Weather Tidbits: Dynamic Cooling

This Weather Tidbits will discuss the process of dynamic cooling. This involves the cooling of the atmosphere via rising air and precipitation. This cooling is maximized when a storm is strengthening, producing heavy precipitation and strong rising air. Air cools as it rises, which results in water vapor condensing, thus leading to precipitation. The precipitation can start off as snowflakes or raindrops depending on how cold the air initially is. Snowflakes and raindrops can melt and evaporate respectively with any subtle warm or dry layers in the atmosphere. The processes of both melting and evaporation take in heat energy to convert a solid to a liquid and a liquid to a gas, which will resulting in the cooling of the surrounding air. When the precipitation is heavy, this cooling process is most efficient. So, when temperatures are marginal and close to 32 degrees, dynamic cooling alone can cause a transition in precipitation from rain, to a rain/snow mix, and potentially to all snow.