Weather Tidbits: Air Quality Index
An issue that affects everyone on a daily basis is discussed in this Weather Tidbits. The air quality index (AQI), is an index of air quality that provides daily air pollution…
Weather Tidbits
Weather Tidbits: Albedo
This Weather Tidbits checks out reflectivity. Albedo is the percent of radiation returning from a surface compared to that which strikes it or the reflectivity of the surface. Dark surfaces are known for…
Weather Tidbits: Urban Heat Island
This Weather Tidbits dives into urban heat island. The urban heat island effect, is increased air temperatures in urban areas contrasted to the cooler surrounding rural areas. The reason for cities…
Weather Tidbits: Acid Rain
Acid rain is the headline for this Weather Tidbits. Acid rain forms from cloud droplets or raindrops that combine with gaseous pollutants, that make falling rain acidic. The pollutants consist of sulfur…
Weather Tidbits: Pyrocumulus
A special cloud is explored in this Weather Tidbits. A pyrocumulus is a cumulus cloud associated with fire. They are commonly seen over wildfires but can occur with volcanic eruptions. The cloud is…
Weather Tidbits: Meteogram
An interesting way to view weather is explored in this Weather Tidbits. A meteogram is a chart that shows how one or more weather variables has changed at a station over a given…
Weather Tidbits: Superior Mirage
This Weather Tidbits checks out the other type of mirage, the superior mirage. A superior mirages is when an object appears higher than it actually is and commonly occurs over cold areas.…
Weather Tidbits: Inferior Mirages
Mirages are broken down in this Weather Tidbits. A mirage is a refraction phenomenon that makes an object appear to be displaced from its true position. They are created by light passing…
Weather Tidbits: Green Flash
Another optical phenomenon is explained in this Weather Tidbits. A green flash is a small green color that appears on the upper part of the sun as it rises or sets. This…
Weather Tidbits: Corn Moon
All eyes on the September full moon in this Weather Tidbits. The full moon in September is known as the corn moon, which peaked back on the 2nd. This full moon was…
Weather Tidbits: Sun Pillar
This Weather Tidbits explores a neat event in the sky known as a sun pillar. A sun pillar is a vertical streak of light above or below the sun. They are caused…
Weather Tidbits: Iridescence
This Weather Tidbits discusses iridescence. They are brilliant spots or borders of colors that are observed in clouds. It appears adjacent to the sun or moon and are interpreted as an imperfect or…
Weather Tidbits: Sun Dog
The illusion of multiple suns occurs in this Weather Tidbits, with the sun dog. A sun dog is a colored luminous spot by the refraction of light through ice crystals that appear…
Weather Tidbits: Halo
This Weather Tidbits explores the sky phenomenon, known as the halo. A halo is a ring of light encircling and extending outward from the sun or moon. They are produced when the…
Weather Tidbits: Corona
We turn to coronas on this Weather Tidbits. A corona (meaning crown in Spanish) is a series of rings concentrically surrounding the disk of the sun or moon. They are usually caused when…
Weather Tidbits: Distrail
We find out the counterpart to the contrail in this Weather Tidbits, with the distrail. A distrail or dissipation trail is when an aircraft passes through a cloud and disperses the cloud in…
Weather Tidbits: Contrail
This Weather Tidbits dives into the world of contrails. A contrail is a cloud-like streamer frequently seen forming behind an aircraft flying in clear, cold and humid air; which is short for condensation…
Weather Tidbits: Aurora
One of the coolest phenomenons is explained in this Weather Tidbits, which is the aurora. An aurora is a glowing light display in the nighttime sky, caused by excited gases in the upper…
Weather Tidbits: Perseid Meteor Shower
This Weather Tidbits checks out the big meteor shower of August, the Perseids. The meteor shower originates towards the northeast at the Perseus constellation and comes from its parent which is the…
Weather Tidbits: Radiosonde
One of the most important weather instruments is explored in this Weather Tidbits, with the radiosonde. A radiosonde is an instrument that obtains a vertical distribution of temperature, pressure and humidity. It consists…
Weather Tidbits: Tropical Cyclone Naming
How tropical cyclones get their names is answered in this Weather Tidbits. Tropical cyclones are named to avoid confusion with another storm occuring at the same time and to provide…
Weather Tidbits: Wind Instruments
Multiple wind instruments are explored in this Weather Tidbits. The oldest but still reliable instrument is the wind vane; which consists of a long arrow with a tail which moves freely…
Weather Tidbits: Snow Intensity
It's a snowy Weather Tidbits, as we dive into snow intensity. Snowfall intensity is characterized by visibility, just like drizzle. Its intensity is divided into 3 categories, as light, moderate and heavy.…
Weather Tidbits: Rain Intensity
It's gets wet in this Weather Tidbits, as the intensity of rain is checked out. Rainfall intensity is determined by rate of accumulation per hour or a maximum rate in 6 minutes.…
Weather Tidbits: Sturgeon Moon
The sturgeon moon takes center stage in this Weather Tidbits. The sturgeon moon is the nickname for the August full moon. It is called that due to the abundance of sturgeon available…
Weather Tidbits: Fire Weather Alerts
Fire weather alerts take over in this Weather Tidbits. The National Weather Service issues 2 types of fire weather alerts, a fire weather watch and a red flag warning. A fire…
Weather Tidbits: Drizzle
It's just a drizzle for this Weather Tidbits. Drizzle is is liquid precipitation smaller than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) in diameter, anything larger is rain. Drizzle drops are very close together, appear to…
Weather Tidbits: Wind Alerts
It's get very windy in this Weather Tidbits with wind alerts. The National Weather Service issues three types of wind alerts, wind advisory, high wind watch and high wind warning. A wind…
Weather Tidbits: Cloud Cover Terminology
The clouds cover the sky in this Weather Tidbits. Cloud cover describes the average sky condition based on the percentage or fraction of the sky covered by opaque (not transparent clouds).…
Weather Tidbits: Ordinary Cell Thunderstorms
The summertime pop-up storms are checked out in this Weather Tidbits. These storms are known as ordinary cell thunderstorms, that form by local convection within a conditionally unstable air mass such…
Weather Tidbits: Monsoon
We find out about the monsoon of Southern Asia in this Weather Tidbits. The monsoon is a wind system that changes direction seasonally with the most developed reversal of winds in south Asia.…
Weather Tidbits: Tsunami
The powerful force of nature known as a tsunami is explained in this Weather Tidbits. Tsunamis are giant waves that are caused by earthquakes,volcanoes and landslides, but even asteroids. These waves increase in…
Weather Tidbits: Dryline
The dryline is explored in this Weather Tidbits. A dryline is a boundary of sharp moisture or humidity change. They commonly occur over the southern Plains. A dryline happens when three air masses,…
Weather Tidbits: Growing Degree Days
We go agricultural with growing degree days on this Weather Tidbits. Growing degree days are used by farmers as a guide to plant and determine the approximate dates of when a…
Weather Tidbits: Energy Degree Days
The concept of energy in respect to temperature is applied in this Weather Tidbits. They consist of heating and cooling degree days. Both use the base temperature of 65°F. Heating degree…
Weather Tidbits: Drought Monitor
The important Drought Monitor is explored in this Weather Tidbits. The United States Drought Monitor is a map that is updated every Thursday showing the location and intensity of drought across the…
Weather Tidbits: Severe Weather Risk
This Weather Tidbits explains the severe weather risk categories of the Storm Prediction Center. SPC forecasts risk categories 1-3 days out and they consist of 5 categories. Marginal and slight risk…
Weather Tidbits: Scales of Motion
Scales of motion is the hierarchy of atmospheric or wind circulations ranging from tiny gusts to giant storms. They consist of 4 classes or scales. Microscale circulation are eddies, while mesoscale…
Weather Tidbits: Showery vs Steady Precipitation
The difference between showery and steady precipitation is determined mostly by the stability of the atmosphere. Stability is how much resistance a layer of air will have vertically. Steady rain…
Weather Tidbits: Probability of Precipitation
Precipitation chances are explained in this Weather Tidbits. POP (Probability of Precipitation) is the likelihood of occurrence (expressed in a %) of a measurable amount of liquid precipitation, which is 0.01"…
Weather Tidbits: Chinook Winds
It's all about the chinook on this Weather Tidbits. The chinook is a dry and warm wind that descends over the eastern slope of the Rockies. These downslope winds are known for rapid…
Weather Tidbits: UV Index
The UV index is explored on this Weather Tidbits. The UV index is an international standard measurement of the strength of sunburn-protecting ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The index represents the UV intensity…
Weather Tidbits: Beaufort Wind Scale
This Weather Tidbits is about the Beaufort Wind Scale. This scale is an empricial measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or land. The scale consists of 13 forces…
Weather Tidbits: Fireworks & Weather
Did you know that in order to have a perfect fireworks show, it's more than just a clear night. This Weather Tidbits explains 5 factors that affect fireworks, which are drought,…
Weather Tidbits: Stationary Front
The main topic of this Weather Tidbits is a stationary front. A stationary front is when a cold or warm front moves less than 6 mph or 5 knots, which technically makes…
Weather Tidbits: Distance from the Sun
This Weather Tidbits focuses on the distance of the sun. The 4th of July was not just Independence Day but also Aphelion Day, where the earth is at its farthest…
Weather Tidbits: Heat Dangers
Today's Weather Tidbits explores the dangers of the summer heat. A heat wave on Delmarva is defined as 3 or more days with highs at or above 90°. During the summer, the…
Weather Tidbits: Saharan Dust
It's all about the Saharan Dust on this Weather Tidbits. The Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is a mass of very dry, dusty air that forms over the Saharan Desert during the late summer…
Weather Tidbits: Dust and Sand Storms
Dust and sand storms take over this Weather Tidbits. A dust storm is where strong winds are able to lift and fill the air with particles of fine dust, while a sand storm is…
Weather Tidbits: Waterspouts
This Weather Tidbits explores waterspouts. A waterspout is a rotating column of air over a large body of water. Waterspouts are classified as tornadic or fair weather types. Tornadic waterspouts are associated with…
