Ticker for January 6, 2004

                
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January 6, 2004    January 6, 2004    January 6, 2004    January 6, 2004



Damp New Year's Night is Weather Fan's Delight

Folks in the eastern two-thirds of the state may remember the very,
very humid evening of January 1st. Remember? It was a hazy, foggy
night with strong southerly breezes. December 31st may also emerge
as a hazy, foggy memory, but that's probably for other reasons, and
the Ticker wishes to refrain from passing judgement.

Anyway, lots and lots of condensate (i.e., dew) was observed that
evening, and for good reason! Take a look at the weather map from
9:30 pm:



Note the dew points that reach into the lower 60s across much of the
state.  Now, take a look at the soil temperature map from the same
time:



Soil temps at around four inches were almost 10 degrees lower than
the dew point temperature!


But Wait, There's More!

Here are a couple of interesting pictures taken from a randomly selected
climatologist's home in Norman:




Notice the condensation on the edges, but not the main body, of the
concrete walk. The concrete walk took longer to cool than the
surrounding grassy, mulchy and (ugh!) weedy areas.  On the edges,
the adjacent soil was cooler and had vastly different heat properties
than air, so the edgeward concrete was cooled below the dew point
temperature.

Interesting stuff!  Now, if you don't mind, the Entire Ticker Staff has
a few dandelions to yank.