You are browsing the archive for August 2011 - Page 4 of 4 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.
14 August 2011
Starry Starry Phytoplankton
Landsat 7 took this image of phytoplankton around Gotland Island (Sweden) in the Baltic Sea. If this doesn’t remind you of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting then you have zero imagination. Just as an aside, it’s not pronounced “van go” but more closely to van gogk. After selling only one painting during his life (and killing himself in a fit of depression), the least we can do is attempt to pronounce …
13 August 2011
Weekend Digest- Skeptical Dictionary for Kids
The Scientists are the real skeptics Skepticism is the heart of science. Nothing is accepted by faith, you must have a ton of evidence and observation for something to reach the level of consensus and thus the status of theory. This level is reached only after hundreds and in most cases thousands of independent observations/experiments. Any one observation or experiment can bring the whole thing crashing down. Richard Feynman …
11 August 2011
Tropics Are Heating Up- Planet Already Is
A strong tropical wave off of Africa is looking as if it may develop into the seasons first Cape Verde type tropical system. The storms that develop near the Cape Verde Islands do not usually start until late in Summer and can become hurricanes that last for many days. A close up view of the system farthest east shows what may be some circulation and the NHC forecaster is …
10 August 2011
Tsunami from Japan quake breaks off huge bergs from Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica
We live on a very connected planet!
9 August 2011
Oklahoma July Temp. Average Is Hottest of Any State-Ever
From the NCDC today: “Oklahoma’s statewide average temperature was the warmest monthly statewide average temperature on record for any state during any month.” That amazing statistic underscores just what kind of summer it has been across the U.S. and the records keep falling. The average temp. in Oklahoma based on all stations for the entire month of July was 88.9. degrees. This breaks the record of July 1954 of 88.1 …
8 August 2011
Amazing Lightning Video From The Air
Mark Spencer (one of my fellow board members at Sc-Quest science museum) was flying back from Jackson, MS on August 3rd when he captured this amazing video. The flash rate in this storm is incredible, and it’s likely a severe storm. These cells produced 70 mph winds across North Alabama later on that produced extensive damage and power outages. The video was taken with night vision cameras and it’s good …
Weekend Digest- New NASA App & Record Low Arctic Ice In July
I spent much of the week in Washington,DC for a meeting of a committee that looks at the science involved with the GOES R weather satellite that will be launched in 2015 (budget allowing!). GOES R will be a totally new generation of weather satellite and will change the way the planet is monitored for weather and climate. More about this soon but here are some of the interesting …
2 August 2011
Bartlesville, Oklahoma Reaches 110° at Solar Noon (1 PM CDT)
Take a look at the IR GOES image below, and you can clearly see where the hottest ground is. Keep in mind that the thermal IR satellite surface temps. are a combination of trees and grass etc., but it’s still a good look at the areas that will see the worst of the heat today. The amazing heat is even more amazing when you look at the data …
1 August 2011
Baked Sooners
Oklahoma is the world leader in weather research and has the world’s best network of weather stations, called the Oklahoma Mesonet. Take a look at some of the data it has recorded this summer. The number of days with temps. above 100 is approaching the numbers seen during the awful heat wave of 1980. I was in Oklahoma City that summer and remember everyone running outside of the TV station …
Weekend Digest- Tropical Trouble, Melting Ice and Mainstream Scientists Speak Out
This is the weekly digest of Earth science news that I said would be posted every Friday. OK, so it’s a bit late but it is still the weekend and what follows is a summary of interesting tidbits I’ve seen this week on other science blogs etc. We begin with the great 2011 drought/heat wave: Deep Fried Texans Austin, Texas is happy to wave so long to July. …
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.