atmospheric river

ruzuzu commented on the word atmospheric river

"Atmospheric rivers are long streams of water vapor that form at about one mile up in the atmosphere. They are only 250 miles across but extend for thousands of miles—sometimes across an entire ocean basin such as the Pacific. These conveyor belts of vapor carry as much water as 10 to 15 Mississippi Rivers from the tropics and across the middle latitudes. When one reaches the U.S. West Coast and hits inland mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada, it is forced up, cools off and condenses into vast quantities of precipitation."

-- http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=megastorms-could-down-massive-portions-of-california

December 2, 2012

fbharjo commented on the word atmospheric river

Hence, there are atmospheric arroyos and rain shadows without clouds, also.

December 2, 2012

alexz commented on the word atmospheric river

Here's a good satellite picture of an atmospheric river.

https://twitter.com/PeterVogel/status/1459308627181793280

November 13, 2021

yarb commented on the word atmospheric river

This river's got real atmosphere!

November 25, 2021

yarb commented on the word atmospheric river

In the old days they called this a pineapple express but that was an appropriation of Hawaiian culture.

November 25, 2021

ry commented on the word atmospheric river

I don't think Pineapple Express is really deprecated in meteorology for PC reasons, just informal. Weather reporters in Northern California still use it on air from time to time. Also atmospheric river is hypernymous to Pineapple express, the latter being a particular example of the former

November 26, 2021

yarb commented on the word atmospheric river

Yeah I was just kidding about the cultural appropriation. Still, I think pineapple express is more... atmospheric.

November 27, 2021