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Category Archives: Severe Weather
How do you stay safe from lightning?
There is no place outdoors that is completely safe during a thunderstorm, so the saying goes, “When thunder roars, go indoors!”
The safest thing to do is to get inside a safe building or vehicle. A safe building is one that is covered with a roof, walls and floor, and has plumbing or wiring. Stay away from metal and electrical equipment, including computer, plumbing and faucets. Keep away from windows and doors, and don’t hang out on a porch to watch the lightning storm. Continue reading
When is Wisconsin’s tornado season?
Tornadoes can happen in just about any location and at any time, although the chances of having one in late fall and winter are small.
For example, there have been only six tornadoes in Wisconsin during the month of November, and Wisconsin has never recorded a tornado in February.
On average, there have been 21 tornadoes touch down in Wisconsin in a year, with a record 62 tornadoes in 2005. For the 20-year period between 1991 and 2010, there was an average of nine tornadoes in the month of June. Continue reading
Did weather play a role in D-Day?
Friday marked the 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe and the beginning of the end of Nazi tyranny and murder in World War II. A perfect combination of full moon (for nighttime aerial navigation purposes), low tide (so that German mines in Brittany would be exposed) and light winds were necessary to give the invasion any reasonable chance of success.
Thus, days on which the tides and phase of the moon were optimal were known some weeks in advance. As late May arrived, it became increasingly clear that choosing among those optimal days for invasion would depend crucially upon the weather and the ability to make an accurate forecast of weather conditions.
Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Severe Weather, Weather Dangers
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Are the jet stream and tornadoes related?
Wintertime weather is driven largely by the parade of upper-level weather systems carried rapidly eastward by the high level winds known as the jet stream.
The jet stream is a ribbon of high-speed wind (located at nearly 6 miles above the surface) that is related to the strength, and location, of the pole-to-equator temperature contrast. Continue reading
Who controls the tornado sirens?
The sirens around Dane County are not just for warning about tornadoes.
Although tornado warnings are by far the most common cause for the sounding of the alarm, the sirens are used for other hazards. Continue reading
Category: Meteorology, Severe Weather, Weather Dangers
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