[Ads-l] Pop-up storm

[Mark Mandel]

I picked up a new weather term on the ABC-6 Eleven O'Clock News. Certain
weather conditions can cause small isolated thunderstorms to "pop up"
unpredictably in different parts of an area, while other parts are dry and
perhaps even partly clear.

Searching the web for this was a bit tricky: the first results were flooded
with "weather pop-ups" on computer screens, like this one:

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How Microsoft’s Windows 10 Pop-up Ruined A Live TV Weather Report
*(https://fossbytes.com/windows-10-upgrade-popup-live-tv-weather-report/
<https://fossbytes.com/windows-10-upgrade-popup-live-tv-weather-report/>)*

April 28, 2016

*Short Bytes: In a weird incident, Windows 10 upgrade pop-up ruined a live
TV weather report being telecasted on KCCI 8 News. The relentless nagware
interrupted a weather report, asking meteorologist Metinka Slater to
upgrade. *

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These, though, are to the point:

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Why Pop-Up Summer Thunderstorms Are Among the Hardest Weather to Predict
*(https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/pop-up-summer-thunderstorms-hardest-weather-predict
<https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/pop-up-summer-thunderstorms-hardest-weather-predict>)*

Most meteorologists would agree summer is the most challenging time of year
to forecast the chance of rain. There is typically plenty of moisture and
instability to help fuel the development of scattered showers and
thunderstorms, particularly in the South.

The triggers for thunderstorm development can be tough to pinpoint in the
summer. Rather than distinct warm and cold fronts, summer thunderstorms
sometimes flare up on subtle outflow boundaries from previous
thunderstorms, sea-breeze fronts, higher terrain or in a more random
pattern.

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'Pop-up' storm forecasting program added to FAA flight planning system
*(http://www.uah.edu/news/research/popup-storm
<http://www.uah.edu/news/research/popup-storm>)*
NOV 21, 2011

"The problem of predicting when convective storms will form is huge," said
Dr. John Mecikalski, the system's creator and a UAHuntsville Associate
Professor of Atmospheric Science. "Thousands of cumulus clouds form every
day and only about 1 percent of those develop into storms. The challenge
was to find a way to predict which clouds are about to turn into storms."

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Mark Mandel

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org