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The Phantom Plume of SW OK?

NealRasmussen

NealRasmussen

EF2
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
107
Location
Corinth, TX
Does anyone know what the Phantom Plume in SW OK is?

There has been a radar signature showing up for at least a week now in
SW OK, WNW of Altus, I think near Vinson. With our westerly flow, it
appears as if a wildfire plume, but only lasts a short time, and then
floats away. Strangely curving rapidly within 60 mi to the SE.
Often there are two puffs, and then nothing. This is really weird.

Check out a radar loop from FDR right now and you can see it, although
with our stagnant Global Warming winds today, it's just forming a large
blob.

Curious in Noooorman,
Neal
 
Oh, and yes, bats maybe. But the plume goes quite high to be able to
curve back to the SE on prior days. I don't think bats would go high enough
to do that. But I'm not a batologist.
 
Given the fact that the radar echo has the exact same source, a similar growth/spreading pattern, and is occurring at about the same time each day (within an hour or so) and the path is somewhat close to the observed low level winds, I'd say you're certainly looking at a patch of bats or some other native bird going for a nocturnal flight.
 
How close is this "phantom plume" to the radar source? Wouldn't flying too close to that much microwave energy result in, pardon the expression, Kentucky Fried Chicken?
 
But that's just it Jeff Duda, it doesn't follow low level winds.
The prior days it would bloom up and float NE'erly and then turn E
and then ESE or even SE. Indicating to me that it was at least getting
to 500mb if not 300! Bats go 15k ft? How would they get back?

If it is a bat plume, I want to do a timelapse!

As to the KFC, ha! funny. But no, this is 30 mi from the site.
 
Ok, 30 miles makes sense. I was just thinking back to my Skywarn training, when the instructor told us that a person standing any kind of close to the radar dish would be fried. Add the mention of native birds to that, and you get my lame KFC joke.

As for how high bats can go, 15k feet would be severely stretching it, as they need quite a bit of oxygen. Because of this, most bats won't go higher than about 10,000 feet tops, but I do believe the record for bat flight is in the 20k range, and it was set in Texas.

Some types of migratory bird, however, can and will fly as high as 20,000 feet above the ground, so if a good flock of them was to appear far enough away from the dish so as not to become, ahem, Oklahoma Fried Migrating Bird Species, they could certainly be at that 500mb level.
 
Well I'm no expert on bats, but the signatures I saw when I looked at the data reminded me greatly of bat signatures on radar I've seen other places, like here. I suppose it could be some other flying animal, too, one that is strong enough to oppose the low level winds.
 
There are several known bat caves in southwest and northwest Oklahoma, including the Selman (near Alabaster Caverns). That is definitely what you are seeing.
 
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