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Category Archives: Climate
What is the status of the ozone hole?
Ozone occurs about 18 miles above the surface. Ozone is both caused by and provides protection from damaging ultraviolet energy emitted by the sun. The development of an atmospheric “ozone layer” allowed life to move out of the oceans and onto land.
The ozone hole occurs high over the continent of Antarctica. It is not actually a hole, but rather the appearance of very low values of ozone in the stratosphere. Typically, the Antarctic ozone hole has its largest area in early September and lowest values in late September to early October. Continue reading
Do September temperatures foretell the nature of the winter?
After the recent abnormally cold period, which has left us 3.2 degrees colder than normal thus far in September, a lot of people have been wondering if September temperatures can be a harbinger of what is to come in the winter.
Everyone recalls last winter as a persistently cold season during which we experienced a four-month period (December 1 – March 31) with an average temperature that was 7.44 degrees below normal. Interestingly, last September was 2.7 degrees above normal and last October was 1.0 degrees above normal. Continue reading
Category: Climate, Meteorology, Seasons
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How does the Farmer’s Almanac make its forecasts?
The Farmer’s Almanac makes seasonal forecasts and recently came out with its winter forecast.
The Farmer’s Almanac does not share how it makes its forecasts so it cannot be judged scientifically. There is no proven skill of its forecast accuracy. Continue reading
What causes urban flooding?
Urban flooding occurs when water flows into an urban region faster than it can be absorbed into the soil or moved to and stored in a lake or reservoir. It can be caused by flash flooding, coastal flooding, river floods or rapid snow melt.
On Tuesday, the Madison area experienced urban flooding caused by an intense rainfall. On that day, a daily record rainfall of 1.46 inches fell at Dane County Regional Airport, breaking the city’s previous May 27 record of 1.27 inches. The city sewage system and draining canals did not have the necessary capacity to drain away the large amounts of rain that fell in a short period of time. Continue reading
Do wind farms modify climate?
The turbines on wind farms convert the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity. So, we might expect to see some changes in the region due to this energy conversion. The impact will be a function of how big the wind farm is and how long the turbines operate.
One way to estimate changes is through observations. The best method is to compare the observation of a region before and after wind farms are installed. Unfortunately, there are rarely enough observations before the wind farm installation to make strong conclusions about any observed relationships. Continue reading
