Sources of weather and climate data
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Here is a very interesting article about how the percentage of land in agriculture across the world has changed over time. If you look at the changes in cropland in the Southeast, you can see decreases in the coastal plains and increases in other areas. Not too surprising, since forested land is not considered to…
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As I walked out in the yard today I noticed that my vinca ground cover is losing all of its leaves. Even though it has not been that hot (for early August, anyway), the lack of any appreciable rain has taken its toll on the plants. I usually only see those conditions during a drought.…
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NASA is asking for the help of citizen scientists to monitor weather conditions during the August 21 eclipse as it passes across the US. According to Popular Science, they are looking for people to download the GLOBE app to their smartphones and report changes in cloud cover and/or temperature during the eclipse as they are…
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Did you know that one of the world’s major repositories of climate data is located here in the Southeast in Asheville NC? Of course you did, if you read this blog regularly. The two other main ones are in Hamburg, Germany, and Obninsk, Russia, but there are several other smaller ones as well. Here’s a…
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If you’ve ever wondered how the Drought Monitor comes up with the drought designations it does, you might be interested in this four-minute video showing the process. A lot of input is gathered before the final map is drawn. You can view it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo1Jyzba7rA.
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Here’s an interesting article about the weather balloons which are launched twice a day by National Weather Service folk to give us a view of the vertical structure of the atmosphere. This knowledge is crucial in understanding the likelihood of severe weather, the type of wintry precipitation, and the pattern of high and low pressure…
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While the Atlantic has been relatively inactive as far as tropical storms go this year (although they are still ahead of normal in named storms), the Pacific Ocean has been hopping. Weather Underground posted a story describing the eight storms that occurred at the same time across the Northern Pacific Ocean at https://www.wunderground.com/news/eight-tropical-cyclones-pacific-july2017. You can…