Clipper Season is Here
Ξ November 3rd, 2009 | → | ∇ Weather |
The only sign of it’s influence was the clouds of this morning, but to our north is an Alberta Clipper that will track through the Dakotas to eastern Minnesota by midnight tonight. The air at the surface is very dry so we did not realize any precipitation from those clouds because it evaported before it hit the ground. So what is a “clipper”?
This is a term you’ll be hearing us say more often now that we are in clipper season. Clippers, often refered to as Alberta Clippers because they originate in the Canadian Province of Alberta, are low pressure systems that track from western Canada through the Northern Plain states of the Dakotas thus ‘clipping’ the lower 48 states as they pushing southeast to the mid Atlantic states. They are typically fast moving sytems that generate light to moderate rain or snow, with very few producing significant snowstorms. Sometimes these storms can intensify along the east coast and blow up into a nor’easter, a powerful storm that hugs the eastern seaboard. They are also known to produce rapid temperature changes as they tap colder air from the north and pull it southward. Winds from these systems can also be quite strong.
Less common names are Saskatchewan Screamers or Manatoba Maulers, which is pretty much the same type of storm named according to the Provinces from where they originated.
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