MGAUS NCAR March 18 Radiosonde Launches

20150318 140000

 Balloon popped at 62.1 mb. New record! Little to no wind at the surface with nimbostratus clouds above. Strong temperature inversion near the surface; 12 deg warmer 300m above the surface than at the surface. Then the temperature decreased dry adiabatically up until about 600mb. Fairly moist atmosphere up until the tropopause. Wind speeds pick up quite a bit above the surface and are westerly for the most part.

20150318 180000

Overcast. Still little to no surface wind. Temperature inversion just above the surface; smaller than during the 1400 launch. Large, moist layer throughout most of the troposphere. Temperature follows a moist adaiabat from 600mb to 200mb. Strong westerly winds throughout. Note: The launch was initially a little shaky as the software was reporting negative ascent rates to begin with. Aspen software, however, seemed to start recording as soon as the ascent rates stabilized positively.

20150318 220000

LCL around 600mb. Winds become westerly above the surface and speeds pick up as the sonde travels upward. Again, very moist layer from 600mb to the tropopause.

20150319 020000

Surface winds picked up and you could start to smell Greeley (meaning rain soon). Similar sounding to 2200UTC. LCL around 600mb. Large moist layer up until about 200mb. Wind speeds aloft were quite strong and westerly.