IEM Daily Feature
Monday, 12 November 2007

Got wet without rain

Posted: 12 Nov 2007 07:12 AM


View larger image
Ames RWIS timeseries. Click image for better view
A surge of very moist air made it into the state on Sunday with dew points (green line) rising into the mid 50s in Ames (RWIS site shown). If you get up before noon on Sunday, you should have noticed most surfaces being wet. The reason was that the dew point temperature was warmer than surfaces such as pavement, so air right next to the surface will cool to its dew point and water will be condensed out. The featured plot shows this as the 3 pavement temperatures become nearly equal during the morning hours before temperatures warm well above the dew point. You can also see the effects of the cold front that sweep out the moisture late Sunday night.

Voting:
Good = 17
Bad = 7

Tags:   rwis