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Category Archives: Meteorology
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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What is an equinox?
The equinoxes (from “equi,” meaning “equal,” and “nox,” or “night”) occur when the sun’s rays strike the equator at noon at an angle of 90 degrees.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal or spring equinox occurs around March 20, and the autumnal or fall equinox occurs on September 22 or 23. Continue reading
What is a funnel cloud?
A funnel cloud gets its name from its shape — it is a funnel-shaped protuberance from the base of a thunderstorm.
It is composed of water droplets and is often associated with a supercell storm. The funnel cloud often has rotation, and when it does, it’s a harbinger of possible severe weather. Continue reading
Does meteorological science have an impact on public policy?
One key piece of the world’s evolution toward nuclear sanity during the height of the Cold War was motivated by growing understanding of a fundamental meteorological phenomenon: the development of what’s now known as upper-level frontal systems.
The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945, in New Mexico, ushering in the nuclear age. Over the next decade and a half, continuously bigger bombs were tested in our atmosphere and oceans. Most of these bombs were exploded in the Earth’s stratosphere under the assumption that the air never mixed downward into the troposphere, where we all live. Continue reading
Is there any trace of winter left in the Northern Hemisphere?
We have made reference a few times in this column to the areal extent of cold air over the Northern Hemisphere as a measure of wintertime severity, that is, the geographic reach of air of a certain temperature.
Specifically, we have reported on the 23-degree air at 1 mile above the ground (where the atmospheric pressure is just 85 percent of its near-surface value). By mid-July it is impossible to find air that cold at that elevation in the Northern Hemisphere. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Seasons
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