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Monthly Archives: September 2013
What’s a 100-year flood?
It is wrong to think that a “100-year flood” happens only once every 100 years. The phrase “100-year flood” describes the estimated probability of a flood event happening in any given year.
A 100-year event has a 1 percent chance (or 1-in-100) of occurring in any given year. Continue reading
How do weather radars work?
Radar, an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging, was invented during World War II to detect aircraft, but precipitation frequently got in the way. The military’s noise is meteorology’s signal. Continue reading
How fast do raindrops fall?
The typical speed of a falling raindrop depends on the size of the drop. Gravity pulls everything downward. As an object falls, it experiences a frictional drag that counters the downward force of gravity. When the gravity and frictional drag are balanced, we have an equilibrium fall speed that is known as the terminal velocity of the object. The terminal velocity depends on the size, shape and mass of the raindrop and the density of the air. Thus, it is worth talking a bit about the shape and size of raindrops. Continue reading
How does this summer compare to last summer?
What a difference a year makes!
Despite the recent hot and very humid weather we have had as August ended, this summer has been remarkably mild compared to our real scorcher last summer.
Recall that by the end of August last year, we had recorded 37 days on which the high temperature had been at or above 90 F. This year the grand total is seven (five of them in a row from July 15-19). Continue reading
