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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!!
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.
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!)
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.
Isn't that an unfair generalization?
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.
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.