Category: radar

Weather Mythbusters: Disproving urban myths related to today’s “disappearing” snow

February 23, 2015

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Erik Proseus

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education, radar, virga, weather 101

Many of you were diligently watching radar this afternoon as snow moved towards the area from the west. You were excited by it’s approach. You were disappointed by it “disappearing” from the radar loop as it got into Crittenden County, to our west. Of course, this visual didn’t help to dispel the urban myths of…
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Recap of the September 11th Flood of 2014

September 11, 2014

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Erik Proseus

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event recap, flash flood, flooding, radar

While most readers of this blog have clear memories of 9/11/2001, many of you will now remember 9/11/2014 for some time to come as well. The flooding that took place today may be as bad as some of you have witnessed, or at least rank in the top couple of events that you have personally…
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Topography influences the weather – but in the Mid-South?

March 18, 2012

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Erik Proseus

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education, orography, radar, topography

It is fairly well known that topography, such as mountain ranges, has significant effect on weather patterns. For example, air flowing up the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains lifts and condenses and can bring feet of snow to places like Denver, CO. It’s what is called an “orographic influence” on the weather. Closer to…
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Isolated t’storm over the heart of the city

July 3, 2011

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Erik Proseus

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nowcast, radar

RADAR UPDATE, 7pm: MWN StormView Radar is now showing the storm to have completely dissipated. The airport reported a wind gust to 38 mph from the north as the outflow from the storms crossed over, though no rain was recorded. The temperature dropped to 88 degrees. No further rain is expected this evening for those…
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Anatomy of a hail storm – Gallaway, TN – 3/26/11

March 26, 2011

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Erik Proseus

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education, hail, radar

Last night, a severe thunderstorm rumbled through northern Shelby and Fayette Counties between 4-5am. Fortunately, I was able to grab some screenshots of cross-sectional radar data to go along with a picture sent to me by a Twitter follower in Gallaway, TN (extreme northwest Fayette County, near I-40) that will allow me to demonstrate some…
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Radar & satellite detect large outflow boundary nearing the metro

June 19, 2010

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Erik Proseus

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outflow boundary, radar, satellite

A large thunderstorm complex rumbled through the Ohio Valley overnight, producing a very large outflow boundary that can easily be seen on visible satellite this morning, as well as on Memphis-based radar. The first image above shows the visible satellite as of about 7:30am. Note the roughly east-west cloud line across the middle of west…
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MWN 101: A radar primer

May 31, 2010

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Erik Proseus

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education, radar

Radar is an acronym meaning Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR). During its initial development in World War II, weather was treated as “clutter”, a problem that kept radar operators from seeing enemy targets. Shortly after the end of the war, scientists realized the great benefit of using radar to study storms. The radar displayed previously…
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What caused rapid storm intensification over Memphis on the evening of May 16, 2010?

May 17, 2010

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView, thunderstorms

On the evening of May 16, 2010, a mesoscale convective system (MCS) moved into the Mid-South from the west. The quasi-linear complex of thunderstorms, followed by an area of rain, reached the metro area around 7pm. As it approached, the strongest storms were a bowing segment of thunderstorms south of the city over northwest Mississippi…
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Coming soon! StormView Mobile Radar

April 2, 2010

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Erik Proseus

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mobile, new product, radar

For all MemphisWeather.net Mobile users out there, I thought I’d give you a sneak peek of Cirrus Weather Solutions’ next big product upgrade: StormView Mobile Radar. StormView Mobile Radar is an upgraded radar display designed specifically for use on mobile platforms like iPhones and Blackberrys, or devices that use Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile, etc. and…
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T.S. Danny and a bit of “green” irony

August 27, 2009

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Erik Proseus

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atlantic, radar, tropical, wind

Tropical Storm Danny was named yesterday morning and is now a storm with 60 mph wind moving northwest across the western Atlantic, northeast of the Bahamas. The storm is not well-organized with the strongest wind well removed northeast of the center of the storm. Current projections indicate that interests from the Outer Banks of N.C.…
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The Pyramid/Bluff Effect.. or just another weather coincidence?

April 10, 2009

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Erik Proseus

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radar, severe thunderstorms

Somehow, Shelby County once again got missed by a line of thunderstorms overnight that hit our neighbors to the west, north, and south (not that I am complaining – that much). See the images below, taken an hour before the storms arrived and during the time they missed us. Do the bluffs protect Memphis from…
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6:30am – Narrow squall line crossing the river

February 11, 2009

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView, wind

At 6:30am, MWN StormView Radar (shown above) is depicting a fast-moving but narrow squall line crossing the river into downtown Memphis and Shelby Forest and also approaching the airport in south Memphis. This line will move across the metro area over the next hour, bringing brief torrential rain and wind gusts as high as 40-50…
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MWN StormView Radar is now live!

November 15, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView

StormView Radar has two “flavors” – a regional view and a metro Memphis view. Fully-interactive and driven by the latest Flash technology, you’ll find it easy to use and packed with features! Make sure you visit MemphisWeather.net and select StormView from the Radar menu. Its first images (one of which is shown above) are of…
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T-minus 1 day and counting…

November 14, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView

COMING TOMORROW — SATURDAY NOV. 15!! Just another reason MWN is “all the weather you need for Memphis and the Mid-South…”
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It’s coming… MWN StormView Radar

November 11, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView

It’s right around the corner! Coming in a matter of days… The next big addition to MWN will be a Flash-based interactive radar – where YOU have control over what you see. Zoom in to your area, add storm tracks and severe weather warnings, overlay radar-based severe weather indicators, see how much rain has fallen…
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Another upgrade to MWN!

October 29, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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radar, StormView

Coming soon to MemphisWeather.net…MWN StormView Interactive RadarThe next big addition to MWN will be interactive radar – where YOU have control over what you see. Zoom in to your area, add storm tracks and severe weather warnings, overlay radar-based severe weather indicators, see how much rain has fallen across the area, even see where winter…
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Radar and satellite of Ike prior to landfall

September 12, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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atlantic, ike, radar, satellite, tropical

Radar image from Houston as Hurricane Ike moves ashore. Eye wall moving into Galveston. Taken at 9:08pm CDT 9/12/08. Infrared (color) satellite shot of Ike prior to landfall – 7:45pm CDT 9/12/08.
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Storms rumble… and Fay is born!

August 15, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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atlantic, hurricane, radar, thunderstorms, tropical

Radar image of the storms as they head slowly east through the region. Many of these formed on an outflow boundary from storms in northeast Arkansas earlier in the day. Also, the Hurricane Center has started advisories on newly-formed Tropical Storm Fay, just as I suspected they would a couple of hours ago.
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“The Birds”

August 7, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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birds, radar, thunderstorms

No this is not about an Alfred Hitchcock thriller… Birds, bats, bugs, and all sorts of animated critters can be seen by Doppler radar. One time when it’s particularly interesting to watch the radar loops is when flocks depart from their overnight roosts at sunrise and head out all across the countryside. The resulting radar…
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Strong storms strike parts of the metro area

July 31, 2008

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Erik Proseus

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flooding, nexrad, radar, thunderstorms

Many residents of the metro area are finally seeing the rain they have been wishing for for some time – and in many cases it’s too much all at once! Strong thunderstorms are dropping heavy rain as I type across southern Shelby and Fayette counties, northern and eastern DeSoto county, and much of Marshall county.…
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