On Monday, May 8th, there was the potential for isolated thunderstorms across eastern Colorado with possible supercells (a rotating thunderstorm) along the Interstate 70 corridor in vicinity of the Palmer Divide. Although the tornado threat was very low, there was certainly a good chance of observing photogenic storms in the High Plains of Colorado. Forecast soundings … Read more
Ten years ago today on the evening of May 4, 2007, the small town of Greensburg, Kansas, was nearly destroyed by a 1.7 mile wide EF-5 tornado, with a maximum wind speed of 205mph. Damage surveys concluded that about 95% of the city was destroyed, with EF-5 damage observed through the heart of Greensburg. The tornado tracked for … Read more
During my 2016-17 winter break, I had the opportunity to work at the National Weather Service field office in Wichita, Kansas. Working with Chris Robbins, M.S. here at iWeatherNet had already shape much of my knowledge of the National Weather Service, since he worked for 15 years within the agency, including NOAA’s National Severe Storms … Read more
Weather folklore has probably been around as long as humans have been able to communicate verbally. Is there any truth to these, or are they just part of human myths and legends? Here, we will classify some of the weather folklore as truth or myth. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky in the morning, sailors … Read more
Snow is a precipitation type that results from the build-up of ice deposition upon condensation nuclei. The snowflake size is amplified as ice crystals join together as the crystals move in the wind. A common theme in ice crystal development is the 6-sized structure of the ice crystals. The chemical bonding of ice molecules produces … Read more
From elementary school through high school, I always looked forward to the month of March. But not for reasons that you might think. It was the month that I competed in science fairs. During those years, I had my share of successes and disappointments, but the benefits of my participation continue to this day. My experience with … Read more
While injury from lightning strikes has increased since 1940, fatalities have decreased dramatically. In fact, lightning deaths have become exceedingly rare relative to other weather phenomena, but they still occur. The most dangerous lightning strikes are those that occur when our guard is down; lightning strikes from a sky that appears to be clear and … Read more
On the evening of Sunday, March 26th, 2017, severe thunderstorms affected portions of southern Oklahoma and North Texas. These storms were scattered, as predicted in our forecasts leading up to the event, and many people received no rain. We also expected that thunderstorms forming along the dry line would quickly develop updraft rotation (i.e., become … Read more
The evolution of broadcast meteorology goes hand in hand with scientific advances and the method that it is communicated to the consumer. Timeline of broadcast meteorology (1915-1982) The evolution of broadcast meteorology has worked hand in hand with advances in technology. This is true both with the scientific advances of meteorology itself, and the way that … Read more
What is Flood Insurance? Because standard homeowners insurance doesn’t cover damage from flooding, you will need to purchase a separate flood insurance policy to obtain coverage for your home and its contents. Fortunately, flood insurance is widely available from insurance companies that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a partnership between the Federal … Read more
Disasters can strike anybody at anytime, resulting in catastrophic property damage and loss. Fires in dwellings and natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe storms, mudslides, and wildfires cause significant property damage every year across the United States. Although disasters usually strike without warning, there are measures you can take both before and after … Read more
The snow-to-liquid equivalent is the amount of liquid precipitation that is produced after melting snow. The temperature profile of the troposphere and the surface temperature are important factors that determine this value. The “average” snow-to-liquid ratio is 10:1. This is saying that if 10 inches of snow fell and that snow was melted it would … Read more
The United States government is working in collaboration with local communities to provide expeditious financial assistance to victims of weather disasters in support of damage recovery. Financial aid is provided through a variety of means including disaster loans, grants, and casualty tax deductions for losses resulting from the destruction of property or unexpected calamities, such … Read more
Introduction The title is a question that is frequently asked of meteorologists, especially in the wake of an abnormally warm or cool season; it is a topic of interest among atmospheric scientists and the general public alike. In this article, we will attempt to answer this question using climatology, casting aside gut feelings and old … Read more
Daylight saving time (DST) begins: Sunday, March 12th, 2023. When will DST end (return to standard time)? 2022 Countdown to Spring A few interesting DST tidbits Brief history of daylight saving time What is the Annual Duration of Daylight Saving Time? Answer: We spend 65% of the year, or 238 days, in DST. The longest … Read more
Whether a natural disaster arrives in the form of an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, or hurricane, it is almost guaranteed that the poor will suffer from the aftereffects of the incident much more than wealthier individuals. This is due in part to the fact that individuals living in poverty often lack the resources that would help … Read more
On January 21-23rd, 2017, a rare, multifaceted severe weather outbreak occurred across the Deep South and southeastern United States. 80 tornadoes occurred over the three day span of the outbreak, of which several were strong (EF-2 to EF-3 strength), long-track tornadoes. This tornado outbreak was the second largest outbreak on record in the southeastern United States. … Read more
Despite a recent trend to colder temperatures and back to back blizzards in New England, this winter has been a mild one for most areas east of the Rockies. Surges of cold air have been sporadic and temperatures have been above to much above average for many locations. Moving on to next week it appears that much … Read more
Whether you are searching for potentially life-saving weather information, a local forecast, or even historical weather data, there are a number of government and private weather sites that you can visit. Since your tax dollars fund government weather organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), I will focus on some of their useful sites. Dedicated meteorologists, using the … Read more
Section 1: Is it Going to be a Big Deal? One of the more difficult forecasts to make is the winter precipitation forecast. The complexity is with determining precipitation type, areal coverage, and whether any winter precipitation will accumulate at the ground surface in the first place. The public is very sensitive to winter forecasts … Read more
Update #1 [Monday February 6 at 1 pm EST] – Tom Moore A surge of colder air remains on schedule to push down into the northern U.S. on Wednesday, February 8th. The colder air mass will then move to the east and southeast on Thursday and Friday. As we indicated earlier, we are not talking about extremely cold … Read more
The GOES-16 (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 19th of last year. Originally, the name of the satellite was GOES-R as it is part of a multi-satellite series, as GOES-S, GOES-T, and GOES-U, are scheduled to be launched in 2018, 2019, and 2024, respectively. GOES-16 underwent several technical calibrations after … Read more
The year of 2016, there were a total of 1,059 tornadoes across the U.S. (with the month of May, 2016 having some of the more photogenic tornadoes). How does this compare to other years? According to the 2005-2015 tornado climatology, there was an average of 1,402 tornadoes across the nation. Tornado activity for 2016 was below the 2005-2015 average. Each … Read more
A brief spell of warmer temperatures are not uncommon across parts of the U.S. around the third week of January. The common term for this is a “January thaw“. What we have coming up later this week across much of Canada and the eastern two thirds of the U.S. is a January thaw to the … Read more
Every four years, our nation conducts a ceremony for the newly elected president to begin a new term. There has been a wide variety of weather conditions over the years and I thought that it would be interesting to highlight some past inaugurations where weather played a significant role. Inauguration History The first inauguration ceremony was held for … Read more
Update #4 [Sunday January 15 at 1 pm EST] – Tom Moore The multi-day ice storm continues in the nation’s heartland. So far, the greatest amount of ice, reported by the NWS from this storm (.50″-1.00″), has occurred from parts of northern Oklahoma to southern Kansas and into southwest Missouri. Dangerous conditions continue Sunday from much of … Read more
The “atmospheric river” is taking a direct aim on California, and that will result in eye-popping rainfall totals, heavy mountain snow accumulation, flooding, and mudslides. Weather conditions are ideal for an impressive and climatologically rare heavy-rain event over the weekend over a large section of California. Rainfall amounts from 8 to 12 inches are expected. … Read more
It’s that time of year… Winter. The season when those unrealistic snow and ice accumulation maps, for an unlikely event 10 days into the future, that often go viral on social media. So, I wanted to briefly discuss the nature of internet weather hype and how you can learn to recognize it. As the National … Read more
After a change to milder temperatures in late December for much of the U.S., the jet stream is in the process of taking another plunge southward into the nation. That will result in much colder temperatures over a significant portion of the U.S. during January. Late December Upper-Level Pattern In a previous article, we indicated that temperatures would be milder across … Read more
This past Christmas Day resulted in interesting weather across the central Plains. From strong thunderstorms in Kansas to the blizzard conditions in the Dakotas, the stockings were full of interesting weather Christmas morning. Nearly the entire state of Kansas, excluding the extreme western parts of the state, were impacted by a low-end squall line. I spent the … Read more