NWS JAX Receives
2006 Regional Aviation Excellence Award
by
Jason Deese
Climate Corner: El
Niño Could Put Damper on 2006 Drought
by Angie Enyedi
Descriptions of
Radar Products
on the Web by Matt
Zibura
A New Milestone in the Jacksonville Upper Air Program! by Mike McAllister
Storm Spotters
Wanted! by Angie Enyedi
Welcome
Back by
Scott Carroll September-November
2006 Weather What's
New on the
Website? by
Scott CarrollWelcome back to our newsletter! It's been a while since an up-to-date version of Seabreeze has been available. There have been many changes at your local National Weather Service Office, and we hope to keep you informed of these changes with seasonal updates of Seabreeze.
| Website/Webletter NOAA Weather Radio Warnings/Outreach Climate Other Comments |
scott.carroll@noaa.gov michael.mcallister@noaa.gov al.sandrik@noaa.gov angela.enyedi@noaa.gov steve.letro@noaa.gov |
We currently issue aviation forecasts for four area airports including Jacksonville International. The aviation program provides one of the most difficult forecast challenges due to the highly variable nature of the weather elements involved, namely cloud heights and restrictions to visibility. To aid in detection of adverse conditions, we have during the past year utilized the Graphical Forecast Editor (GFE). In the past we were limited to text guidance which showed limited skill in forecasting critical aviation forecast elements. With the help of GFE, we can now create our own graphical forecast fields tailored to our area and focused on a variety of parameters the text guidance could not provide. The image below shows an example graphic displaying expected visibility values. The graphical depictions allow for quick recognition of the highest risk areas (red shading) for fog development with less fog potential inland..
The
displayed visibility tool along with an entire suite of aviation
graphical
products has allowed for steadily improving forecast accuracy from the
Base
Reflectivity -
displays
echo intensity (reflectivity) at 0.5 degree angle above the horizon.
Range is out to 124 NM (nautical miles)
from radar site.
Long Range Base
Reflectivity - same as base
reflectivity, but range is 248 NM.
Composite Reflectivity -
displays maximum echo intensity (reflectivity) from any
elevation angle at every range from the radar. This
product
is used to
reveal the highest reflectivity in all echoes. When compared with base
reflectivity, the composite reflectivity can reveal
important storm
structure features and intensity trends of storms.
Storm Relative Velocity - displays
radial velocity component of the wind relative to the storm's motion.
The results show a picture of
the wind as if the storms were stationary. This often unmasks storms
that rotate (supercells) which can be
a precursor to the formation of
tornadoes. Green colors indicate wind moving toward the radar with
red colors indicating wind moving
away from the radar. The maximum range of
this product is 124 NM (about 143 statue miles) from the radar
location.
Base Velocity - displays radial
velocity of the overall wind field. Green colors indicate wind moving toward
from the radar with red colors indicating wind moving away
from the radar. The maximum range of this product is 124 nm
(about 143 statue miles) from the radar location.
1-Hour Precipitation - image
of estimated one-hour precipitation accumulation. This
product is used to assess rainfall intensities
for flood
warnings, urban and small stream flood statements and nowcasts. The
maximum range of this product is 124 nm
(about 143 miles) from the
radar location. This image will not display
accumulated precipitation
more distant than 124 nm, even though precipitation may be occurring at
greater distances. To determine accumulated precipitation at
greater
distances you should link to an adjacent radar.
Storm Total Precipitation
- image is of estimated accumulated rainfall, continuously updated,
since the last time it was reset. This image is used to
locate flood potential over urban or rural areas, estimate total river
basin runoff and provide rainfall
accumulations for the duration of the event.
On January 16, 2007, the first flight of record is tentatively scheduled at WFO Jacksonville using all new upper air equipment.
The Jacksonville forecast office is one of 92 NWS offices that performs upper air ("weather balloon") observations. Upper air observations in Jacksonville began in 1956 at the Imeson Field USWB office. In 1967 the program was transferred to WSMO Waycross, Georgia. With the modernization and restructuring of the NWS, the upper air program was moved back to Jacksonville on January 24, 1995.
Twice a day, at about the same time, all around the world, weather balloons carry aloft a weather instrument packages called radiosondes. The radiosonde measures temperature, humidity, pressure, and winds, giving a vertical profile of the atmosphere. This data, along with surface weather observations, is put into computer models and provides much of our forecast output.
The Radiosonde Replacement System (RRS) is a much welcomed upgrade to the upper air program. The old tracking unit- antenna and related hardware- dates back to the 1950's. Over the years improvements were made to radiosondes, but the last major improvement to the processing equipment was in the mid-1980's with the addition of the IBM XT computer. The new RRS will have improved tracking equipment, new GPS radiosondes, and a new computer for processing and transmitting the data. Limitations from the old system - mainly interference from trees and towers in the area around the weather office - will be eliminated. RRS is not a fully automated system. Certified observers must still inflate the balloon, pre-flight the radiosonde and tracking equipment, launch the flight package, and quality control the data.
Users of upper air data from Jacksonville will soon see more data, hopefully leading to improved warning and forecast services.
There have been many new additions to the webpage during the past year or so. Among these additions...
NOAA
Weather Radio mp3 audio links have been added for
non-critical products. Just click on the 
icons
located on the front, weather radio, climate, and tropical pages.
The NOAA
Weather Radio transmitter page was updated and improved,
including links to county and signal coverage.
Hourly mesoanalysis
images were added to
the current
data page for temperature, relative humidity, dew point,
winds, and lifted index. Hopefully, more products will be
added in the coming months.
A link was added to
the locally created
SWAN (Simulating
WAves Nearshore)
model output on our marine
weather page.
Added quick text and
audio links under
the Local Product Central section of our front page.Mike McAllister Observation Program Leader
| Sep
2006 |
Oct
2006 |
Nov
2006 |
|
| Total
Rainfall |
4.55" | 1.81" |
0.39" |
| Departure
from Normal |
-3.35" | -2.05" |
-1.95" |
| Wettest
Day |
3.28" (6th-7th) |
1.38" (27th-28th) |
0.17" (30th) |
| Days
of Measurable Rain |
5 | 3 | 5 |
| Average
Temperature |
78.7 | 68.7 | 60.0 |
| Departure
from Normal |
+0.9 | -0.7 | -1.8 |
| Highest
Temperature |
94 (1st, 3rd) |
92 (22nd) |
82 (1st, 15th) |
| Lowest
Temperature |
57 (21st) |
37 (24th) |
34 (18th) |
| 90 Degree Days | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Freeze
Days |
0 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating
Degree Days |
0 | 53 | 189 |
| Departure
from Normal |
0 | +23 | +41 |
| Cooling
Degree Days |
419 | 172 | 46 |
| Departure
from Normal |
+19 | -11 | -18 |
| Average
Wind Speed |
5.0 | 5.6 | 7.2 |
| Peak
Wind Gust |
30 (19th) |
32 (28th) |
33 (16th) |
| Sep
2006 |
Oct
2006 |
Nov
2006 |
|
| Baymeadows | 1.69" | 2.47" | m |
| Beauclerc |
2.67" | 2.70" | 0.89" |
| Big
Talbot Island |
6.98" | 2.13" | 1.01" |
| Craig
Field |
3.70" | 1.69" | 0.72" |
| Fort Caroline |
m | 1.30" | 0.96" |
| Guana River State Park | 1.84" | 3.29" | 1.64" |
| Highlands | m | 1.66" | 0.60" |
| Jacksonville
Beach |
1.78" | 2.40" | 0.61" |
| Jacksonville
Naval Air Station |
2.87" | 2.26" | 0.25" |
| Little
Talbot Island |
11.08" | 2.10" | 1.83" |
| Mandarin | 2.38" | 3.07" | m |
| Mayport Naval Station |
4.19" | 1.38" | 0.55" |
| South
Ponte Vedra Beach |
4.41" | 1.76" | 2.42" |
| Southside
TV-4 |
2.96" | 1.58" | 0.37" |
| Sep
2006 |
Oct
2006 |
Nov
2006 |
|
| Amelia
Island Plantation |
2.62" | 1.60" | 0.40" |
| Bell | 5.02" | 2.22" | 0.67" |
| Bunnell |
0.94" | 1.03" | 1.36" |
| Crescent
City |
2.06" | m | m |
| Federal
Point |
2.64" | 1.45" | 0.82" |
| Fernandina
Beach |
3.02" | 2.56" | m |
| Flagler Beach | 2.91" | 1.42" | 0.77" |
| Gainesville |
3.11" | 2.58" | 0.94" |
| Glen
St. Mary |
4.64" | 2.29" | 0.77" |
| Hastings |
2.66" | 1.64" | 1.33" |
| High
Springs |
2.71" | 1.97" | 0.85" |
| Hilliard | 3.90" | 2.59" | m |
| Jasper |
3.17" | 4.04" | 1.81" |
| Lake
City |
4.58" | 1.35" | 1.41" |
| Live Oak |
2.42" | m | m |
| Ocala |
2.82" | 0.58" | 1.65" |
| Palm Coast 6NE | 3.79" | 1.36" | 0.99" |
| St. Augustine |
4.62" | 1.45" | 1.19" |
| Starke |
3.89" | 2.60" | 0.58" |
| White
Springs |
2.61" | 1.05" | 1.01" |
| Sep
2006 |
Oct
2006 |
Nov
2006 |
|
| Alma |
5.08" | 0.70" | 1.40" |
| Baxley | 4.78" | 0.93" | 1.95" |
| Brunswick |
2.69" | 1.47" | m |
| Hazlehurst |
3.80" | 1.03" | 1.73" |
| Homerville |
2.13" | 2.48" | 1.70" |
| Nahunta |
3.90" | 2.65" | 1.40" |
| Patterson |
2.88" | m | m |
| Pridgen |
1.39" | 0.97" | 2.12" |
| St.
Simons Island |
2.30" | 1.68" | 1.20" |
| Stephen
Foster State Park |
2.75" | 3.04" | 0.80" |
| Waycross |
4.48" | 1.47" | 0.10" |
| Willacoochee |
1.46" | 1.13" | 1.47" |
| Woodbine |
1.99" | 2.66" | 0.95" |
by Angie Enyedi Forecaster/Climate Focal Point
The
entire
Jacksonville County Warning Area has experienced significant rainfall
deficits
during 2006. As of
December 22nd,
The lack of
rainfall has caused significant problems for agricultural and planning
interests across our area. The
winter
hay crop has been insufficient, and hay growers as well as livestock
owners are
experiencing losses. Some
farmers in
southeast
Although
the drought has been prominent through 2006, hopeful changes are
expected. El Nino
conditions have developed in the
eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and this weather pattern favors above
normal
rainfall amounts during the later winter across the
Do you enjoy watching and monitoring the weather? Do you feel a responsibility to others to warn them if strong or possibly severe weather is approaching? If so, then you may be interested in joining the National Weather Service Jacksonville team of Skywarn Storm Spotters. NWS Storm Spotters are public volunteers that relay weather reports to the National Weather Service during potentially hazardous weather situations. Spotters provide valuable ground truth on these potentially life-threatening storms to the NWS which very well could save lives.
There are 2 levels of Spotter recognition: basic and advanced. The NWS Jacksonville meteorologists who teach the spotter classes have combined both the basic and advanced topics into one 3-hour long spotter class. The classes are casual and fun, and we learn how to identify strong to possibly severe storms and how to report vital storm characteristics to the NWS. If you are interested in becoming a Storm Spotter, please check our spotter calendar at the following web address and sign up for a class near you.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax/skywarn.shtml
EDITOR
Scott E. Carroll
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Scott Carroll
Jason Deese
Angie Enyedi
Mike McAllister
Matt Zibura
METEOROLOGIST-IN-CHARGE
Steve Letro