But it is a fact that thunderstorms are caused by daytime heating. That heating will go on for a longer period of time when the days are longer.
Hence, when Tornado Alley has a late arriving season, red flags should be flying...
Good news this morning. Death toll to revised much lower due to double counting.
Also has plenty to do with cool Canadian air meeting with the gulf air loaded with moisture. Right now it still feels like winter in SD. Forty degrees and the coldest April in years. Oh It’s almost June, and it’s still cold.
http://www.calendar-365.com/calendar/
The length of day on March 31 was 12h 38m. The length of day today will be 14h 38m
The length of day March 31 last year was 12h 41m
The length of day May 21 of last year was 14h 40m
Your hypothesis makes no science sense.
There is a scientific reason for longer days this time of year. It is called “Summer.” But it happens every year, amazingly, at this same time.
What is the difference in longer days preceded by cooler weather and longer days preceded by warmer weather.This does not seem to make sense.A cooler spring just means a later start for tornado season, no? The greater heating on longer days is the same.
The cool air from the north meeting warm air of the south is the main culprit. If it were the length of day time, Alaska would be the center of the universe for twisters.
Tornado alley is an area where warm air from the Gulf of Mexico streaming North to clash with Canadian air streaming down to the South.
A longer day means that there is more potential heat.
I have lived in South Minnesota and I have lived in South Texas.
The summer days in South Minnesota, I noticed are very long -- much longer than South Texas.
I imagine a place like Duluth, Minnesota would have a sunset very late on June 22th and a sunrise very early on the June 23rd. A very short night. And a very long day...
“It seems like the days are considerably longer right now than when they were in late March (around Easter Sunday). “
Are you sure? Source?
(kidding)
From what I could tell yesterday, there was ample warning from numerous outlets regarding the outbreak of severe weather. Yesterday's tragedy is due more to the violence of the storm than any perceived 'sleeping' on the part of NOAA. Nobody was asleep at the switch. It was just a horrible, horrible storm.
Duluth will be in blue since it is known for it cold weather.
Brownsville will be in green since it is known for it warm weather.
Duluth, MN May 21 - 5:27am - 8:43pm Duluth, MN April 21 - 6:11am - 8:04pm Duluth, MN March 21 - 7:10am - 7:22pmDuluth, MN June 21 - 5:14am - 9:06pm
Brownsville, TX June 21 - 6:38am - 8:23pm
Brownsville, TX May 21 - 6:41am - 8:12pm
Brownsville, TX April 21 - 7:02am - 7:56pm
Brownsville, TX March 21 - 7:33am - 7:41pm
Note that Duluth has a day that is about 100 minutes longer on June 21 than Brownsville (~ 1 1/2 hours)
The bottom line here is a simple concept on the surface, that becomes extremely complex in short order.
First think of a real, physical greenhouse. Inside it is moist and warmer when it is cold outside, and somewhat cooler when it is hot outside. It is “moderate” because of the humidity in the air.
Now think of the opposite of a greenhouse, the surface of the Moon. If it is daytime, everything is directly hot. But at night, everything is extremely cold. There is no moderation, no moist air, nothing to block the sunlight nor prevent the radiation of heat back into space.
Now think of Earth’s atmosphere. When there are lots of high clouds, radiation from the Sun gets through but is trapped in the atmosphere, and doesn’t radiate back into space as much. When there are low clouds, more radiation is reflected back into space, so the ground is cooler.
However, when there is little moisture in the air at all, visible or invisible, the ground is more like the Moon, getting hot during the day, but cooling off a lot at night.
This can be very noticeable in the desert, dry air with hot days and cold nights.
There is one more twist to things, that the air over the North Pole seems to be shifting back and forth over the high latitudes, like a beanie on a bald head. When the jet stream goes South into the US, cold air from the Arctic rushes down. But then the jet stream pushes back North on our side of the planet, and rides down on the other side, making things cold in Europe and Russia.
And this is kind of unusual as well, but it is a lot more noticeable when there is little moisture in the air. This is why we had a hard winter and a very long spring.
The big question is why is there less moisture in the atmosphere right now?
But if they arrive earlier there will be more of them...can’t win for losin’!
You said ... “Apparently, the US Weather Service has been lulled to sleep by the long cool spell this Spring.”
BUT ... I don’t see anything that indicates that there were lulled to sleep or have done anything different than they always do.
What are you talking about?
You are forgetting the cool air coming down from the Rockies too...
hmm...
Statistical analysis contraindicates your thesis.
US tornadoes are most likely to occur in May.
The days are longer because now we have Daylight Savings Time (do I HAVE to /s?). And Global Warming.