Category Archives: Weather

How the Hadley Cells work

Posted on 15 October, 2018 by hjia

By Gui-Ying Yang The Hadley Cell, named after British meteorologist George Hadley who discovered this tropical atmospheric overturning circulation, is one of the basic concepts in weather and climate. Figure 1 shows the zonal mean overturning circulation in a latitude height … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, earth observation, Equatorial waves, extratropical cyclones, Tropical convection, Troposphere, Waves, Weather, Wind | Leave a comment

Image conscious atmospheric science

Posted on 1 October, 2018 by hjia

By Giles Harrison A frequently-heard mantra in physics is “Like charges repel and unlike charges attract”. At face value this paraphrase of Coulomb’s Law seems useful for clouds too, as, quite apart from the obvious example of thunderclouds, water drops … Continue reading →

Posted in Clouds, earth observation, Measurements and instrumentation, Microphysics, Numerical modelling, University of Reading, Weather | Leave a comment

Sting jets in winter storms : how do the winds get so strong?

Posted on 20 August, 2018 by hjia

By Ambrogio Volonté Figure 1: Windstorm Tini (12 Feb 2014) passes over the British Isles bringing extreme winds. A sting jet has been identified in the storm. Image courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory The arrival of a winter storm battering … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, extratropical cyclones, Monsoons, Numerical modelling, sting jet, University of Reading, Weather, Weather forecasting | Leave a comment

Summer temperatures 2018 – the ‘new normal’?

Posted on 6 August, 2018 by hjia

By Professor Sir Brian Hoskins (Grantham Institute, Imperial College London and Emeritus Professor at the University of Reading department of Meteorology) and Stephen Belcher (Met Office Chief Scientist and Visiting Professor at the University of Reading department of Meteorology) Figure 1. Hyde … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Greenhouse gases, Historical climatology, Weather | Leave a comment

What a summer!

Posted on 16 July, 2018 by hjia

By Ben Cosh What a summer it has been so far. The data is brilliant when it is like this. Stephen Burt keeps an eye on it and has filled me in on the (nearly) record-breaking numbers we’re seeing. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Historical climatology, Weather | Leave a comment

DARE to use datasets of opportunity

Posted on 2 July, 2018 by hjia

By Joanne Waller To accurately forecast the weather, we must first describe what is currently happening in the atmosphere. To determine the current atmospheric state, we could use: Previous forecasts (data from complex computational models of the atmosphere) which provide … Continue reading →

Posted in data assimilation, earth observation, Flooding, University of Reading, Weather, Weather forecasting | Leave a comment

Stronger windstorms and higher wind risk in a warmer climate

Posted on 19 February, 2018 by Stephen Burt

By Oscar Martínez-Alvarado The most devastating type of winter storms to affect north-west Europe are characterised by a descending jet of air, known as a sting jet, that can result in strong, localised surface winds and wind gusts in a region … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Environmental hazards, extratropical cyclones, Weather | Tagged | Leave a comment

Heat waves of the past decade in Chinese mega-cities: a quick review

Posted on 20 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Ting Sun Although cities are often already warmer than their rural surroundings (the well-known “urban heat island” effect), heat waves (HWs), excessively hot periods, will not only enhance the urban and rural temperatures but also exacerbate the contrast between … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Climate, Environmental hazards, Weather | Leave a comment

Reducing climate change from aviation: could climate-friendly routing play a part?

Posted on 29 May, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Emma Irvine It’s commonly known that burning fossil fuels, like in jet engines, leads to the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) which causes global warming. It is perhaps less well known that, particularly in the case of aviation, carbon … Continue reading →

Posted in Atmospheric chemistry, aviation, Climate, Weather, Weather forecasting | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nice weather, atmospheric blocking and forecasts

Posted on 11 April, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Oscar Martinez-Alvarado With the beginning of spring (either the ‘meteorological’ spring on 1 March or the ‘astronomical’ spring on 20 March, as the Met Office explains here), the UK and indeed the whole Northern Hemisphere start experiencing warmer weather. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Environmental hazards, Numerical modelling, Weather, Weather forecasting | Tagged | Leave a comment