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Category Archives: Meteorology
What is the Beaufort scale?
The Beaufort scale is a method of estimating wind speed based on the general condition of the surface of a large body of water with respect to wind waves and swell.
It is based on observation of sea state rather than accurate wind measurements. This scale allows sailors to estimate the wind speed just by observing the state of the sea surface. Continue reading
What is a cyclone?
A cyclone is a general term for a weather system in which winds rotate inwardly to an area of low atmospheric pressure.
For large weather systems, the circulation pattern is in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. Continue reading
Why was there a reddish tint in the snow this month?
On April 11, there were widespread reports and photos of dust residue on vehicles and tan/brown-colored snow in parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
The origins of these residues can be traced back hundreds of miles to Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Severe Weather
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Comments Off on Why was there a reddish tint in the snow this month?
When does winter really end?
Last year’s 7 inches of snow on April 18 provided vivid evidence that, though early April often brings the first string of nice spring days to southern Wisconsin, we are not truly out of the woods until the end of the month.
Despite the possibility of such an outlier event, recent research at UW-Madison has considered the variability of the end of winter based purely on temperatures above the surface. Continue reading
What is the Coriolis force?
Newton’s laws of motion mathematically describe how objects move when forces are exerted on them.
Earth is spinning like a top, even though to us who are standing on Earth, it seems that we are not moving. Newton did not account for Earth’s spin in his equations. The Coriolis force appears as an extra term when Newton’s laws are transformed to account for Earth’s spin. Continue reading
