The most amazing female meteorologist

Awestruck….I’m still in awe from an opportunity I had last Friday.

Last week, I my radar class visited the radar site for Denver (KFTG). That giant tower you see above…yeah that montrosity is it.

It sits on 12 feet of concrete underground and puts out so much power (750 kW), if you put a hot dog close to the transmitter, it would get nice and krispy.

But that’s not why I am in awe. I mean that thing is awesome but it wasn’t the thing that inspired me.

That would be the woman who led the field trip. Her name is Nezette Rydell, and she’s the Meteorologist in Charge at the Boulder National Weather Service. Yep, I had to Google her name because it’s not a name you come by often.

Nezette looks like a sweet Texan grandmother. She doesn’t give off a standoffish vibes I noticed from other meteorologists and had a real interested to talk to my fellow students and I. But when she opens her mouth, that’s when your jaw drops.

“What we are looking at today,” she said excitingly, “Is a WSR-88D radar. The transmitter puts out 750 kW of power and does a full volume scan in 6 minutes.”

Well, I wasn’t expecting that! Not to say women don’t know their stuff. It is just since I started my meteorological scholastic career I’ve only heard from men. I mean, every single conference I’ve been to or class I’ve had, a man is the one spouting out the technical jargon. And if I can say quite frankly, the way she was able to explain something so technologically advanced, it made me so happy!

As a female budding meteorologist, I feel like I’ve had a little bit to prove within myself. Coming from a journalistic background, it has been a struggle to train my brain to do the math and physics. And, for the most part I’ve been in a lot of male dominated classes, where usually the people who are able to answer things out-loud (even though a lot of my female friends also knew the answers) in class are all…men. And I am not ashamed to say, I’ve also heard sporadically throughout my life that men are better at the sciences then women.

So just to see a woman, who is the big boss at I would say one of the hardest Forecasting Offices to get in to (seriously, you need a PhD or at least a master’s degree to even be considered) be able to spout of all this technical jargon and to just show how smart she is….I can’t even begin to describe how inspired I am.

It makes me realize, as a woman, that I can go and do well in this field to. I can know all this jargon and that either I or any of my female counterparts could be the MIC (Meteorologist in Charge) of their County Warning Area. We can be chief meteorologists. And because we are also learning how to code and work in fields of instrumentation, there is no telling what the future holds.

Needless to say, I have hope for the future. And that, makes it all worth it.

Until then,

-M

 

Welcome Back to The World!

Hi guys!

I missed you all so much. Now that I have fully been on vacation and have figured out how I am going to attack this semester. I can happily announce that I am back to blogging.

So let’s start with this weekend. The picture above is from, I kid you not, the view from our porch of our cabin for the weekend. I seriously love Colorado.

Although I can’t tell you exactly where this picture was taken because the place where I was is particular about media coverage I can tell you it is somewhere in between Estes Park and Nederland on Peak to Peak Highway in Colorado.

The nice thing is even though things are starting to cool down here, it is still warm enough to get around and hike a bit. It is also still warm enough for wildlife to be out.

I was lucky enough to see some deer over the weekend too. I literally just shut the door after taking the dogs out for a hike when a herd of deer swarmed my cabin. There were 4 in total (One buck and 3 does) and they seemed happy enough to graze around while I frantically search for my phone to take a picture. The pic above is of the one straggling doe that stuck around just so I could get her picture.

But my weekend was not just all fun and games.

I also got in a lot of reading too. If you are geeky about meteorology and want to learn about radar, I highly recommend this book. I am currently reading this because I am taking a course in radar and satellite at school however, the professor who wrote this book sells these on his website for about $40.

Just thought I would write a little update for you. Hope to have more interesting blog posts soon.

Until then,

-M

Here’s to another new beginning

(The Weather Lab at my school)

Hey guys,

It is the start to a school semester. I could go on and on….blah blah blah…. about starting school again in the fall and how nervous I am and excited to see friends, but this start is a little different for me.

A lot of things have happened in the span of the spring semester to the fall semester. (Yes, I got highlights. Thanks for noticing 😉 ) At the end of the spring semester, I got sick. Like really sick. Like so sick my family and I were questioning whether I would return to school. The good news is I made it through and was able to take one class during the summer. I even passed Calculus 2!!!!!! (That’s a miracle in itself)

But you can’t blame me for being a little nervous to get back in the saddle in the weather lab (pictured above). I love weather with everything in me. I wish I would have studied it sooner. But that lab, there’s just something about it where I feel like I need to attack the tasks in there and prove to myself that my illness didn’t own me.

I didn’t mean to get all deep. Just thought I would share amongst friends.

Wish me luck! And oh, if you are starting school tomorrow too, best wishes and go get ’em!

-M

Why Does It Get Hot Before Summer?

Hello one and all!

It’s officially summer. So why in the world does it get so hot before summer officially starts? In the video above, I explain why. As always, I hope you enjoy it.

Please subscribe to my youtube channel. The link is at the end of the video. Thanks so much and I will see you on Friday for your weekend forecast.

Until then,

-M

Denver Forecast 4/22/16

Howdy everyone!

You know what all that red means on the map above?! It is going to be in the 70s this weekend!

Yep, following last week with the bitter cold and snow…we have sunshine in the forecast for this weekend! But beware, some more cloudy weather may be ahead for the next week. I’ll keep you posted as always on this blog.

So here is what your forecast for this weekend:

IN BRIEF:

Friday: High of 68

Saturday:

High: 73

Low: 49

SUNSHINE!

Sunday:

High: 67

Low: 44

SUNSHINE!

IN DEPTH:

The Metro area will benefit from what remains of a high pressure system. You can see it plotted in the map below:

As you recall, the reason for last weekends snow storm was a low pressure system that came from the Pacific Northwest. That low, by the way, has almost worked its way to the East Coast by now. Friends on the East Coast, you will have some stormy weather to contend with this weekend.

But true to the way things go in the atmosphere, the high pressure system has taken over and high pressure= gorgeous sunny weather in springtime. And with the high pressure and more clear skies brings more solar radiation which brings warmer temps to our area.

You can see temperatures plotted on the GFS 40 model below that most of Eastern Colorado will receive 70s on Saturday! Some of Southern Colorado will see 80s too (white color)

But this nice weather may end soon. We have another low pressure system that may affect our weather in the next week. As seen in the picture below, a low will form over Montana and Wyoming at the beginning of next week. We are at the bottom of the low in Colorado, but it could very well affect us soon. Some models are projecting almost an inch of rain on Tuesday, but I like to have caution and will say we won’t get much rain in the beginning of the week.

I will be keeping an eye on the weather as always this weekend. I will have more on your next work week on Sunday.

Until then, enjoy the sunshine!

-M

Denver Area Forecast: 3/22/16

UPDATE (9:45 p.m. MDT): 

BLIZZARD WARNING in effect for the Denver-Metro area. National Weather Service estimates 6-12 inches  overnight. Will cause issues for the morning commute Wednesday morning. Please be safe and weather aware.

————————————————————————–

It may seem sunny now, but just you wait, Denver, it is going to get chilly!

Yes, snow will replace the warm sunshine for those who live in the Denver-Metro area, probably overnight or Wednesday morning. I’m going to be conservative with the snow totals for this blog and say that we will get less than an inch.

With the change up in the weather, there will also be an increase of winds. Some meteorologists and models I have seen so far say gusts of approximately 40 mph.

But the good news is, it starts to heat up a smidge and we will see more stereotypical spring-like weather on Thursday and Friday with a chance of showers on Friday.

Hope all is well and as always be safe and weather aware.

Until then,

-M

It Will Never Be The Same

A long time ago (in  a galaxy not so far away), I had a TV meteorologist who I used to work give me some advice on going back to school. The one thing she said to me that really stuck (besides, well going back to school would be tough. I mean that was pretty important too) was “The way you look at the world will never be the same.” And ya know, she was right.

Little did I know how right she would be. That now instead of just looking up at the skies and seeing clouds or watching it snow or even trying to calm my dogs down during a thunderstorm that I would see it all differently in just a year of meteorology school.

Now I see a entirely different world than the one we are currently living in. I see clouds being formed by evaporation from the Earth and oceans with so many little water droplets being suspended in the air. I see layers of the atmosphere that each have their own characteristics that make them so unique. Like in this Skew-T screenshot I took a few days ago.

It may look like squiggly lines and numbers to the untrained eye but this tells weather folk about different levels of the atmosphere, it’s temperature, the winds in each layer and even where the possibility for precipitation will occur or even how spinny (yes, spinny. Don’t shake your head at me.) a storm could become (i.e. tornado).

Instead of it being breezy or so windy it could knock you and your loved one over, I not only think, we should really get inside, I wonder where did the wind come from and where is it going? Is it just winds traveling from high to low pressure or is part of a front too?

Pic from a website that not only shows you where the winds are blowing on a map but also how fast they are going. You can see all the current winds in the world and where they are headed.

And even while I lay here in bed, writing this to you, and wondering if the symptoms from my migraine will ever end, I feel joy from looking outside my window at the clear blue sky and knowing that we are currently in a high pressure system.

No matter what happens with people or your day or even what will happen in the future, there is an entire world going on around you that is so complex and beautiful. And I am really lucky I get to study it.

So yes, she was right. It isn’t the same. And I don’t ever want to go back. So thanks for the advice!

Until then,

-M

 

 

I found my weather “thing”

(picture from a website showing all the winds in the United States. This is right over Colorado. P.S. Follow me on Instagram! @megmontgo)

Good afternoon everyone!

Yes, it has been awhile. Almost over a month! That’s pretty insane to think a month has gone by.

So what’s new with me? Well, besides crazy health problems, I am in the thick of my semester. And I found my weather “thing”!

What do  I mean by “thing”? It isn’t just something reserved for Dr. Seuss. Usually in the meteorology community, everyone likes one aspect of weather. I have a friend who is into forecasting for wildfires, another who is crazy into snow, another likes climatology and we have a professor who is into weather instrumentation. I never knew that meteorology was so multi-faceted until I started hanging out with fellow weather nerds.

So, what’s my thing? I am really into wind!

I think is the coolest thing in the world and it has so many applications. Wind moves based on pressure and temperature and helps even out the Earth’s atmosphere. Wind data can tell you if a front is moving through, where a high and low pressure system is forming (tells you the difference of where storms will be and who will have a clear day), and can even be applicable with severe weather.

Here are some interesting facts about wind:

• Last week, there was a gust in Monarch Pass, Colorado that was more than 140 miles per hour! To find out how that happened, read this article from Dr. Marshall Shepard.
• The record for highest wind speed is 231 mph at Mount Washington, New Hampshire
• A instrument that measures wind speed is anemometer.
• The fastest wind speed in a tornado was measured to be 318 mph in 1999.

I hope you all enjoy these facts and are blown away (sorry, I had to!) by all these facts!

Until then!

-M

 

 

 

Great Meteorology Videos To Watch

Hey there everyone!

Welcome to the start of another week. If you are on the east coast, I really hope you are safe and warm! This snowstorm is pretty much everything it should be and I am really thankful to all of those in the meteorological community who warned about it because it could have been a lot worse.

I was thinking about what I like to do when I am shut in due to inclement weather. What I like to do is watch lots and lots of Youtube videos all about weather! So, I decided to make a playlist of all the good weather-related videos I have seen out there by other science nerds on the internet (because let’s face it, I like to share cool stuff from other people too!). Click here and it will take you to my Youtube page. Scroll to the bottom and it will take you to the meteorology video playlist.

Here’s a taste of some of the videos that I have on my playlist:

• What Causes Stripey Clouds?
• How Rainbows Form
• How to Make a Cloud in Your Mouth
• What’s the Difference Between a Solar and Lunar Eclipse?
• And many more!

I hope you all enjoy this playlist. I will update it as I see more and more. And please don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel to keep up to date on all weather videos.

Until then,

-M

How Snowflakes Get Their Shape

You’ve heard no two snowflakes are the same but did you know the reason is it all depends on the weather outside?

I researched what goes into the shape of each snowflake and why. And it has to do on several factors. But, did you know that there are actually FOUR different types of shapes to each snowflakes?

Watch my new video above to find out. Click here to go directly to my channel for more videos.

Until then,

-M