• Jeff Masters of Weather Underground posted a new blog this week noting that measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere show that for the first time in the last 800,000 years the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached 404 parts per million.  You can read his post here. Carbon dioxide has been measured directly…

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  • The National Weather Service has announced that they will be providing a new interactive map service to highlight impacts from hurricanes this tropical season.  The site is still under development, but they hope to have it running by June 1, the start of the tropical season in the Atlantic, although it could be delayed.  The…

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  • Happy Earth Day!

    Can you believe that Earth Day has been around for 45 years?  In honor of the 45th annual Earth Day, a couple of postings from the Weather Underground blog. First, a timeline of Earth Day over time at https://wunderground.com/earth-day/earth-day-history/. Second, a link to their special page which has collected stories about Earth Day over the years…

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  • All my meteorologist friends were talking about the picture of four rainbows captured by Amanda Curtis while she was waiting for a train on Long Island earlier.  Some media outlets called it a quadruple rainbow, but after looking at the optics, it was determine instead to the a double rainbow accompanied by a double reflected…

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  • Monitoring the weather for planning or safety when severe conditions threaten can be a full-time job if you don’t know where to look.  The Vane posted an excellent article which describes some of the best apps and web sites for tracking weather at https://thevane.gawker.com/here-are-the-best-websites-and-apps-you-can-use-to-trac-1698292812.  Maybe you use some of these already.  If there are others you…

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  • With all the sunshine we get in the Southeast, how does solar energy compare to other parts of the country?  Cliff Mass has a good description of solar power climatology at his blog at https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-meteorology-of-solar-power.html.  Even though his blog is focused on the solar power capabilities of Washington State, his maps show the distribution of solar…

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  • When a forecaster tells you there is a 30 percent chance of rain, what does it mean?  This is the subject of a new survey that is going to be discussed at the 43rd American Meteorological Society Broadcast Conference this summer in Raleigh.  The researchers want to know the difference between perceptions of PoP forecasts…

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