Author Topic: Alternating bands of warm and cold  (Read 741 times)

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Offline Beaudog

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Alternating bands of warm and cold
« on: February 15, 2014, 10:57:15 AM »
What do you call this phenomenon?    Around dawn and dusk when I walk from my house to my horse barn (1/4 mile) I encounter bands of warm and cold air.  They are about 100  feet wide and the temperature difference is quite evident, at least 5 degrees or more.  It only happens when the air is calm or almost calm.

I think it is caused because I live on the slope of a large valley. At least a 100 miles across. The floor is about 200 msl and my house is 5000msl and the ridge behind me is another 1000 feet of elevation and consist of a Gazillion tons of solid granite.  I can't tell if the warm air is coming up from the valley or cold air is maybe flowing over the top of the ridge.

Here is a picture of my house showing the valley and how wide it is.


Offline stevebrtx

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Re: Alternating bands of warm and cold
« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2014, 03:06:25 PM »
When I used to live on Lake Travis, TX we'd ride our "go" boats standing up and you often would feel "bands" of cooler air as you went down the lake, never knew why? (of course in TX in the summer, anything less than 100 degrees was "cooler")

Offline ocala

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Re: Alternating bands of warm and cold
« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2014, 03:31:54 PM »
Beautiful place Beaudog. No neighbors, gotta love that. :-)
Maybe it has to do with the vegetation. Around the house there is none but on the outskirts it rings the property. Outside of that I wouldn't have a clue.
The blues had a baby and they named it Rock & Roll

Offline Scalphunter

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Re: Alternating bands of warm and cold
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2014, 04:51:32 PM »
Stagnated air  as it is not mixing. As Steve stated he  seen it on lake I have seen it  traveling  by ship or  small craft on the Channels here in SEAK. Water be  flat calm , not an ripple on it so there no mixing of the air. Other times  would go into little  down drafted and it be warm and out of it be cool.



John. 

Offline SlowModem

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Re: Alternating bands of warm and cold
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2014, 07:06:10 PM »
What is Stratification, Alex?
Greg Whitehead
Ten Mile, TN USA

Offline ValentineWeather

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Re: Alternating bands of warm and cold
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2014, 07:43:02 PM »
Probably running into cold air pooling starting to develop. I happen to live in an area that can be 5-10 degrees cooler on calm clear nights over the higher mesa top only a couple hundred yards away. Walking in the evening or riding a bike it is real evident with drastic changes in the range of 5+ degrees almost instantly. Even during the daytime (winter low sun angle) if there is light winds and no mixing valleys will continue to hold the colder air.
I found this UK article about a small valley area. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/news/colpex
Randy