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326 Questions

Last Answer on December 24, 2019

Hello. My boss has asked me to find out the amount of snowfall in a 5 day span in January 2016. Any idea on how can I get this info?

Asked by Erin over 7 years ago

Hi, Erin. I’d go to weather.gov (not .com). Click on your area of the map and it will take you to the local National Weather Service office and you’ll see phone and email on the bottom. Good luck.

704 Votes

Winds seem to flow along an isobar, but pressure changes between them. Why don't the winds flow in the direction of changing pressure rather than along lines of constant pressure?

Asked by Hal almost 7 years ago

Hi, Hal. Uneven heating of the atmosphere helps create air pressure differences. Mother Nature tries to equalize the imbalance and air moves from high to low. Since the earth rotates the air is subject to Coriolis force and the air is deflected from moving perpendicular to the isobars. Thanks! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_force

704 Votes

Once a Tornado warring expires due to weakening or the threat has moved is that extra five or ten minutes them looking at the storm trying to see if it was accurate scans and re development and/or something behind it?
Should I remain in shelter?

Asked by Daniel over 6 years ago

Great question. National Weather Service folks take the tornado expirations very seriously and would most likely issue an extension for any risk. That said, rotation could certainly increase again. An extra five of ten minutes would be a reasonable course of action. I highly recommend a radar app called RadarScope for your phone. It allows you to locate yourself on the map and animate radar so you can see if a storm is moving toward or away from your location. Thank, Daniel.

702 Votes

It seems to me that cold outbreaks can be predicted well in advance and are almost always accurate (sadly). This is in contrast to rain and snow. What is it that makes their prediction so reliable?

Asked by docjmcg2 over 6 years ago

Great question. A cold air event, like the current one, is a good bit less complicated than rain or snow. With a precipitation forecast there are more factors at play. In general a forecast gets fuzzier the further out it time you go. Broadly speaking the forecast starts with data gathered from weather balloons launched twice a day from about 900 sites around the world. That sounds like a big number but when you consider the size of the earth, and how much of it is covered by water, which is hard to launch a balloon from, that data is pretty sparse. The goal of the balloons is to take a snapshot of the atmosphere at a given moment. It is a fuzzy picture. Think of putting that fuzzy picture on a copy machine. The copy is fuzzier, then make a copy of a copy and so on. So the further out in time the more errors or changes that enter the forecast. Stay warm!

701 Votes

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At what altitude does the weathermen on tv report the wind speeds. Example..5m or 500m?

Asked by Reyna almost 8 years ago

Hi, Reyna. Standard anemometer height is 10 meters.

701 Votes

can the temp. drop if its raining

Asked by darrell8675309 over 7 years ago

Yup. Sure can. Cold air moving into an area, cold air advection, can drop the temperature. And something called evaporative cooling can happen when it is raining. The friction with the air caused by falling raindrops can transfer heat to the water vapor and cool the air as well. Great question!

699 Votes

Should the lacrosse fields be cleared of kids if you hear thunder and see lightening? Our couches seem to be relying on apps on their phone to decide. I always heard if you see lightening get off the field.

Asked by Stacey Marshall almost 8 years ago

Absolutely, yes. The field should be cleared. Not doing so is irresponsible. If you can hear thunder you can be struck and lightning can travel many miles from a storm. Also wait at least 15 minutes after the last thunder before returning to play.

698 Votes

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TV Meteorologist

Ask me anything!

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Hello. My boss has asked me to find out the amount of snowfall in a 5 day span in January 2016. Any idea on how can I get this info?

Winds seem to flow along an isobar, but pressure changes between them. Why don't the winds flow in the direction of changing pressure rather than along lines of constant pressure?

Once a Tornado warring expires due to weakening or the threat has moved is that extra five or ten minutes them looking at the storm trying to see if it was accurate scans and re development and/or something behind it?
Should I remain in shelter?

It seems to me that cold outbreaks can be predicted well in advance and are almost always accurate (sadly). This is in contrast to rain and snow. What is it that makes their prediction so reliable?

Also on Jobstr...

At what altitude does the weathermen on tv report the wind speeds. Example..5m or 500m?

can the temp. drop if its raining

Should the lacrosse fields be cleared of kids if you hear thunder and see lightening? Our couches seem to be relying on apps on their phone to decide. I always heard if you see lightening get off the field.

TV Meteorologist

Ask me anything!

What do YOU do?

Hello. My boss has asked me to find out the amount of snowfall in a 5 day span in January 2016. Any idea on how can I get this info?

Winds seem to flow along an isobar, but pressure changes between them. Why don't the winds flow in the direction of changing pressure rather than along lines of constant pressure?

Once a Tornado warring expires due to weakening or the threat has moved is that extra five or ten minutes them looking at the storm trying to see if it was accurate scans and re development and/or something behind it? Should I remain in shelter?

It seems to me that cold outbreaks can be predicted well in advance and are almost always accurate (sadly). This is in contrast to rain and snow. What is it that makes their prediction so reliable?

Also on Jobstr...

At what altitude does the weathermen on tv report the wind speeds. Example..5m or 500m?

can the temp. drop if its raining

Should the lacrosse fields be cleared of kids if you hear thunder and see lightening? Our couches seem to be relying on apps on their phone to decide. I always heard if you see lightening get off the field.

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Once a Tornado warring expires due to weakening or the threat has moved is that extra five or ten minutes them looking at the storm trying to see if it was accurate scans and re development and/or something behind it?
Should I remain in shelter?