Climate science
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I typically do not mention the Farmer’s Almanac (or the Old Farmers’ Almanac) in my blog because I know how unscientific it is and how poorly it does when rigorously tested. But I thought you might enjoy reading this blog post from the Colorado Climate Blog written by my colleague Peter Goble, who goes into…
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Here is a new term for me. I have not heard of the term “Atlantic Niña” before. But according to NOAA’s ENSO blog, an Atlantic Niña is similar to a Pacific La Niña in that it brings colder than normal ocean water to the surface of the eastern Atlantic. NOAA is expecting one to form…
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Many one-day high temperature records were set in the 1930s in the United States. There is no doubt that there was very hot weather during that time in the central US, and a lot of that can be linked to land use changes caused by misuse of farmland as well as some shifts in ocean…
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As I am sitting at home writing this, I hear thunder outside. One of my favorite sounds any time of year! You may be interested to know that there are several types of lightning that can occur in the atmosphere. This recent post from my friend Alicia Wasula of STM Weather describes the different types…
Posted in: Climate science -
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 -
What is the maximum amount of precipitation a storm could dump on a given area over time? This is a question that is studied by scientists at NOAA (I used to work for this research group many years ago). We need to know it for design of large projects like dams that require prudent planning…
Posted in: Climate science -
Do you know why summer is the hottest season? It’s not because the earth is closest to the sun then. In fact, on July 5 the earth reached its farthest distance from the sun, a point that is called “aphelion” (I think of it as “a” for “away”). The Northern Hemisphere is hottest in June…