Apparent Gravity Wave possible in New Jersey ....

[Stormsfury]

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/md/md2615.html

[weatherlover427]

For NYC that can't be good. :o Hopefully the wind speeds will stay low.

[Stephanie]

What causes this and is it just wind or is it water (i.e. wave) we're concerned with as well? I've never heard of this before.

[Stormsfury]

What causes this and is it just wind or is it water (i.e. wave) we're concerned with as well? I've never heard of this before.

Gravity waves aren't easily understood but this should help a little bit ... I've posted about gravity waves before and ironically, one year ago, a gravity wave event affected the GSP area of responsibility ...

It's a very long and extensive read ...

http://www.stormsfury1.com/Weather/GravityWave.html

[Stephanie]

Thanks SF!

I just saw a report on Fox News that Atlantic City had a wind gust of 58 MPH and in Toms River, just to the north had a wind gust of 70 MPH. Power lines are down there and there was a partial roof collapse at a JC Penney's at a mall.

[Valkhorn]

Why are they called Gravity waves? Seems to me they have nothing to do with the force of gravity...

Is it due to some sort of gravitation?

[Stormsfury]

Why are they called Gravity waves? Seems to me they have nothing to do with the force of gravity...

Is it due to some sort of gravitation?

Gravity wave is a misleading misnomer, isn't it? ...

Anyway, the four important rules ...

describe four sounding criteria which must be met in order to infer the presence of a suitable duct:


a layer of strong static stability must exist near the surface;

a critical level cannot exist within the stable layer;

the stable layer must be thick enough to contain one-quarter of the vertical wavelength corresponding to the observed phase speed of the wave; and

a conditionally unstable (or "reflecting") layer must overlie the stable region.

[Houstonia]

Are gravity waves similar to straight-line winds? My sister in Michigan has seen extensive damage from straight-line winds.

[Stormsfury]

Are gravity waves similar to straight-line winds? My sister in Michigan has seen extensive damage from straight-line winds.

No ...

Straight line winds are almost always associated with convective (thunderstorm) activity. The Gravity Wave phenomena, in layman terms, usually occurs right behind the main precipitation field and a strong mid-level jet disrupts the stable layer along the surface ...

It's still not widely understood but my page above and its parent links to Gravity Waves should help somewhat with the conditions that must exist for Gravity waves to form ...

Meanwhile, I found another case of Gravity Waves with apparent effects which aided in the development of a severe hailstorm ...



http://www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/gwavecb.htm