2010-05-07 22:48 | fche blog flying odd flow

Here in southwest Ontario this afternoon, there was an unusual weather pattern. Looking straight up, one could see clouds moving in opposite directions. It was like an animation in a planetarium (remember those?): standing still, but the whole upper hemisphere rapidly shifting/rolling, with some smaller foreground objects moving in other directions. This is the first time I noticed this in a natural steady-state setting.

This METAR from nearby Hamilton says part of the story:

CYHM 071900Z 02009KT 4SM -SHRA BR FEW015 BKN047 OVC070 09/08 A2991 RMK CF2SC5AC2 SLP134

So at the ground level, we had a mild northeast breeze (from 020 degrees at 9 knots) carrying a few clouds at 1500 feet.

The next solid overcast cloud layer was at 7000 feet. The METAR doesn’t show the movement, but the upper winds forecast does:

STN YYZ 3000 6000 9000 12000 18000
FDCN01 1005 2008+04 2425+01 2446-03 2553-14

So at 6000 and especially 9000 feet, a wicket southwesterly wind blew (200 degrees at 7 knots, then 240 degrees at 25 knots).

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