Hi Tweets,

In reply to Andy Stepniewski's query n climatic conditions, Jack Bwling wites::

>Bingo, Andy. The relentless storm track from the west "buckled" several
>days ago with a strong ridge of high pressure forming along the coast.
>This ridge is now moving east of the Rockies which puts Tweeterdom
>into a warm southwesterly flow. The simplest way to describe the
>situation is that all the birds that were bottled up by the cold west
>winds are now riding northwards on a warm southerly wind. Enjoy!

Oh, yes! Here's a few weather-related URL's which I've found really useful
in a.) seeing what the weather's gonna be like for the next few days and b.)
seeing what relationship to migration might be.

Jet Stream location has a lot to do with it, and you'll quickly see the
relationship between jet-stream position and incoming weather: 1.) if you're
south of it, you're generally warmer than when you're north of it; 2.) if
it's going right over you, storms will travel over you like bowling balls in
the return gutter:

http://www.weather.com/weather/maps/#JetStream

These forecasts nailed the warming-up several days before it happened as it
predicted the 'buckling' noted above by Jack. As you see the jet-stream
patterns over time, you'll be able to astound your friends and confound your
enemies with your seeming prescience.

and the animations for the mid-Pacific Coast, showing what's ahead for the
next couple-three days, what systems are inbound, where the cold fronts are
and which way they're headed--it's *really* cool to try to relate regional
bird movements to the unfolding weather patterns shown on this animation:

http://www.weather.com/weather/sat/animated/westsat_756x484.html

and for wider Pacific Ocean context:

http://www.weather.com/weather/sat/animated/pacglobsat_756x484.html

for the international maps (ie, for Canada, for example):

http://www.weather.com/weather/maps/#IntSatellite

When these stop-action animations (called 'time lapse loops' on the
weather.com website) come up from the main menu, they're in a smaller
450x284 square format; to get full-screen 756x484 format, either use the
above URL's or simply click once on the small-format image to bring up the
larger one.

These URL's are good to relate to birding: if you've any interest in
migrational dynamics, they're very informative, and for giving a sense of
the unfolding of the majestic (and there's a word I don't use comfortably
more than once a decade) processes of our atmosphere, they're invaluable.

Incidentally, if anyone's interested in why weather works the way it does,
there's a great novel--yes, a novel--from the early 1940's by George R
Stewart called 'Storm' which is still a great read: it's unevenly written
but still one of the best intro's to weather I've ever read. And a piece of
small Broadway musical trivia from it: it provided the inspiration for the
lyricist who did 'Paint Your Wagon' with the name for the song, They Call
the Wind 'Mariah'.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net