As we know, there are numerous meteorological phenomena that stand out for being strange and not happening very often. One of the rare meteorological phenomena is the warm blowouts. This phenomenon occurs when the precipitation that has fallen evaporates when crossing a layer of dry or very dry air in an environment that is relatively warm.
In this article we are going to tell you everything you need to know about hot blowouts, what are their characteristics and curiosities.
What are warm blowouts
When precipitation evaporates as it crosses a layer of dry air in a warm environment, it is usually convective, as in a thunderstorm. When this water falling from the sky evaporates, it causes the descending air to cool and become heavier than the surrounding air. As the air cools, It becomes denser compared to the air circulating around it in the warmer environment.As a result, it descends to the surface at great speed. Eventually, all the precipitation within the descending air will evaporate.
Once this has happened, the air is completely dry and there is no longer any type of evaporation that can take place at that time. Therefore, the descending air can no longer be cooled down and undergoes another processThe air continues to descend toward the surface due to the momentum it has acquired by weighing more than the surrounding air. The dry air descends and is heated by atmospheric compression, which increases as it descends.
It should be noted that air density will begin to decrease due to the increasing temperature. However, as the air descends, it already has a large amount of momentum that it carries to the surface. With the increase in temperature and the resulting decrease in density, the speed of the descending air can gradually decrease, so dry air will continue to descend as it gets hotter and hotterThis rise in temperature is due to the compression heating we mentioned earlier.
How Hot Blowouts Happen
Eventually, the descending air reaches the surface and the momentum with which it moves horizontally along the surface in all directions results in generating a strong wind. This wind is normally a gust front. What's more, the inclusion of the very warm, dry mass of air from above causes the surface temperature to rise dramatically and rapidly. With this increase in temperature, the dew point at the surface decreases rapidly.
It should be noted that the presence of all these atmospheric conditions constitutes the necessary ingredients for a hot burst to occur. However, it is very rare for all these conditions to be met. To identify hot bursts, a temperature and humidity profile from a radiosonde is presented. This helps determine the environment conducive to generating hot bursts.
This radiosonde It is capable of displaying environmental characteristics and vertical profiles of temperature and humidity that are used to observe air movement.The dry, high-quality layer at low levels and the wet, unstable layer at mid-levels are where precipitation and subsequent warm bursts would develop.
These warm gusts are often accompanied by very strong surface winds and are very difficult to predict. However, the most favorable environments are well known thanks to observations or forecasts from various meteorological models. You can learn more about this phenomenon in our article on thermal blowout.
Examples
We are going to see some examples of hot blowouts that have occurred in the world. Some examples of extreme heat gusts or blowouts reported around the world include the temperature in Antalya, Turkey, on July 10, 1977, which was 66,3 ° C; On July 6, 1949, the temperature near Lisbon, Portugal, from 37,8 ° C in two minutes rose to 70 ° C, and Apparently an incredible 86 ° C temperature was recorded in Abadan, Iran, in June 1967.
News reports said dozens of people were killed there and the asphalt streets liquefied. These reports from Portugal, Turkey and Iran are not official. There does not appear to be any information other than confirmation of the original news report itself, and studies of meteorological observations in the area at the time of the alleged incident did not show any evidence to support these extreme reports.
Kimberley from South Africa confirmed a blowout that raised the temperature from 19,5 ° C to 43 ° C in five minutes between 21: 00-21: 05 during the storm. A local meteorological observer stated that he thought the temperature had actually risen above 43 ° C, but his thermometer was not fast enough to register the highest point. At 21:45 p.m., the temperature dropped to 19,5 ° C.
Blowouts in Spain
In our country, there are also some cases of warm downbursts. These phenomena are typically associated with strong gusts of wind and a sudden rise in temperature. The water contained in this air descends and evaporates before reaching the ground. It is at this moment that the descending air heats up due to the compression caused by the increasing weight of the air column above it. As a result, this phenomenon occurs. sudden intense heating of the air and decrease in humidity.
Meteorological experts say that clouds can be seen rapidly evolving vertically, indicating strong vertical updrafts. Although they appear to be clouds rapidly evolving vertically, they can even resemble tornadoes. Warm blowouts often occur at night or early in the morning when the temperature on the surface is lower than the layer immediately above it.
Due to their destructive effects, these hot bursts can be mistaken for tornadoes, as they are also associated with strong wind gusts. However, they can be distinguished by the trail of damage they leave behind.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about hot blowouts and their characteristics.