Severe Turbulence Hit an Alaska Airlines Flight from Seattle to Phoenix. Why?
Updated: 2024-12-29 22:15:00
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 29, 2024 Severe Turbulence Hit an Alaska Airlines Flight from Seattle to Phoenix . Why On Thursday , at approximately 1:35 PST , an Alaska Airlines flight ASA 700 flying at 33,000 ft between Seattle and Phoenix , hit severe turbulence near Las Vegas , dropping approximately 200 ft over a few seconds . nbsp Several flight attendants and one passenger were . injured What is the meteorological explanation and could this unpleasant event have been avoided A few details first . nbsp Below is the flight path , with the star showing the aircraft's location when severe turbulence hit . nbsp Weather radar is also shown color shading There was no precipitation in the
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 27, 2024 Was Yesterday's Forecast a Success Time for a little inside baseball on weather forecasting , particularly regarding yesterday's wind . event There were a few comments about the forecast not being as dramatic as predicted I will let you be the judge after we examine the model forecasts and what actually . occurred Early . uncertainty I refrained from discussing this event until the prior day Wednesday Why Because there was substantial uncertainty regarding the track and intensity of the key low center . nbsp The main tool meteorologists use to examine uncertainty is evaluating ensembles of many . forecasts To illustrate , below is the ensemble of
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 25, 2024 Major Wind Threat over the South Sound and Eastern Slopes of the Cascades I have been watching the predicted development and path of a small low center and the trend of the runs has been . ominous The predicted path is nearly optimal for producing strong winds from Seattle to Olympia , with a near certainty of power outages . nbsp So if you live in this region . get ready . nbsp Quite a blow is now only 6-15 hr . away Here is the situation . nbsp By 4 AM Thursday morning , a 981 hPa low center will be positioned over the NE side of the Olympics Three hours later it will move over NW Washington , with an intense pressure gradient over southern Puget.gif)
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 23, 2024 Another Northwest Bomb Cyclone with Localized Strong Winds Don't tell the media folks , but another midlatitude cyclone will be bombing off our coast today , with some local . impacts A reminder : nbsp A bomb cyclone is a midlatitude cyclone that intensifies rapidly the sea level pressure drops by roughly 24 hPa in 24 hr A hPa hectopascal is a unit of pressure The recent moisture channel satellite image of the storm is impressive , with the darkened area a potent sign of rapid . intensification Let me show you the latest European Center sea level pressure forecast to illustrate the rapid development . nbsp Earlier this morning 6 AM the low center was
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 22, 2024 Big Waves in Hawaii . Why There is a lot of excitement in Hawaii today , as large waves from the northwest reach the north coast of Oahu , making possible the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational a surfing competition only open to the most elite surfers . nbsp This competition REQUIRES waves reach at least 40 ft in height at the venue : nbsp Waimea . Bay NOAA has a buoy just offshore and so far it has only reported a significant wave height of around 6 meters 20 ft But the highest waves can substantially exceed the significant wave height and waves can grow as they feel bottom close to the shore . The significant wave height is the average of the highest
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 20, 2024 An Intense Christmas Atmospheric River . No California Drought This Year One of the most overused terms used by the media is atmospheric river Yes , even more hyped than bomb cyclone . But this week there will be an atmospheric river worth noting . and I will discuss . below Atmospheric River Overuse Although the term , atmospheric river , was first used in the late 1990s , the phenomenon was well-known for decades before that : a plume of warm , moist air leading cold fronts associated with midlatitude . cyclones Virtually every midlatitude cyclone low center has such a plume of moist air . nbsp To see how omni-present atmospheric rivers are , below
: . Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 17, 2024 Time is Running Out . Will the Northwest Make Up its Precipitation Deficit Most of the Northwest has experienced below-normal precipitation this year , but half a month is . left Can we catch up As the insightful Yogi Berra said famously : nbsp The game ain't over till it's over Consider the accumulated rainfall green over Seattle compared to normal brown for 2024, shown . below Seattle is down about 8 inches normal is about 37 inches In eastern Washington , Pasco is below normal , but by far less just under an inch behind Looking at the whole region , the difference from normal for precipitation from January 1 to December 5 is quite varied . nbsp
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 15, 2024 NOAA's Future and Project 2025 Several media stories have suggested that Project 2025 will be the blueprint for the Trump administration's termination or break up of NOAA and the National Weather Service . nbsp I have received at least a half-dozen calls or messages asking about it . nbsp Let's soberly consider the Project 2025 recommendations without a political . lens As many of you know , Project 2025 is a project of the Heritage Foundation , a conservative think-tank . nbsp It is their recommendation to the new administration . nbsp According to President Trump , he has nothing to do with Project 2025 and does not feel bound to follow its :
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 13, 2024 Update on the Windstorm and Power Outages The most recent model forecasts are shifting the low center towards us , illustrated by the animation below . nbsp This means more pressure difference gradient over Puget Sound and NW Washington , which means more wind , particularly over and near Puget . Sound Before I show you the latest wind forecast , below are the maximum winds so far today through 7 PM 40-50 mph northeast of the Olympics and along the Washington Coast . nbsp 35-40 mph along the western foothills of the Cascades . nbsp Only a few scattered outages so far . but the big action is in the . future With the subtle shift of the low , the winds
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 12, 2024 Power Outage Prediction Maps for the Friday Saturday Storm As a new service of this blog , I will indicate the areas where powerlines might be damaged by the approaching storm . nbsp You can't say you don't get cutting-edge products on this site Perhaps the forecasts might help local utilities pre-position necessary . assets The latest European Center sea-level pressure forecast is for a very respectable 977 hPa low with a ring of strong winds wrapping around it shown at 4 AM Saturday , winds in knots No , this is not some doomsday machine and , no , nbsp it is not a BOMB . CYCLONE I will not hype this storm like some amateur sites and certain local .
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 11, 2024 A Major Cyclone Will Approach Our Coast But Not a Repeat of November 19 A very strong , rapidly developing , midlatitude cyclone will approach the Northwest coast on Friday and move through on . Saturday Fortunately , the wind situation will be far less threatening in the interior compared to the November 9 event . nbsp This blog will explain why . nbsp But big waves may cause problems on the northwest . coast Let's start with the predicted sea level pressure and surface wind gust map at 10 AM Friday morning . nbsp Pretty scary looking , with a 979 hPa low-pressure center . nbsp Strong winds up to 60 knots will occur in a ring around the low center .
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 06, 2024 Front versus Cold Pool It may be the most noteworthy battle since Gozilla versus . Kong For over a week , a formidable pool of cold , dense , cloud-laden air has settled within the Columbia Basin see visible satellite image from Thursday The cam at Mission Ridge ski area this morning looked down on the cloudy miasma that covers the Columbia . Basin With a deck of low clouds in place and little solar radiation reaching the surface , the surface air temperatures in the Columbia Basin have been startingly , constant holding in the lower to . mid-30sF As an example , here are the temperatures at Grant County Airport near Moses Lake . nbsp A week of
: Cliff Mass Weather Blog This blog discusses current weather , weather prediction , climate issues , and current events December 03, 2024 The Fog Bowls of Washington State The visible satellite image this morning around 10 AM is impressive , with low clouds and fog enveloping the lowlands of Puget Sound , the Willamette Valley , and the entire Columbia . Basin The clouds are associated with cool , dense , moist air trapped within the lower elevations of regional . basins The cold air is quite shallow . nbsp I can demonstrate this with the temperatures at SeaTac around noon today below Temperatures were in the 30s near the surface , while lower 50s were observed above roughly 2200 . ft A strong inversion , with temperature increasing with elevation , was evident between . them Or consider