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Monthly Archives: May 2013
Can we predict the kinds of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma?
Through the end of last week, this spring had been well behind the average in number of reported tornadoes in the United States. Though we are still running a lower than average year, the recent devastation in Moore, Okla., has brought tornadoes back into the news in a dramatic way. Continue reading
Category: Severe Weather
Tags Dangers, Severe Weather, Thunderstorms, Tornadoes
Comments Off on Can we predict the kinds of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma?
Tags Dangers, Severe Weather, Thunderstorms, Tornadoes
Comments Off on Can we predict the kinds of tornadoes that hit Oklahoma?
What were those lumpy-looking clouds over Madison last Tuesday
Those types of cloud are called mammatus. They often extend from the bottom of the anvil cloud of a thunderstorm, also called a cumulonimbus cloud, and indicate an intense storm is nearby. This was the case on Tuesday. Mammatus clouds … Continue reading
Which is older: rock ’n’roll or computerized weather forecasting?
Rock ’n’ roll is older, although not by much.
On May 6, 1955, a revolution that continues to this day began with little fanfare: the first daily weather forecasts made by a computer were issued. This was the result of nearly a year of collaborative effort between the United States Weather Bureau, the Air Force and the Navy in what was called the Joint Numerical Weather Prediction Unit, or JNWPU. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology
Tags Forecasting, Measurement, Meteorology
Comments Off on Which is older: rock ’n’roll or computerized weather forecasting?
Tags Forecasting, Measurement, Meteorology
Comments Off on Which is older: rock ’n’roll or computerized weather forecasting?
Can humans control the weather?
We are not sure we can, but we have always wanted to do so! In the past, people rang bells or fired cannons to prevent lightning or cause rain — producing sound and fury but nothing in the way of success.
The scientific era of weather modification took hold in the 1940s and ’50s with the advent of cloud-seeding experiments. In cloud seeding, airplanes drop particles of dry ice or silver iodide into clouds with temperatures below freezing. These particles are very effective in generating ice particles, with the hope of increasing the amount of rainfall or snowfall. Continue reading
