Weather Tidbits: Microbursts
This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing what a microburst is. A microburst is a localized column of sinking air known as a downdraft that rushes out of a thunderstorm. This can produce very…
Weather Tidbits
Weather Tidbits: Air vs Water Temperature
This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing the different rates of heating and cooling between air and water. Air and water heat at different rates because of their different heat capacities. Heat capacity is…
Weather Tidbits: The Lee Trough
This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing the lee trough. A lee trough is a strip of low pressure and surface convergence that forms on the leeward side of a mountain range. This can…
Weather Tidbits: How Lightning Is Formed
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss how lightning forms. Lightning sparks when molecules of opposite charges come into contact. During the formation of a thunderstorm cloud, the top of the cloud becomes positively charged…
Weather Tidbits: How The Aurora Lights Form
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss how the aurora lights form. The process starts when charged protons and electrons emit from the sun. This can come from a solar flare or a coronal mass…
Weather Tidbits: Environments for Thunderstorm Development
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss the difference between a capped and uncapped environment. Both of these have implications for the development of thunderstorms. In a capped environment, a warmer layer is aloft and…
Weather Tidbits: Why The Body Sweats
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss why we sweat. Sweating activates through our sweat glands. It is a mechanism the body uses to cool down and regulate body temperature. Our body likes to keep…
Weather Tidbits: Sea Breeze
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss the sea breeze. The sea breeze is a cool onshore wind flow that develops at the surface along the coastline during the day. It is formed by the…
Weather Tidbits: Severe Weather Risk Categories
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss the severe weather risk categories. The Storm Prediction Center uses these categories in their products when forecasting severe weather, which is then available for public viewing. The product…
Weather Tidbits: Radiational Cooling
This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing radiational cooling. This is a process that allows for rapid cooling at the surface during the night. During the day, heat is accumulated at the surface by…
Weather Tidbits: Frost Formation
This edition of Weather Tidbits will be discussing how frost forms. Frost formation is an ice crystallization process that occurs on a surface usually during a cold and calm night. Many people may see frost…
Weather Tidbits: Rainbows
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss rainbows. Rainbows are created by the refraction of sunlight of many different wavelengths off of raindrops. The variation of wavelengths results in the multitude of colors seen in…
Weather Tidbits: The Reason Wind Speed Increases In The Afternoon
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss how the time of day can affect wind speed. Wind is caused by a pressure gradient established between a low pressure system and a high pressure system. This…
Weather Tidbits: Sundogs
This edition of Weather Tidbits will discuss about sundogs. Sundogs are caused by the refraction of sunlight off of hexagonal-shaped ice crystals. The sunlight bends at 22 degrees as it passes through the ice crystals…
Weather Tidbits: Earthquakes
This Weather Tidbits will discuss about earthquakes. An earthquake occurs when a fault line. Fault lines are most prominent along the boundary of two of the 7 major tectonic plates on Earth. Tectonic Plates are…
Weather Tidbits: Tides
This Weather Tidbits will discuss about tides. The tidal cycles are governed by the gravitational attraction between the Earth, the Moon, and even the Sun. The Moon and the Earth exert a gravitation force onto…
Weather Tidbits: Solar Eclipse & Viewing Safety
This Weather Tidbits will discuss what a solar eclipse is and provide safety tips when viewing a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's shadow is casted onto Earth by the Sun as…
The WMDT Weather Team
