History
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If you are looking for information on recent severe weather in Georgia, here are a couple of articles that describe some of the conditions we have felt this month so far along with a tool for showing severe weather reports on an interactive map. I’ve also included a link to a NOAA retrospective on the…
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Jim Angel, the Illinois State Climatologist, noted that today marks the 60th anniversary of the first date that a tornado was seen on radar. Now we have much more sophisticated radars that not only see the storms in multiple dimensions and colors but can also point out flying debris as well as flying birds and…
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Satellite data is the single most important source of weather data used to input into weather forecast models, providing millions of points of information that help to make forecasts accurate. And yet there was a time when there was no man-made satellite looking down on the earth. April 1, 1960 was the first date that…
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Slate magazine published some historical frost maps from 1916 which show the spring and fall frost dates for the US based on the historical climate record from early in the century. You can see the article and copies of the maps at https://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2016/03/28/history_of_climate_change_as_seen_in_frost_maps_from_1916.html. I’ve put a zoomed in version of the spring frost map below. Next…
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Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Tupelo-Gainesville tornado outbreak which brought 12 strong tornadoes to the Southeastern United States on April 5-6, 1936. Approximately 454 people were killed in the storms, most by two tornadoes, which makes this the second deadliest outbreak in US history. Wikipedia also notes that severe flash floods in the…
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Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Super Outbreak of tornadoes, which hit a wide area of the eastern US stretching from Alabama to Michigan. Until 2011’s massive outbreak, it was the largest outbreak of tornadoes in one event on record, with 148 reported tornadoes, 319 deaths, 5484 injuries, and $3.5 billion in damage. I…
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LiveScience posted an interesting story and video today on how changes in climate have affected past civilizations. The 3-minute video focuses on the impacts of the Little Ice Age, a time when the earth was about 1 degree F colder than present due to decreased solar radiation and higher volcanic activity. Some civilizations adapted easily…