Portal:Weather/Did you know/Archive

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Did you know...

2020
...that a cryoseism is a sudden ground or glacier movement that can occur due to water freezing or ice cracking after drastic temperature changes?

...that BUFR is a binary data format standardized by the World Meteorological Organization for storing observation data from weather stations and weather satellites?

...that the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center issues weather forecasts for conditions that can cause avalanches in the mountains of western Washington and northwestern Oregon?

...that a wind chill warning is issued by the National Weather Service when a combination of wind and cold temperatures is expected to cause life-threatening conditions for anyone caught outside?

...that AMeDAS, commonly known in Japan as "アメダス" (amedasu), is a network of more than 1,300 surface weather observation stations that cover Japan with an average separation between weather stations of just 17 km?

...that the European Severe Storms Laboratory was founded in 2006 as a research institution for studying severe weather events across Europe and the Mediterranean?

...that the Sondrestrom Upper Atmospheric Research Facility is a research facility near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland that contains more than 20 instruments for studying the ionosphere and other parts of the upper atmosphere?

...that an ice accretion indicator is a simple metallic tool used at some weather stations for determining whether some form of ice (frost, rime ice, or freezing rain) has accumulated?

...that the subtropics is the region of Earth, roughly between 23.5° and 35° north and south of the equator, that contains a disproportionately large number of deserts due to sinking air that prevents rainfall?

...that the Tiny Ionospheric Photometer is an instrument aboard satellites in the COSMIC program that observes a very specific wavelength of light in Earth's ionosphere?

...that the Joint Polar Satellite System is a series of US weather satellites in polar orbit, which allows a much lower and faster orbit than the geostationary orbit of many other weather satellites?

2019
...that the Oklahoma Mesonet is a network of 121 weather instruments across the US state of Oklahoma, providing surface weather observations across the state every five minutes?

...that a SIGMET is an advisory issued for airline crews regarding weather that may impact the safety of the aircraft, including atmospheric convection, icing conditions, or even dust storms?

...that the Antarctic Circumpolar Wave is thought by some scientists to be a very slow-moving wave in the atmosphere and ocean of the far southern hemisphere that circles the globe once every 8 years?

...that the Papagayo Jet is a strong wind that often blows across the Gulf of Papagayo west of Central America, sometimes reaching speeds as high as 30 m/s?

...that atmospheric optics is the study of different optical phenomena in the atmosphere, including sunsets, rainbows, and sun dogs?

...that the GME was a numerical weather prediction model run by Deutscher Wetterdienst, the German national meteorological service?

...that a consistent thunderstorm that forms over the Tiwi Islands of Australia is given the name Hector by local residents and pilots?

2009
...that Hurricane Debbie is the only known tropical cyclone ever to strike Ireland?

...that the Tempest Prognosticator, one of the earliest attempts at a weather prediction device, employed live leeches in its operation?

...that eyewall replacement cycles are among the biggest challenges in forecasting tropical cyclone intensity?

...that the Braer Storm of January 1993 is likely the strongest extratropical cyclone ever recorded in the north Atlantic Ocean?

...that in medieval lore, Tempestarii are magicians with the power to control the weather?

...that the omega equation is essential to numerical weather prediction?

...that a fallstreak holes are cloud phenomena which are often mistaken for unidentified flying objects?

...that the Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite is Pakistan's first remote sensing satellite?

...that HURDAT is a database of all known tropical cyclones in the northern Atlantic Ocean since 1851?

...that the 1995 Mayfest Storm was the costliest hailstorm in US history, and injured more than 100 people?

...that the Effects of Hurricane Hazel in Canada included flooding which killed 81 people?

...that the International Cloud Atlas was first published in 1896, yet is still in print?

...that fast ice, as opposed to drift ice, is ocean ice which does not move with the wind or water currents?

...that the remnants of 2001's Tropical Depression Nine eventually organized to form Hurricane Juliette in the Pacific Ocean?

...that the second of the 1948 Tinker Air Force Base tornadoes was the first tornado to be successfully predicted?

...that the 1929 Tasmanian Floods led to the construction of levees to reduce the impact of future floods in Tasmania?

...that the 1904 Chappaqua tornado was the most intense tornado in the history of Westchester County, New York?

...that an undular bore, despite occurring in a stable environment, can cause additional thunderstorm development?

...that there are more than 35 different types of snow?

...that the MOSE Project is being built to protect the city of Venice from storm surges?

...that the National Data Buoy Center provides weather observations from around 150 offshore stations around the United States?

...that the Four-State Tornado Swarm of 1787 was the first known tornado outbreak on record?

...that Undulatus asperatus is the first proposed new cloud type in more than 50 years?

...that Typhoon Meranti was the first of a record nine named storms in August during the 2004 Pacific typhoon season?

...that the doldrums are a colloquial term for the areas near the Intertropical Convergence Zone characterized by variable winds and heavy thunderstorms?

...that the 1848 Atlantic hurricane season featured five total tropical cyclones, including the Great Gale of 1848?

...that the Climate of Scotland is considered temperate in the Köppen climate classification system, despite its extreme northern latitude, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream?

...that haar is a Scottish word for coastal fog found around the North Sea?

...that the Climate of Mount Kenya has been described as "winter every night and summer every day"?

...that Typhoon Wipha caused more than a billion dollars in damage on Taiwan and mainland China?

...that Mesowest is a database of weather observations from over 15,000 mesonet weather stations?

...that the first meteorological instrumentation was invented in the 15th century, including the rain gauge, the anemometer, and the hygrometer?

...that Hurricane Tara was the fourth-deadliest Pacific hurricane on record, killing as many as 500 people?

...that Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times between 1942 and 1977, surviving every strike?

...that 1978's Hurricane Cora was only the second storm to be upgraded to hurricane strength based on weather satellite imagery alone?

...that a wake low is an area of low pressure which forms in the wake of a mesoscale convective complex, often resulting in clearing skies?

...that the 1950 Red River Flood inundated Winnipeg, Manitoba, requiring the evacuation of almost 100,000 people?

...that the fair weather condition is the state of the electric field under normal atmospheric conditions?

...that the 1979 Easter flood of the Pearl River almost completely flooded downtown Jackson, Mississippi, causing more than $1 billion in damage?

...that Cyclone Hondo was the strongest and longest lived tropical cyclone to develop during the 2007-08 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season?

...that residents of Wake Island survived a direct hit by Super Typhoon Olive by sheltering in World War II bunkers?

...that tornadoes in Washington, D.C. have damaged such structures as the United States Botanic Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Arboretum?

...that the 28th Operational Weather Squadron is responsible for supporting United States Central Command with weather data and forecasts?

...that the National Weather Association is one of two organizations in the US to issue a "seal of approval" for broadcast meteorologists?

...that Hurricane Darby provided drought-relieving rain to some parts of Hawaii, while causing flash flooding in other areas?

...that ice dunes are accumulations of snow, frozen spray, and lake ice which form at the shores of the American Great Lakes each winter?

...that 1986's Typhoon Wayne was the longest-lived tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Western Pacific Ocean?

...that the Catalina eddy is partially responsible for the typical low clouds and fog in the morning in coastal areas of Southern California?

...that the McIDAS weather forecasting graphics software was designed in the 1970s to work with only 96 kB of RAM?

...that an invest is the general term for an area of disturbed weather which may develop into a tropical cyclone?

...that a lake effect snow watch indicates the possibility of heavy Lake-effect snow, generally within the next 48 hours?

2008
...that the North Atlantic weather war was a true struggle in World War II, with both sides vying for superior weather data for a battlefield advantage?

...that one of only two F4 tornadoes to occur in the history of Florida touched down on April 15, 1958?

...that the United States receives more than 1200 tornadoes annually?

...that nearly 10 years before the 2008 Atlanta Tornado, the Dunwoody Tornado caused significant damage just outside the city limits?

...that the Lorain-Sandusky tornado was both the deadliest tornado and part of the deadliest tornado outbreak in Ohio history?

...that micrometeorology is a study of small-scale weather phenomena, which takes into account such small influences as heat transfer between the ground and air, changes in atmospheric gasses near the surface, and absorption and reflection of solar radiation?

...that the 1984 Yaroslavl tornado killed at least 400 people north of Moscow, Russia?

...that the effects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the United States include drastic changes in temperature, precipitation, and occurrences of severe weather and tropical cyclones?

...that the List of May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence tornadoes includes 400 confirmed tornadoes, making it by far the largest tornado outbreak sequence since official records began in 1950.

...that the climate of the United States ranges from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to polar in Alaska?

...that the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory was originally built to study fluctuations in Earth's magnetic field?

...that Robert Case, a National Weather Service meteorologist, dubbed the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter "The Perfect Storm"?

2007
...that the state of Connecticut has had more than 100 tornadoes in its history, including two F4s and one which killed 34 people?

...that the state of Minnesota has many weather extremes, including temperatures over 110 °F (43 °C), 15.10 in (380 mm) of rain in 24 hours, and snow in every month except July?

...that the field of biometeorology is the study of living organisms on the weather, and vice versa?

...that the Climate of Florida is "humid subtropical", but the state can experience outbreaks of Saharan dust and snow?

...that it is Kona lows, not tropical cyclones, which cause most severe weather in Hawaii?

...that the Snyder, Oklahoma tornado was the second deadliest tornado in Oklahoma history?

...that the history of surface weather analysis begins as far back as 1849?

...that weather fronts, though first recognized in Norway in the 1910s, were not widely plotted on maps for several decades?

...that the first EF5 tornado was part of a larger tornado outbreak of at least 80 tornadoes?

...that the Amite-Pine-Purvis Tornadoes, originally thought to be a single tornado, was likely a family of several tornadoes that killed 143 people in the Southern United States?

...that a Doppler On Wheels is a portable Doppler radar unit that allows meteorologists to observe fine details of storms such as tornadoes and tropical cyclones?

...that on February 1, the National Weather Service began using the Enhanced Fujita Scale to assess tornado damage, in place of the obsolete Fujita scale?

...that some weather records include a 57.8°C (136°F) air temperature in Libya, 3.8 cm (1.5 in) of rain in just one minute in Guadeloupe, and a 47.6 cm (18.75 in) circumference hailstone in Nebraska?

...that cold air damming is responsible for most winter weather in the Eastern United States?

...that a late-season tornado outbreak in October 1996 set many tornado records in the northern Great Plains?

...that, despite its tropical climate, the state of Florida has received snow on dozens of occasions since records have been kept.

...that the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional is the organization in charge of weather forecasts for all of Mexico?

...that the rear flank downdraft is thought to be essential in the formation of most tornadoes?

...that the Great Storm of 1975 not only dropped more than 2 feet of snow in the Midwest, but also produced 45 tornadoes and resulted in more than 50 deaths?

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