Climate science
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Those of you who like exciting movies may be planning to see the movie “Twisters”, which is somewhat an extension of the movie “Twister” from quite a few years ago about storm chasers competing to get the best tornado footage. Here is a discussion about the science in the movie from Dr. Marshall Shepherd of…
Posted in: Climate science -
In previous years, I have discussed the use of phenology to study changes in climate that go back before instrumental records were available (because the instruments had not been invented yet). Phenology is the study of when plants exhibit biological markers associated with the change of the seasons, such as the first leaf appearance on…
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You’ve probably all seen detailed image of individual snowflakes on dark backgrounds taken by cameras attached to microscopes. The first person who made these thrilling pictures was Vermont farmer Wilson Bentley, nicknamed “Snowflake Bentley” for the thousands of photographic plates he made of individual snowflakes up in Jericho, VT. In his lifetime, he photographed over…
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In my neighborhood, I have noticed some early daffodils blooming far earlier than we usually expect due to some unusually warm conditions in the last few weeks. Even though colder weather has returned to the region, we can expect more ups and downs in the temperature as the weak La Nina vanishes and is replaced…
Posted in: Climate science -
This year, Christmas is shaping up to be one of the warmest on record across a large part of the United States, although here in the Southeast we may miss setting a new record by a few degrees. Still, I am planning on raking my yard on Christmas Eve in shorts and a T-shirt this…
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With the early freeze we had this year, citrus growers in the Southeast are concerned about damage to their trees and crops. This is even more likely this year due to the very weak La Nina and the prospect of more cold outbreaks over the next few weeks. Here is a recent Extension bulletin from…
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Now that it is November, it is time to start thinking about holiday gifts. If you have a weather nerd in your family (husband, daughter, son, wife, or parent), you might consider giving them a home weather station. The New York Times posted a story this week about some stations they recommend. You can find…
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The fall colors of the trees in my neighborhood in Georgia are really starting to come out, although they are not nearly as close to peak as those in the Southern Appalachian Mountains shown in Facebook images that my friends are posting as they travel up to the northeast this weekend. Fall is one of…