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We are in desperate need of better meteorological data around cities. The lack of sufficient, fine scale observations for the urban boundary layer (UBL) region above and close to building height makes it difficult to improve meteorology and numerical weather prediction models for cities. Better data would have impacts for public health, localized flooding, and urban planning. And though much progress has been made in identifying and solving this problem, a number of challenges remain.

April Fool's jokes have been around since the 16th century, even though the origins of the practice are disputed. Whatever the beginnings might be, various people have created some incredible weather related pranks through the years. Here are just a few Weather Band favorites for your reading pleasure. 

Severe cold waves on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico are infrequent but of great moment. Human habitation and dress are not here adapted to extreme cold; cattle and other livestock are inadequately sheltered from winter extremes, and tropical fruits and winter truck are subject to extensive damage and occasional total destruction from abnormally low temperatures. In economic loss and human suffering, a severe cold wave, reaching our southern and southeastern borders, ranks with the hurricane.

While there are many, many apps, I present here the best ones I’ve been able to find after quite a bit of trial and error. I’m sure there are others I’ve left out, but these work best for me.

A very thrilling, nervous, and euphoric moment occurred back on February 18^th with the touchdown of NASA’s Martian Perseverance Rover. The Perseverance Rover is a component of the larger Mars Exploration Program (MEP) and includes a robotic helicopter named Ingenuity. Perseverance confirmed a successful touchdown within the Jezero crater at 3:55 pm EST, ending a 204-day flight from Earth to its new home, Mars. Meteorological instruments, similar to the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) of the Martian rover, Curiosity, have begun recording surface air and ground temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure, relative humidity, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

A new target date for the James Webb Space Telescope is set for October 31, 2021 from French Guiana. This telescope will be an unparalleled space science observatory when it launches in 2021. This launch is an international effort, led by NASA together with the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency. The telescope's launch will allow new insights into the mysteries and origins of our universe and our place in it. 

Dive into the fascinating history of weather maps with Barbara Mayes Boustead. In this presentation she reveals the science and process of hand analysis and discusses its relevance in a world of digital maps. 

I am approaching this particular blog post with a bit of consternation and reservation. Most of us are so enthralled by the progression of daily weather that we become amateur weather observers.

Beginning on March 8, 1993, numerical weather prediction (NWP) models consistently predicted a deep winter storm for the eastern United States on March 13. These NWP models gave excellent advance notice and produced accurate forecasts of the storm track location. However, the model runs of March 13 considerably underforecast the deepening of the storm in the northeast Gulf of Mexico.

I tend to go overboard for books. I value my library card more than my driver’s license. But then, I’m a book addict. 

There are so many books on meteorology that it can stagger the mind. You really don’t need to read a ton of books if you are an amateur, but you should get some orientation and familiarity with terms and processes.

From culture to technology, typhoons changed the course of history in Japan. At the time of Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, the Mongolian Empire stretched east to west from The Pacific to the Caspian Sea and from southern Russia to Tibet. In the next 30 odd years, Mongolian leaders expanded the empire in all directions, with periodic contractions back to the capital of Karakorum in order to decide on succession and crown a new great khan. When Kublai Khan consolidated his power in 1264, Japan was squarely in his sights. The only thing that could stop him? The weather.  

Art has an interesting role to play in weather observing. Paintings, sketches, and other media can provide representation of clouds and other meteorological phenomena from before measurements and data collection instruments were standardized and widespread. William Ascroft’s pastel sketches from 1888 are an example of this. These sketches depict observations from Chelsea, London, on 26 November 1883 and show the effects of the eruption of Krakatau. The images capture the impact that aerosols high in the atmosphere have on the color of the sky. 

What do you see when you look up?

Clues to the state of the atmosphere are all around us if we know how and where to look. The rainbow is probably one of the best known signs as its brilliant colors and dramatic appearance make it hard to miss. But there’s more to rainbows than you might guess. If a halo or rainbow is observed in the sky, it is carrying information about the shapes, sizes, and/or composition of airborne particles. Each rainbow and rainbow-esque phenomenon carries its own specific information about the particles that generate it. This information is sometimes difficult to obtain from other sources. 

The streaks of color may not last long, and they occur at unpredictable times. But in cases where the actual state of the atmosphere at a certain moment is of importance, or when one is interested in knowing the composition of particles floating in the air, their observation may help. So remember that every time you see and photograph a rainbow, you’re making important observations about the world around you. 

Forget the rain delays, temperature “is the most important meteorological variable affecting fly ball distances for MLB as a whole.” So concluded a 1995 study by Kraft and Skeeter that looked at temperature, humidity, and wind impacts on fly balls in Major League Baseball games. That study also found that batted fly balls in cool temperatures (at most 50°F) travel on average 16 ft less compared to warm temperatures (at least 90°F).

It's official! We're inviting you to share your love of weather and photography in our very first AMS Weather Band photo contest!

The contest runs from May 31, 2021 to August 20, 2021. We're seeking photos of weather, water, and climate from the subtle to the extreme; think clouds, waves, storms, and other atmospheric, oceanic, or hydrologic conditions. We can't wait to see the weather moments and stories you've captured. 

We had a lot of questions about attribution science during Victor Gensini’s recent webinar on severe storms and their prediction and analysis. He does talk about attribution science in the webinar, but if you’re interested in a few more basics, and the process of attributions, check out this article on attribution science and how it works. 

Here are a few of the news stories from the weather and atmospheric sciences world that we've been following this week. Do you have a story we missed? Share it in the community!

Where Ida got its fuel

As Hurricane Ida headed into the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists was monitoring a large pool of warm water that swirled directly in its path. An oceanographer from that team breaks down how the Loop Current helped turn Hurricane Ida into such a gigantic storm, and how he monitors the oceans in order to help with severe weather prediction. 

An in-depth look at the Fennec Automatic Weather Station (AWS) Network: how researchers built a climate monitoring system in one of the harshest environments on earth

As the world’s largest desert, the Sahara is known for climatic extremes—temperature and aridity are the two most obvious. But it’s also known for airborne dust. A lot of dust. The Sahara is the single greatest annual source of airborne mineral dust in the world, blanketing the Caribbean and North America with haze. 

In the fall of 1926, the U.S. Weather Bureau announced that radio weather reports were beginning to come in from the northernmost station in the United States: Point Barrow (now Nuvuk), Alaska. But few people would have guessed that the observer at this farthest north weather station was a young woman. Mrs. Beverly A. Morgan and her husband -  the Army Signal Corps radio operator - were two of only a few white inhabitants of the town, which was the coldest and most inaccessible station at that time: 450 miles north of other radio weather outposts. 

September 15, 2021
3:00 to 4:00 PM ET
Register Here

Part of the National Academy of Sciences Climate Conversations

Climate Change: Extreme Events

Note: This is not an AMS Weather Band event, but we identified this as a subject that may be of interest to Weather Band members. If you attend, let us know what you thought in the Weather Band Community!

As a result of climate change, extreme events such as floods, wildfires, storms, and heat waves are already becoming more dangerous and destructive. Marshall Shepherd (University of Georgia) will moderate a conversation with Craig Fugate (former FEMA Administrator) and Marissa Aho (Washington State Department of Natural Resources) about the connections between climate change and extreme events, and about how communities and governments at different scales can plan for and become more resilient to the risks from extreme events today and into the future.

Weather spotters play an important role in the severe weather warning system. Since the 1970s, the National Weather Service (NWS) has trained citizens to collect, confirm, verify, or supplement radar and other data, thus, “serving as the nation’s first line of defense against severe weather.” Today, “SKYWARN,” is a volunteer program with over 350,000 trained spotters. The network includes police and fire personnel, 911 dispatchers, emergency management workers, public utility workers, and other concerned citizens.

“How accurate is your data?” 

This is one of the big, never ending, unresolved questions around using and interpreting atmospheric data. Of course uncertainties have existed and will continue to exist in all forms of environmental data. But in order to understand our weather history, and our weather future, there is a need to define, measure, and understand these uncertainties. 

We are excited to announce the AMS Weather Band's first Community and Citizen Science Symposium!

Please join us as a speaker or a participant for this two day, virtual event, that will showcase citizen and community science projects and programs related to weather and the atmospheric sciences. It will take place on Friday, January 21, and Saturday, January 22 12:00 - 5:00 ET.