What You Need To Know About...
...Weather
1. The Basics
3. Hurricanes
4. Tornadoes
9. Books & Gear
10. Useful Links
News
12/6/2005 - The busiest hurricane season on record has concluded with 26 named tropical storms, breaking the old record of 21 set in 1933.The Basics
1.01 What is "Weather?"
Weather is the word to describe all of the phenomena that occur in the atmosphere of the planet. This includes wind, rain, snow, temperature, and many other things.
1.1 What is "precipitation?"
Rain.
1.2 I'm young and strong, I can hold onto stuff, why do I care about the strong winds of hurricanes or tornadoes? It's just wind, right?
It's not the wind that's the problem, it's what's in the wind. It doesn't matter how big a thing you can hold onto or strap yourself to. If the storm drops a Volvo on your head it's going to hurt. A tornado or strong hurricane picks up debris and hurls it at tremendous speeds. You may have seen what happens when a professional baseball player gets hit with a baseball traveling at 90 MPH. It can cause serious injury. Now imagine getting hit with a lawnmower traveling at 100 mph.
1.3 What if I want to set up my own weather station at home?
There are a number of different options for home weather stations such as these offerings from WeatherShack.com or BestNest.com.
Once you've got your station you may consider sharing your data with a service like Weather Underground.
Hurricanes
3.1 What is a hurricane?
It's a severe tropical storm with winds of at least 74 MPH.
3.2 How do hurricanes get their names?
The World Meteorological Association gives them their names. There are two predetermined lists, alphabetical, that the service has each year. One list for the Atlantic, one for the Pacific. So each hurricane that they identify gets the next name on the list. The names alternate men and women. The next hurricane in the Atlantic will be hurricane Franklin.
3.3 What's the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
Just the spelling. A hurricane by another name is still a big nasty storm, but in the western Pacific it gets called a "Typhoon."
3.4 What causes roofs to come off during the hurricane; is it just the wind?
Sort of. In fact, most of the time when a roof is lost in a hurricane it's because the glass windows in the house (or sometimes the garage door) broke. The wind rushed into the building creating a high pressure environment in the building which literally pops the roof off from inside.One solution is to have your windows laminated with security laminate designed to withstand those kinds of winds. One company that does those kinds of laminates is Ace Security Laminates.
Tornadoes
4.1 Can tornadoes cross rivers?
Yes, they certainly can. Several have even crossed the Mississippi River.
4.2 What is the Fujita Scale?
The Fujita scale is a measure of how serious a tornado is. It grades tornadoes on a F0 to F5 scale like so...
4.2.0 F0 - Light damage
4.2.1 F1 - Moderate damage; up to 112 MPH winds
4.2.2 F2 - Considerable damage; up to 153MPH winds.
4.2.3 F3 - Severe damage; up to 206MPH winds.
4.2.4 F4 - Devastating damage; up to 260MPH winds
4.2.5 F5 - "The Finger of God." Incredible damage; 260-320MPH winds.
4.3 Is the basement the safest place to go? Should I go to the southwest corner?
Yes and no. The basement is the safest place to go but you should not go to the southwest corner. Try to take shelter under some sturdy furniture or near a load-bearing structure such as a staircase. Stay away from windows and be aware of where dangerous objects in the basement are as those may suddenly turn into projectiles if the tornado hits.
Books & Gear
9.1
Weather for Dummies
9.2 The
USA Today Weather Book
9.5
LaCrosse Weather Forecasting Station
Useful Links
10.1 National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - The Government Weather folks.
10.2 Wikipedia - Weather
10.3 Frequently Asked Questions
About Tornadoes
10.4 Weather.com - the site of The Weather
Channel, includes local forecasts
10.4.1 The Weather Underground (no,
not the protest group)
10.5 Accuweather.comz