Sources of weather and climate data
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With all the stories about the record-breaking cold air, the unbelievably heavy snow in Buffalo, and other frigid weather conditions, it is not surprising that I have been asked where all this cold air is coming from, particularly so early in the winter season. To answer this, you need to look at where the air…
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Even though it seems too cold to ever worry about severe weather again, the Southeast will undergo significant warming over the next few days, reaching up to 70 degrees by Sunday. As the warm air flows back in ahead of a cold front, the chances of rain and thunderstorms, some even reaching severe levels, will…
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If you like to follow social media on your computer or smart phone, you might want to check out this list of social media web sites provided by National Weather Service offices across the Southeast. Most of these offices provide weather updates, storm information and other weather-related information through Facebook and Twitter. Here is the…
Posted in: Sources of weather and climate data -
One of the toughest things for climatologists to explain is what a 55 percent chance of El Nino or a 40 percent chance of an above normal winter is. Two examples of probabilistic forecasts are shown below. The pie chart is from AgroClimate.org and the bar graph is from IRI at Columbia University. Most people think…
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The wind map tonight shows several features that will likely affect our weather in the next few days. The remnants of Typhoon Nuri are still spinning in the Bering Sea and are contributing to the strong wave pattern in the atmosphere. The strong flow of Arctic air into the central Plains can also be seen.…
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There has been a tremendous amount of hype the last few days about the coming cold outbreak that will be affecting most of the eastern 2/3 of the United States. Some bloggers and pundits have talked about “bombogenesis” and the return of the “polar vortex” and unprecedented cold temperatures. Dr. Michio Kaku, the so-called “science…
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Since cold weather is on the way this coming week, it seems appropriate that NOAA published a map showing the average coldest day of the year. For most of the coastal plains area of the Southeast, the coldest air comes around the first week of January. Areas in the northern part of Georgia and Alabama…