Question: What if there is a way to track water?

Hear me out on this one, ATS? We all know that water evaporates, right? Eventually, that water comes back down as rain, snow,etc...
So, I'm wondering if there is a way to calculate where there will be major rain/ snow/ etc based on evaporation the rates in a specific area...? The Earth works in predictable cycles so is there a way to predict water flow based on evaporation? IDK, maybe this IS in fact what weathermen do...

Anyway, just wondering. What says ATS?

a reply to: lostbook

IDK, either, but one example of fairly good predictions of evaporation leading to rainfall in a specific area would seem to be Equatorial rainforests. Again, IDK, but that would be my best educated guess...

No. Just. No. Gah.

If you are truly interested in Meteorology I can point you in the right direction, but let me begin by telling you there is a HELL of a lot of physics and calculus involved.

I've been a meteorologist (award winning) for nearly 20 years and TV weather men are stupid as hell. The REAL weather forecasters are academics. TV weather is garbage.

If you have questions, I have answers, let me know.

weather.cod.edu...

a reply to: lostbook

a reply to: lostbook

I am pretty sure evaporation in general can't be tracked. Storms pick up water over oceans and lakes, and that an help to predict storm precipitation, but that is not the same.

a reply to: lostbook
When it comes to precipitation it's not so much where water evaporates that matters as much as where it condenses. And that depends on a wide number of factors. But with computer models combined with instruments and satellite observations, they're getting pretty good at figuring it out.

Maybe by tracking something like heavy water isotopes. If water in different areas has different isotope ratios, you could track it that way.

edit: I think I misread the initial question... but I'll leave this here in case it gives anyone a good idea.

a reply to: lostbook

Looks like Jaxsmash has you covered.

Solid post, Jax!

a reply to: lostbook

Track the water countries with fresh water export and you'll be concerned of a new topic.

Just go to Seattle, all the water goes there.

Water is not just H2O but a slew of other things as well. Water precipitates out around dust particles under the right conditions. Look for those conditions and you will find rain, sleet, hail, snow, ice, etc. It is called the dew point and is the reason your windshield ices up in the morning.

Water molecules are indistinguishable once in solution so, no, you cannot track them. But you can look for the conditions where precip will be located. Best bet is use a laser to "see" the stratified layers in the atmosphere.



a reply to: AshFan

And they use the water to make coffee!!

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
Water is not just H2O but a slew of other things as well. Water precipitates out around dust particles under the right conditions. Look for those conditions and you will find rain, sleet, hail, snow, ice, etc. It is called the dew point and is the reason your windshield ices up in the morning.

Water molecules are indistinguishable once in solution so, no, you cannot track them. But you can look for the conditions where precip will be located. Best bet is use a laser to "see" the stratified layers in the atmosphere.

 

a reply to: AshFan

And they use the water to make coffee!!

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks!

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: lostbook
When it comes to precipitation it's not so much where water evaporates that matters as much as where it condenses. And that depends on a wide number of factors. But with computer models combined with instruments and satellite observations, they're getting pretty good at figuring it out.

Thanks, Phage..!

originally posted by: AshFan
Just go to Seattle, all the water goes there.

LMAO!! That is so true!

a reply to: lostbook

That is why water can "super cool" (go below the freezing point without actually freezing). Then you touch it and ice crystals immediately form and it will freeze solid. There needs to be a seed of impurities for the crystal to form (all ice and snow start off as a tiny hexagon). Typically, dust is always present. Pollen, pollution, even other ice crystals also will work.

Gee, we learned all this back in elementary school! I am glad to share! Even surprised that I remembered/retained all this over the years.

(Living in Alaska you learn about this stuff because you can simply step out doors and check for yourself! And yes, some home work assignments were to do just that! Seems rather silly but I found myself outside at 65 below F tossing a cup of coffee in the air to see if it would freeze before it hit the ground--it does not!--so it is all kind of ingrained in there somewhere!)

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: lostbook

That is why water can "super cool" (go below the freezing point without actually freezing). Then you touch it and ice crystals immediately form and it will freeze solid. There needs to be a seed of impurities for the crystal to form (all ice and snow start off as a tiny hexagon). Typically, dust is always present. Pollen, pollution, even other ice crystals also will work.

Gee, we learned all this back in elementary school! I am glad to share! Even surprised that I remembered/retained all this over the years.

(Living in Alaska you learn about this stuff because you can simply step out doors and check for yourself! And yes, some home work assignments were to do just that! Seems rather silly but I found myself outside at 65 below F tossing a cup of coffee in the air to see if it would freeze before it hit the ground--it does not!--so it is all kind of ingrained in there somewhere!)

Thank you for sharing your input. I've never been to Alaska but I can tell you stories about Arizona which is on the other end of the spectrum from Alaska.

a reply to: lostbook

Besides AK, I lived in Phoenix, AZ for eleven months back in the 90's! That last winter was the worse ever and I had to go some place warm. We had nearly 2 weeks where the temperature never rose above 45 °F below zero and most nights were between minus 60 - 70 °F. That is when I did my hot coffee into the air experiment. That was also my last semester in college so I had nothing holding me down.

Loved AZ! I was down off of Baseline and West of I-10. My friend was going to ASU and I crashed on his floor until the money ran out then drove back to the AK. Upon getting back, got a job in a couple weeks (took a month to do all the paperwork and drug tests). Still here! Also living further south and it does not get as cold here as it did in central AK.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: lostbook

Besides AK, I lived in Phoenix, AZ for eleven months back in the 90's! That last winter was the worse ever and I had to go some place warm. We had nearly 2 weeks where the temperature never rose above 45 °F below zero and most nights were between minus 60 - 70 °F. That is when I did my hot coffee into the air experiment. That was also my last semester in college so I had nothing holding me down.

Loved AZ! I was down off of Baseline and West of I-10. My friend was going to ASU and I crashed on his floor until the money ran out then drove back to the AK. Upon getting back, got a job in a couple weeks (took a month to do all the paperwork and drug tests). Still here! Also living further south and it does not get as cold here as it did in central AK.

Cool! I lived South of Baseline and West of Central for a time.

~~~If you could track water, you would discover it is trapped in plastic bottles lying on the roadsides, beaches, parking lots, and dumps around the world. No rain for California, and it probably is disrupting the weather world wide.~~~


* Make sure you dump the liquid and recycle the bottles you pick up and throw out.

Go to the tops of mountains. That is where the water ends up.

Low warm humid wind will hit mountains like a ramp, and jump up into the cold air above. This condenses the water like your warm breath in a cold night, and creates clouds above the mountains. Since the air is cold and thin, its can't allow the clouds to stay suspended in the air, so it rains.

Google "rain shadow".

originally posted by: Jaxsmash
I've been a meteorologist (award winning) for nearly 20 years and TV weather men are stupid as hell. The REAL weather forecasters are academics. TV weather is garbage.

Isn't that an unfair generalization?

Granted there are people that wikipedia calls TV weather presenters who may not know meteorology.

But some of them really do seem to know some meteorology, obviously some more than others. Wikipedia has a subcategory of weather presenters called "Television meteorologists"

This is a category of current and former television news meteorologists. People who present the weather but are not certified in meteorology are listed in the parent category, Category:Weather presenters. Those involved only in broadcasting and not research or scientific forecasting (public or private sector) should be placed only in the respective category covering their broadcasting work.