The 'Real Deal' About Our Freezing Level
"The temperature is freezing at my house right now...so how can the freezing level be higher than Mt. Hood? That doesn't make sense."
Maybe you asked that question during my forecast tonight. Some cities in the Willamette Valley were already freezing by 6:30p.m., yet I gave the freezing level as 11,500 feet. What gives?
Well, the elevation we give for the freezing level is actually the
free air freezing level
That is, in a spot where the air does not touch anything, how high do you have to go before temperatures drop to 32 degrees? Tonight, the answer is 11,500 feet. That was determined by a weather balloon launched from Salem at four o'clock in the afternoon. That balloon traveled several miles up before it popped and then parachuted back to earth.
So what about the freezing temperatures at your house? Well most of the time, it's the chilly ground that actually cools our air closest to the surface where we live. And because that air is touching the ground, it is not the free air freezing level.
So that's the answer. Have a great weekend!
Meteorologist Bruce Sussman
