Pneumonia front

map showing motion of pneumonia front of 20–21 May 2008

The term Pneumonia front, first coined by Milwaukee Weather Bureau Office in the 1960s,[1] is used to describe a rare meteorological phenomenon observed on the western Lake Michigan, USA, shoreline during the warm season. These fronts are defined as lake-modified synoptic scale cold fronts that result in one-hour temperature drops of 16 °F (8.9 °C) or greater.[2]

They do not necessarily have to be synoptic, or large scale, cold fronts. Very often in the Spring to early summer the temperature difference between the cold lake waters and the warmer air over land can be as much as 35-40 °F. Under weak prevailing winds, a density current can often develop in the form of a lake breeze that moves from that water to the adjacent shoreline and several miles inland. This "lake-breeze cold front" can drop temperature in places like Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay significantly as they cross the area. There has been many a Spring day at Wrigley Field that surprises people who may have travelled from an inland location toward the shore to take in an afternoon game, only to feel the effects of the "pneumonia front" as that cold blast of air comes through.

The following are sixteen occurrences of a lake modified synoptic scale cold front or "pneumonia front".[3]

Date Location
June 13, 1909 Michigan City, Indiana
May 21, 1938 Will County, Illinois
June 6, 1967 Cook County, Illinois
June 30, 1975 Lake County, Indiana
July 1, 1983 Kenosha County, Wisconsin
July 17, 2003 Lake Michigan
May 20, 2008 [4] Eastern Wisconsin (Lake Michigan)
May 21, 2008 [5] Eastern Wisconsin (Lake Michigan)
May 26, 2008 Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois; Lake and Porter counties, Indiana
April 25, 2009 [6] Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois
June 1, 2009 Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois
April 21, 2010 Cook, Lake and Will Counties, Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties, Indiana
May 13, 2011 Cook, Lake and Will Counties, Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties, Indiana
March 15, 2012 [7] Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois; Lake County, Indiana; Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin
April 13, 2014 Cook, Lake and Will Counties, Illinois; Lake and Porter Counties, Indiana
May 27, 2014 Cook, Lake and Dupage Counties, Illinois; Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin
September 29, 2014 [8] Cook, Lake, Dupage and Will Counties, Illinois; Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha Counties, Wisconsin

References

  1. ↑ Skilling, Tom (May 27, 2008). "WGN Weather Center Blog". Retrieved 2007-05-28.
  2. ↑ Adrian, Bart (May 27, 2008). "Bart_Adrian's Blog". Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  3. ↑ "The Impromptu Weather Blog". May 27, 2008. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080907185011/http://community.myfoxmilwaukee.com/blogs/Bart_Adrian/2008/05/21/Did_You_Feel_the_Pneumonia_Front_Last_Night. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080530170746/http://community.myfoxmilwaukee.com/blogs/Bart_Adrian/2008/05/22/It_Happened_Again_Last_NightAnother_Pneumonia_Front. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Chicago Tribune". April 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  7. ↑ "Another day, another record broken as warm spell shines on". Chicago Tribune. March 15, 2012.
  8. ↑ http://wgntv.com/2014/09/29/brace-for-the-pneumonia-front-skilling-says-jarring-20-30-degree-temp-drop-to-hit-tonight/

External links

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