Ryan Vandersmith
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ryanvandersmith.com
Ryan Vandersmith
@ryanvandersmith.com
55 followers 13 following 43 posts
Software engineer and cloud enthusiast.
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"Brocken spectre" in the fog last week near Boulder! #COwx #wxsky
April 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
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Another day, another dusty mid-latitude cyclone.
#wxsky #ilwx #mowx #inwx #coldcore #tornado #severeweather
March 20, 2025 at 12:02 AM
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Incredible satellite view of today's bomb cyclone.
Credit: College of DuPage
#wxsky #wavecyclone #severewx
March 15, 2025 at 5:18 AM
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Cloud iridescence near Boulder today #COwx
March 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
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"Subsun" optical phenomenon this morning near Boulder, Colorado. #COwx
February 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
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Above the clouds yesterday morning! #cowx #cloudinversion
February 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
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Forecast visualization of the cold front sweeping through eastern Colorado today.
#COwx @bianchiweather.bsky.social
February 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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Flatirons looking frosty this morning #cowx #boulder #co
January 19, 2025 at 2:08 PM
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Cross section view of the arctic front interacting with a mountain wave today, inverting the vertical velocity field. #cowx #wxsky
January 18, 2025 at 3:37 AM
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Visualization of the cold front moving through Colorado this afternoon through tonight based on HRRR forecast data. Blue lines indicate boundaries / horizontal wind shear.
#COwx #Colorado #WYwx #Wyoming #WxSky @bianchiweather.bsky.social
January 17, 2025 at 11:01 PM
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Freezing fog + downslope winds + Christmas lights = magical views.
#cowx #wxsky #cloudinversion #boulder #colorado #citylights #weather
January 8, 2025 at 5:39 PM
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Yet another sunset cloud inversion earlier today! Denver city lights in the background. #cowx #timelapse #freezingfog #cloudinversion #bouldercounty #denverco #photography #abovetheclouds
January 6, 2025 at 4:22 AM
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Time lapse of a winter shortwave trough passing above a cloud inversion yesterday on the Front Range.
#cowx #wxsky #cloudinversion #coldfront #snowstorm
January 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM
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Time lapse of fog above the city lights of Boulder, Colorado last night. #cowx #wxsky #cloudinversion
January 3, 2025 at 9:28 PM
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Reanalysis cross section of the mountain wave amplification during the Marshall Fire. Today's setup is less potent from a downslope wind standpoint but still worth taking seriously due to the elevated fire risk. #COwx #COfire
December 30, 2024 at 4:59 PM
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This photo lines up almost perfectly with the RAP cross section for today's mountain wave over the Front Range #cowx #wxsky
December 29, 2024 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Ryan Vandersmith
wxkylegillett.bsky.social
An example of the new "stepwise" CAPE and CIN plot being tested for SounderPy in the bottom right. The left sounding is north of the front, the right sounding is south of the warm front.
December 28, 2024 at 3:47 PM
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Time lapse of rotor clouds spinning over the Front Range foothills yesterday, produced by a trapped lee wave. #cowx #wxsky #cofrontrange #colorado #mountainwave
December 23, 2024 at 7:22 PM
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Cross section of the mountain wave structure overnight. The ~100 mph gusts were suggested at least 4-5 hours ahead of time by the RAP forecast model, which showed extreme amplification with similar downward velocity to the windstorm which caused the Marshall Fire in 2021.
#cowx #wxsky
December 19, 2024 at 5:46 PM
ryanvandersmith.com
Soundings should include a more detailed visualization of the inflow layer to indicate tornadic, mothership, or large hail environments at a quick glance.

Examples (with explanations in comments):

Thoughts? @cameronjnixon.bsky.social @sambrandtmeteo.bsky.social @convchronicles.bsky.social #wxsky
December 18, 2024 at 3:52 AM
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Keep an eye out for a lunar corona tonight if you're underneath cirrus clouds! Photos from the full moon last month. #cowx #wxsky
December 17, 2024 at 3:35 AM
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Cross-section view of the amplified mountain wave on December 30, 2021 which produced 100mph wind gusts and fueled the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's history.

#MarshallFire #COwx
December 16, 2024 at 3:19 AM
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Streamline plot of last night's downslope windstorm on the CO Front Range, inspired by @sambrandtmeteo.bsky.social's visualization of the recent Santa Ana wind event in California. Work in progress!
#cowx #wxsky #mountainwave #windstorm #dataviz
December 12, 2024 at 1:18 AM