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Kevin Vranes has a phud in Physical Ocean- ography and Cli- matology. He now studies sci- ence policy and politics at the CSTPR. (More in the about.)
email: kevin {/at/} nosenada.org
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Category: Weather
Posted on: June 29, 2006 11:23 PM, by Kevin Vranes
This crazy pic comes via EUMETSAT and I found out about it via J. Heming of the UK Met Office. It's a severe thunderstorm that developed a circulation and briefly developed an eye-like structure (generally only hurricane-size storms have true eye walls, AFAIK). Severe convective storms developing rotational circulation is not unheard of over land, but I think convection organizing to the point of eye-like development is pretty rare. Heming estimated the system at only 50-100 miles across.
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Comments
# 1 | Karl | June 29, 2006 11:29 PM
Isn't that a tornado?
# 2 | kevin v | June 29, 2006 11:31 PM
no -- sorry, I added the last sentence about the scale after you read the post and commented. It's too big for a tornado.
# 3 | Alex | June 30, 2006 5:02 AM
I think you may just have scared me.
# 4 | Blader | June 30, 2006 8:54 AM
It's probably just a sign from God, who's probably disappointed in the Czech World Cup performance, as if to say, "get your act together next time or else I'll throw a Katrina at you."
# 5 | Arlani | June 30, 2006 9:45 AM
Nah--no global warming here!
# 6 | Steve Bloom | July 1, 2006 3:05 AM
Kevin, that storm was about the same size as Cyclone Tracy (1974), the smallest hurricane on record. Despite its size, Tracy may have been as strong as cat 5 at landfall.
# 7 | Lubos Motl | July 6, 2006 7:08 AM
In May, the weather was cold. In June, it was around 35 degrees in Czechia. Last week, around the "hurricane", we had a several days of rain, and right now, it's completely sunny and I got a mild sunburn. Nothing terribly unusual here.
When I was a kid, I saw pictures like that every other day - because even the communists were using satellite pictures and such a picture does occur every other day - but no one told me that the judgement day was coming.
Greetings from Pilsen,
Lubos
# 8 | outeast | July 8, 2006 4:48 PM
Lubos -
Not sure where you got the impression that Kevin Vranes was referencing this image as a doomsday GW sign - that is not something he is likely to think, as you would know if you read this blog regularly. the flooding was actually pretty bad, though - Plzen, I am sure, was OK but lots of places were pretty badly screwed. Again. Without making the leap that the very, very noticeable increase in severe flooding is a GW effect it seems bizarre for you to simply deny it completely.
Greetings from Prague,
OutEast
# 9 | Arunn | July 21, 2006 7:44 AM
I would appreciate it if you could consider sending this post or similar ones to Panta Rei - a blog carnival for heat and fluid sciences.
Kindly reply with your chosen posts(s) link, to my email address. The carnival is due to begin by coming monday, 24/7