tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49777537351090024782012-02-16T00:23:28.590-06:00verbal advection through low-level ducting and negative EPV...Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-32366499560178282392008-11-20T22:35:00.006-06:002008-11-20T22:39:10.244-06:00

Temperatures and wind chills are at the coldest they've been this season, thus far.Here are some numbers to mull (and pout!) over... Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Cld Ceilg MSLP ------------------------------------------------------------- KGFK Nov 20 2253UTC 11 6 80 0 N 7 SCT UNL 1043.8 KGFK Nov 20 2353UTC 8 4 83 -1 N 6 SCT UNL 1043.7 KGFK Nov 21 0037UTC

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-89444247232888119692008-11-05T17:51:00.003-06:002008-11-05T18:00:09.867-06:00

Apparently, we have some rigorous updrafts out there. We've had some lightning and thunder outside our windows here in Grand Forks, and we even had a 0.75 inch report of hail down in Stutsman County (near Ypsilanti) earlier this afternoon. With freezing heights fairly low that doesn't surprise me.The abundance of lightning is, however; especially this far north. In my forecast last night, I

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-69526646884110072462008-11-02T01:57:00.005-05:002008-11-02T02:49:02.248-06:00

I apologize it's way after the fact, but we had our first snowfall of the season this past Monday, October 27th.A particularly strong cold front pushed southeast across the region the previous Saturday night and this provided the first arctic air to settle into the Northern Plains for several days. A system that pushed through Sunday and into early Monday brought showers overnight and before all

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-9021503999571648022008-09-04T14:01:00.001-05:002008-09-04T14:01:54.972-05:00

Hello folks,I'm cross-posting this from my personal blog...Just to let you know... Beginning this evening, I will be away on vacation until late Monday. My brother-in-law and I will be traveling along with a few co-workers of mine to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. We look to do some hiking, camping, and sight-seeing.Yes, we realize it's going to be in the 30's at night. Call us

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-18046826489478871612008-08-24T18:34:00.004-05:002008-08-24T18:41:37.054-05:00

A cold front passing through the area Friday evening resulting in unseasonably cool temperatures Saturday and last night. In fact, observations out at KGFK indicated that the official low temperature dropped below the 40° mark! This is the coolest temperatures recorded in several months. Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Cld 6hX 6hN-------------------------------------------------

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-43079002614584449852008-08-07T02:48:00.002-05:002008-08-07T02:49:01.972-05:00

Cross-post from my Personal BlogHello everyone!Effective later this afternoon, I'll be out of town on vacation. I'm hoping to be on the road and on my way home back to Indiana by 5:00 PM. That would put me in Bluffton by 8:00 or 9:00 AM Friday morning, at the latest.If there is anything you would need to get a hold of me for, I will have Internet connectivity from home, so I will have access to

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-44181179025216939092008-07-31T18:01:00.002-05:002008-07-31T18:06:58.845-05:00

It appears that the chase potential today has become rather dull... The models had progressively diminished chances for storms today over the past couple of days and with the MCS that pushed southeast across SErn ND, NErn SD, and Central and Southern Minnesota this morning, I think it pretty much zapped the better forcing and moisture much further south.There's still some decent moisture

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-74921377054806556382008-07-29T03:47:00.003-05:002008-07-29T06:45:02.219-05:00

Thursday is looking like a potential chase day around the area. Since I'm on a fairly short leash regarding money and mileage on my car with my up-coming vacation, this seems to shaping up quite well.Granted this is a few days out yet, but the 00z NAM and GFS, as well as the 06z NAM are staying rather consistent. The 06zNAM is indicating plenty of shear (200+ helicities over much of Ern ND) and

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-80182416315799154162008-07-12T02:22:00.003-05:002008-07-12T03:06:28.832-05:00

Hello everyone...I apologize it's been a little while since I updated my status from Wednesday. The past couple of days have obviously been a little busy on the chase-front. No pun intended, of course...I'll work on getting chase logs updated on here over the next couple of days. I still need to write up a more detailed summary from my chase on Monday (the 7th) and will have logs up from

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-16839983190098942062008-07-09T07:18:00.004-05:002008-12-09T00:12:50.481-06:00

We may be looking at another opportunity to chase tomorrow. Looking at the latest models, much of central and eastern North Dakota may just be looking at a decent threat for Supercells and tornadoes. Low-level and deep-layer shear and instability look outstanding and our mid and upper-level flow is more than enough to support Supercells.I haven't seen hodographs like these in quite some time,

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-83036760877150711202008-07-07T20:35:00.002-05:002008-07-07T20:40:35.623-05:00

The storm coverage surprised me a bit today... and wasn't anticipating a chase really. When I saw the storm to the south of town earlier this afternoon, I took off after it. Unfortunately, the storm weakened a bit and dove southeast.I decided to stay on it, hoping it would recycle some, ignoring TOR warned stuff to my north. That activity looked more linear and didn't look like it was in as

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-57137752018100050562008-07-03T12:36:00.003-05:002008-07-03T12:53:41.538-05:00

It's looking like my plans for my extended time off this weekend from work will be changing somewhat. I was initially thinking of taking a road trip out west to finally see the badlands here in North Dakota.It's looking now, that while I'll still be heading west on Saturday, it will be to see Supercells! This afternoon's 12z NAM is indicating a fairly significant surface trough pushing eastward

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-91683795191916071962008-07-02T19:50:00.011-05:002008-07-02T20:43:54.151-05:00

After a couple of days of forecasting and looking at models, I decided to head out chasing last evening.A few co-workers and I met up at the office yesterday afternoon, looked at some last-minute data and after setting up the GPS, laptop, and topping off, we heading off for far Northwestern Minnesota.A surface trough was progressing eastward across the state while a cold front was dropping

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-71616608470063962692008-06-27T01:28:00.007-05:002008-07-02T20:26:10.642-05:00

The first real chase of 2008 up here in the Northern Plains is now in the books...Our initial target area west of Bismarck turned out to be a good one. We departed Grand Forks around 11:30am and arrived in Bismarck near 3:00pm - exactly the 3.5 hour drive we expected. We spent a half-hour, maybe 45-minutes to top off the gas tank and grabbed a bite to eat at a local Schlotsky's Deli, then

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-28218198441563659172008-06-26T02:32:00.003-05:002008-06-26T02:44:14.665-05:00

Well, as written previously, today (Thursday) looks to be a fairly active severe weather day across the Northern Plains. As such, a few co-workers and I will be out chasing this afternoon and into this evening.We are initially targeting somewhere west, perhaps southwest, of Bismarck. We plan on departing GFK by 11:00am to make it out there by 3:00 or 4:00pm.I'll have data available and as such,

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-40088665714074715002008-06-23T22:35:00.004-05:002008-06-23T22:45:46.286-05:00

Looks like this week may be the first real opportunity to get out chasing across the state. Tomorrow could be active across the western part of the state with Thursday looking like another active severe weather day.I'll be monitoring things closely tonight and may decide to head out west tomorrow to check things out. Depends on dynamite of a setup it turns into overnight tonight on the models

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-124586310558934752008-06-09T08:53:00.007-05:002008-12-09T00:12:50.748-06:00

Nice roll cloud sitting over western parts of Kansas City this morning:I happened to be stepping through WeatherCams this morning and found this. Pretty cool, considering I haven't seen one of these things in quite some time.

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-66919496396018478772008-06-09T00:48:00.005-05:002008-06-09T00:55:27.558-05:00

Wow, what a squall line over the mid-section of the country tonight!Especially interesting with this thing is that while the squall line itself is propagating east-southeastward, the stratiform rain behind is training northeast along the frontal boundary.Lots of places are going to see flooding concerns continuing through a good portion of tonight and into Monday.

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-9956620584946110802008-06-07T23:03:00.002-05:002008-06-07T23:18:59.476-05:00

Good evening everyone...Thought I would share some news with everyone. I've been working on the web-site the past couple of nights and can officially announce that I am now offering semi-live radar feeds on my site.The radar feed comes from GRLevel3, a radar visualization application currently running on my laptop from home. While the radar will not always be current, it will update every six

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-1894924604793307642008-06-03T01:37:00.004-05:002008-06-03T02:11:50.873-05:00

Sorry, this is coming so much after the fact...We woke in Independence, Kansas Saturday morning thinking we wouldn't have much traveling to do. I had decided to park my car at Ed Robert's place in KC the night before, so in doing that, I pretty much committed myself to chasing on Saturday.We chased north-central and north-eastern Oklahoma Saturday and it pretty much turned out similar to Friday.

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-87603970581584933992008-05-31T02:37:00.002-05:002008-05-31T02:41:16.130-05:00

We're getting in late again tonight and after a little fiddling around with the models here tonight, I'm gonna leave a very short, abridged version of the past couple of days...Thursday, we chased a high risk day in Nebraska... Had several supercells around us and even had a tornado form about 3/4 of a mile to our north southwest of Kearney. Pretty incredible!Stayed the night in St. Joseph, MO

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-33781967974062317032008-05-29T00:58:00.002-05:002008-05-29T01:25:28.260-05:00

What was initially planned as a relocation day turned into a nice surprise. We left Norman Wednesday morning, shooting for Hays to pick up my car, then to continue on to McCook, NE - where we were going to stay for the night. We expected a chase day for Thursday, so we wanted to find a spot somewhere near the NW-KS/SW-NE border for the best logistics.We made it to Hays with no problems, and

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-53311515788308020202008-05-27T23:49:00.005-05:002008-05-28T00:39:37.626-05:00

I apologize I didn't get around to writing anything last evening. We didn't get into Norman until late and we were all tired. Yesterday (Monday), we targeted primarily southwestern Kansas, ironically enough, around the Greensburg area.We drove into Greensburg to see the rebuilding effort there and ran into a mass convergence of chasers at the local gas station. It wasn't particularly a fun

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-9450914254923010802008-05-25T23:47:00.005-05:002008-05-26T00:52:26.977-05:00

Had a fairly complex forecast this morning and really had several major decisions to make. First, if we wanted to buy into the risk further to our southwest in western Kansas or to take the more synoptically driven area of Minnesota into Wisconsin. Second, what computer model we wanted to take faith in (they were all really telling us three or four different things), and third, logistics, in

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-23913523657324400672008-05-25T00:36:00.003-05:002008-05-25T00:44:34.261-05:00

Don't read too much into that exclamation point... ;)I made it eventually on the road by 7am, like I planned this morning and didn't end up meeting up with Jared, John and Gregg until 4:00pm in Aurora, NE. While we targeted the dryline setting up across eastern Nebraska, things didn't seem to phase correctly today and it seemed that we just didn't have that extra "umph" with surface-based

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-14097915558982772092008-05-24T00:11:00.003-05:002008-05-24T00:21:41.888-05:00

Hello folks,I'm cross-posting this from my personal blog...Beginning early tomorrow morning, I will be out of town tending to my chase vacation with some former colleagues of mine. I plan on being on the road by 7:00am and will be driving southward towards Sioux Falls. From there, we will either target southeastern South Dakota or eastern portions of Nebraska.My expeditions will continue

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-58665947450814852342008-05-17T15:47:00.008-05:002008-12-09T00:12:51.016-06:00

I noticed this in the Visible satellite imagery a couple of days ago and saved some data. If you look closely at the loop below, you'll see a subtle rotation in the clouds northwest of Sioux Falls, SD:(click on the image to see a larger version)When comparing this with the 20z RUC analysis, you can clearly see the meso-low in the 500mb vorticity fields over the same area:Kind of cool to see the

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-46367549665306667412008-05-17T12:52:00.004-05:002008-05-17T13:02:52.180-05:00

And to one up on the 75° we achieved on the 15th, yesterday we warmed all the way up to a very nice, 83° at the airport.Here are more official numbers from KGFK: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Cld---------------------------------------------------- KGFK May 16 1753UTC 80 46 30 NW 14 23 SCT KGFK May 16 1853UTC 81 44 27 NW 18 31 SCT KGFK May 16 1953UTC 82 37

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-68185021212707821232008-05-16T00:00:00.003-05:002008-05-16T00:07:18.854-05:00

We had quite a day today... Reaching not only temperatures above 70° for the first time in 2008, we reached a toasty 75° F!Here are the official numbers from KGFK: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs 6hX 6hN --------------------------------------------------------- KGFK May 15 1753UTC 70 40 34 74 W 9 16 71 38 KGFK May 15 1853UTC 74 38 27 NW 16 22 KGFK May

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-81006267592544696632008-04-26T08:09:00.006-05:002008-12-09T00:12:51.208-06:00

No, it certainly wasn't this morning (when, we're reporting snow, temperatures at 28, and wind chills at 13!), we did officially report our first thunderstorm of the season on Monday, April 21: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Vis Wx-------------------------------------------------------- KGFK Apr 21 1532UTC 37 34 89 28 WNW 16 7.00 TSRA KGFK Apr 21 1547UTC 37 34 89

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-33455195477664561502008-04-20T23:23:00.002-05:002008-04-20T23:31:47.567-05:00

Yes, the previous entry was verified. It turned out the NAM/GFS blended solution was much closer than the GEM 2m temperatures. Tuesday resulted in an official high of 70° F out at the airport. That makes the first 70° day of 2008.Since Tuesday, we've been somewhat cooler, but we're still holding in the 60's. The past several days have been very nice, with hardly a cloud in the sky and high

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-68472336504235878352008-04-15T05:08:00.005-05:002008-12-09T00:12:51.511-06:00

The models over the past week had been hinting at a day or two in the 60's to 70's yesterday and today. While yesterday we didn't exactly hit the 60° mark, the airport recorded a high of 59° while here in town at the NWS office, 52° was recorded.Today could be a different story. The NAM/GFS/GEM consensus has us, at least, hitting 70 degrees, with the GEM warmest, having us into the upper 70'

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-4429814862060772312008-04-07T02:16:00.002-05:002008-04-07T02:18:26.367-05:00

Just to remind everyone...I will be out of town beginning this afternoon. I will be in Bismarck attending the Northern Plains Convective Workshop through Wednesday afternoon.I should be back in town Wednesday evening.Should you need to contact me, I will be observing presentations through much of Tuesday, but should be available later in the evening. Presentations will resume Wednesday morning,

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-20546094223194317472008-04-03T18:45:00.004-05:002008-04-03T19:15:41.664-05:00

Temperatures have been on a serious rebound the last couple of days. Yesterday, we reached the 50° mark for the first time and today, we have topped out at 53.Here are some numbers from yesterday and today: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs------------------------------------------------ KGFK Apr 02 1853UTC 47 32 56 SSW 13 KGFK Apr 02 1953UTC 48 30 49 SW 12

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-9948755335797327862008-03-20T17:53:00.003-05:002008-03-20T17:58:42.025-05:00

Spring Equinox occurred early this morning at 12:48 am ushering in the official start to Spring. It doesn't necessarily feel like spring and likely won't for quite some time.In fact, parts of southeastern ND and northeastern SD are under winter weather advisories through Friday afternoon for accumulating snowfall. Looks like a decent shot, as well, with 6 inches plus possible.As long as it's

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-64143491543893011792008-03-18T22:27:00.003-05:002008-03-18T22:34:18.407-05:00

We officially hit the 40° mark today... Not only did it feel wonderful, it's making a great dent on the snow-cover. Late last week, I reported the first sighting of grass in nearly 4 months and we now have very large areas of brown grass around the area.That strong March sun is working it's magic, for sure.Here are the official numbers from GFK this afternoon: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-19497412113627837352008-03-08T02:09:00.004-06:002008-12-09T00:12:51.648-06:00

Another major winter storm is continuing over the Ohio Valley late tonight... As you can see to the right, the Columbus, Ohio area is simply getting dumped on at the present time. Areas of southern Indiana and portions of central Ohio, stretching into northeastern Ohio and northwestern PA are going to receive a hefty accumulation out of this system. It wouldn't surprise me to see a few spots

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-26428643874071622092008-03-03T17:24:00.003-06:002008-03-03T17:29:44.334-06:00

For those of you that may be looking for information on the upcoming 2008 Nrn Plains Convective Workshop, I have some news to pass along.I found out today on the dates, at least. The Bismarck WFO will be hosting the Workshop this year on April 8th and 9th. This falls on a Tuesday and Wednesday.I don't have any specifics as far as locations, agendas, or anything else at this point, but I will

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-61075760583726367342008-02-24T15:51:00.002-06:002008-02-24T15:56:33.147-06:00

As most of you know, it has been quite cold up here in the Northern Plains over the past month. Last week, was particularly cold with several areas over North Dakota and Minnesota reaching record lows. Wednesday morning several locations bottomed out in the -30 to -35 degree range, setting all-time record lows for the date. The Grand Forks Int'l Airport (KGFK), reached a record low of -33° F,

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-67910683813054824042008-02-06T16:22:00.000-06:002008-12-09T00:12:51.788-06:00

As you can see, yesterday saw one of the largest severe weather outbreaks we have seen in some time. Over 50 reported tornadoes traversed through the Lower and Mid-Mississippi Valley yesterday and into last evening. And while this number will likely dwindle some as analysis may indicate redundant tornado tracks, I am sure it will still rank very high as one of the largest outbreaks ever for

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-58776249436993969152008-01-29T18:58:00.000-06:002008-01-29T19:20:09.300-06:00

This certainly ranks right up there with the most counties I've ever seen included in one severe weather warning. It gives an all new definition to the term "blanket warning!" This is just crazy...BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTEDSEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN658 PM EST TUE JAN 29 2008THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A* SEVERE

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-51306219035185631772008-01-29T10:29:00.000-06:002008-01-29T19:19:00.980-06:00

Temperatures outside this morning are dropping like a rock, once again. It's days like this that really make me look forward to those 90 and 100° days in June and July! Hopefully, they're not too far away... Site Time Tmp Dpt W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Vis Wx----------------------------------------------------------- KGFK Jan 29 0705UTC -0 -8 -26 NW 33 44 0.50 BLSN KGFK Jan 29 0721UTC

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-66085100927413599162008-01-27T03:19:00.000-06:002008-01-29T19:17:15.732-06:00

A rather unique observation from early this morning: Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH Wgs Cld Ceilg MSLP Wx---------------------------------------------------------- KLGC Jan 27 0900UTC 28 30 109 0 CLR UNL 5.00 You don't see surface RH's at 109% very often!

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-3132392293459598442008-01-19T00:45:00.000-06:002008-01-19T01:18:44.491-06:00

That's right... Not only is it 16 below zero outside at this hour, but with the wind, it feels like -35° F. That's flipping cold, folks! Definitely reason enough to have Wind Chill Advisories in effect for a good portion of the Midwest.But just wait... The 00z GEM this evening has temperatures across much of eastern North Dakota and Minnesota with temperatures well below -20 Sunday morning.

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-24759551039395271062008-01-06T07:52:00.000-06:002008-01-06T08:03:08.637-06:00

I'll have to go back and check on this, but we may have busted through the freezing point for the first time in nearly 2 months this morning! Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Cld MSLP ---------------------------------------------------------- KGFK Jan 06 1053UTC 27 23 85 18 S 9 BKN 994.9 KGFK Jan 06 1153UTC 32 26 78 23 WSW 12 OVC 995.4 KGFK Jan 06 1204UTC 34

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-65942800564998061972007-12-29T01:12:00.000-06:002007-12-29T01:19:45.852-06:00

We brought up the topic of humorous live weather journalism (various mishaps during random local news-stations and such) at work the other night and I was reminded of Jon Stewart's coverage of a news-station out of Terre Haute, IN and their promo on their Doppler Radar. Apparently, they think fairly high of it and felt the need to completely bash their competition over whose radar is best and

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-2715309570033943162007-12-28T01:01:00.001-06:002008-12-09T00:12:51.999-06:00

Surprisingly, every once in a while something funny comes across the weather wire. And instead of storing these things on my personal computer, I figured I would share the following with the blogger community (whomever you are!). First up, a much too detailed Area Forecast Discussion from the Duluth, MN NWSFO on the morning of November 6th:LAKE EFFECT SHOWERS MAY TAKE THEIR TIME IN MOISTENING

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-3640383485823707272007-12-22T14:00:00.001-06:002007-12-22T14:04:33.356-06:00

Hello folks,Much like the personal blog went through a redesign of it's layout, I've decided to do the same for the weather blog. I've also been noticing that the weather blog has been increasingly taking up storage on my web-space at mhartman-wx.com.Considering this, you may notice that I'm back at Blogspot for hosting.This also enabled me to use the new template. Apparently, hosting on your

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-52804878212377170212007-12-15T23:42:00.000-06:002008-12-09T00:12:52.165-06:00

Our friendly "little" winter storm appears to be spinning up late this evening:Can you find the low-pressure system? ;)I've been catching sporadic reports and I've seen amounts generally from 3 to 5 inches thus far. A deformation band appears to be phasing and stretching from central Illinois through northern Indiana and also is resulting in some moderate to heavy precipitation, especially over

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-53366213893863478912007-12-15T14:15:00.000-06:002008-12-09T00:12:52.289-06:00

Light snow continues to spread over much of the Ohio Valley this afternoon ahead of a fairly potent low pressure system. Winter Storm Warnings continue and it also continues to appear that significant snowfall accumulations are eminent over the northern half of the Hoosier state through tomorrow evening.Here is what our afternoon forecast for IN-DOT is indicating for total snowfall accumulations

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-23532380640169405252007-12-15T02:15:00.000-06:002008-12-09T00:12:52.874-06:00

Winter Storm and Heavy Snow Warnings have been issued for much of the Ohio Valley today and are valid from this afternoon through most of Sunday.It appears that most of Indiana and Ohio will see significant snowfall with this system, with northern areas seeing the heaviest accumulations. While computer models differ some on their precipitation forecasts, the most aggressive (the NAM, or North

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-26693656100772193382007-12-07T12:04:00.000-06:002007-12-22T14:57:53.018-06:00

Clear skies this afternoon are revealing much of the snow-cover across the Northern Plains and upper Midwest... Click on the image below to bring up a loop.

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-24621010627180353442007-12-04T22:13:00.000-06:002008-12-09T00:12:53.062-06:00

The snow continued through much of this afternoon... And driving into work at 11:30am today was a mess. For some odd reason the city hasn't done so well at cleaning these streets this year. They have not always been great, but this year seems especially bad. The photo to the right shows 17th Ave. on my east approach to 42nd Street this morning. As you can see, roads were very much

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-70412628746687600482007-12-04T10:51:00.000-06:002007-12-22T15:25:08.408-06:00

An addition to the 4-8 inches that was received around the area this past weekend, an on-going Alberta Clipper is bringing additional snowfall to the region this morning.The Grand Forks NWS issued this just minutes ago:1030 AM CST TUE DEC 4 2007 ..HEAVY SNOW WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED AHEAVY SNOW WARNING...WHICH IS

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-43323836242073745932007-12-04T10:48:00.000-06:002007-12-22T15:15:51.953-06:00

For those of you that are curious, here is a final tally on snow totals from this past weekend's snowfall:..WEEKEND STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL REPORTS THE FOLLOWING TOTALS ARE FOR BOTH SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND AREBASED ON REPORTS FROM SPOTTERS...COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS OR LAWENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS. SITE SNOWFALL AMOUNT NORTH DAKOTA MANTADOR...............

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-70885247038898874842007-12-01T16:32:00.000-06:002007-12-22T14:50:36.386-06:00

Snow is continuing across much of the upper Midwest this afternoon. The snow didn't pan out as heavy here in our area, but it still has been snowing all day. There was some light snow out there before I went to bed this morning around 8:00pm and it's still coming down out there.Here are some preliminary amounts from around the area as of 2:00pm:SITE SNOWFALL AMOUNTS KFGO

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-46919820273138631932007-12-01T05:41:00.000-06:002007-12-22T15:27:53.104-06:00

The National Weather Service has issued Winter Weather Advisories all across the mid-section of the country over the past 24 hours for not only the possibility of heavy snows, but freezing rain and sleet. Quite the ice storm is expected over parts of Nebraska and Iowa today. It's already on-going over portions of Nebraska:We here in the Upper Midwest and Northern Plains are certainly not

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-10149810262784419202007-11-27T20:13:00.000-06:002007-12-22T15:21:06.903-06:00

As I expected, we officially reached the first sub-zero temperatures of the season last evening.Here are the obs from Grand Forks Int'l...(From 8:53pm CST Monday to 2:53pm Tuesday) Site Time Tmp Dpt %RH W/H Wdr Wsp Wgs Cld MSLP ----------------------------------------------------------- KGFK Nov 27 0253UTC 3 -4 72 -16 NW 17 25 OVC 1024.9 KGFK Nov 27 0353UTC 1 -8 65 -18 NW

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-62935881618089365302007-11-26T15:56:00.000-06:002007-12-22T14:47:34.875-06:00

While it isn't the first winter weather advisory of the season, per se, it is the most significant. A weak clipper system will progress southeast over the region this evening and overnight, bringing some accumulating snows to the area. It shouldn't be much to cause any big issues, but slick spots on the roads will still likely be found out there, I'm sure....WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-10951652892147111892007-11-26T13:30:00.000-06:002007-12-22T15:30:36.749-06:00

It wasn't a major snowfall, but it was the first snow-storm of the season for some parts of the Midwest. Measurable snow fell for the first time over parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and southern Wisconsin over the Thanksgiving holiday. Satellite pictures from Saturday clearly showed areas where the heaviest snows fell, particularly over parts of southern and eastern Nebraska, northwestern

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-32171029387396862222007-10-25T19:41:00.000-05:002008-12-09T00:12:53.243-06:00

Now this just sucks...For those of you that don't typically look at numerical guidance, this is indicating areas of light snow across portions of North Dakota Saturday. Granted, it likely won't amount to anything (soil temperatures are still quite mild) but any snowfall is snowfall I'm not prepared for! I'd much rather skip over the next 5 months and go right into spring and early-summer. ;)

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-33047058573297570892007-07-25T23:14:00.000-05:002007-12-22T15:31:54.925-06:00

Yes, I believe it's been quite a while since I last wrote anything in here. We have been basking in some sort of heat wave, if you will, over the past week. Temperatures well into the 90's and 100's over much of the Northern Plains. Temps here in Grand Forks, in fact, have skirted with the record highs over the past couple of days... We set a new record on the morning of the 24th, by

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-83022981615528411742007-06-18T12:46:00.000-05:002008-12-09T00:12:53.356-06:00

I'm no father, but it was still great to receive a present yesterday! Justin Turcotte, Lu Zhang (a friend of mine), and I departed the city yesterday around 3:30 pm with an initial target around Finley, ND. On our way south on I-29 we found a building tower to our southeast and kept watching this thing literally explode out of nothing in about 15 minutes to a very nice thunderhead. It was very

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-91873678617585944322007-06-17T13:51:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:38:36.105-06:00

We've been watching today for the last few days via the GFS and NAM, and it appears that there is still a good chance for storms this afternoon and into this evening across much of eastern North Dakota. With the weekend off, my chase status is pretty much a go. I've come into the office to look at things a little more closely and Turcotte will be joining me shortly. We've decided to rendezvous

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-10933829496061433012007-05-29T21:35:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:37:46.226-06:00

Didn't end up seeing much this afternoon and evening, but here's a short summary of my brief Memorial Day chase:Was on the road around 4:30 PM, and arrived at my initial target of Larimore around 5:25... Sat at this location for about a half-hour watching things. Large updraft to my north blew up, so I took off after it, but wasn't gaining any ground. It raced off to my northeast and became

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-23982521749797901842007-05-28T08:50:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:36:57.916-06:00

It's looking like today may turn into another chase opportunity for us here in the Northern Plains. We're sitting under a fairly extensive cloud deck this morning over much of eastern North Dakota, however we should see some clearing this afternoon and with us getting into the warm sector of the shortwave pushing east-northeast through the region today, we should get into some decent instability

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-30391822671805817112007-05-22T19:26:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:35:40.141-06:00

Hi folks,The chase log and photos from yesterday's chase expedition are now uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, but stupid me forgot to check that the battery was in the XT before leaving town. I didn't notice until I was well past the Grand Forks Air-Force Base... Oops!Anyhow, they both can now be accessed from my web-site.Enjoy!

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-74422802490607236232007-05-22T01:00:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:34:33.219-06:00

Hello folks,I'm not sure who out there has been monitoring today - my progress on "the chase." But, to send out a very much abridged version:Departed Grand Forks at 3:05pm... Stopped in Devils Lake for a data stop... Proceeded to the target area (Leeds, ND). Ended up pulling over off of Highway 30 south of ND-2 around 5:50pm (was located about 3 miles southeast of York, ND). Found a very

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-6009502965393218662007-05-21T16:54:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:33:21.955-06:00

In Devils Lake at a local Comfort Inn... *Note to self free wireless Internet!Data check is still indicating the target is still on... Will be continuing west towards Churchs Ferry and maybe even a bit further west, towards Leeds. Satellite and radar trends are looking promising. Small cell has fired up SW of Minot in the last 30 minutes and expect convection to become more widespread over the

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-15202426165624172562007-05-21T14:31:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:32:32.865-06:00

Models early this afternoon are rather consistent and keep the frontal boundary a bit further west. Mesoanalysis and obs currently indicated the development of that pre-frontal trough I was wishing for - only a bit further west than I had anticipated.A few positives:- convection that's fired up early today has an outflow boundary pushing west through east-central ND currently...- LFC's are

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-41918373693356108202007-05-21T05:50:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:31:26.319-06:00

After consulting with the 06z runs this morning before leaving work, it seems that both the WRF and GFS are slowing the system down even further. They both begin convecting towards 18z over north-central portions of the state (which isn't a surprise given the weak capping) but still hint at that pre-frontal trough developing over east-central portions of the state later this afternoon. I'm

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-63601574279800689492007-05-20T23:50:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:30:02.794-06:00

Models have been fairly consistent with this shortwave pushing eastward across the Northern Plains and this may turn into my first official chase for the 2007 season. The last couple of WRF and GFS runs have slowed the system down some and wants to fire off convection over the Devils Lake basin, however still hints at a pre-frontal trough with a coincident wave pushing north-northeast out of

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-40853992033479315882007-05-08T20:22:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:26:53.881-06:00

For those of you curious about the parent supercell that went on to produce the devastating and deadly Greensburg, KS tornado, I've put together a rather extensive radar loop from the Dodge City radar.To view the loop, simply click on the following link:http://www.mhartman-wx.com/mwx_eventList.htmlThe loop begins around 5:13pm CDT on May 4th, when the first storm echoes were picked up by the

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-2535241983891796832007-05-07T18:28:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:25:48.185-06:00

That's right, I'm here to report the first thunder of the year. We had widespread rain and embedded thunderstorms around the area this past Saturday evening and even though it occurred late, I pulled myself out of bed and sat waiting impatiently for that perfect CG to capture on the camera. It took nearly an hour of waiting! Most of the lightning came in the IC (in-cloud) variety, however I

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-7654493414797785352007-05-01T02:25:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:24:37.969-06:00

The 11th annual Northern Plains Convective Workshop was held this past week (April 24-25, 2007). Included among the nearly 80-strong crowd was myself, and a couple of other Meridian co-workers.It was another strong workshop to follow up from last year's in Aberdeen, SD. Several presentations were given on the August 24, 2006 severe weather outbreak that occurred over eastern South Dakota and

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-90219886070986371572007-04-21T00:30:00.000-05:002007-12-22T15:36:19.316-06:00

Hopefully...!We received our first SVR of the season this evening: BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 1016 PM CDT FRI APR 20 2007 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EASTERN GRAND FORKS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4977753735109002478.post-88639616876063070642007-04-03T20:14:00.000-05:002007-12-22T14:21:31.414-06:00

It may officially be spring, but here in the northern plains, it doesn't appear so. Another winter storm socked the region overnight last night and is continuing over northeastern Minnesota early this evening. Here are some totals as of early this afternoon:PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND223 PM CDT TUE APR 3 2007...SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM AROUND THE AREA...THE

Matthew Hartmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02143379803441439650noreply@blogger.com0