Sam Brandt
@sambrandtmeteo.bsky.social
Meteorologist - BS 2022, MS 2024, currently pursuing PhD at Penn State University
Rainbow in Ramblewood this evening
May 18, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Rainbow in Ramblewood this evening
For the second time in under a year, I saw a supercell and the aurora within the same day. October 6th, 2024 (left) and May 16th, 2025 (right)
May 17, 2025 at 4:35 AM
For the second time in under a year, I saw a supercell and the aurora within the same day. October 6th, 2024 (left) and May 16th, 2025 (right)
The beauty of central Pennsylvania's ridges and valleys
May 13, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The beauty of central Pennsylvania's ridges and valleys
Photos from my walk today at Lake Perez
April 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Photos from my walk today at Lake Perez
Strange to only mention climate in the headline, but this would also effectively kill R&D at NOAA. Do you enjoy America’s status as a top player in numerical weather prediction that provides its world-class data for free? Under this proposal, we would fall behind the world in a matter of months.
Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency
White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted
www.science.org
April 11, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Strange to only mention climate in the headline, but this would also effectively kill R&D at NOAA. Do you enjoy America’s status as a top player in numerical weather prediction that provides its world-class data for free? Under this proposal, we would fall behind the world in a matter of months.
How to identify streamwise vorticity on a hodograph, in 60 seconds
April 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
How to identify streamwise vorticity on a hodograph, in 60 seconds
The hodograph parameter critical angle is meant to quantify how streamwise low-level shear is, but it can be misleading due to its non-linear relationship with streamwise %. You don't have to be particularly close to 90° to still have almost entirely streamwise shear.
April 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The hodograph parameter critical angle is meant to quantify how streamwise low-level shear is, but it can be misleading due to its non-linear relationship with streamwise %. You don't have to be particularly close to 90° to still have almost entirely streamwise shear.
For me at least, energetics is the most intuitive approach to understanding cold pool dynamics. I've done a writeup about it here:
April 1, 2025 at 12:42 AM
For me at least, energetics is the most intuitive approach to understanding cold pool dynamics. I've done a writeup about it here:
Despite being an essential part of a severe weather forecaster’s toolkit, hodographs have a notorious learning curve. So, I have put together this 3D animation as a visual aid to help those new to hodographs understand what they’re showing.
March 29, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Despite being an essential part of a severe weather forecaster’s toolkit, hodographs have a notorious learning curve. So, I have put together this 3D animation as a visual aid to help those new to hodographs understand what they’re showing.
Aurora tonight in central PA!
March 22, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Aurora tonight in central PA!
Went to Black Moshannon State Park last night to try out star trail photography for the first time
March 19, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Went to Black Moshannon State Park last night to try out star trail photography for the first time
Lunar eclipse in Boiling Springs last night. For these celestial events, I always try to focus on a unique, zoomed out composition rather than the telephoto shots you see from everyone else.
March 14, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Lunar eclipse in Boiling Springs last night. For these celestial events, I always try to focus on a unique, zoomed out composition rather than the telephoto shots you see from everyone else.
Sunset in Dillsburg tonight
March 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Sunset in Dillsburg tonight
State College sunset yesterday
February 24, 2025 at 1:43 AM
State College sunset yesterday
First central PA aurora of 2025 tonight! Negative bz + low GOES mag does the trick in solar maximum apparently
February 19, 2025 at 2:15 AM
First central PA aurora of 2025 tonight! Negative bz + low GOES mag does the trick in solar maximum apparently
Wind and rain in State College this afternoon
February 16, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Wind and rain in State College this afternoon
I see waaaaaaaay too many people trying to use LLMs as if it was an internet search engines and treating output as genuine fact. It's not a database search, it's a model trained primarily to generate text that sounds like a realistic response to your prompts.
February 15, 2025 at 11:09 PM
I see waaaaaaaay too many people trying to use LLMs as if it was an internet search engines and treating output as genuine fact. It's not a database search, it's a model trained primarily to generate text that sounds like a realistic response to your prompts.
22° halo in Dillsburg tonight with a nearly full moon and cirrus associated with an approaching winter storm
February 11, 2025 at 6:10 AM
22° halo in Dillsburg tonight with a nearly full moon and cirrus associated with an approaching winter storm
