A Dying Superstorm

I just wanted to show you what a dying superstorm looks like at various levels of the atmosphere.  I apologize from the get-go since I downloaded these pics early this morning; however, I am now just to getting to place it into a reader friendly forum from yours truly.  Again, our effects here in central PA were less severe than along the coast, and indeed, that is how it should be since tropical systems are more about surge and less about rain and wind.  Inland, we had our share of both rain and gusty winds. However, the rain was manageable for the most part (although we received just over 5" for the storm total in about 48 hrs) and the wind's ferocity was mitigated by the fact that the "dead-wood" was already pruned from last year's heavy wet Halloween snow and the gusty winds that quickly blew through with Hurricane Irene.

With that said, here was the surface map for early this Wednesday morning.  Note the spiraling "troughs" pinwheeling around the center of low pressure located over Lake Erie.  These little vortices increase upward motion and promote a bit more enhanced precip if other favorable dynamics are present.

Now lets venture up to 850 mb or about 1 mile above the surface...it was chilly here in PA today and the map below shows why.  The temps aloft were quite cold!  Frankly, the temps were capable of supporting snowfall in most of PA!  Also note the large cold conveyor on the west side of the low straight down from Hudson Bay!

It's also been quite cloudy...7 days in a row where KMDT reported 100% cloud cover!  Wow!  Look at the humidity 2 miles up at the 700 mb level....quite saturated!

At the 500 mb level, or about the point where half of the air is above that and the other half below (3.5 miles or so...), there is still quite a bit of spin or vorticity right over PA which helps promote rainfall, albeit light or at the very least enough upward motion to create widespread cloud cover...

Finally, the 250 mb level, or the level of the jet stream for our latitude.  Note how far south of PA the jet stream is positioned thus allowing for the cold air to move southward over the continent!  Also note the ridge or poleward bulge out over the western US and the equatorward dip here in the east.  A general rule of thumb is when it is warm in the west, it is cold in the east and vice-versa...

Since we went up to about 30,000', lets take a look at what a dying superstorm look like from a geosynchronous orbiting satellite (~23,000 miles) using its infrared eye...

I've had several people ask why do these storms form?  Well...that is a loaded question!  But to keep things quite simple and ultimately the most concrete basis of fact, cyclones develop to move hot, humid air poleward and dry, cold air equatorward.  These mid-latitude cyclones develop a large circulation that helps accomplish this feat.  Look at this morning's temperature map...55F in Caribou Maine while it was 39F in Tallahassee, Florida.  I believe the gyre did its job!

And to show you just how much "topsy-turvy" this system made the wx, look at the snow...FOR OCTOBER...over the Appalachian Mountains...incredible!  Snow was reported in the highest elevations of GA!

Here are some 2 day totals reported from the state of West "by God smile when you say it" Virginia!

Don't want to add insult to injury, but look at what the GFS has up its sleeve for next week at this time....but that is a different story for a different day!

OK...that is all.  I hope I didn't bore y'all too much.  I did have many nice comments from several of you over the last couple of days...and that I do appreciate.  So I will leave you with a song from a favorite band from a former life that has numerous wx references and other political references, etc...as well as for my favorite D-Line coach!  When i was younger, I appreciated the "instrumental" portions...now I think about the simple poetry in the lyrics.  Enjoy....

And enjoy the wx this weekend when skies finally clear and temps moderate to possibly a few degrees above normal for Sunday.....maybe!

Have a good end of the week...

Smitty

AA:  Still looking back at Superstorm Sandy!  Also, flashing back to some real Rock 'n' Roll from days gone by!