This lesson is built off of the groundwork of other lessons in Titan U, so before we get to what we’re covering in this one, we want to make sure you have the links you need in case this video is running out and ahead of you.
First, the Intro to Skew-Ts course, which can be found here.
Second a super basic hodographs 101 lesson (which you should have just watched).
This lesson was built to hopefully teach two things.
1)To give an overview of some of the tools in the commonly displayed soundings on the more used model websites
and
2)To create a lesson that teaches how hodograph shape and soundings can inform storm mode in chase forecasts.
Both of these are very complex topics and we only begin to scratch the surface of the details, but in the true Titan U spirit we wanted to ensure this video was digestible for newcomers to weather observation as well as folks who might have had a couple of years under your belt.
The good news about soundings is that they can inform a lot about what is coming on any given severe weather day, which makes them a powerful tool. They are best utilized as part of a holistic approach to a forecast, but they are also really great at anticipating how storms might behave as a storm day goes on.
A few text notes to add to the video above:
- Using hodographs to determine storm type is generally useful, but as with everything in weather there are exceptions to every rule.
- It is particularly helpful to use storm relative hodographs in determining some aspects of storm evolution. This is covered in the subsequent lesson.
- Generally you want winds to veer with height up to at least 700mb but it is more preferable if the veering goes all the way up through the atmosphere.
- Hodograph shape should be a foundational piece of your storm forecasts, period.
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