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Acronyms and Abbreviations


johnholmes

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

happy to help young sir

that link is a must for anyone interested in meteorology, from an old colleague. How on earth he found time to put all that info into his site I have no idea. Talk about a labour of love!

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Posted
  • Location: Salisbury , Wiltshire
  • Location: Salisbury , Wiltshire

It is cetainlly time consuming creating informative lists like that ,there is loads of meto infomation in there .

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  • 3 years later...
Posted
  • Location: Holyhead North Wales, Nhgogledd Cymru
  • Weather Preferences: Storm Chaser, Weathermen and Radar Operator
  • Location: Holyhead North Wales, Nhgogledd Cymru

AC - Alto Cumulus - A Layer Of Cloud More Than 15000ft In The Middle Of The Atmosphere.

NOGAPS - Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

AC - Alto Cumulus - A Layer Of Cloud More Than 15000ft In The Middle Of The Atmosphere.

NOGAPS - Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System

Alto simply means middle

Ac=Altocumulus at any height above about 6000ft in the UK and tops are usually looked upon as about 16-18000ft as Ci takes over at those levels due to temperatures. Ci is ice Ac can be both.

Ac Cas=Castellanus and that can go way up into Ci levels in thundery set ups.

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  • 5 months later...
Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

A list of acronyms for most of the teleconnections we read about-tks to snowboy on 19-07-2011

AO - The Arctic Oscillation

NAO - The North Atlantic Oscillation

PNA - The Pacific North American Oscillation

EPO - The Eastern Pacific Oscillation

WPO - The Western Pacific Oscillation

MJO - The Madden-Julian Oscillation

PDO - The Pacific Decadal Oscillation

NPO - The North Pacific Oscillation

AAO - The Antarctic Oscillation

QBO - The Quasi-biennial Oscillation

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  • 2 months later...
Posted
  • Location: Camborne
  • Location: Camborne

I suspect you are talking about Tom Presutti who produces lrfs which I think, no expert on this, often goes in for freezing winters. Maybe someone with tongue in cheek has nicknamed him Polar Presutti?

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I suspect you are talking about Tom Presutti who produces lrfs which I think, no expert on this, often goes in for freezing winters. Maybe someone with tongue in cheek has nicknamed him Polar Presutti?

Many thanks! Ill pass this onto the person who was asking about this.

They said when its cold and rains they panic as they have had a flood. (So it be told.)

Ttfn.

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Posted
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Anything but mild south-westeries in winter
  • Location: Whitkirk, Leeds 86m asl

Indeed. Tom Presutti predicted 2011/2012 would be the mother of all winters.. about 5 years ago..

Posted Image

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  • 1 year later...
Posted
  • Location: Dublin, Ireland
  • Weather Preferences: Really warm summers, really cold winters
  • Location: Dublin, Ireland

Can someone pls explain what +ve and -ve stand for? Thanks S

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Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.

Can someone pls explain what +ve and -ve stand for? Thanks S

Positive and negative...Posted Image

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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Welwyn Herts 115m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Surprises
  • Location: Welwyn Herts 115m ASL

Good thread this.. needs 'bumping' occasionally tho (-:

Just been trying to find out some of the meanings for abbreviations used on this site and it's helped answer a few questions.

In search of meanings for phrases recently used in the model thread and alike I made a 'wordle" of some the things I don't understand. Its a graphical representation of my confusion Posted Image

I know what a chocolate teapot is ! (also name affectionately given to gfs 06z & 18z model output) but the concept of 'wave breaking' is beyond me - Please can someone explain what it is/does?

Many thanks.

edit.. also are lower heights referring to a high pressure system that isn't that high but higher than a low? - oh gould this maybe should be in the help thread - mods please move it you feel it better placed there.

Edited by Pixel Precipitation
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Posted
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)
  • Weather Preferences: Unseasonably cold weather (at all times of year), wind, and thunderstorms.
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)

I'm guessing you have seen the term "wave breaking" in the strat thread. This refers to the intrusion of Rossby waves through the polar vortex into the polar stratosphere in one of two ways. In a remote wave break, the waves hit the polar vortex and circle it before finding their way over the top of the vortex and down into the stratosphere. Local wave breaking is when the waves find their way In through the troposphere and move upwards into the stratosphere. Such waves, through a number of physical processes, warm the polar stratosphere and if of sufficient amplitude can deal some decent blows to the polar vortex.

Hope this helped.

Edited by 22nov10blast
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  • 1 month later...
Posted
  • Location: Kesgrave
  • Weather Preferences: Snow!!!! Or very hot and sunny!!! Nothing in the middle
  • Location: Kesgrave

FMOB = for my own benefit, I have just cut and pasted the definitions so far in order. Apologies for any I have missed. Hope no one minds me reproducing the list here, albeit uncollated:

NAO - North Atlantic Oscillation

CB = Cumulonimbus

LRF = Long Range Forecast (Forecast for a season, or a shorter long range period)

PV = Polar Vortex (Apparently one of the reasons this winter has not started!)

FI = Fantasy Island (Weather shown on the models, but unlikely to happen). (Not to be confused with F1, this is a type of motor racing.)

GFS = Global Forecasting System (One of the main model outputs)

HP = High Pressure (Self explanatory in my view, please feel free to expand on my limited knowledge base!)

Clouds:

Ci = Cirrus

Cs = Cirrostratus

Cc = Cirrocumulus

Ac = Altocumulus

As = Altostratus

Cu = Cumulus

Ns = Nimbostratus

St = Stratus

Sc = Stratocumulus

cas (or cast) = Altocumulus castellanus

flo = Altocumulus floccus

Airstreams:

aM = arctic maritime (mostly northerly winds)

pM = polar maritime (mostly north westerly winds)

pC = polar continental (mostly north-east or easterly winds)

tM = tropical maritime (mostly south-westerly winds)

rtM or tMr = tropical maritime RETURNING (west to north-west winds that have started south or south-westerly)

tC = tropical continental (mostly south-easterly winds)

More clouds:

Cumulus family has 3 members:

(Cu fra) = Cumulus fractus -irregular shreds, often resembling cotton wool or fibre that have ragged edges and ragged bases.

(Cu hum) = Cumulus humilis - rather more regular in shape and appearance than fractus above, but mostly distinguished by flat bases, and are called "fair weather cumulus" since they do not grow much in size.

(Cu med) = Cumulus mediocris - ragged cumulus of moderate development with a "cauliflower" like appearance, often producing showers of rain (but not hail or other precipitation), and may develop further into Cumulonimbus.

AO= Arctic Oscillation

SSTA's=sea surface temperature anomilies

ppn=precipitation

Pressure:

mbs = millibars. 1000 millibars = 1bar or 29.53 inches of mercury

(len) = Lenticularis - generally another species of Altocumulus.

ECMWF: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting

PFJ: Polar Frontal Jet

MJO: Madden-Julien Oscillation

LR = Lapse Rate

DALR = Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate

SALR = Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate

ELR = Environmental Lapse Rate

ACSL = Altocumulus Standing Lenticular Clouds

UHI - Urban Heat Island: the microclimatic warmth that attaches to large man-made environments. It is most pronounced in winter, and in still air, and on clear nights, when the measured differential between the urban core and the surrounding countryside can, exceptionally, be as high as 10C. Typically the value will be 3-4C. In fast flowing air turbulence causes vertical mixing and the effect can virtually disappear.

ZDL - Zero Degree Level: the altitude above msl at which freezing point is reached.

msl - mean sea level: nb pressure in the UK is usually quoted as being at mean sea level, this prevents distortion consequent to the effect of altitude when pressure diagrams are drawn.

DP - Dew Point: the temperature of the standard dry bulb on a mercury thermometer when moistened. This bulb will tend to be cooled by the process of evaporation, and this temperature represents the dew point, i.e. the temperature at which the air, if cooled, would become saturated and at which condensation would start to form. This is why, on cold evenings, cars can become dew covered whilst the ground may stay dry; metal surfaces cool fastest under clear skies.

Lapse Rate - the rate at which a parcel of air cools as it ascends. There are three lapse rates. The E(nvironmental)LR, which is the standard lapse rate, assumed to be 6.5C/1000m. The D(ry)LR, the lapse rate for unsaturated air, which is 10C/1000m, and the S(aturated)A(diabatic)LR, which varies according to temperature, between around 5C-7C/1000m (the cooler it is, the higher the rate). The SALR is reached at the point that a parcel of air reaches its dew point, typically the cloud base. The rate changes because the process of evaporation releases latent heat (effectively the energy that keeps water in gaseous form is now released), hence the airmass cools less quickly now. Adiabatic refers to the fact that the temperature change is occurring without external energy flow.

GW - Global Warming - the current temperature rise of the planet, whatever its cause.

AGW - Anthropogenic Global Warming - that element of GW disputedly caused by mankind's activities.

THC - Thermohaline Circulation - the global density-driven circulation of the world's oceans.

MOC - Meridional Overturning Circulation - alternative name for above. Also known as ocean or global conveyor belt.

GS - Gulf Stream - largely wind-driven fast, warm ocean surface current that flows from Gulf of Mexico northeastwards, then splits mid-Atlantic into a part that recirculates at the surface past S Europe & W Africa, and the.....

NAD (easily mis-read as NAO!) - North Atlantic Drift - largely THC-driven northern extension of the Gulf Stream towards NW Europe. The density changes eventually cause this surface current to sink (NE of Iceland), where the cold water circulates back south as part of the.....

NADW - North Atlantic Deep Water - a mass of cold water, originating mainly in the Labrador & Greenland Seas, that forms a complex, slow-moving, deep (2-4 KM) ocean current flowing south, part of the MOC that pulls the NAD northwards.

Ac Lent = Alto-Cumulus Lenticularis - a second abbreviation definition for Lenticular.

Notable omissions so far IMHO = in my haughty humble opinion, are for starters:

CET = Central England Temperature

ENSO = El Nino Southern Oscillation

PM = ( on this forum, Private Message)

SST = Sea Surface Temperature

IPCC = Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

CO2 = Carbon Dioxide

TTFN =Ta Ta for now!

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Posted
  • Location: Kesgrave
  • Weather Preferences: Snow!!!! Or very hot and sunny!!! Nothing in the middle
  • Location: Kesgrave

So I'm new to this but what does SSW stand for cause people were getting really excited about it the other day

Many thanks

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Posted
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)
  • Weather Preferences: Unseasonably cold weather (at all times of year), wind, and thunderstorms.
  • Location: Edinburgh (previously Chelmsford and Birmingham)

So I'm new to this but what does SSW stand for cause people were getting really excited about it the other day

Many thanks

Sudden Stratospheric Warming.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
  • Location: Birmingham, Harborne 160 asl
  • Weather Preferences: Columus Bigus Convectivus
  • Location: Birmingham, Harborne 160 asl

Anyone help me with the acronym LEWD........or possibly LEWP

I`m trying to discribe a time-lapse video where one of these occure

Cheers

Edited by Arnie Pie
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Posted
  • Location: Birmingham, Harborne 160 asl
  • Weather Preferences: Columus Bigus Convectivus
  • Location: Birmingham, Harborne 160 asl

Line Echo Wave Pattern. Usually occurs along and in advance of a sharp (E.g ANA type) cold front and is indicated by 'S'-shaped waves in the general convective line on radar reflectivity.

Taken from NOAA's NWS:

Cheers W09Posted Image

that explains what my time-lapse was all about.......now you mention "Bow echo", i have some vauge memories of the event now

I`ll put his info on my video...if that`s ok

http-~~-//youtu.be/AHKofrxDQCQ

Ta again

Edited by Arnie Pie
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  • 1 year later...

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