and becomes heavy. This creates a high pressure system. The condensed air sinks and wants to push the air out; air under high pressure rushes to low pressure.At the front of the Cold Front, barometric pressure steadily decreases.Cumulus clouds form in front, cumulonimbus clouds in the middle, and cirrus clouds at the end. The wind comes in one direction at the beginning of the Cold Front, and in the opposite at the end of the cold front.
At the front, you will see: cold, lighter winds from the North or West
In the middle: Temperatures steadily drop, wind gusts and shifts directions, rain falls
At the end: warm, light winds from the Southeast or Southwest
The trick of it is time; cold fronts move fast. As an amateur meteorologist watching the sky, the difficult thing is to determine where you are in the front at that particular time. In a few hours, you may be somewhere else.
Weather Prediction
March 23: Warm, sunny. Wind from South/Southeast
March 24: Cool. Gusting, shifting winds from from North/Northwest. Heavy cumulonimbus rain clouds.
PREDICTION: March 25: Calmer and warmer.
Do you ever get sinus headaches after a change in weather? Did your grandmother's arthritis worsen right before storms? There's an interesting connection between pain and drops in barometric pressure in some people. I asked Dr. T about it, and she said a scientific explanation is still pending. When I was younger, my legs hurt terribly every time it rained. Now that I'm older, they still do sometimes, but not as intensely. Curious, yes?
The Weather Story
Once upon a time, a great, colorful ball danced all round the sun. It spun in perfect pirouettes, slowly dancing around and around, patient as a star. The time when the ballerina faced the glowing light was called Day, and the time when her back was turned was called Night.
Day was a beautiful creature--all golden, her cloud hair long and full, all alight and alive with her sunset smile.
Night was equally beautiful--all deep velvet dark, his hair adorned with stars, all sleepy sighs with his blinking dusk eyes.
The two were ill-fated lovers. Day spent all her light rushing toward Night, and Night did the same with his darkness. They ran, they reached, and they strained, but to no avail; always at dawn their fingers touched, just out of reach, and again at dusk they parted with only a glance.
On the land, the wind rose and fell with the strides of their legs. Rain fell as they cried desperate tears. When Night passed by the sun, he left her fields of flowers, a gift he called Spring. As Day ran past, she smiled upon them even as she cried, rays of sun and times of rain blending until the glow of her smile prevailed. This was called Summer. As Day began to gather the flowers up in her arms, they started to lose their color to her Autumn bouquet. When Night ran by, he covered the rest in snow and ice to make a mirror for his love to see his flowers still, this gift, Winter.
Round and round went the ballerina, the lovers always racing toward each other. It is said that when they kiss, the sun will wink out.
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