Archive: Education
Weird Clouds... From Another World?
Courtesy U.S. Navy. Photos by John Gay (left) and Jarod Hodge (right). What do we have here?... Grist for the mill for the UFO believers out there? At first glance, the images above may indeed look to some like a UFO swallowing a jet fighter as it tries desperately to...
By Steve Tracton | May 16, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (9)
Weather 101: The Madness to March Winds
On average, March is the windiest month in the D.C. area, and this March certainly has not disappointed. Already this month, wind gusts at Reagan National Airport have reached 74 mph on March 5, 60 mph on March 8 and 45 mph on March 12. It's no coincidence that our...
By Dan Stillman | March 14, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (12)
School Colors: Turning Green
DC's Sidwell Friends School was featured this week on The Weather Channel's Forecast Earth program for being the first LEED Platinum certified K-12 school building in the world. Although there are now three more such schools, Sidwell's Middle School is still the only Platinum level building in the District of...
By Steve Scolnik | March 1, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (9)
Model Muttering
Note: This post is rated "G", suitable for all audiences; does not contain the weather "s" word. Weather model skill as a function of year, from The Emergence of Numerical Weather Prediction, Peter Lynch, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Chart © ECMWF. Click image to enlarge. In the nearly 60 years...
By Steve Scolnik | February 28, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (16)
Bucket O' Bookmarks: Site for Kids, Teachers
Image from The Weather Channel The latest (January) issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has a pointer to a new Weather Channel web site for kids. The WeatherED section contains a weather encyclopedia grouped into topics such as Hurricanes and Tropical Systems, Heat Waves, and Winter Storms....
By Steve Scolnik | February 25, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (2)
If the Missile Misses
A satellite's journey through the atmosphere From the Pacific Ocean, a Navy ship is expected as early as tonight or tomorrow to shoot down, or at least attempt to do so, an out-of-control U.S. spy satellite that is falling toward Earth. Government officials say the satellite, primarily due to its...
By Dan Stillman | February 20, 2008; 11:30 PM ET | Comments (22)
Bucket O' Bookmarks: BudBurst
Citizen scientists sought Cinquefoil wildflowers in Colorado. (Photo by Carlye Calvin, ©UCAR.) Gardeners, for years you've been relying on data from meteorologists to plan your activities; now you have a chance to repay the favor by helping climate research. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has announced that, starting...
By Steve Scolnik | February 15, 2008; 06:00 PM ET | Comments (2)
Partly Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Mostly Confusing
Your input wanted: Help us define these terms Pop quiz! And lucky for you, it's multiple choice: What's the difference between "partly sunny" and "partly cloudy"? A. "Partly sunny" is more sunny than "partly cloudy." B. "Partly sunny" is less sunny than "partly cloudy." C. There is no difference. The...
By Dan Stillman | February 14, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (28)
Local Lecture: Meet a Met
Following last month's presentation by Paul Kocin, former Weather Channel winter expert, the local chapter of the American Meteorological Society is hosting another operational forecaster for its February meeting next week. Ken Reeves, expert senior meteorologist and director of forecasting operations at AccuWeather, Inc., will be speaking on the subject,...
By Steve Scolnik | February 14, 2008; 05:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Media: Weather for the Eyes and Ears
New shows available in audio and video, online and on TV Coming soon to the National Geographic Channel is Six Degrees Could Change the World, based on the book, Six Degrees, which was just released in the U.S. after being published last year in the U.K. The show premieres this...
By Steve Scolnik | February 5, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (7)
Free/Low-Cost Classes
Skywarn; climate course; astronomy for non-scientists If you're interested in learning something about meteorology and also performing a public service, the National Weather Service (NWS) has several Skywarn classes scheduled in the metro region. Skywarn is a program through which trained members of the public can become spotters for weather...
By Steve Scolnik | January 26, 2008; 11:00 AM ET | Comments (10)
