Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Last Updated: 6:14 PM GMT on May 22, 2013 — Last Comment: 12:33 AM GMT on May 23, 2013

	Beryl headed out to sea

Posted by: JeffMasters, 2:53 PM GMT on May 30, 2012

The center of Tropical Depression Beryl is close to the ocean again, and the storm has strengthened slightly in response. Beryl's heavy rain show will be focused on Eastern North Carolina today, where widespread rain amounts of 2 - 4 inches can be expected. Beryl's heaviest rains fell over Lafayette County, Florida, on Monday and Tuesday, where 12.65" was measured as of 6:30 am EDT Tuesday near Midway. Beryl spawned a single tornado on both Monday and Tuesday; these twisters did only minor damage. There is a slight chance the storm could produce another weak tornado today over North Carolina. The storm is being blamed for one death--a swimmer that drowned in rough surf in Daytona Beach, Florida. Another swimmer is missing from Folly Beach, South Carolina. All things considered, Beryl was just the sort of tropical storm the Southeast U.S. needed--strong enough to bring the heavy rains needed to alleviate the severe to exceptional drought conditions over the region, but not so strong as to cause major damage and loss of life. The main bummer was that Beryl hit during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, costing the tourism industry tens of millions of dollars in lost business. With Beryl caught in a trough of low pressure and accelerating to the northeast, the storm should transition to an extratropical storm later today.

Figure 1. True-color MODIS satellite image of Beryl taken at 2:25 pm EDT May 29, 2012 by NASA's Aqua satellite. At the time, Beryl was a tropical depression with winds of 30 mph.

Figure 2. Estimated rainfall from Beryl over the past seven days from NOAA/AHPS.

Jeff Masters

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601. pcola57 2:30 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting DavidHOUTX: Gravity Waves over the Gulf of Mexico Very cool..What in the world causes them? Quoting RitaEvac: Notice the low levels of the gulf still moving northward as the gravity wave above higher up moves SE over the Gulf in an arc fashion Nice explaination of what to look for Rita Member Since: August 13, 2009 Posts: 13 Comments: 3817

602. washingtonian115 2:31 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting hydrus: Talk about a moist Atlantic.Totally opposite from last year. Member Since: August 14, 2010 Posts: 5 Comments: 10652

603. WDEmobmet 2:31 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting RitaEvac: Notice the low levels of the gulf still moving northward as the gravity wave above higher up moves SE over the Gulf in an arc fashion yea i see the lower clouds in the central gulf are moving northwards towards the texas coast, it does appear as though they are pilling up. I see what your pointing towards, there is a couple more frames added to it now and can clearly see the Gravity wave stacking into an arc Member Since: February 3, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 587

604. hydrus 2:35 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
GOES Imager Cloud Top Pressure May 31, 2012 - 13:45 UTC Member Since: September 27, 2007 Posts: 1 Comments: 14297

605. DavidHOUTX 2:36 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting RitaEvac: Latest radar definitely showing it missing us Sure does. It is still trying to build towards the West but it better hurry up. Will be interesting once that entire mass gets down towards us. May have some pretty nice storms coming together later this afternoon Member Since: August 18, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 292

606. hydrus 2:36 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting DavidHOUTX: Gravity Waves over the Gulf of Mexico That is an awesome picture . Thank you for posting it. Member Since: September 27, 2007 Posts: 1 Comments: 14297

607. RitaEvac 2:37 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
I assume if flying in an airliner towards it, you're gonna hit turbulence Member Since: July 14, 2008 Posts: 1 Comments: 8909

608. RitaEvac 2:40 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Member Since: July 14, 2008 Posts: 1 Comments: 8909

609. BrickellBreeze 2:40 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Beryl now entering the Hurricane Graveyard Member Since: March 22, 2012 Posts: 0 Comments: 710

610. pcola57 2:40 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Post 601 anyone? It's ok now I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee now..lol Member Since: August 13, 2009 Posts: 13 Comments: 3817

611. weatherh98 2:41 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting DavidHOUTX: Gravity Waves over the Gulf of Mexico What are they Member Since: June 17, 2011 Posts: 11 Comments: 6091

612. DavidHOUTX 2:42 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting pcola57: Very cool..What in the world causes them? Nice explaination of what to look for Rita It is a pretty crazy phenomenon. The waves from the ocean push the wind above the water surface up and down and in turn make waves in the clouds. That is about as simple as I can explain it. If anyone else has a better way of saying it, feel free to chime in. Member Since: August 18, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 292

613. TropicalAnalystwx13 2:43 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
I must say, I've been impressed with the GFS in regards to both Severe and Tropical Weather so far this year. It nailed the March 2 and April 14 outbreaks while they were in the long range, and pretty much nailed Beryl down 300 hours out. It's starting to gain consistency on a Gulf of Mexico storm towards the end of its run in mid-June. 00Z hour 384: 06Z hour 384: Member Since: July 6, 2010 Posts: 89 Comments: 25305

614. pcola57 2:45 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting weatherh98: What are they For a visual weather98 see Post 594 (or 616 for that matter) Member Since: August 13, 2009 Posts: 13 Comments: 3817

615. Minnemike 2:46 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting WDEmobmet: See now that looks like a gravity wave, but the visible that Rita was talking about, too looked like an outflow boundary to me yeah, the mechanisms of outflow and gravity waves, or bores, is a bit different... though, an outflow boundary can certainly propagate undular bores, but they will ripple out ahead of the actual outflow boundary. Member Since: July 31, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1257

616. RitaEvac 2:46 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Look west of Houston on this radar loop, another gravity wave moving south, note the popcorn cells intensify then weaken as the wave moves southward Member Since: July 14, 2008 Posts: 1 Comments: 8909

617. WxGeekVA 2:47 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13: I've been impressed with the GFS in regards to both Severe and Tropical Weather. It nailed the March 2 and April 14 outbreaks while they were in the long range, and pretty much nailed Beryl down 300+ hours out. It's starting to gain consistency on a Gulf of Mexico storm towards the end of its run in mid-June. 00Z hour 384: 06Z hour 384: I mean, it DID get a major upgrade a week and a half ago.... Maybe now it'll be as good as the Euro in the long range. Member Since: September 3, 2011 Posts: 13 Comments: 3316

618. washingtonian115 2:47 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting TropicalAnalystwx13: I've been impressed with the GFS in regards to both Severe and Tropical Weather. It nailed the March 2 and April 14 outbreaks while they were in the long range, and pretty much nailed Beryl down 300+ hours out. It's starting to gain consistency on a Gulf of Mexico storm towards the end of its run in mid-June. 00Z hour 384: 06Z hour 384: DOOM!!.I find it interesting that the models have been having almost every single tropical storm on the runs hanging around the U.S.Mmmmm Member Since: August 14, 2010 Posts: 5 Comments: 10652

619. washingtonian115 2:49 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting WxGeekVA: WXGeek keep an eye to the sky tomorrow... Member Since: August 14, 2010 Posts: 5 Comments: 10652

620. Minnemike 2:49 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting DavidHOUTX: It is a pretty crazy phenomenon. The waves from the ocean push the wind above the water surface up and down and in turn make waves in the clouds. That is about as simple as I can explain it. If anyone else has a better way of saying it, feel free to chime in. this is false. gravity waves do not start at the ocean surface wave action. here is a nice little breakdown: Link it has a lot more to do with stable and unstable layers of air adjacent to each other. edit: there are a wide variety of 'gravity waves' and there were some beautiful ones yesterday in TX as layers of air destabilized preceding the pop-up of the supercellular line.. if anyone has a southern plains visible loop from yesterday, they will be quite apparent :) Member Since: July 31, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1257

621. TropicalAnalystwx13 2:51 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting WxGeekVA: Yeah. Hey WxGeekVA, ready for tomorrow's potential MDT risk? "SOMEWHAT HIGHER PROBABILITIES/PERHAPS EVEN A CATEGORICAL MODERATE RISK MIGHT BE WARRANTED IN SUBSEQUENT CONVECTIVE OUTLOOKS." Member Since: July 6, 2010 Posts: 89 Comments: 25305

622. WDEmobmet 2:52 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting Minnemike: yeah, the mechanisms of outflow and gravity waves, or bores, is a bit different... though, an outflow boundary can certainly propagate undular bores, but they will ripple out ahead of the actual outflow boundary. Hmm interesting, will have to research further. Thanks Member Since: February 3, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 587

623. WunderAlertBot (Admin) 2:54 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
JeffMasters has created a new entry.

624. pcola57 2:54 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting Minnemike: this is false. gravity waves do not start at the ocean surface wave action. here is a nice little breakdown: Link it has a lot more to do with stable and unstable layers of air adjacent to each other. I think DavidHOUTX was trying to simplify it for us here...to get to my level you have to..lol Thanks for your input to Minnemike...:) Member Since: August 13, 2009 Posts: 13 Comments: 3817

625. washingtonian115

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626. Minnemike 3:01 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting WDEmobmet: Hmm interesting, will have to research further. Thanks outflow is simply the descending column of air from a thunderstorm fanning out across the surface. in fact, i think they usually cool an environment, with the exception of some downbursts(microbursts) that actually do warm air due to thermodynamic properties. i know less about those... Member Since: July 31, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1257

627. Minnemike 3:03 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Quoting pcola57: I think DavidHOUTX was trying to simplify it for us here...to get to my level you have to..lol Thanks for your input to Minnemike...:) it isn't simplification if it is false though.. i mean, i see where you're coming from, but it could just be simplified as waves moving through the air.. much Like waves in water.. friction between two layers of fluid.. Member Since: July 31, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1257

628. jcpoulard 5:21 PM GMT on May 31, 2012
Member Since: September 15, 2005 Posts: 4 Comments: 112

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