This page may be helpful to people searching
for information regarding the current and forecast
freezing levels across Southern BC. The profiles come from
a computer model of the atmoshphere
known as the MM5, run at Washington State University.
This model is run twice a day and new forecasts from
each run are available at about 8am and 8pm PST. Most of the
profile locations are in Washington State but a few are in Southern BC:
Victoria
Kelowna
Comox
Vancouver
Time
Time runs from RIGHT TO LEFT along the x-axis in 6-hour steps out to 72 hours
from initialization. Time is referenced as UTC which is 8 hours ahead of
PST. For example: The early run of the model is initialized at
12 UTC (or 4am PST). The later run of the model is initialized at
00 UTC (or 4pm UTC).
Elevation
Elevations are along the y-axis and are given
by pressure-level. The following are
the conversions of pressure-level to elevation
in a standard atmsophere:
1000 mb = roughly sea-level
950 mb = 500 metres
900 mb = 1000m
850 mb = 1500m
800 mb = 2000m
750 mb = 2500m
700 mb = 3000m
The Freezing Level
The freezing level ( thw zero-degree isotherm)is identified by the roughly
horizontal red-line marked '0' that runs across
the graph. Trends can be clearly identified as time
advances into the future 72 hours.