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You are browsing the archive for December 2017 - Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal.

28 December 2017

Using GOES-16 to Detect and Forecast Cold Temperatures

Just where was the coldest spot in New York state this morning? With weather stations, you could get close, but with the new GOES-16 satellite, you can find the exact spot. Just southeast of Philadelphia NY. The bright green in northern New York is a ground temp. of 234K which is around -39 C. Philadelphia NY, in that area had a low of -39.5C. There are some spots nearby showing -40C (F) …

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21 December 2017

Rare Cloud Display Across Ohio and Indiana Thursday

You see those strange holes in the clouds across Indiana and Ohio? These are fallstreak holes or “hole punch” clouds, and they happen when aircraft fly through clouds of supercooled water. These clouds are well below 0° C, but the cloud droplets are still liquid (water will not always freeze into crystals of ice until the temperature reaches about -40° F/-40° C). If a few ice crystals are introduced, then a rapid …

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The Cosmos Lost Carl Sagan 21 Years Ago Today

His books live on. They inspire new generations of scientists and will for decades to come. If you have not read Demon-Haunted World, then buy it. Buy two more copies and give them to a smart young student for Christmas. Just doing that may change their world. It just might change everyone’s world.

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15 December 2017

Take Three Minutes and Study These Two Graphs

One of the biggest science meetings on the planet is underway in New Orleans right now. The AGU meeting is huge and a LOT of newsmaking science comes out of it. This year is no different. The AMS published a special edition of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) to coincide with this conference and the AMS annual meeting that I’m looking forward to attending in Austin next month. …

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12 December 2017

Consensus Matters- The Research Says So!

Those of us in science communication can be forgiven for thinking that everyone knows that agreement among scientists on climate change is extremely high. (It’s around 97-99% and the 1-3% who disagree have substantially less experience/publications in the field than the consensus group.) The Hard Truth The hard reality though is that most Americans have no idea the consensus is that strong and it makes one think that if we could …

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1 December 2017

Delaware Quake May be Africa’s “Fault”

This is one of those days that illustrate why broadcast meteorologists must learn all of the Earth science they can. An earthquake struck 10 km east of Dover, Delaware at 4:47 PM EST this Thursday evening. The epicentre was in the Prime Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge (A fantastic place to see all kind of birds), and was felt as far north as NY state! It looks likely to equal the largest …

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