Technology aids storm-watchers
A little more than a week ago, a band of strong thunderstorms moved through the Panhandle bringing heavy rains, hail, strong winds and frequent lightning. More than a quarter of an inch of rain fell in locations around Coeur d’Alene, and winds as high as 58 mph were reported in Lines Creek in Shoshone County. Hail was reported in Garwood, and frequent lightning occurred across the area.
Weather and media technology today allow not only meteorologists, but anyone with access to television or the Internet, to get a bird’s-eye view of storms such as these as they move through the region. Satellites, Doppler radar and the National Lightning Detection Network are just a few of the resources providing a perspective on weather events well before they are overhead.
Radar was initially developed during WWII to track aircraft. One of the “problems” with the use of this technology during the war occurred when precipitation created “interference” or radar noise. Scientist eventually realized that radar could serve another useful purpose, that of detecting storms.
Use of radar for weather surveillance purposes began in the mid-1940s. An important advance in radar technology happened over 40 years later in 1988 with the introduction of NEXRAD, the next generation radar, or Doppler radar as we now know it. This tool could be used not only to track precipitation but also wind, enabling meteorologists to detect the signatures of severe weather.
Another advance in the field of meteorology came with the advent of the weather satellite. Before satellite pictures were available, knowledge of storms such as hurricanes came from sparse ship reports, or from land once the destructive winds and waves hit the shore.
On April 1, 1960, the first weather satellite, TIROS (for Television Infrared Observation Satellite) was launched from Cape Canaveral. In 1961, Hurricane Esther in the Atlantic was the first hurricane to be discovered by a satellite.
Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration operates four weather satellites that are responsible for the view of the clouds you see on a television weathercast. Two of the satellites are of the polar orbiting type, residing about 500 miles above the earth’s surface and moving in a north/south direction over the poles. The other two satellites are called geostationary satellites, which stay in a fixed position over the earth’s surface. They move at the same speed as the earth’s rotation, and reside about 22,000 miles above the earth. The GOES-West satellite provides images that allow us to watch storm systems out in the Pacific as they approach the inland northwest.
One of the most recent additions to weather technology has been the ability to track lightning strikes. Since 1989, the National Lighting Detection Network has done just that. More than 100 remote ground-based sensors across the U.S. detect the electromagnetic signals given off when lightning strikes the earth’s surface. This information is extremely useful across the Inland Northwest during the fire season to pinpoint areas with the highest risk of lightning sparked fires. It is also useful in mountainous regions to detect thunderstorms when radar coverage is compromised due to the terrain.
Halloween outlook
The average high and low temperatures on Oct. 31 are 52 and 34 degrees, respectively. Over the last five years, Halloween weather has gone one of two ways. In 2002 and 2003, it was dry, but bitter cold with highs in the 30s and lows in the teens and single digits. In 2001, 2004 and 2005 temperatures were near normal, but showers occurred across the area. This year, seasonal temperatures should prevail with the possibility of some showers.