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You are browsing the archive for July 2016 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.

29 July 2016

Why The Tropical Atlantic is So Quiet

I used our new touch screen to show viewers why the Tropical Atlantic has been so quiet as we approach August. The answer is dust, and I showed some NASA satellite data that rarely gets shown on TV. Anchor Chris Weimer held my iPhone beside the camera while I did it. I then headed over to the green chroma-key wall to do the weekend forecast for the Eastern Shore of …

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28 July 2016

NOAA Makes Decision on New Global Weather Model. Controversy Likely.

NOAA has decided on the nuts and bolts of a new, next generation, weather model that will replace the present Global Forecast System (GFS model), and the choice is sure to spark some controversy. The choice boiled down to a system called MPAS vs FV3. Many meteorologists were rooting for MPAS, which was developed by NCAR, while NOAA was leaning toward the FV3 which was a project of the GFDL …

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25 July 2016

This is Why Satellite Pictures Look This Way

..and then there are these images, all from today Sunday 24 July 2016. It looks this way because of two main facts. 1. The Equator is hot, and the Poles are cold. 2. The Earth is rotating. Now, watch the video and understand (I still remember seeing this demonstration as a first year undergrad in meteorology.)

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24 July 2016

The Heat, the Floods, and the Danger of Underestimating How to Handle it.

The NASA Terra satellite measurements of ground temps. in the early afternoon clearly show the heat, and the extra heat added by the urban concrete (and road systems) was clearly visible. On a day like today, large cities can be much hotter than the rural areas. Also, notice how the temps near the Delaware coast are hotter than inland in Delaware (and here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland). A …

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22 July 2016

Temperatures in Iraq and Kuwait Flirt with World Record Heat at 54C

The official hottest temp. ever recorded is 134 in Death Valley, California, but this record is not considered reliable by many meteorologists. Somewhere around 54C (or 129.2) is more likely, and we may have reached or passed it today in Kuwait and Iraq. More about this from Jason Samenow at Capital Weather Gang, and also from Jeff Masters at Weather Underground. Below is global model data forecast of temps. for …

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21 July 2016

The Gravity in Greenland is Dropping, No Really.

Check out this NASA movie showing the changes in sea level since 2002. Blue areas show rising oceans, and yellow/red show dropping sea levels. Watch the movie, and pay attention to the area near Greenland. So WHY is the sea level dropping around Greenland?? NASA has the answer. The Greenland ice sheet is melting, and therefore there is less mass. Less mass, means less gravity pulling the ocean water toward …

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NOAA Releases June Global Climate Data; 378th Consecutive Month Above Normal!

When science wants to find something out, they tend to work in independent teams to do it. If all teams get the same results, this increases the confidence that the science is good. The most famous case of this is the discovery that the Universe was not only expanding, but that the expansion was speeding up. When it comes to the global temperatures, there are 4 main groups. NASA GISS, …

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20 July 2016

Memphis Airport Hit by Strong Microburst

Here is a radar image showing the nearly circular outflow boundary, from the NWS in Memphis. Here are the obs from the airport at the time of the event. Angela Fritz, at Capital Weather Gang, posted an image of an amazing downburst over Phoenix earlier this week here. The damage from these events are often mistaken for tornado damage, and a famous downburst led to the crash of Delta Airlines …

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19 July 2016

NASA- June 2016 is 6th Month in A Row That’s Hottest On Record.

The NASA global temp. data came out today, and for the 6th month in a row the planet broke a heat record. Here is more from NASA: 2016 Climate Trends Continue to Break Records Two key climate change indicators — global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent — have broken numerous records through the first half of 2016, according to NASA analyses of ground-based observations and satellite data. Each …

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17 July 2016

What Not To Do During The Heat Wave Next Week!

There is very high agreement in the medium range models this morning that an intense heat wave will build across the Eastern U.S. this coming week. It will begin in the Plains on Tuesday, and get much stronger by Wednesday, spreading highs above 100 into the Dakotas and Minnesota. It will then steadily shift eastward, reaching the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic by Friday, and over the weekend. The oceans globally (and …

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