Dual Polarization Radar is Coming !

10/29/09 08:29 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

3329 Comments

Dual Polarization Radar is coming to a National Weather Service office near you.

What is it ?

CLICK HERE

Well, for starters, it will improve data quality and give better rainfall rate estimation. It is also a vast improvement over the technology first implemented in 1988. Those aging radars, also known as the WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Radar 88 Doppler), have been in operation all over the country.

CLICK HERE

The retrofit plan to convert those radars, like the ones at Fort Dix and Dover, to the newer version called Dual-Pol will begin next summer.

The start time will begin roughly between July and October 2010 and finish around September 2012 (subject to funding). Alaska and Hawaii may have to wait up to September 2013 (also subject to funding).

The total retrofit contract cost ? $ 43 million dollars.

L3 Communications are the contractor.

Baron Services are the subcontractor.

It is still not known for sure when the radars at Fort Dix and Dover will get retrofitted within that time frame. However, one thing is certain.

Expect 2 full work weeks for radar downtime. That means once they start, they cannot put the radar back online until the job is finished (even if a nasty line of storms are coming during that two week period.) This could be a potential problem, as certain radars will be "operated on" during that two year period. The National Weather Service expects to fill-in the gaps with Terminal Radars like the one at PHL airport.


David


P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next couple of days are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast
Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

Basic Weather Instruction ! As requested.

10/28/09 08:18 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

JT wrote:
Good evening, everyone.

David - why not put a basic weather instruction page/blog on this site, include terminology, for neophytes so that no one feels "below the curve"?
I think this may make this site more attractive to people that aren't fluent in "weatherese" .
10/05/09 08:03 PM EDT

________________

This is for anyone who desires to learn a little bit more about weather. I have two links to get you started. The first link is a good overview on weather without feeling like I just put you in a classroom. The second link will enable you, if you so desire, to learn all you want to learn about weather.

CLICK HERE for Link # 1
Jack Williams, a science writer from USA Today, has recently published a book called The AMS Weather Book. The Ultimate Guide To America's Weather. He spoke at the Broadcaster Workshop at the National Weather Association in Norfolk, VA. Chapter summaries of his book can be found on his website or you can buy a hardcopy to have for reference later.

CLICK HERE for Link # 2
Professional development at your fingertips. Introducing meteorology education through the COMET program. COMET stands for Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training. This is a group effort through the National Weather Service, Navy, Air Force and UCAR. They now have 100,000 users worldwide (and they are growing !)

These modules and courses, which you can download to your desktop, often include a quiz or a test at the end of each topic. It is a great tool to have if you want to learn something new about weather or to brush up on a subject that you may have forgotten. The best part ? It's FREE to use. Enjoy !

David

P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next couple of days are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast
Thanks for joining me.

The Future of Weather and Driving !

10/27/09 08:18 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

The future of weather and driving is here. And the National Center of Atmospheric Research is leading the charge.

Just when you thought On-Star had you all figured out. But wait ! There's more.

Soon your car will become a living, breathing, real-time weather instrument. Why does that not surprise you ?

The data that each car will generate will then be collected into a database and put into computer models.

Relative humidity, winds, temperature, dew point, for example, will be collected from different sensors strategically placed on your vehicle. Even the speed of your wipers (fast, slow, intermittent) will be known and will be used to assist in making traffic reports and assessments.

"'The goal is to reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths by getting drivers the information they need about nearby hazards,' says Sheldon Drobot, the NCAR program manager in charge of the project."

CLICK HERE for the interesting article I am quoting


It is a brave new world. Time to embrace it, or perhaps, be left in the dust.

What do you think of this technology ? Is this a good thing or just another invasion of Big Brother peering in your driving habits ?

Feel free to leave a comment by CLICKING the GREEN TITLE of this BLOG and SCROLLING WAY DOWN.

David

P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next couple of days are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast
Thanks for joining me.

Your Summer in Review & Mount Redoubt in Alaska !

10/26/09 06:55 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

51 Comments

Believe it or not, we only had 15 days at 90 degrees in Philly in 2009. The average is nearly 21 days. It was a cooler than average summer...and I saw that scenario playing out back in March, before our first heat wave hit in April.

Why was I so confident ?

Because of the eruptions of Mount Redoubt in Alaska. This volcano had been sleeping since 1990.

Well since then, over 25 eruptions from Mount Redoubt have been recorded this year. And yes, that means more aerosols (to block out the sun's rays) via sulfur dioxide have been shooting into stratosphere. If you have ever wondered what kind of hazard this causes pilots, take a look at this video. It is pretty remarkable.

CLICK HERE

David


P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next couple of days are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.
Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

GOES-R Set to launch in 2015 !

10/25/09 07:45 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

GOES-R is the next generation of satellite technology.

If you are a true weather nut like me, you will be hearing more about this project for years to come.

It is set to launch in the year 2015 and will be run by NOAA, NASA and the Department of Commerce !

What is it ?

Well, much like everything that has a name in the weather community (NAM, GFS, RUC, etc), GOES-R is an acronym.

It stands for "Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series"

What makes it so special ?

For starters, it will dramatically improve resolution for outflow boundaries and overshooting tops, just to name a few.

The lightning flash rate will improve as well.

Why ? Because the data will be coming in 6 TIMES FASTER...every 5 minutes, not 30 minutes for FULL DISK COVERAGE.

Tornado paths and hail damage paths, after the storm, will be clearly defined from space.

At the surface, (no pun intended) radar technology has advanced at a much faster pace than satellite technology.

This has to do, in part, to the enormous expense of launching satellites into space and maintaining their operations.

65 new and improved products will likely be derived from the launch of GOES-R, thus improving lead times to dangerous storms and saving both lives and property.

A 30 second visible satellite loop will be coming down the pike as well.

If you would like to read more about it, check out their website.

CLICK HERE

David



P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next week is going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.

Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

Just Got Back from Norfolk, Virginia !

10/23/09 09:23 AM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

I am back from Norfolk, Virginia ! The National Weather Association's (NWA) Annual Meeting was a success. Five days of great speakers and suburb content. It also gave me a chance to network, see old friends and to recertify. I have now recertified my NWA Seal of Approval, which has to be done every 3 years in order to keep it. I needed 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to satisfy my requirement. Instead, I earned 12 CEUs by attending all 5 days and filled half a notebook.

I think I now have enough blogging material to last me for quite awhile. LOL.

Some highlights included talks from NOAA and National Weather Service about the latest on
Dual Polarization Radar (also called Dual-Pol) and the timeframe to replace the WSR-88Ds
Phased Array Radar (PAR)
and the 1 inch Hail criteria for Severe Thunderstorms.

Observing Road Weather Conditions Using Passenger Vehicles was quite interesting as well.
Their is some information from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO that you may like as far as the future is concerned. I will be blogging more about this, too.

David

P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next week is going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.

Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

Weather Conference Time !

10/13/09 10:27 AM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

575 Comments

I will be in Norfolk, Virginia next week. It is time to re-certify.

In order to maintain my Seal of Approval from the National Weather Association, I am required to complete 10 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) within each 3-year period. I have been a proud Seal holder of the N.W.A. since January of 2003. The last N.W.A. meeting I attended was in Cleveland, Ohio back in 2006.

So what are these "Seals" exactly ?

You can think of the AMS Certified and NWA Seal of Approval like "Good Housekeeping" Seals. Both organizations, the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, are committed to continuing education, requiring their on-air meteorologists to do more studying.

The logic here is, if you keep learning, it benefits your audience and it makes you a better weather communicator.

This year's Annual Meeting of the National Weather Association is being held in Norfolk, Virginia on Saturday, October 17th to Thursday, October 22nd.

If you are a student of meteorology, this would be a great opportunity for you to come down to network as well. The Conference is full of great speakers and the content is superb.

Can't make it ? Don't worry. I will be blogging about some of the new weather advancements right here on www.davidaldrich.com in the coming days.

In the meantime, here is a list of the events. Drop me a note or comment if there is something that interests you. I will be taking notes.

CLICK HERE


P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next two and a half weeks are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.

Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

Something New About Me

10/07/09 03:20 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

67 Comments

Well, as promised, I thought I would share something new about me.

Years ago, when I was in college, I used to think of new ways to entertain my friends and family with a new outgoing message on my answering machine. This led me to try certain impressions, one of which was Jimmy Stewart.

The opportunity to do my Jimmy Stewart impression came up again while working at my last T.V. station (before Philly) in Rochester, NY. Here's a look at what we did.

CLICK HERE

Some of you may remember I did something similar here in Philly last Christmas.

David


P.S. I am still looking for advertisers, big or small. If you or someone you know would be interested in buying an ad, send me an e-mail on the link below.

While the URL may be different, the weather blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see. There have been some great suggestions made by you so far. Keep them coming.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next three weeks are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.

Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.

WELCOME ! IT'S A NEW BEGINNING !

10/02/09 12:45 PM EDT

Posted by: David Aldrich

256 Comments

Life itself can have as many changes as the weather. And since both are quite fluid and dynamic, it is my pleasure to welcome you to my new website.

For years, some of you have come to my weather blog for guidance, insight and assurance.

Well, let me assure you that while the URL may be different, the blog and its cutting-edge content will stay the same.

It is my hope to serve you in a new way.

Welcome to davidaldrich.com...and please bookmark it, and share it with your friends, your neighbors and local businesses.

Warm regards,

David


P.S. I want to try something different. From now until November 1st, I want to use this blog as a brainstorming tool. Give me ideas on what you want to see.

Since opportunity is what you make of it, the next four weeks are going to be fun. It will give us a chance to learn more about each other, share videos, and tell stories. And I can guarantee you there are things about me that you probably did not know.

It will also give me a chance to re-charge my battery, so to speak, and explore new opportunities.

By the time November arrives, I will have
my long-range winter forecast.

Thanks for joining me.

To read the comments or leave a comment, click on the GREEN TITLE of the blog and SCROLL WAY DOWN.