cartography

First freezing night in the Great Smokies

September 29, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

Overnight the temperature dropped to 25Â° F at the Newfound Gap weather station, elevation 5,000 ft. Mt LeConte at 6400 ft above sea level recorded a low temperature of 31Â° F.Â The slight warming at 1,400 ft higher in elevation is caused by a temperature inversion that most frequently happens in autumn mornings.

The lowest temperature recored at Mt. LeConte for September 29 was 24Â° F and that happened in 2003. The coldest night ever recorded since 1988 was -22Â° F, which occurred last February 4.

Station reports for 7:30 am, September 28 – 7:30 am, September 29:

STATION             ELEV    HIGH    LOW     PCPN    SNOW DEPTH
SUGARLAND CENTER    1600     75      45     0.00
NEWFOUND GAP        5000     62      25     0.00
CADES COVE          1900     73      44     0.00
OCONALUFTEE         2040     79      42     0.00
MOUNT LECONTE       6400     57      31     0.01

http://www.outrageGIS.com/weather/grsm

Filed Under: Great Smoky Mountains, News

All weather cams are up

September 26, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

Look Rock, Sept. 24

After a few months of intermittent outage, all four weather observation cameras for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are now operational. We archive full-day animations for 3 webcams and the visible satellite view of the park every day at:
http://www.outragegis.com/weather/img/animation/yesterday.

For previous days, you can access other days by replacing “yesterday” with the 6-digit year month day combination. For example, for September 24, 2009 replace “yesterday” with “090924”and create this link:
http://www.outragegis.com/weather/img/animation/090924.

For highest resolution images, just click on the preview images.

The two National Park cameras are located on Look Rock and Purchase Knob. Look Rock camera overlooks most of the park. The two National Forest cameras, Cold Mountain and Joyce Kilmer Wilderness, overlook small portions of the park.

Now let’s watch fall pass in the mountains!

Filed Under: Great Smoky Mountains, News

Sept 12: Sheltowee Trace Meeting in Winchester

August 20, 2009 by cartography 2 Comments

The Future of the Trace: Sept 12, 2009

Join a group of trail enthusiasts and forest & park officials at the Daniel Boone NFS headquarters in Winchester to discuss the future of the Sheltowee Trace. We need as many committed folks as possible to attend. Voice your support for the Sheltowee Trace.

If you would like to attend, you can RSVP here with a comment so we can plan for breakfast and lunch!

Time: 9:30am
Where: Clark County Extension Office (map below)
1400 Fortune Dr
Winchester, KY 40391-8292
(859) 744-4682

Preliminary Agenda

9:30 to 10:00 â€“ Meet and Greet â€“ Coffee, Juice and Bagels, Donuts provided.

10:00 Opening Comments

Frank Beum, Forest Supervisor, Daniel Boone National Forest
Steve Handley, Big South Fork National Recreational Area, National Park Service
Carey Tichenor, Ky State Parks and Recreation
Steve Barbour, Interim Executive Director, The Sheltowee Trace Association

10:30 â€“ Updates on the Current Condition of The Trace in each Ranger District and Plans for the next 12 to 24 months

10:45 â€“ Current Management Plan Development

Federal and State Funding Levels
Challenges of a Muti-use Trail
Current on-going volunteer programs
Short Term and Long Term Maintenance Issues
Trace Blazing – Signage
Land Acquisition
Trace Relocation
Maintaining Easements
Development of the Volunteer Base
Promoting The Trace across the state

Following these discussion will be a session on forming the Sheltowee Trace Association, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and protecting this National Recreation Trail.

Map:Here

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

Woodland Art Fair, Aug 15-16

August 15, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

Come down to the Woodland Art Fair the is Saturday and Sunday and check out our new maps. We will have the spring release of the Red River Gorge and the Sheltowee Trace South, both of which were designed and printed in the past 6 months. The map to out booth is provided below: [Read more…]

Filed Under: News

Sheltowee Trace Suspension Bridge Quiz

August 11, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

How many scenic suspension bridges exist on the Sheltowee Trace and where are they? If you think you know the answer, then please take our quiz and you might win some free maps.

Directions: If you can name or locate all of the suspension bridges on the Sheltowee Trace, then you can receive our new Sheltowee Trace map for free. Name all of the them and tell us which is the largest and which is the smallest, then you’ll get three free maps of your choice.

How to submit you answer: Email your answer to contest@outrageGIS.com beginning Friday, August 21, 2:00pm EST. You must be the seventh correct email to win. You only get one try and we’ll take your first answer.

If you’re not the 7th person to answer either question correctly, then you will still receive a bonus coupon to use at our online store. Just give it a try!

Ok….which bridge is this? If you need a little help, visit http://www.sheltoweetrace.com

Filed Under: News, Sheltowee Trace

Lexington Community Gardens

July 13, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

London Ferrell Community Garden

Locations of Lexington’s community gardens. Gardens maintained by Seedleaf: Nourishing communities by growing, cooking, sharing, and recycling food.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News

Neck deep in the Sheltowee Trace

June 16, 2009 by cartography 4 Comments

After the successful release of our new edition of the Red River Gorge Backpacking Guide last May, we’re now deep into making a comprehensive map of the Sheltowee Trace.

This is our most ambitious mapping and publishing project yet. Weâ€™re showing the entire 282 miles of foot, equestrian, and multiuse trail at 1:32,000 scaleâ€¦thatâ€™s 1 inch to a 1/2 mile. So in this publication, you’ll be able to hold the full Trace in your hands…all 12 feet of it.

Let’s think of it a different way. To show this trail adequately, weâ€™re designing and printing over 24 sq. ft. of map at full-color. That’s equivalent to making a 4×6 foot map that labels every stream, destination, and trail. This is a generous allotment of time and paper, but the trailâ€™s incredible beauty and future deserve it. The Sheltowee is Kentucky longest hiking trail and frankly certain parts need to be used more by hikers.

Like our other maps, the Trace map will be a fine navigation tool. We’re dropping in latitude/longitude grids for GPS navigation, mile markers for the Trace that have been meticulously measured, 50-ft topographic elevation contours, canopy cover, and connecting trails and trailheads.

We’ll release the South edition for the Woodland Park Art Fair this August, with the North edition following shortly after. Each edition will have same format: an overview map that gets you to the major trailheads and the topographic trail maps. The image on the left shows a draft of the overview map. To the general layout of the detailed maps, visit here (note these do not show any text yet, just a preview of how we’re gonna make the Sheltowee).

The Trace is a 286-mile National Recreation Trail that connects recreation areas in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Big South Fork, Cumberland Falls, and Natural Bridge State Park.

Filed Under: Sheltowee Trace

Animations of the Atmosphere

June 5, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

As a lover of the atmosphere and sun, I want to see how light and sky change over the course of the day. I also want to see how large-area weather events, such as the passage of a front, impact different places in the Great Smoky mountains. The inspiration behind this page was a desire to record weather changes at different elevations on a mountain and to help the photographer in me better understand a secretive and dynamic landscape.

Enter Yesterday: a site of prior-day animations of federal web cams and satellite imagery located here at http://www.outragegis.com/weather/img/animation/yesterday. Note this page always shows conditions for the prior day since they are full-day timelines.

The Great Smokies have about one mile of vertical relief and weather conditions can be dramatically different depending on your elevation. Whatever it’s a line of thunderstorms or fog in the valleys on a calm morning, this is a visual record of evolving conditions…only of course it happens during daylight. For the weather nut who likes to take it a step further, the page gives data from park’s 5 weather stations for the same day….and it’s all archived.

How was it done? After tinkering with ImageMagick and FFmpeg, I made a script that creates full-day animations of the webcams in the Great Smokies and visible satellite images from NOAA. What will it become? Consider it a visual archive of the atmosphere and movements of the Sun in the Great Smokies. Any suggestions are welcome.

Some notes for updates: I haven’t fully utilized the flash embedded video (see the two samples below, top is animated gif and below is embedded flash video). The problem is setting animations in sync together, e.g., sun rises at the same time in all movies. With an animated .gif, I think you simply need to refresh your browser after all of the images are loaded to get a partial sync. A better solution is out there. I can also increase the sampling rate for smoother play; now it’s two samples an hour.

Weather map and webcam animation for the Great Smoky Mountains

Weather map and webcam animation for the Great Smokies


[flv:http://www.outragegis.com/weather/img/animation/090603/PurchaseKnob.flv 400 290]

These are also archived, so if you go to the smokies for a backcountry trip, you’ll be able to find your days here.

Filed Under: Great Smoky Mountains, News, Weather

Bike Lexington Month

May 29, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

So the month of May is nearly done and with it, ends the month-long celebration of the bike and human-powered travel. As a hiker, I often worry about my environmental impact during a drive to a favorite trailhead.

How can I minimize fuel consumption and make better? I reason that if I bike as my primary form of transportation, I will only need to drive during my trips to the woods. This works great if I have a network of safe and continuous bike lanes and trails in the city. Enter Bike Lexington.

I’m proud to say that I contributed a small share to bike community here. I took the artwork designed by Cricket Press (shown by the poster design left) and made the Bike Lexington interactive calendar (shown here), which hopefully encourages people to bike more. Building the site definitely exposed me to vibrant groups and events that helped me stay committed to biking in Lexington.

After this month is over though, biking doesn’t stop. Check out the website for new events throughout the year or join the newsletter subscription to stay updated.

Filed Under: News

Ridge Trail at Cumberland Gap NHP

May 9, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

Cumberland Gap Map
Distance: 16 Miles round-trip from the Civic Park trailhead at Ewing
Difficulty: +++
Scenic Views: ++++
Elevation Relief: 2,000ft ^^
Ownership: Cumberland Gap, NPS

Cumberland Gap Trail Map: $14

Camp Hensley

The Pixel Team hiked up to Hensley Settlement after the Southeastern Foot Trails Conference and it was a fantastic, sublime experience. Sherman Hensley hiked up this mountain in 1903 with his pregnant wife and all of the tools and livestock they could drive. They saw a large, flat expanse on the mountain summit and carved out a pioneer homestead. Two backcountry camps are within 0.5 miles of this historic community.

Ridge Trail overlook

[Read more…]

Filed Under: All Hikes, Hikes: Cumberland Gap Tagged With: Hiking Maps

Rainy May: on track to be the wettest May ever

May 8, 2009 by cartography

Spring is typically a wet month. However over the past week, Eastern Kentucky has experienced unusual rainfall amounts. The record for the month is 10.78 inches in 2004; and no other year has been above 10 inches for May. The only year that saw over 9 inches of rainfall for May was in 1995. May during 1983 and 1984 were the only times over 7 inches of rainfall.

From the National Weather Service in Jackson, Kentucky:

"2 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS EASTERN KENTUCKY DURING THE
MONTH OF MAY. THIS IS OF INTEREST...SINCE WE ARE ONLY ABOUT ONE
QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THE MONTH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS VERY
POSSIBLE AS WE HEAD INTO MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND AND COULD PUSH RAINFALL
AMOUNTS UP ANOTHER INCH OR TWO.

THE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH OF MAY AT THE JACKSON
WEATHER OFFICE IS 4.92 INCHES. WE HAVE ALL READY RECORDED 4.12
INCHES OF RAINFALL AS OF THIS MORNING AT 7AM. IT IS TOO EARLY TO TELL
...BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY ON TRACK TO HAVE ONE OF THE RAINIEST MAYS
EVER. THE RAINIEST MAY OCCURRED IN 2004 WHEN THE JACKSON WEATHER
OFFICE RECORDED 10.78 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS THE ONLY MONTH
OF MAY THAT OVER TEN INCHES OF RAIN FELL. MAY OF 1995 HAD 9.91
INCHES AND WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH OVER 9 INCHES RECORDED. THE NEXT
HIGHEST TOTALS WERE OVER 7 INCHES AND THAT OCCURRED IN ONLY TWO
YEARS...1983 AND 1984.

HERE ARE RAINFALL TOTALS FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY COOPERATIVE WEATHER
STATIONS AND AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVING SYSTEMS AS OF 7 AM
EDT...FOR THE MONTH OF MAY 2009.


LOCATIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  /Â Â  COUNTYÂ Â Â Â  /Â Â Â Â  PRECIPITATION


BARBOURVILLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  KNOXÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.38Â  INCHES
BAXTERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.85Â  INCHES
BEATTYVILLE 4NÂ Â Â Â Â Â  LEEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.68Â  INCHES
BIG SHELBYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.01Â  INCHES
BOONEVILLE 1SEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  OWSLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.49Â  INCHES
BUCKHORN LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.80Â  INCHES
CARR CREEK LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â  KNOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.73Â  INCHES
CAVE RUN LAKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  ROWANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.28Â  INCHES
CLAY CITY 1WNWÂ Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.77Â  INCHES
CLOSPLINT 4ESEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.55Â  INCHES
COLOÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PULASKIÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.98Â  INCHES
CRESSYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ESTILLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.59Â  INCHES
DRAFFINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.54Â  INCHES
EZELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.31Â  INCHES
GIMLETÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ELLIOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.60Â  INCHES
HARLAN 1SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.80Â  INCHES
HARLAN STATE POLICEÂ  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.95Â  INCHES
HAZARD WATERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.71Â  INCHES
HAZARDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.70Â  INCHES
HAZARD STATE POLICEÂ  PERRYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.95Â  INCHES
HEIDELBERG 2NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  LEEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.05Â  INCHES
BAXTERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.85Â  INCHES
INEZ 2EÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MARTINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.78Â  INCHES
ISLAND CITYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  OWSLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.16Â  INCHES
IVELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  FLOYDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.27Â  INCHES
NWS JACKSONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  BREATHITTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.12Â  INCHES
JEREMIAH 1SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.11Â  INCHES
KINGDOM COME ST PARK HARLANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.12Â  INCHES
LONDON CORBIN APTÂ Â Â  LAURELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.46Â  INCHES
MONTICELLO 3NEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  WAYNEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.00Â  INCHES
MOUNT STERLING 5NÂ Â Â  MONTGOMERYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.41Â  INCHES
MOUNT VERNONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ROCKCASTLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.77Â  INCHES
ONEIDAÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  CLAYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.54Â  INCHES
PAINTSVILLE 1EÂ Â Â Â Â Â  JOHNSONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.55Â  INCHES
PIKEVILLE ST POLICEÂ  PIKEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.05Â  INCHES
PRESTONSBURG 3NWÂ Â Â Â  FLOYDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.09Â  INCHES
QUICKSANDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  BREATHITTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.52Â  INCHES
RELIEFÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.18Â  INCHES
ROGERSÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  WOLFEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.82Â  INCHES
SALYERSVILLEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MAGOFFINÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.28Â  INCHES
SANDY HOOKÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  ELLIOTTÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.67Â  INCHES
SKYLINEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.20Â  INCHES
SLADE 5NEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.86Â  INCHES
SOMERSET 2NÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  PULASKIÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.74Â  INCHES
STANTON 2WÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  POWELLÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.88Â  INCHES
STEARNS 2SÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  MCCREARYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.09Â  INCHES
VICTORY 5NWÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LAURELÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4.13Â  INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 3NWÂ Â Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.67Â  INCHES
WEST LIBERTY 11NWÂ Â Â  MORGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.57Â  INCHES
WHITESBURGÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2.50Â  INCHES
WHITESBURG 2SEÂ Â Â Â Â Â  LETCHERÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3.21Â  INCHES
WILLIAMSBURG 1NWÂ Â Â Â  WHITLEYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  5.14Â  INCHES


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT JACKSON WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL THE
DEDICATED COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVERS FOR THEIR TIMELY REPORTS."

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, Cumberland Gap, NHP, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace, Weather

It is all about Light: a photographers dream

April 20, 2009 by cartography Leave a Comment

The past day’s weather has included periods intense light and shadow from very low, broken stratus & cumulus clouds. Rays of love from god shine from heaven through parted clouds; and there was plenty of love in the mountains. Even in these low quality webcam images, you can see golden rays of light and clearly defined ridges. Now what if you were there with a serious camera.

Though the weather overall has been chilly and uncomfortable, it does give some memorable vistas. The more diffuse stratus clouds in the western mountains were lower in altitude and created softer light.

View from Purchase Knob

Filed Under: Great Smoky Mountains, News, Weather

(raw) 3D map of Eastern Kentucky

April 16, 2009 by cartography

As we gear up for the Sheltowee Trace topographic map, I thought it would be interesting to see if a complete 3d map of the ST could be printed. Unfortunately, it would have to be a huge sheet of paper to get the detail necessary for a good map. But as an online viewer, I see potential. This sample is a raw render output and you can see well the basic physiography. Now we just need to add trails, transportation, labels, etc….nothing too much, just about 6,000 sq. mi. for the Daniel Boone NF.

Explore this map through a zoomable flash map

Filed Under: Big South Fork, NRRA, Cave Run Lake, DBNF, News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

New Red River Gorge Map

April 16, 2009 by cartography

5th Edition Red River Gorge Backpacking Map

It’s almost ready for release!
A complete remake of our popular backpacking guide with the green maps. This new set keeps all of the great features of the old maps, but in full-color and updated trails and data.

Visit our Gorge webpage to learn more: http://www.outrageGIS.com/gorge

In January we looked at the previous editions, all 2-color with an travel elevation profile booklet, and thought how we could improve it. We had used aerial photography to show landcover type, which did a good job indicating density of canopy, open areas, sunlight, and offered a rustic green background for our GPS trails.

However, most people are confused when they look at aerial photographs…they think hills are valleys and vice versa. This terrain inversion is a significant cartographic problem, but we were confident then when most people *used them in the field* they made sense.

While unique advantages exist using photographs, for the new edition we used a custom created, full-color hillshade that shows forest canopy cover type and open areas. We artificially lit the landscape from the west and eliminated terrain inversion. We added a distinct stream symbol to clearly mark drainage. With 50-foot contours and spot elevations, this new edition offers a handsome way to stay located.

Since most GPS applications are now by default in the latitude/longitude (decimal degrees) coordinate system, we added this graticule to the map. A UTM grid is also labeled. With scales on the corners of maps that can be seen while folded, a hiker can quickly determine distance and locate themselves with a GPS in either dd.dddd or UTM coordinate systems.

We still have all of the trail profiles, side trails, backcountry campsites that were in the previous edition. The new edition actually covers more area and trails.

Red River Gorge Backpacking Map: $14

Filed Under: News, Red River Gorge, Sheltowee Trace

A Tale of Two Smokies

April 15, 2009 by cartography

April 15, 2009. We see two very different Smokies today and the highest peaks in the southern Appalachians provide an atmospheric boundary.

On the west side of the mountains we see low dense stratus clouds, but on the east side we have clear skies. As the atmosphere is uplifted over the the highest ridge of mountains there’s cooling and abundant cloud formation. That’s half the story.

The winds are form the northwest and the Smokies (along the Tennessee/North Carolina stateline) provide the highest barrier the winds must cross over. On the leeward side, as the winds cross over the mountains, they descend, warm, and prevent cloud formation especially just east of the summits.

Link to more: http://pixel.outragegis.com/v/weather_maps/090415_TwoSmokies/
These images and animation show a textbook situation of topographic control of weather, but over a very large area.

Filed Under: Great Smoky Mountains, News, Weather

First freezing night in the Great Smokies

All weather cams are up

Sept 12: Sheltowee Trace Meeting in Winchester

Woodland Art Fair, Aug 15-16

Sheltowee Trace Suspension Bridge Quiz

Lexington Community Gardens

Neck deep in the Sheltowee Trace

Animations of the Atmosphere

Bike Lexington Month

Ridge Trail at Cumberland Gap NHP

Rainy May: on track to be the wettest May ever

It is all about Light: a photographers dream

(raw) 3D map of Eastern Kentucky

New Red River Gorge Map

A Tale of Two Smokies

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