Sunday, August 18, 2013
Depends on the Weather...
Amateur
astronomers do a lot of talking about
the weather, but don’t do anything
about it, to paraphrase Mr. Clemens. That’s still true, but not as true as it
used to be. No, you can’t change the weather, not even if you have the HAARP
array at your disposal, but at least you can have a better idea what it’s going
to do than sprout Rod did back in the 60s.
Back in
them dark ages, it was brief and not very detailed forecasts in the newspaper,
on the farm report on TV at 6 a.m., or on the local news at 5 p.m. Today, we
have tons of weather data available all the time from the cotton picking
Internet and from 24-hour weather cable channels. There are even computer programs
and websites for astronomy-specific weather forecasts.
You can
either believe the weather forecasts these services will make for you, try to
use the same data they do to make your own predictions, or you can do things
the basic/old-fashioned way and observe
the sky to come up with your own forecast. Given the fact that meteorology
is still not an exact science, your weather predictions may be just as accurate
as those fancy-schmantsy forecasts using satellites and a ton of expensive
equipment. For your exact location, anyhow.
TWC (The Weather Channel)
Yeah, I know
the weather channel ain’t quite what it used to be. The channel now runs
reality shows, including one about truckers. Not that I have anything against the knights of the road, far from it, but
reality shows don’t seem like a natural for a network supposedly intended to
inform about weather. I fired off an email to them, but the response in so many
words was a lame, “Hey! Truckers experience weather,
and we’re the WEATHER Channel!” There’s also Al Roker’s hoo-haw in the
morning, of course. But how does the weather
you get on TWC stack up?
What’s the most
useful feature of the Weather Channel? Good, old Local on the 8s, the slide-presentation weather summary for your
locale at 8-minutes after the hour, 18 after, 28 after, etc. This is usually sufficient
to for determining whether the coming night will probably be good or probably
be bad. Couple of caveats, though. Those reality shows I mentioned? Local on
the 8s is off during them. In addition, if your motel has satellite TV (like the Chiefland Best Western) rather than
cable, you will never get a real Local on the 8s, just regional/big city data
at those times
.
The Weather Channel Online
TWC’s
long-running weather site on the WWW, Weather.com, is much the same as the
cable channel these days: there’s enough
information to give you an idea how the weather will be on any given evening,
but you have to drill down for it, and what you get is summaries, not hard data. And by “hard data,” I don’t mean esoteric
things like historical weather readings. Hell, I can’t even find my current
barometric pressure on the site. I did
run across a splashy “lifestyles” page that didn't have pea-turkey to do
with weather far as I could tell. I do like the site’s map system, and
particularly the “future” animation function, which will give you a graphic display
for several hours in advance of the current time.
The Weather Channel App
There’s
plenty more, too, including push notifications of severe weather. When Miss D.
and I approached a bad storm on our way to Chiefland we got an alarm from the TWC app over our 4Runner’s Bluetooth
audio system well before we got into the worst of the weather (How's that for a bad omen on an observing expedition?). The same
excellent map system as on the web page has been squeezed into your phone,
there’s video, and everything on the app is well designed and easily accessible.
If you have just one weather app on your phone or tablet, TWC’s should probably
be it.
Weather Underground (Wunderground)
Did you know
there are more than a few amateur meteorologists?
Not just the storm chasers you see
on TWC and Discovery all the time, but folks who find the art and science of
weather forecasting fascinating. Most
of these people have their own weather stations, but when they need more than
local data, they turn to the weather website
for weather geeks, Weather Underground,
“Wunderground.”
Wunderground
has several things going for it if you are serious about weather. They give you
much more data, raw data, than TWC. There’s even an astronomy section on the
front page showing the times of civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight. Want
more astronomy? A click takes you to an honest-to-god astro page with a
tolerable star charting system (which appears to use the Distant Suns engine).
What else?
There’s a weather map that is probably the best available to the public. The Wundermap is not as pretty and glitzy
as the TWC map, but it shows far more data. I still like the Weather Channel
chart when I want a quick read on what the night will bring, but if that leaves
me puzzled as to whether I ought to head to the dark site or not, I turn to the
Wundermap.
Wunderground App
When it
comes to apps for cell phones, TWC’s and Wunderground’s
roles are reversed; the (free) Wunderground app just isn’t very well done. It
doesn’t show much data, and is, frankly, not very informative. It does have a
halfway decent map, but the one on the TWC app is better. Sadly, two thumbs
down.
Howsomeever, Wunderground now has a second app: Weather
Quickie. On the face of it, it is completely ridiculous, which is
obvious as soon as you see the opening screen, a bunny-shaped cloud. The page
that appears makes TWC’s web page look freaking data heavy. You have a couple
of little weather symbols, and text that tells you whether it will be warmer or cooler tomorrow. There’s not even a display of current temperature.
If that were all it did, there’d be no reason to fool with it, but it has a feature
that makes it nearly as good as the TWC app.
Click on the
little umbrella (or Mr. Sun, or whatever), or the “get the complete forecast
from Weather Underground” text and your screen will flip and you will be taken
to the mobile version of the Wunderground web page for your current location,
which is everything the mobile app is not. There is
complete weather data formatted for your phone, including Moon phase, and a
version of the Wundermap that is considerably better than what is in the app.
Sure, you can go to the mobile version of the Wunderground web page with your
phone’s browser, but I find it easier to get there by going through Quickie.
And who knows? They might improve Weather
Quickie some day, maybe even adding temperature
to its display, you never know.
Clear Sky Chart (Clock)
To the right
of each category is a line of little blocks:
dark blue = “good,” white = “bad” with several color gradations in-between.
The forecast range of CSC is 48-hours, which is usually plenty. How accurate?
When talking “weather,” “accurate” is still a relative thing, and it’s possible
to have white squares all down the line and have a great night. Still, used in
combination with other weather data sources, CSC is purty reliable, just keep
checking it for changes.
Clear Sky
Chart has been the preeminent astronomy-centered weather program for years now.
That’s because it is very good, but it is also because it has not had much
competition. The rise of smart phones and tablets is changing that with several
astro-centric weather apps having appeared in the last year or two. Some, like
an iPhone app called Scope Nights, have taken the ball and
run with it, and are threatening to eclipse CSC for amateur astronomers. How
good are these new ones? I will tell you about ‘em some day soon.
Weather Radio
How did li’l
Unk get most of his weather data back in the mid-1960s? Usually with my prized
6-transistor radio. Actually, it was Mama’s radio, but she let me listen to it once in a while.
Fact is, radio is still a convenient way for amateurs to find out what the
weather will be. Especially since some of the places we observe from are bereft
of cable TV and may not even have wi-fi Internet or cell phone coverage
(horrors).
You can still
get weather on the AM and FM broadcast bands just like in The Old Days. There
are some Weather Channel affiliate stations, but usually weather reports on the
local country oldies stations (or whatever format you like) are sporadic and
vary tremendously in quality. I still like to have an FM radio with me so I’ll
have Miss Tammy Wynette to keep me company if I am observing alone, but
broadcast radio ain’t a good way to get weather.
So, how can
you get NOAA Weather Radio? Walgreen’s, Walmart, and a bunch of other places
sell weather alert radios. I like the ones from Midland,
and especially their “alert” receiver. One of these may even save your life. Put
one in your bedroom, put it in “standby,” and it will wake you with an alarm
tone in the event of weather (or other) emergencies. You can get this receiver
for 50-bucks or less, and that may be the best money you ever spent if you are
in an area prone to tornadoes or hurricanes, or, like dadgum Possum Swamp, both.
Being a ham,
an amateur radio operator, I have a little VHF/UHF handy-talkie that, in
addition to transmitting on the ham 2-meter and 70-cm bands, receives FM
broadcast and NOAA weather radio. If you are a ham and have an older HT that
doesn't get weather radio, you might consider upgrading. The little Chinese
dual-band jobs like the Baofengs work great,
can be had for considerably less than 100 bucks now, and can provide you with some ham radio fun if the
clouds do come and there are repeaters in the area. At home, I have an
inexpensive Yaesu FT-1900 2-meter rig in the shack that puts out almost
60-watts and will check the NOAA weather radio for alert tones periodically
while scanning and let me know if something bad is about to happen.
Roll Your Own
Being able
to put together a detailed and accurate weather forecast requires not just high
tech sensors, but years of training and experience. Just being able to make an
educated guess about what the weather will do over the next few days requires weeks
of training, like the military’s weather observer courses. Even so, by checking
a few “indicators” you can get at least an idea of what’s going to happen over
the next few hours or maybe even days. If the forecast you are getting from the
professionals is for an area some distance from your exact location, your guesstimate
may actually be more reliable for your site than NOAA’s predictions.
The
indicators that will give you a good idea of whether you will be in deep sky
heaven or skunk city?
Clouds and wind. Clouds are your primary means of
predicting the weather without a forecast. Cloud layers moving in different
directions are usually an indication of bad weather on the way. That old wives’
tale about “mares' tails” (cirrus clouds) and “mackerel scales” (altocumulus
clouds) in advance of rain? As Linus Van Pelt once said, some of those old
wives were pretty sharp. Have the desert storm scope cover ready to go if you
see either. Bad weather will arrive within 36-hours. If you see both mare’s
tails and mackerel scales at the same
time? You will be wet soon, likely sooner than 24-hours.
Also keep a
sharp eye out for “towers” of cumulus clouds. Yes, patches of cumulus clouds
are common on warm afternoons, but towering formations of them can indicate the
possibility of severe weather. Need I say that if severe weather arrives you
need to get yourself off the observing field and into a vehicle, at least, in a
hurry?
More or less
in the cloud category are rings around the Moon and Sun caused by ice crystals
in the upper atmosphere. An old saying I found when I was researching near-sky
phenomena for a children’s science encyclopedia article I was writing was, “The
Moon with a ring brings water in her beak.” If you see a ring around the Moon
(or, less frequently, around the Sun), it will soon rain, I guar-ron-tee.
Another old
saw that also sometimes correctly forecasts rain? “Red sky at morning, sailor
take warning, red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” Red sky at dawn means the
red-light-scattering dust has been dispersed as dry air has moved through, and
a low-pressure system carrying moisture is soon to arrive.
Finally,
what’s the wind doing? It’s usually a less accurate indicator of possible
storms than clouds, but is still useful combined with your other “readings.”
Easterly or southeasterly winds often mean wet stuff is headed your way. Not
sure which way the wind is blowing? That old routine of somebody sticking their
index finger in their mouth and holding it up actually works. The side of your
finger toward the wind flow will feel decidedly cooler, no fooling.
Whether it
is NOAA, the local TV weather-goobers, or your finger doing the forecasting, as
I’ve said a few times already, weather it is not an exact science. Don’t get
your nose too far out of joint if despite an “all systems go, deep sky imaging
till dawn” forecast you find yourself spending the night in a motel room with
the cotton-picking cable TV and a bottle of Rebel Yell. That is just the nature
of weather and the nature of our pursuit.
The Cat's Out of the Bag Department: I believe video astronomy, imaging the deep sky with very sensitive video cameras, is about to break through to the larger world of amateur astronomy and may be The Next Big Thing. The problem heretofore has been cost. Up till now, you needed to invest at least 1500 bucks to really get off the ground in video. There were some cheaper cameras, but they all involved a lot of compromises. That's changing now with several new and relatively inexpensive cameras from Mallincam and a new outfit, Astro-Video Systems, hitting the street. These cameras, which are far more capable than the last generation of "novice cams," promise to not just make entry into deep sky video less painful, but to literally blow the roof off amateur astronomy.
So far I've only had my hands on one of these, the new Mallincam Junior Pro. And it is a lulu. Great build quality, and I believe it is gonna be finer than split frog hair. I "believe" that, muchachos, but I can't say for sure, since the horrible weather we've had along the coast this summer has prevented me from doing anything with the Jr. Pro I am evaluating. As soon as that changes, you-all will hear all about it.
So far I've only had my hands on one of these, the new Mallincam Junior Pro. And it is a lulu. Great build quality, and I believe it is gonna be finer than split frog hair. I "believe" that, muchachos, but I can't say for sure, since the horrible weather we've had along the coast this summer has prevented me from doing anything with the Jr. Pro I am evaluating. As soon as that changes, you-all will hear all about it.
Next Time: Rocket City Again…
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Thanks for alerting us on these new video camera's. I hope to learn more about how they perform. I agree that this is a growing trend and hope it continues.
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