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Cf,she,Cedric,to,ffckmx🔔🔔🤝🤣🐳💄😛😘💄😛🐨👨🏾‍🦽😘😝🐨😘👨🏾‍🦽😝🐨🙃How they start like and
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Snowflakes are made of ice crystals. Each snowflake is six-sided and made of as many as 200 ice crystals. Snowflakes form in clouds where the temperature is below freezing. The ice crystals form around tiny bits of dirt that has been carried up into the atmosphere by the wind.

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How do meteorologists predict the weather?

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How do meteorologists predict the weather?

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Weather 101 for kids - with Meteorologist JD Rudd

Carrie Higginbotham on October 15 2018

Designed to be used in the classroom, JD explains a few basics about weather and how the "magic green wall" is used on television.

Launched as a beta version in 2009, SafeShare.tv has gained popularity as the safest way to Watch and Share YouTube and Vimeo videos, and is widely used all around the globe by educators so their students can watch educational material without the fear of inappropriate videos showing up.

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Weather 101 for kids - with Meteorologist ... - SafeShare.tv

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Designed to be used in the classroom, JD explains a few basics about weather and how the "magic green wall" is used on television.

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https://www.npr.org/2014/04/09/301055670/why-do-some-clouds-drop-rain-while-others-dont

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Produced by forskning.no in collaboration with the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, this is a brilliantly simple explainer about How the Aurora Borealis is created.

The kids should always see excellent science videos, including magnetic fields, solar flares, and space weather.

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How the Aurora Borealis is created | The Kid Should See This

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Produced by forskning.no in collaboration with the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo, this is a brilliantly simple explainer about How the Aurora Borealis is created. The kids should always see excellent science videos, including magnetic fields, solar flares, and space weather.

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The Water Cycle! This cute little stop motion piece about water in many of its forms was created by animator Emma Dougherty at StopMoGo, and was inspired by her time as a teacher.

Also, it has great boogie woogie music! Here's Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson in 1944 playing some more in a hoppin' piano duet (with young Lena Horne looking on). There's also this link with intro-level bios and long song clips of boogie woogie greats.

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The Water Cycle: A boogie woogie stop motion clay animation - The Kid Should See This

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The Water Cycle! This cute little stop motion piece about water in many of its forms was created by animator Emma Dougherty at StopMoGo, and was inspired by her time as a teacher. Also, it has great boogie woogie music! Here's Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson in 1944 playing some more in a hoppin' piano duet (with young...

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How does lightning form? Evidently we're still trying to figure it out! It all starts in the clouds where both ice crystals and hail stones form:

Scientists believe that as these hail stones fall back through the rising ice crystals, millions of tiny collisions occur. These collisions build up an electric charge which is stored in the cloud like a battery. "A cloud is very much like a battery, but a battery with a much higher voltage than your typical flashlight battery... not 1.5 volts but 100 million volts."

But what scientists don't know is exactly how this electric charge generates lightning. "What remains a major meteorological mystery is how it is that ice particle collisions result in the generation of lightning. We're very much in the middle ages on that problem."

From the Discovery Channel's "Raging Planet" series.

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How does lightning form? - The Kid Should See This

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How does lightning form? Evidently we're still trying to figure it out! It all starts in the clouds where both ice crystals and hail stones form: Scientists believe that as these hail stones fall back through the rising ice crystals, millions of tiny collisions occur. These collisions build up an electric charge which is stored...

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Excellent for all ages: TED Ed's Reasons for the Seasons.

Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun and the Earth's tilt on its axis affect the amount of sunlight each region receives.

There are more videos about or including the seasons on this site.

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Reasons for the Seasons - TED Ed - The Kid Should See This

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Excellent for all ages: TED Ed's Reasons for the Seasons. Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the Sun and the Earth's tilt on its axis...

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What is wind? - It's Okay To Be Smart - The Kid Should See This

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We were just watching how wind (and so many other things) can get going with the spin of the Earth, now let's go deeper and find out more about what wind is with PBS' Dr. Joe Hanson of It's Okay To Be Smart. Then watch a surprising amount of videos about spinning and wind in the archives.

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Clouds are filled with so many water droplets that they're actually heavy... like 100 elephants heavy or a 747 airplane heavy! So why don't clouds fall out of the sky? It's Okay to Be Smart's Joe Hanson explains everything from cloud names, to condensation, to what it's like to parachute through a cumulonimbus cloud.

Related watching: The Water Cycle and NOVA PBS' Why So Many Cloud Types? Related DIY: Make a cloud in a bottle.

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Why Do Clouds Stay Up? - It's Okay to Be Smart | The Kid Should See This

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Clouds are filled with so many water droplets that they're actually heavy... like 100 elephants heavy or a 747 airplane heavy! So why don't clouds fall out of the sky? It's Okay to Be Smart's Joe Hanson explains everything from cloud names, to condensation, to what it's like to parachute through a cumulonimbus cloud.

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Planet Earth in 4K: Time lapse images taken by an orbiting satellite

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This video truly illustrates why our Earth is called The Blue Marble. Taken every 30 minutes over Indian ocean from May 15th to May 19th, 2011, these

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How did clouds get their names? - TED Ed - The Kid Should See This

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In daydreaming out the window as a kid, Luke Howard began to informally study the constantly changing clouds in the sky. In 1802, he was the first to name cloud forms, as well as a variety of transitional cloud types. It's a system of classifications that we use in meteorology today.

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Lightning storm recorded at 7,000 frames per second - The Kid Should See This

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Watch lightning streak down through the sky in this high speed footage via Professor Ningyu Liu of the Geospace Physics Laboratory in Florida Tech's Department of Physics and Space Sciences. Recorded at 7,000 frames per second, with playback at 700 frames per second, the phenomenon was caught during a storm near the university's Melbourne campus....

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One Year on Earth - Seen From 1 Million Miles - The Kid Should See This

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Every two hours, NASA's Epic camera on NOAA's DSCOVR satellite captures a set of images from its L1 (Lagrange point 1) orbit. The images of Earth's sunlit side are taken in ten different wavelengths. The first color-adjusted image was seen in July of 2015. Now, one year later, we can see an entire year of...

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Snow crystals form when humid air is cooled to the point that molecules of water vapor start sticking to each other. In the clouds, crystals usually start forming around a tiny microscopic dust particle, but if the water vapor gets cooled quickly enough the crystals can form spontaneously out of water molecules alone. Over time, more water molecules stick to the crystal until it gets heavy enough to fall...

When they fall and grow in nature, they experience a variety of humidity and temperature conditions along their paths, creating their famously unique shapes. But when they grow in a lab under controlled conditions? Identical twin snowflakes.

In this episode of Deep Look, we peek inside the CalTech lab of professor, physicist, and snowflake expert Ken Libbrecht. He's made a chamber that mimics cloud conditions so that he can grow, catch, and study their hexagonal shapes. From KQED:

Each water molecule is each made out of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. As vapor, the water molecules bounce around slamming into each other. As the vapor cools, the hydrogen atom of one molecule forms a bond with the oxygen of another water molecule. This is called a hydrogen bond. These bonds make the water molecules stick together in the shape of a hexagonal ring. As the crystal grows, more molecules join fitting within that same repeating pattern called a crystal array. The crystal keeps the hexagonal symmetry as it grows.

Read more about Snowflake science and snow crystal morphology at Libbrecht's site.

Plus: More Deep Look and more ice crystals! Make your own in a bottle, go on a snowflake safari, or see them form in time lapse through a microscope.

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The scientist that grows 'identical twin snowflakes' - The Kid Should See This

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Snow crystals form when humid air is cooled to the point that molecules of water vapor start sticking to each other. In the clouds, crystals usually start forming around a tiny microscopic dust particle, but if the water vapor gets cooled quickly enough the crystals can form spontaneously out of water molecules alone.

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In our planet's constantly moving water cycle, our oceans, lakes, puddles, and other collections of water evaporate, or water transpires from plants. That vapor travels upwards into the atmosphere and can form clouds. When clouds rain (or snow), that precipitation falls back down to Earth... but does it all reach the ground? Does even 50% of the rain that falls reach the ground?

Where does rain go when it falls? This episode of MinuteEarth explains.

Plus: There's around 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (326 million trillion gallons or about 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters) of water on Earth. It covers 71% of the planet's surface, yet only 3% of that is fresh water. Learn more about it in Crash Course Kids' The Basics of Freshwater + Water, Water, Everywhere?

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Why Most Rain Never Reaches The Ground - The Kid Should See This

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In our planet's constantly moving water cycle, our oceans, lakes, puddles, and other collections of water evaporate, or water transpires from plants. That vapor travels upwards into the atmosphere and can form clouds. When clouds rain (or snow), that precipitation falls back down to Earth... but does it all reach the ground?

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Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katrina, Maria, Sandy. Hurricanes have been major news stories in 2005 and 2012, and continue to be in 2017, starting in August when Harvey crossed the Caribbean and made landfall in Texas. What causes these gigantic spiraling storms? In Engines of Destruction: The Science of Hurricanes, Joe Hanson of It's Okay to Be Smart explains a bit about their history, how they form, and how we rate their intensity levels.

Below, he puts Hurricane Harvey measurements into perspective:

Additional reading and resources via IOTBS: Yale survey of climate change risks and Hurricane frequency and damage estimates over last century.

Next: Weather vs. Climate + Severe Weather with Crash Course Kids.

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Engines of Destruction: The Science of Hurricanes - The Kid Should See This

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Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katrina, Maria, Sandy. Hurricanes have been major news stories in 2005 and 2012, and continue to be in 2017, starting in August when Harvey crossed the Caribbean and made landfall in Texas. What causes these gigantic spiraling storms? In Engines of Destruction: The Science of Hurricanes, Joe Hanson of It's Okay to...

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Traveling over 20,000 miles around Arizona and the Great Plains in just 30 summer days, filmmaker and photographer Dustin Farrell captured some incredible bolts of lightning with a Phantom Flex4K high-speed camera. The footage was filmed at 1,000 frames per second, allowing us to see the energy trails snake unpredictably through the air with sharp twists and turns. The shots are intermixed with sped up and slow-mo footage and set to some intense action music: Transient. Farrell writes:

There were at least 10 days where I returned home with my tail between my legs and nothing to show after a ten hour chase and 500 miles. There were also a couple of days that I drove home with an ear to ear smile that lasted for hours...

Lightning is like a snowflake. Every bolt is different. I learned that lightning varies greatly in speed. There are some incredible looking bolts that I captured that didn't make the cut because even at 1000fps they only lasted for one frame during playback. I also captured some lightning that appear computer generated it lasted so long on the screen.

Learn more about lightning on Wikipedia, and watch more awesome lightning videos on this site, including lightning storm recorded at 7,000 frames per second and Two Triple Lightning Strikes in Chicago.

via Colossal.

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Transient - Lightning storms captured in 4K at 1,000 fps - The Kid Should See This

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Traveling over 20,000 miles around Arizona and the Great Plains in just 30 summer days, filmmaker and photographer Dustin Farrell captured some incredible bolts of lightning with a Phantom Flex4K high-speed camera. The footage was filmed at 1,000 frames per second, allowing us to see the energy trails snake unpredictably through the air with sharp...

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Weather and climate are not the same things, yet we might get confused between the two. What is weather and what is climate? And how is climate like the game Plinko?

In this episode of PBS Digital Studio's Hot Mess, Joe Hanson explains the difference between climate-which "tells us what clothes to have in our closet"-and weather-which "tells us what to wear right now." He also delves into the how our recent experiences can shape our perceptions, especially when it's a complex issue like climate change.

Check out more videos from Hot Mess on YouTube and read more infomation at climate.nasa.gov.

Then follow this with Crash Course Kids' Weather vs. Climate + Severe Weather, and a brilliant clip with Neil deGrasse Tyson and a dog: The difference between weather and climate change.

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Why do we confuse weather and climate? | The Kid Should See This

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Weather and climate are not the same things, yet we might get confused between the two. What is weather and what is climate? And how is climate like the game Plinko? In this episode of PBS Digital Studio's Hot Mess, Joe Hanson explains the difference between climate-which "tells us what clothes to have in our closet"-and weather-which "tells us what to wear right now."

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Newsela | Big Questions: What causes windy weather?

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Wind is just air moving from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas.

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Wind Facts for Kids - Weather Facts for kids

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If you listen to the weather forecasts, you will often hear the terms or Wind is caused by air moving from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.

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What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is the most violent storm known on Earth.

Hurricanes are tropical storms. They take place between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer to the north, or between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn to the south.

Hurricanes form at sea and cause dangerous, stormy seas.

Some hurricanes reach the land and can destroy buildings and trees.

A hurricane can blow high waves onto the land and cause flooding.

The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from the beginning of June until the end of November.

There are usually between four and six hurricanes in a year that will cause some destruction on land.

The winds in a hurricane do not blow from west to east or north to south. They blow round in a circle.

A hurricane is like a spinning top.

The winds in a hurricane blow in a circle.

North of the equator the winds in a hurricane blow in an anticlockwise direction.

South of the equator the winds blow in a clockwise direction.

The winds in a hurricane blow at a speed of at least 74 miles an hour. Their speed is often much more than this.

Hurricanes can be seen from space. This photograph from space shows Hurricane Ivan hitting the coast of America.

Hurricanes form a thick mass of swirling cloud which can be seen from space.

A hurricane can be six miles high and 400 miles wide.

An area of calmer weather lies in the centre of the hurricane. This is known as the 'eye of the storm'.

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Hurricane Facts - Hurricanes for Kids - What is a Hurricane - Weather Facts for kids

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A hurricane is the most violent storm known on Earth. Hurricanes are tropical storms. They take place between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer to the north, or between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn to the south. Hurricanes form at sea and cause dangerous, stormy seas.

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Have you ever wondered how far away space is; how far are the different things you see above your head? Join the Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomers as they ascend up through the different layers of the Earth’s atmosphere to reveal what we would see at different heights. rmg.co.uk/plan-your-visit/schools/royal-observatory #ROGschools

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Rain Clouds Facts - Pictures of Rain - Rain Drops - Weather Facts for kids

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What is lightning?
Lightning is a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm. All thunderstorms produce lightning and are very dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in danger from lightning. Lightning kills and injures more people each year than hurricanes or tornadoes; between 75 to 100 people.

What causes lightning?
Lightning is an electric current. Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, many small bits of ice (frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of those collisions create an electric charge. After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or electrons form at the bottom of the cloud. Since opposites attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud. The grounds electrical charge concentrates around anything that sticks up, such as mountains, people, or single trees. The charge coming up from these points eventually connects with a charge reaching down from the clouds and - zap - lightning strikes!

Have you ever rubbed your feet across carpet and then touched a metal door handle? If so, then you know that you can get shocked! Lightning works in the same way.

Click Here to see where lightning is currently striking across the U.S.

How hot is lightning?
Lightning is approximately 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is nearly six times hotter than the surface of the sun!

What is a "stepped leader"?
A stepped leader is a stream of weakly charged particles that flows from the cloud - it moves towards the ground, starting and stopping, and sometimes branching, trying to find the path of least resistance.

Is it possible to have thunder without lightning?
No, it is not possible to have thunder without lightning. Thunder is a direct result of lightning. However, it IS possible that you might see lightning and not hear the thunder because it was too far away. Sometimes this is called "heat lightning" because it occurs most often in the summer.

How do you know if lightning is nearby?
If you see dark clouds, then lightning could be present, but the best thing you can do is to listen for thunder. If you hear thunder, then you need to go indoors or get in a car. Don't be outside, where lightning could strike! If your hair stands on end or your skin starts to tingle, lightning maybe about to strike. Get down on your hands and knees and keep your head tucked in. Do not lay flat, because it can give lightning a better chance of strike you.

How far away can you see lightning and hear thunder?
Within those distant thunderstorms, the lightning bolts can be seen as much as 100 miles from us, depending on the height of the bolt, the clarity of the air, and our elevation. Thunder, in comparison, has a much shorter range of detection - usually less than 15 miles in a quiet rural setting and under 5 miles in a noisy city environment.

How many volts and watts are in lightning?
Lightning can have 100 million to 1 billion volts, and contains billions of watts.

Why are positive lightning bolts deemed more dangerous than the more common negatively charged bolts?
Positive lightning is often considered more dangerous because its electrical field is stronger (forming at the top of the storm), the flash duration is typically longer, and its peak charge can be much greater than a negative strike. Plus, positively charged lightning can occur near the edge of a cloud or strike more than 10 miles away - when people aren't aware of the danger.

Does lightning strike from the sky down, or the ground up?
The answer is both. Cloud-to-ground lightning comes from the sky down, but the part you see comes from the ground up. A typical cloud-to-ground flash lowers a path of negative electricity (that we cannot see) towards the ground in a series of spurts. Objects on the ground generally have a positive charge. Since opposites attract, an upward streamer is sent out from the object about to be struck. When these two paths meet, a return stroke zips back up to the sky. It is the return stroke that produces the visible flash, but it all happens so fast - in about one-millionth of a second - so the human eye doesn't see the actual formation of the stroke.

Why are you less likely to see static electricity in the summer?
In the summer, our dew points are much higher due to warm and humid air coming from the Gulf of Mexico and that is why we have humid weather. In the winter, our dew points are much lower due to cold and direr air coming from Canada. The lower the dew point the better it is to create static electricity, so that's why you see it more in the winter.

Can you tell how far away a storm is?
Yes, you can use thunder to tell how far away a storm is. Next time you see a storm, count the number of seconds between when you see the lightning and hear the thunder. Take the number of seconds and divide by 5 and that will tell you how far away the storm is in miles. For example: If you counted 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder, the lightning is 2 miles away!

Does lightning happen during the winter?
Lightning occurs less frequently in the winter because there is not as much instability and moisture in the atmosphere as there is in the summer. During the winter, the land surface is cooler because there is not as much heating by the sun to warm it up. Warm air holds more water vapor. And, when water vapor condenses into liquid water cloud drops, latent heat is released which fuels the thunderstorm. So, warm, moist air near the surface (and the proper conditions aloft to give you lots of instability) can result in deep convection, which may produce lightning discharges. Clouds become electrified when strong updrafts (fueled by the instability and moisture) bring supercooled liquid water drops and ice crystals at temperatures less than freezing (0 deg C) together. In this environment, interactions between the ice crystals and supercooled water droplets produce electric charges. The exact mechanisms by which this charging happens remain unknown. The electrical charges build up until they are strong enough to overcome the resistance of the surrounding air. The breakdown of the electric fields produced by these charges is the lightning bolt.

What is thundersnow?
Although thunderstorms are less common in the winter, sometimes lightning can occur within snowstorms. Called thundersnow, relatively strong instability and abundant moisture may be found above the surface, such as above a warm front, rather than at the surface where it may be below freezing. Thundersnow is sometimes observed downstream of the Great Salt Lake and the Great Lakes during lake-effect snowstorms, too.

What happens to the ground when lightning strikes it?
What tends to happen when lightning strikes ground is that it fuses dirt and clays in to silicas. The result is often a glassy rock called a fulgurite in the shape of a convoluted tube. Fulgurite has been found all over the world, but is relatively rare. The color depends on the minerals in the sand that was struck.The shape in the ground is the shape of the path the lightning current followed in the ground. There is often damage to grasses along this path too.

What is fulgurite?
Fulgurite is brittle, glassy formations caused by a lightning strike to sandy soil. The lightning heats the soil and fuses the soil particles together surrounding the path of the channel, resulting in a hollow tube-like formation shaped like the section of lightning that formed it.

Does lightning always strike the tallest object?
Never say always! Lightning USUALLY strikes the tallest object. It makes sense that the tallest object is most attractive, because it is the easiest path for the lightning to take.

Can lightning strike the same place twice?
Yes, lightning does hit the same spot or almost the same spot more than once, contrary to folk wisdom. Taller objects are more likely than shorter objects to produce the upward channel. But it is also possible that something that locally affects the ability of the ground to conduct electricity such as the salt or moisture content of the ground at the time, the presence or absence of rock, standing water, pipes or other metal objects in the ground, the terrain shape, the shape of leaves or twigs, or something else might make a particular location more likely than another nearby location to be struck.

What is a lightning rod?
Lightning rods (also called conductors) are metal rods or similar objects that divert lightning safely to the ground, they can often be seen at the top of tall buildings.

What is volcanic lightning?
Volcanic lightning, also known as dirty thunderstorms, is capable of producing some of the most powerful and visually striking lightning storms on Earth. Not all volcanic eruptions produce lightning. When it does occur, a single eruption can create multiple, separate lightning storms. The lightning seems to be set off by explosions during the eruption, although not all explosions cause lightning. During recent eruptions that displayed lightning, scientists observed the most intense lightning occurred at the beginning of the eruption and gradually decreased as the eruption continued, sometimes over a period of weeks.

What is cloud-to-ground lightning?
All lightning is dangerous, but cloud-to-ground lightning is the most dangerous type of lightning. Most cloud-to-ground lightning strikes come from the negatively charged bottom of the cloud traveling to the positively charged ground below. Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts strike the tall objects, like trees and buildings. These lightning strikes can cause fire and property damage. If you're the tallest object, then lighting can strike you. Lightning is the second weather related killed.

What is cloud-to-air lightning?
Cloud-to-air lightning is referred to a discharge or portion of a discharge jumping from a cloud into clear air. Technically speaking, all cloud-to-ground lightning strikes contain cloud-to-air components in the many branches that extend away from the main channel and terminate abruptly in mid-air. However, the most visually dramatic examples of cloud-to-air lightning occur when a long, bright lightning channel jumps out of the side of a cumulonimbus cloud and terminates in the clear air surrounding the storm.

What is intracloud lightning?
Intracloud lightning is the most common type of lightning. This occurs when there are both positive and negative charges within the same cloud. Usually, the process takes place within the cloud and looks like a bright flash of light which flickers.

What is intercloud lightning?
Intercloud lightning is less common. It's when a lightning strike occurs when there are positive and negative charges within different clouds and the strike travels in the air between them.

What is an anvil crawler?
An anvil crawler is lightning that branches upward and outward like a tree along the tops and sides of large thunderstorms. The lightning seems to 'travel' or 'crawl' across the sky. Anvil crawlers are sometimes referred to as spider lightning.

What is heat lightning?
Heat lightning is a term used to describe lightning flashes that are too far away from you to hear the thunder. The reason that it is called heat lightning is that it appears most often on a hot summer day when the sky is clear overhead.

What is high-altitude lightning?
High-altitude lightning has been given other names such as "red sprites," "green elves," and "blue jets." This form of lightning appears as brightly colored flashes, high above thunderstorms. You can't see these types of lightning from the ground.

What is ribbon lightning?
Ribbon lightning is when a bolt of lightning separates due to wind and appears as parallel lightning streaks.

What is chain or bead lightning?
Chain or bead lightning is when a lightning bolt is broken into dotted lines while fading.

What is anvil lightning?
Anvil lightning is a type of lightning referred to as "the bolt from the blue" because it often appears suddenly from a seemingly cloudless sky. A bolt at the top of a thunderstorm arcs away from the main cloud and strikes the ground where the skies above often appear clear.

What is volcanic lightning?
Volcanic lightning, also known as dirty thunderstorms, is capable of producing some of the most powerful and visually striking lightning storms on Earth. Not all volcanic eruptions produce lightning. When it does occur, a single eruption can create multiple, separate lightning storms. The lightning seems to be set off by explosions during the eruption, although not all explosions cause lightning. During recent eruptions that displayed lightning, scientists observed the most intense lightning occurred at the beginning of the eruption and gradually decreased as the eruption continued, sometimes over a period of weeks.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH - A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per hour or more, or 1″ hail in diameter or greater) is likely to develop in your area.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING - A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per hour or more, or hail three-fourths of an inch in diameter or greater) is taking place in your area.

PROTONS - They are particles with a positive charge.

ELECTRONS - They are particles with a negative charge.

STATIC ELECTRICITY - It is a form of electricity that is created when an object has too many electrons, giving it a negative charge.

CHANNEL - The narrow path of ionized air in which the lightning current discharge flows. It is illuminated brightly by the return stroke.

LEADERS - A channel of charged air created by excess electrons in a thunderstorm cloud. A leader reaches from the cloud to the ground below, looking for positive charges.

RETURN STROKE - It's an electrical charge that travels from the ground to a thundercloud. This return stroke releases tremendous energy, bright light and thunder.

DISCHARGE - The flow of current down the lightning channel that equalizes the charge difference between two regions on opposing charge inside a thunderstorm.

STREAMERS - A channel of charged air created by protons on the ground. They are created when leaders are created and reach from the ground to the sky looking for a leader to connect with.

ARC - A channel of ionized air with electric current flowing through it, usually used to describe those occurring during a fault on an energized power line.

FAULT - A short circuit.

FLASH - Referring to the entire lightning discharge event from beginning to end.

STROKE - Referring tot he flow of current through the lightning channel.

The movement of rain and ice inside a thundercloud creates an electrical charge, with the negative charge (electrons) forming at the bottom of the cloud and the positive charge (protons) forming at the top.

A lightning flash is no more than one inch wide.

Thousands of people are struck by lightning every year.

Direct lightning strikes are usually fatal.

What we see as a flash of lightning may actually be four different strokes in exactly the same place, one right after another. That's why lightning appears to flicker.

Lightning is a powerful burst of electricity that happens very quickly during a thunderstorm.

Lightning can occur inside clouds, between clouds and from clouds to the ground.

Around one quarter of lightning is from cloud to ground.

Lightning is caused by an electrical charge in the atmosphere that is unbalanced.

Opposites attract so the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud seeks out a positive charge to connect with.

When lightning strikes the ground it seeks out the shortest route to something with a positive charge, this might be a tree, a tall building or if they're very unlucky, a person.

Most lightning occurs over land rather than oceans, with around 70% of it occurring in the Tropics.

There are bolts of lightning striking somewhere on Earth every second.

Lightning strikes usually last around 1 or 2 microseconds.

Lightning contains millions of volts of electricity.

The average temperature of lightning is around 36,000°F (20,000 °C ).

Lightning is usually produced by cumulonimbus clouds that are very tall and dense.

Lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions, dust storms, snow storms, forest fires and tornadoes.

The study of lightning is known as fulminology.

Astraphobia is the fear of thunder and lightning.

Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.

IF YOU'RE OUTDOORS: Keep an eye at the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of lightning, or increasing winds. Lightning often proceeds rain, so don't wait for the rain to begin. If you hear the sound of thunder, go to a safe place immediately. The best place to go is a sturdy building or a car, but make sure the windows in the car are shut. Avoid sheds, picnic areas, baseball dugouts and bleachers.

If there is no shelter around you, stay away from trees. Crouch down in the open area, keeping twice as far away from a tree as far as it is tall. Put your feet together and place your hands over your ears to minimize hearing damage from thunder. If you're with a group of people stay about 15 feet from each other. Stay out of water, because it's a great conductor of electricity. Swimming, wading, snorkeling and scuba diving are not safe. Also, don't stand in puddles and avoid metal. Stay away from clotheslines, fences, and drop your backpacks because they often have metal on them. If you're playing an outdoor activity, wait at least 30 minutes after the last observed lightning strike or thunder.

IF YOU'RE INDOORS: Avoid water. It's a great conductor of electricity, so do not take a shower, wash your hands, wash dishes or do laundry. Do not use a corded telephone. Lightning may strike exterior phone lines. Do not use electric equipment like computers and appliances during a storm. Stay away from windows and doors and stay off porches.

IF SOMEONE IS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING: Call for help. Call 9-1-1 or send for help immediately. The injured person does not carry an electrical charge, so it is okay to touch them.

Make Lightning In Your Mouth Experiment: Here is a great experiment that allows kids to make lightning in their mouth. It's a great way for them to understand how lightning works.

What's Lightning Experiment: Here is a great experiment that allows the kids to make lightning. All you need is a balloon and a light bulb!

Make Lightning Experiment: Here is another great experiment that allows the kids to make lightning. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Sticking A Balloon To A Wall Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to learn about static electricity by sticking a balloon to a wall. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Bend Water Experiment: Here is another static electricity experiment that bends water. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Make Your Hair Stand Up Experiment: Here is yet another static electricity experiment with using a balloon and your hair. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Make Thunder Experiment: This experiment allows kids to make thunder, in a way that allows them to understand how it is made by lightning.

Track A Thunderstorm Experiment: Here is a great way to teach kids how to track a thunderstorm.

Make A Thunderstorm Experiment: Here is a great experiment that shows kids how our weather works. It teaches them how thunderstorms are formed!

Science Fair Project Ideas: Here is a complete list of science fair project ideas. Discover the science behind the weather that impacts us every day.

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What is lightning? Lightning is a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm. All thunderstorms produce lightning and are very dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in danger from lightning. Lightning kills and injures more people each year than hurricanes or tornadoes; between 75 to 100 people.

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What is a tsunami?
A tsunami is a large ocean wave usually caused by an underwater earthquake or a volcanic explosion. Tsunamis are NOT tidal waves. Tidal waves are caused by the forces of the moon, sun, and planets upon the tides, as well as the wind as it moves over the water. With typical waves, water flows in circles, but with a tsunami, water flows straight. This is why tsunamis cause so much damage!

How are tsunamis generated?
Tsunamis are generated by any large, impulsive displacement of the sea level. The most common cause of a tsunami is sea floor uplift associated with an earthquake. Tsunamis are also triggered by landslides into or under the water surface, and can be generated by volcanic activity and meteorite impacts.

How often do tsunamis occur?
On the average, two tsunamis occur per year throughout the world which inflict damage near the source. Approximately every 15 years a destructive, ocean-wide tsunami occurs.

Can strike-slip (horizontal motion) earthquakes trigger tsunamis?
Yes, approximately 10-15% of damaging tsunamis are triggered by strike-slip earthquakes. This type of earthquake is less likely to trigger a tsunami than one with vertical motion. The waves are likely generated by associated landslides or motion of a sloping bathymetric feature. Tsunamis generated by strike-slip earthquakes normally affect regions near the source only.

What does the word "tsunami" mean?
Tsunami (soo-NAH-mee) is a Japanese word meaning harbor wave.

How fast do tsunamis travel?
Tsunami velocity depends on the depth of water through which it travels. Velocity equals the square root of the product of the water depth times the acceleration of gravity. Tsunamis travel approximately 475 mph in 15,000 feet of water. In 100 feet of water the velocity drops to about 40 mph.

Did you know...A tsunami travels from the central Aleutian Islands to Hawaii in about 5 hours and to California in about 6 hours, or from the Portugal coast to North Carolina in about 8.5 hours.

How big is a tsunami?
Tsunamis range in size from inches to over a hundred feet. In deep water (greater than 600 feet), tsunamis are rarely over 3 feet and are not normally noticed by ships due to their long period or time between crests. As tsunamis propagate into shallow water, the wave height can increase by over 10 times. Tsunami heights vary greatly along a coast. The waves can be amplified by shoreline and sea floor features. A large tsunami can flood low-lying coastal land over a mile from the coast.

What does a tsunami look like when it reaches shore?
Normally, a tsunami appears as a rapidly advancing or receding tide. In some cases, a wall of water or series of breaking waves may form.

How is a tsunami different from a wind-generated wave?
Wind-generated waves usually have periods or time between crests between 5 and 15 seconds. Tsunami periods normally range from 5 to 60 minutes. Also, wind-generated waves break as they shoal and lose energy offshore. Tsunamis act more like a flooding wave. A twenty foot tsunami is a twenty foot rise in sea level.

What are nature's signs that a tsunami may be imminent?
There are a few signs like hard ground shaking for 20+ seconds near the coast or a sudden sea level withdrawal. Tsunamis may be accompanied by loud, booming noises.

Can earthquakes and tsunamis be predicted?
No, earthquakes cannot be predicted. Once an earthquake has occurred, the arrival time of a tsunami, if generated, can be determined accurately. There is not normally enough time to accurately predict tsunami heights near the source. Away from the source, tsunami wave heights can be estimated based on mathematical tsunami models and observed wave heights.

Aerial video of the tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011.

Click Here to see an animation of an earthquake and the resulting tsunami. It's great for kids, because they get to see how it actually happens!
What are some of the most damaging tsunamis?

Japan: Major tsunami in 2011 generated in the Pacific Ocean.

Asia: Asian tsunami in 2004 generated in the Indian Ocean.

Alaska: Major tsunamis were generated along the Alaskan coast in 1946, 1957, 1958, 1964, and 1965. Many other locally generated tsunamis occurred prior to those dates.

US/Canada West Coast: Tsunamis were generated locally in 1812, 1873, 1878, 1927, 1930, 1946 and 1949. The west coast was also impacted by tsunamis generated in other regions in 1877, 1946, 1952, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1975, 2006, and 2010.

US/Canada Atlantic Coast: Tsunamis were recorded in 1755, 1884, 1886, and 1929.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands experienced damaging tsunamis in 1867 and 1918.

Click Here for the NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center tsunami catalog.

TSUNAMI WARNING- A tsunami warning indicates that a tsunami may be imminent and that coastal locations in the warned area should prepare for flooding. The initial warning is typically based solely on seismic information. After the tsunami is recorded on sea level gages, the warning will be cancelled, restricted, expanded, or downgraded to an advisory. Warnings indicate that flooding up to the maximum expected limit is possible and residents should follow their local emergency management instructions. Warnings are issued when the earthquake information or tsunami forecasts indicate that a wave over 1 meter in amplitude is expected, possible, or ongoing.

TSUNAMI ADVISORY- A tsunami advisory indicates a tsunami which may produce strong currents and is dangerous to those in or very near the water is expected. Large inundations are not expected in areas under advisory status. Advisories will be cancelled, extended, or upgraded to a warning depending on the event severity. Advisories are issued when the tsunami forecast is in the range of 0.3 to 1 meter, or an observed tsunami is in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 meters.

TSUNAMI WATCH- A tsunami watch is an early alert issued to areas which may later be impacted by a tsunami. Tsunami impact is normally at least three hours away for regions within a tsunami watch. The watch will either be upgraded to a warning or advisory in subsequent messages or cancelled depending on the severity of the tsunami. People within a watch area should stay alert for further information regarding tsunami threat.

CREST - The top of a wave.

FJORD - A narrow sea inlet between cliffs or steep slopes.

SURGE - A large wave or billow.

TROUGH - The lowest point between waves.

Click Here to get the latest tsunami warning information from the NWS.

PLAN FOR A TSUNAMI: Have a disaster plan. Know whether you're at risk for danger. Plan an evacuation route. Prepare a disaster supplies kit for your home and car. Include a first aid kit, canned food and a can opener, bottled water, battery-operated radio, flashlight, protective clothing and written instructions on how to turn off electricity, gas, and water.

DURING A TSUNAMI: Follow the instructions issued by local authorities. You will probably want to evacuate immediately. Get to higher ground and as far inland as you can.

AFTER A TSUNAMI: Help injured or trapped people. Stay out of a building if water remains around it. Tsunami waters can cause buildings to sink, floors to crack, or walls to collapse. When re-entering homes, use extreme caution. Check for gas leaks. Open windows and doors to help dry things out. Look for fire hazards.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on learning about tsunamis. Note: This is a PDF file, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on tracking a tsunami.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on tsunamis and how they devastating effects they may cause in the world.

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What is a tsunami? A tsunami is a large ocean wave usually caused by an underwater earthquake or a volcanic explosion. Tsunamis are NOT tidal waves. Tidal waves are caused by the forces of the moon, sun, and planets upon the tides, as well as the wind as it moves over the water.

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What is a thunderstorm?
A thunderstorm is a storm with lightning and thunder. Its produced by a cumulonimbus cloud, usually producing gusty winds, heavy rain and sometimes hail.

What causes a thunderstorm?
The basic ingredients used to make a thunderstorm are moisture, unstable air and lift. You need moisture to form clouds and rain. You need unstable air that is relatively warm and can rise rapidly. Finally, you need lift. This can form from fronts, sea breezes or mountains.

What are the stages of a thunderstorm?
Thunderstorms have three stages in their life cycle: The developing stage, the mature stage, and the dissipating stage. The developing stage of a thunderstorm is marked by a cumulus cloud that is being pushed upward by a rising column of air (updraft). The cumulus cloud soon looks like a tower (called towering cumulus) as the updraft continues to develop. There is little to no rain during this stage but occasional lightning. The thunderstorm enters the mature stage when the updraft continues to feed the storm, but precipitation begins to fall out of the storm, creating a downdraft (a column of air pushing downward). When the downdraft and rain-cooled air spreads out along the ground it forms a gust front, or a line of gusty winds. The mature stage is the most likely time for hail, heavy rain, frequent lightning, strong winds, and tornadoes. Eventually, a large amount of precipitation is produced and the updraft is overcome by the downdraft beginning the dissipating stage. At the ground, the gust front moves out a long distance from the storm and cuts off the warm moist air that was feeding the thunderstorm. Rainfall decreases in intensity, but lightning remains a danger.

What is a Mesoscale Convective System?
A Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) is a collection of thunderstorms that act as a system. An MCS can spread across an entire state and last more than 12 hours. On radar one of these monsters might appear as a solid line, a broken line, or a cluster of cells. This all-encompassing term can include any of the following storm types:

Mesoscale convective complex (MCC)-A particular type of MCS, an MCC is a large, circular, long-lived cluster of showers and thunderstorms identified by satellite. It often emerges out of other storm types during the late-night and early-morning hours. MCCs can cover an entire state.

Mesoscale convective vortex (MCV)-A low-pressure center within an MCS that pulls winds into a circling pattern, or vortex. With a core only 30 to 60 miles wide and 1 to 3 miles deep, an MCV is often overlooked in standard weather analyses. But an MCV can take on a life of its own, persisting for up to 12 hours after its parent MCS has dissipated. This orphaned MCV will sometimes then become the seed of the next thunderstorm outbreak. An MCV that moves into tropical waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, can serve as the nucleus for a tropical storm or hurricane.

What is SKYWARN?
SKYWARN is a National Weather program that is run by and coordinated by the NWS. It was a concept developed in the early 1970's that was intended to promote a cooperative effort between the National Weather Service and its communities. The emphasis of the effort is often focused on the storm spotter, a volunteer who takes a position near their community and reports wind gusts, hail size, rainfall, and cloud formations that could signal a developing tornado. YOU can be trained to be a SKYWARN spotter. Visit www.skywarn.org to find a link to local SKYWARN groups. If your area is not listed, contact your local National Weather Service Office.

What is lightning?
Lightning is a bright flash of electricity produced by a thunderstorm. All thunderstorms produce lightning and are very dangerous. If you hear the sound of thunder, then you are in danger from lightning. Lightning kills and injures more people each year than hurricanes or tornadoes; between 75 to 100 people.

What causes lightning?
Lightning is an electric current. Within a thundercloud way up in the sky, many small bits of ice (frozen raindrops) bump into each other as they move around in the air. All of those collisions create an electric charge. After a while, the whole cloud fills up with electrical charges. The positive charges or protons form at the top of the cloud and the negative charges or electrons form at the bottom of the cloud. Since opposites attract, that causes a positive charge to build up on the ground beneath the cloud. The grounds electrical charge concentrates around anything that sticks up, such as mountains, people, or single trees. The charge coming up from these points eventually connects with a charge reaching down from the clouds and - zap - lightning strikes!

Have you ever rubbed your feet across carpet and then touched a metal door handle? If so, then you know that you can get shocked! Lightning works in the same way.

Click Here to see where lightning is currently striking across the U.S.

What causes thunder?
Thunder is caused by lightning. When a lightning bolt travels from the cloud to the ground it actually opens up a little hole in the air, called a channel. Once then light is gone the air collapses back in and creates a sound wave that we hear as thunder. The reason we see lightning before we hear thunder is because light travels faster than sound!

How do you know if lightning is nearby?
If you see dark clouds, then lightning could be present, but the best thing you can do is to listen for thunder. If you hear thunder, then you need to go indoors or get in a car. Don't be outside, where lightning could strike! If your hair stands on end or your skin starts to tingle, lightning maybe about to strike. Get down on your hands and knees and keep your head tucked in. Do not lay flat, because it can give lightning a better chance of strike you.

What is hail?
Hail is a variety of differently shaped ice balls or lumps. Hail or hailstones are made up of water ice and can be any size; it can be measured anything from five millimetres and two hundred millimeters. Hail is produced during thunderstorms and heavy rains.

What is a hailstorm?
A hailstorm is a thunderstorm that produces hail.

How does hail form?
Hail is created when small water droplets are caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm. These water droplets are lifted higher and higher into the sky until they freeze into ice. Once they become heavy, they will start to fall. If the smaller hailstones get caught in the updraft again, they will get more water on them and get lifted higher in the sky and get bigger. Once they get lifted again, they freeze and fall. This happens over and over again until the hailstone is too heavy and then falls to the ground.

How does hail fall to the ground?
Hail falls when it becomes heavy enough to overcome the strength of the updraft and is pulled by gravity towards the earth. How it falls is dependent on what is going on inside the thunderstorm. Hailstones bump into other raindrops and other hailstones inside the thunderstorm, and this bumping slows down their fall. Drag and friction also slow their fall, so it is a complicated question! If the winds are strong enough, they can even blow hail so that it falls at an angle. This would explain why the screens on one side of a house can be shredded by hail and the rest are unharmed!

How is hail measured?
Hail size is estimated by comparing it to a known object. Most hail storms are made up of a mix of sizes, and only the very largest hail stones pose serious risk to people caught in the open.

Pea = 1/4 inch diameter

Marble/mothball = 1/2 inch diameter

Dime/Penny = 3/4 inch diameter

Nickel = 7/8 inch

Quarter = 1 inch - hail quarter size or larger is considered severe

Ping-Pong Ball = 1 1/2 inch

Golf Ball = 1 3/4 inches

Tennis Ball = 2 1/2 inches

Baseball = 2 3/4 inches

Tea cup = 3 inches

Grapefruit = 4 inches

Softball = 4 1/2 inches

What causes the wind to blow?
As the sun warms the Earth's surface, the atmosphere warms too. Some parts of the Earth receive direct rays from the sun all year and are always warm. Other places receive indirect rays, so the climate is colder. Warm air, which weighs less than cold air, rises. Then cool air moves in and replaces the rising warm air. This movement of air is what makes the wind blow.

What are the different types of microbursts?
There are two kinds of microbursts: wet and dry. A wet microburst is accompanied by heavy precipitation at the surface. Dry microbursts, common in places like the high plains and the intermountain west, occur with little or no precipitation reaching the ground.

What is a gust front?
A gust front is the leading edge of rain-cooled air that clashes with warmer thunderstorm inflow. Gust fronts are characterized by a wind shift, temperature drop, and gusty winds out ahead of a thunderstorm. Sometimes the winds push up air above them, forming a shelf cloud or detached roll cloud.

What is a bow echo?
A bow echo is a radar echo that is linear but bent outward in a bow shape. Damaging straight-line winds often occur near the "crest" or center of a bow echo. Areas of circulation also can develop at either end of a bow echo, which sometimes can lead to tornado formation - especially in the left (usually northern) end, where the circulation shows cyclonic rotation.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH - A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per hour or more, or 1″ hail in diameter or greater) is likely to develop in your area.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING - A severe thunderstorm (damaging winds of 58 miles per hour or more, or hail three-fourths of an inch in diameter or greater) is taking place in your area.

DOWNDRAFT - A sudden descent of cool or cold air to the ground, usually with precipitation, and associated with a thunderstorm or shower.

UPDRAFT - A warm column of air that rises within a cloud. If the air is sufficiently moist, then the moisture condenses to become a cumulus cloud.

The typical thunderstorm is 15 miles in diameter and lasts an average of 30 minutes.

Thunderstorms happen in every state and every thunderstorm has lightning.

Thunderstorms may occur singly, in clusters, or in lines.

Some of the most severe occur when a single thunderstorm affects one location for an extended time.

Thunderstorms typically produce heavy rain for a brief period, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Warm, humid conditions are highly favorable for thunderstorm development.

About 10 percent of thunderstorms are classified as severe-one that produces hail at least three-quarters of an inch in diameter, has winds of 58 miles per hour or higher, or produces a tornado.

Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.

IF YOU'RE OUTDOORS: Keep an eye at the sky. Look for darkening skies, flashes of lightning, or increasing winds. Lightning often proceeds rain, so don't wait for the rain to begin. If you hear the sound of thunder, go to a safe place immediately. The best place to go is a sturdy building or a car, but make sure the windows in the car are shut. Avoid sheds, picnic areas, baseball dugouts and bleachers.

If there is no shelter around you, stay away from trees. Crouch down in the open area, keeping twice as far away from a tree as far as it is tall. Put your feet together and place your hands over your ears to minimize hearing damage from thunder. If you're with a group of people stay about 15 feet from each other. Stay out of water, because it's a great conductor of electricity. Swimming, wading, snorkeling and scuba diving are not safe. Also, don't stand in puddles and avoid metal. Stay away from clotheslines, fences, and drop your backpacks because they often have metal on them. If you're playing an outdoor activity, wait at least 30 minutes after the last observed lightning strike or thunder.

IF YOU'RE INDOORS: Avoid water. It's a great conductor of electricity, so do not take a shower, wash your hands, wash dishes or do laundry. Do not use a corded telephone. Lightning may strike exterior phone lines. Do not use electric equipment like computers and appliances during a storm. Stay away from windows and doors and stay off porches.

IF SOMEONE IS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING: Call for help. Call 9-1-1 or send for help immediately. The injured person does not carry an electrical charge, so it is okay to touch them.

Make Lightning In Your Mouth Experiment: Here is a great experiment that allows kids to make lightning in their mouth. It's a great way for them to understand how lightning works.

What's Lightning Experiment: Here is a great experiment that allows the kids to make lightning. All you need is a balloon and a light bulb!

Make Lightning Experiment: Here is another great experiment that allows the kids to make lightning. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Sticking A Balloon To A Wall Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to learn about static electricity by sticking a balloon to a wall. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Bend Water Experiment: Here is another static electricity experiment that bends water. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Make Your Hair Stand Up Experiment: Here is yet another static electricity experiment with using a balloon and your hair. This teaches kids about the positive and negative charges and where they come from.

Make Thunder Experiment: This experiment allows kids to make thunder, in a way that allows them to understand how it is made by lightning.

Track A Thunderstorm Experiment: Here is a great way to teach kids how to track a thunderstorm.

Make A Thunderstorm Experiment: Here is a great experiment that shows kids how our weather works. It teaches them how thunderstorms are formed!

Science Fair Project Ideas: Here is a complete list of science fair project ideas. Discover the science behind the weather that impacts us every day.

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What is a thunderstorm? A thunderstorm is a storm with lightning and thunder. Its produced by a cumulonimbus cloud, usually producing gusty winds, heavy rain and sometimes hail. What causes a thunderstorm? The basic ingredients used to make a thunderstorm are moisture, unstable air and lift. You need moisture to form clouds and rain.

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What is a tornado?
A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of up to 300 mph. They can destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards. They can also drive straw into trees. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide to 50 miles long. In an average year, 1000 tornadoes are reported nationwide.

How do tornadoes form?
Most tornadoes form from thunderstorms. You need warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cool, dry air from Canada. When these two air masses meet, they create instability in the atmosphere. A change in wind direction and an increase in wind speed with increasing height creates an invisible, horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Rising air within the updraft tilts the rotating air from horizontal to vertical. An area of rotation, 2-6 miles wide, now extends through much of the storm. Most strong and violent tornadoes form within this area of strong rotation.

Click Here to learn more about tornadoes from NOAA.

What are some other factors for tornadoes to form?
Several conditions are required for the development of tornadoes and the thunderstorm clouds with which most tornadoes are associated. Abundant low level moisture is necessary to contribute to the development of a thunderstorm, and a "trigger" (perhaps a cold front or other low level zone of converging winds) is needed to lift the moist air aloft. Once the air begins to rise and becomes saturated, it will continue rising to great heights to produce a thunderstorm cloud, if the atmosphere is unstable. An unstable atmosphere is one where the temperature decreases rapidly with height. Atmospheric instability can also occur when dry air overlays moist air near the earth's surface. Finally, tornadoes usually form in areas where winds at all levels of the atmosphere are not only strong, but also turn with height in a clockwise or veering direction.

What do tornadoes look like?
Tornadoes can appear as a traditional funnel shape, or in a slender rope-like form. Some have a churning, smoky look to them, and other contain "multiple vortices", which are small, individual tornadoes rotating around a common center. Even others may be nearly invisible, with only swirling dust or debris at ground levels as the only indication of the tornado's presence.

Can more than one tornado form at a time?
Yes, one way that twin tornadoes can occur is through a processes called occlusion. This happens when one tornado starts to dissipate as cool, moist air wraps around the tornado while another tornado begins to form in a more favorable part of the thunderstorm. Another term for this is cycling and that process is fairly common in very strong thunderstorms. The overlap time for both tornadoes to be on the ground concurrently is a very short time. Another way two tornadoes can form is from a multiple-vortex tornado. This occurs when much smaller, rapidly spinning whirls rotate inside a larger tornado - also termed "suction vortices". These "suction vortices" inside of a larger tornado are usually responsible for some of the most intense damage in a tornadoes path. This is because of smaller tornadoes inside the larger tornado have stronger winds and are spinning much faster than the larger tornado. The last way that twin tornadoes can occur is by satellite tornadoes. This occurs when a second tornado develops independently of the primary tornado. The satellite tornado orbits the primary tornado but is located inside the same mesocyclone - this means there are two separate areas of rotation occurring at the same time in the atmosphere.

What is a funnel cloud?
A funnel cloud is a rotating cone-shaped column of air extending downward from the base of a thunderstorm, but not touching the ground. When it reaches the ground it is called a tornado.

What is a supercell thunderstorm?
A supercell thunderstorm is a long-lived thunderstorm whose updrafts and downdrafts are in near balance. These storms have the greatest tendency to produce tornadoes that stay on the ground for long periods of time. Supercell thunderstorms can produce violent tornadoes with winds exceeding 200 mph.

What is a mesocyclone?
A mesocyclone is a rotating vortex of air within a supercell thunderstorm. Mesocyclones do not always produce tornadoes.

What is a microburst?
A microburst is a downdraft (sinking air) in a thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale. Although microbursts are not as widely recognized as tornadoes, they can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce. In fact, wind speeds as high as 150 mph are possible in extreme microburst cases.

What is a wall cloud?
A wall cloud is an abrupt lowering of a rain-free cumulonimbus base into a low-hanging accessory cloud. A wall cloud is usually situated in the southwest portion of the storm. A rotating wall cloud usually develops before tornadoes or funnel clouds.

What is a hook echo?
A hook echo describes a pattern in radar reflectivity images that looks like a hook extending from the radar echo, usually in the right-rear part of the storm (relative to the motion of the storm). A hook is often associated with a mesocyclone and indicates favorable conditions for tornado formation. The hook is caused by the rear flank downdraft and is the result of precipitation wrapping around the back side of the updraft.

What is a waterspout?
A waterspout is just a weak tornado that forms over water. They are most common along the Gulf Coast. Waterspouts can sometimes move inland, becoming tornadoes causing damage and injuries.

What is hail?
Hail is created when small water droplets are caught in the updraft of a thunderstorm. These water droplets are lifted higher and higher into the sky until they freeze into ice. Once they become heavy, they will start to fall. If the smaller hailstones get caught in the updraft again, they will get more water on them and get lifted higher in the sky and get bigger. Once they get lifted again, they freeze and fall. This happens over and over again until the hailstone is too heavy and then falls to the ground.

What is the largest hailstone recorded in the United States?
According to the National Weather Service, the largest hailstone is 8 inches in diameter and weights approximately 2 pounds. It fell in Vivian, South Dakota on July 23, 2010.

What is a gustnado?
A gustnado is a short-lived, relatively weak whirlwind that forms along a gust front. A gust front is the surge of very gusty winds at the leading edge of a thunderstorm's outflow of air. Gustnadoes are not tornadoes. They do not connect with any cloud-base rotation. But because gustnadoes often have a spinning dust cloud at ground level, they are sometimes wrongly reported as tornadoes. Gustnadoes can do minor damage.

What is a landspout?
A landspout is a very weak tornado that is not associated with a wall cloud or a mesocyclone. It is the land equivalent of a waterspout.

What is a dust devil?
A dust devil generally forms in the hot sun during the late morning or early afternoon hours. These are mostly harmless whirlwinds and are triggered by light desert breezes that create a swirling plume of dust with speeds rarely over 70 mph. These differ from tornadoes in that they are not associated with a thunderstorm (or any cloud) and are usually very weak.

Where do tornadoes occur?
Tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Even New Zealand reports about 20 tornadoes each year. Two of the highest concentrations of tornadoes outside the U.S. are Argentina and Bangladesh.

How many tornadoes occur in the U.S. each year?
About 1,200 tornadoes hit the U.S. yearly. Since official tornado records only date back to 1950, we do not know the actual average number of tornadoes that occur each year. Plus, tornado spotting and reporting methods have changed a lot over the last several decades.

Where is Tornado Alley?
Tornado Alley is a nickname invented by the media for a broad area of relatively high tornado occurrence in the central U.S. Various Tornado Alley maps look different because tornado occurrence can be measured many ways: by all tornadoes, tornado county-segments, strong and violent tornadoes only, and databases with different time periods. Please remember, violent or killer tornadoes do happen outside "Tornado Alley" every year.

When are tornadoes most likely to occur?
Tornadoes can happen at any time of the year and at any time of the day. In the southern states, peak tornado season is from March through May. Peak times for tornadoes in the northern states are during the summer. A few southern states have a second peak time for tornado outbreaks in the fall. Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.

What are the wind speeds in a tornado?
We're not really sure what the highest wind speed might be inside a tornado, since strong and violent tornadoes destroy weather instruments. We really only have measurements of the winds inside weaker tornadoes. Mobile Doppler radars can measure wind speeds in a tornado above ground level, and the strongest was 318 mph measured on May 3, 1999 near Bridge Creek/Moore, Oklahoma.

How fast do tornadoes move?
We don't have detailed statistics about this. Movement can range from almost stationary to more than 60 mph. A typical tornado travels at around 10-20 miles per hour.

How long is a tornado usually on the ground?
Detailed statistics about the time a tornado is on the ground are not available. This time can range from an instant to several hours. The average is about five minutes.

What does a tornado sound like?
People who have been in a tornado say it sounds like a jet engine or a freight train and is very loud. They said it hurt their ears, but they were more worried about what might happen to them than they were about the pain in their ears.

Can tornadoes be stopped?
You have to consider that the tornado is part of something bigger: the supercell thunderstorm. Unless you disrupt the supercell thunderstorm itself, you would likely have another tornado, even if you were able to destroy the first. The thunderstorm's energy is much greater than the tornado. No one has tried to disrupt the tornado because the methods to do so could likely cause even more damage than the tornado. Detonating a nuclear bomb, for example, to disrupt a tornado would be even more deadly and destructive than the tornado itself. Lesser things (like huge piles of dry ice or smaller conventional weaponry) would be too hard to deploy in the right place fast enough, and would likely not have enough impact to affect the tornado much anyway.

TORNADO WATCH - Tornadoes are possible in your area. Stay tuned to the radio or television news.

TORNADO WARNING - A tornado is either on the ground or has been detected by Doppler radar. Seek shelter immediately!

INFLOW BANDS- These are ragged bands of low cumulus clouds extending from the main storm tower usually to the southeast or south. The presence of inflow bands suggests that the storm is gathering low-level air from several miles away. If the inflow bands have a spiraling nature to them, it suggests the presence of rotation.

BEAVER'S TAIL - The beaver's tail is a smooth, flat cloud band extending from the eastern edge of the rain-free base to the east or northeast. It usually skirts around the southern edge of the precipitation area. It also suggests the presence of rotation.

WALL CLOUD - A wall cloud is an isolated cloud lowering attached to the rain-free base of the thunderstorm. The wall cloud is usually to the rear of the visible precipitation area. A wall cloud that may produce a tornado usually exists for 10-20 minutes before a tornado appears. A wall cloud may also persistently rotate (often visibly), have strong surface winds flowing into it, and may have rapid vertical motion indicated by small cloud elements quickly rising into the rain-free base. As the storm intensifies, the updraft draws in low-level air from several miles around. Some low-level air is pulled into the updraft from the rain area. This rain-cooled air is very humid; the moisture in the rain-cooled air quickly condenses below the rain-free base to form the wall cloud.

REAR FLANK DOWNDRAFT - The Rear Flank Downdraft (RFD) is a downward rush of air on the back side of the storm that descends along with the tornado. The RFD looks like a "clear slot" or "bright slot" just to the rear (southwest) of the wall cloud. It can also look like curtains of rain wrapping around the cloud base circulation. The RFD causes gusty surface winds that occasionally have embedded downbursts. The rear flank downdraft is the motion in the storm that causes the hook echo feature on radar.

CONDENSATION FUNNEL- A condensation funnel is made up of water droplets and extends downward from the base of the thunderstorm. If it is in contact with the ground it is a tornado; otherwise it is a funnel cloud. Dust and debris beneath the condensation funnel confirm a tornado's presence.

Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.

Tornadoes can occur at any time of the year.

No terrain is safe from tornadoes.

Never open windows in severe weather situations. This allows damaging wind and debris to enter the structure.

69% of all tornadoes are labeled "weak tornadoes" meaning they have a lifetime of 1-10+ minutes and winds less than 110 mph.

29% of all tornadoes are labeled "strong tornadoes" meaning they last 20 minutes or longer and winds reach 110-205 mph.

2% of all tornadoes are labeled "violent tornadoes" and can last over an hour.

Every state has had a tornado, but some states are more prone to them.

Most tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere spin counterclockwise, while most tornadoes in the Southern Hemisphere spin clockwise.

The safest place to be during a tornado is underground, which makes basements and cellars the ideal shelters to get away from tornadoes.

Most of the world's destructive tornadoes occur during the the summer in mid-western states of the US.

Sometimes multiple tornadoes form and travel together in swarms.

BEFORE A TORNADO: Have a disaster plan. Make sure everyone knows where to go in case a tornado threatens. Make sure you know which county or parish you live in. Prepare a kit with emergency food for your home. Have enough food and water for at least 3 days.

DURING A TORNADO: Go to a basement. If you do not have a basement, go to an interior room without windows on the lowest floor such as a bathroom or closet. If you can, get under a sturdy piece of furniture, like a table. If you live in a mobile home get out. They offer little protection against tornadoes. Get out of automobiles. Do not try to outrun a tornado in your car, leave it immediately. If you're outside, go to a ditch or low lying area and lie flat in it. Stay away from fallen power lines and stay out of damaged areas.

IF YOU'RE AT SCHOOL DURING A TORNADO: Every school should have a disaster plan and have frequent drills. Basements offer the best protection. Schools without basements should use interior rooms and hallways on the lowest floor away from windows. Crouch down on your knees and protect your head with your arms.
Crouch Down

AFTER A TORNADO: Stay indoors until it is safe to come out. Check for injured or trapped people, without putting yourself in danger. Watch out for downed power lines. Use a flashlight to inspect your home.

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What is a tornado? A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of up to 300 mph. They can destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards.

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What is a hurricane?
A hurricane is a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean. Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.

How do hurricanes form?
Hurricanes only form over really warm ocean water of 80°F or warmer. The atmosphere (the air) must cool off very quickly the higher you go. Also, the wind must be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed to force air upward from the ocean surface. Winds flow outward above the storm allowing the air below to rise. Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. The Coriolis Force is needed to create the spin in the hurricane and it becomes too weak near the equator, so hurricanes can never form there.
Hurricane Tracking Charts
Atlantic Ocean
Eastern Pacific

What is storm surge?
Storm surges are frequently the most devastating element of a hurricane. As a hurricane's winds spiral around and around the storm, they push water into a mound at the storm's center. This mound of water becomes dangerous when the storm reaches land because it causes flooding along the coast. The water piles up, unable to escape anywhere but on land as the storm carries it landward. A hurricane will cause more storm surge in areas where the ocean floor slopes gradually. This causes major flooding.
As you watch the storm-surge animations, notice the effect that the physical geography of each coastline has on storm surge. Also, note the waves on top of the ocean's surface. Wind, waves, and sea-level rise all contribute to storm-surge damage.

Shallow-Water Coastline

Deep-Water Coastline

With technology the way it is, there are computer models that allow forecasters to predict the amount of storm surge that will affect a coastal area. These are called Slosh Models and take into account a storm's strength, its path, how the ocean shallows, and the shape of the land. Then it calculates how much storm surge a hurricane will probably cause.

When does hurricane season start?
The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, but most hurricanes occur during the fall months. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30. (Below is a graphic that shows you when hurricanes are most active across parts of the world.)

Who names hurricanes?
From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean were identified by the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.), but in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched to women's names. The rest of the world eventually caught on, and naming rights now go by the World Meteorological Organization, which uses different sets of names depending on the part of the world the storm is in. Around the U.S., only women's names were used until 1979, when it was decided that they should alternate a list that included men's names too. There's 6 different name lists that alternate each year. If a hurricane does significant damage, its name is retired and replaced with another.
Atlantic Hurricane Names
Eastern Pacific Hurricane Names

What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
Nothing except geography. Tropical storms occur in several of the world's oceans, and except for their names, they are essentially the same type of storm. In the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, they are called hurricanes. In the Western Pacific Ocean, they are called typhoons. In the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and Australia, these types of storms are called cyclones.

Who are the "Hurricane Hunters"?
The brave "hurricane hunters" work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Each mission lasts about ten hours, with the crews passing four to six times through the storm. The planes carry radar, sophisticated computers, and weather instruments that determine characteristics such as temperature, air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction inside the hurricane. The crews also release instruments that measure temperature, air pressure, and wind at different levels as the devices drop through the hurricane toward the ocean. By mission's end, NOAA can warn everyone in the hurricane's path. Below is a photo of the hurricane hunters taking measurements inside Hurricane Katrina.

What is coastal beach erosion?
Coastal beach erosion is the wearing away of land, the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage. Waves are generated by storms, wind, or hurricanes and can cause coastal erosion. This may take the form of long-term losses of sediment and rocks, or merely the temporary redistribution of coastal sediments.

TROPICAL STORM WATCH - Tropical Storm conditions with sustained winds from 39 -74 mph are possible in your area within the next 36 hours.

TROPICAL STORM WARNING - Tropical Storm conditions are expected in your area within the next 24 hours.

HURRICANE WATCH - Hurricane conditions with sustained winds of 74 mph or greater are possible in your area within the next 36 hours. This WATCH should trigger your family's disaster plan, and protective measures should be initiated. Especially, those actions that require extra time such as securing a boat and leaving a barrier island.

HURRICANE WARNING - Hurricane conditions are expected in your area within 24 hours. Once this WARNING has been issued, your family should be in the process of completing protective actions and deciding the safest location to be during the storm.

COASTAL FLOOD WATCH - The possibility exists for the inundation of land areas along the coast within the next 12 to 36 hours.

COASTAL FLOOD WARNING - Land areas along the coast are expected to become, or have become, inundated by sea water above the typical tide action.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY - A small craft advisory is a type of warning issued by the National Weather Service, most frequently in coastal areas. It is issued when winds have reached, or are expected to reach within 12 hours, a speed marginally less than that which is considered gale force, usually 25-38 mph.

Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.

Tropical Wave - A low pressure trough moving generally westward with the trade winds.

Tropical Disturbance - An organized area of thunderstorms that usually forms in the tropics. Typically, they maintain their identity for 24 hours and are accompanied by heavy rains and gusty winds.

Tropical Cyclone - A generic term for any organized low pressure that develops over tropical and sometimes sub-tropical waters. Tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes are all example of tropical cyclones.

Tropical Depression - An organized area of low pressure in which sustained winds are 38 mph or less.

Tropical Storm - A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds that range from 39 to 73 mph.

Hurricane - A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of at least 74 mph.

To learn more about hurricanes, Click Here to watch a variety of videos teaching you the ins and outs of nature's fury. I would like to give a special thanks to Pinellas County Emergency management for putting these instructional videos together.

BEFORE A HURRICANE: Have a disaster plan and a pet plan ready. Before a storm threatens, contact your veterinarian or local humane society for information on preparing your pets for an emergency. Board up windows and bring in outdoor objects that could blow away. Make sure you know which county or parish you live in and know where all the evacuation routes are. Prepare a disaster supplies kit for your home and car. Include a first aid kit, canned food and a can opener, bottled water, battery-operated radio, flashlight, protective clothing and written instructions on how to turn off electricity, gas, and water. Have a NOAA weather radio handy with plenty of batteries, so you can listen to storm advisories. Have some cash handy as well, because following a hurricane, banks and ATMs may be temporarily closed. Make sure your car is filled with gasoline.

DURING A HURRICANE: Stay away from low-lying and flood prone areas. Always stay indoors during a hurricane, because strong winds will blow things around. Leave mobile homes and to go to a shelter. If your home isn't on higher ground, go to a shelter. If emergency managers say to evacuate, then do so immediately.

AFTER A HURRICANE: Stay indoors until it is safe to come out. Check for injured or trapped people, without putting yourself in danger. Watch out for flooding which can happen after a hurricane. Do not attempt to drive in flooding water. Stay away from standing water. It may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines. Don't drink tap water until officials say its safe to do so.

Stay alert to storm advisories by using your NOAA weather radio.

Enact your family disaster plan.

Map out your route. Use travel routes specified by local authorities.

Do not get on the road without a place to go.

Fill your car with gasoline.

Enact your pet plan. Before a storm threatens, contact your veterinarian or local humane society for information on preparing your pets for an emergency.

Bring your disaster supply kit. Make sure you include important documents. Have enough food and water for at least 3 days. Bring flashlights for emergency lightning, since it's likely that there will be power outages and most places will be running on backup power.

Secure your home before leaving. Board up windows and glass doors, anchor loose objects or bring them inside and lock your doors.

Have some cash handy. Following a hurricane, banks and ATMs may be temporarily closed.

Notify your family and friends of your plans.

WHEN EVACUATING:

If possible, evacuate to the home of either friends or family in a non-vulnerable area within your county or parish.

Next, try a hotel.

As a last result, go to a public shelter. Remember, shelters are not designed for comfort and do not usually accept pets.

Here is a list of what what you will need for 3 to 5 days if you chose to stay at your home during a hurricane.

Drinking Water Battery-operated Weather Radio

Canned Food Portable Alarm Clock

Manual Can Opener Extra Batteries

Extra Prescription Medicine Flashlights

Eating Utensils Rope

First Aid Kit Hammer and Nails

Trash Bags Duct Tape

Cash Extension Cords

Pillows and Blankets Tarp

Sleeping Bags Mosquito Repellent

Water Jugs Cleaning Supplies

As far as tools are concerned, the following are a must. Remember, power tools may be useless for several days after a storm.

Hand Saw (8 or 10 point)

Claw Hammer

Shovel

Push Broom

Screw Drivers

Limb Saw (pruning saw)

Vice Grips

Utility Knife

Cotton Work Gloves

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on learning about hurricane safety. In this activity, Owlie teaches kids about hurricanes and quizzes them about what they learned. Note: This is a PDF file, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on understanding hurricanes. Students will learn how wind speed increases the height and why higher waves occur in shallower water. This activity is for grades 6-8.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on elementary reading comprehension. This lesson contains a broader vocabulary, more hurricane facts, and more thought-provoking writing prompts. It works well for grades 3-5. Note: This is a PDF file, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great interactive lesson plan on allowing kids to create their very own hurricane. It lets you try to create ideal hurricane conditions by changing the winds, latitude, moisture, and sea temperature. It even keeps score! This is a great activity for 5-8th graders.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great interactive lesson plan that lets kids aim a hurricane. It lets you move the hurricane symbol, high pressure symbol and low pressure symbol to track your very own hurricane. Sometimes your hurricane will make landfall, other times it misses the U.S. all together. It lets kid understand how important the setup of weather impacts where hurricanes go.

Suck An Egg Into A Bottle Experiment: Here is an experiment that shows how pressure is created in our atmosphere by sucking an egg in a bottle. This is a very cool experiment!

Make Your Own Barometer I Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to make a barometer.

Make Your Own Barometer II Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to make a barometer.

Create Evaporation Experiment: Here is an experiment that shows kids how evaporation takes place.

Science Fair Project Ideas: Here is a complete list of science fair project ideas. Discover the science behind the weather that impacts us every day.

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What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean.

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What is climate?
Climate is the average weather usually taken over a 30-year time period for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same as weather, but rather, it is the average pattern of weather for a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the atmosphere.

What is our climate system?
Our climate system is made up of the atmosphere, oceans, land, ice and our biosphere.

Atmosphere
The atmosphere covers the Earth. It is a thin layer of mixed gases which make up the air we breathe. This thin layer also helps the Earth from becoming too hot or too cold.

Oceans
Oceans cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface. Their large size and thermal properties allow them to store a lot of heat.

Land
Land covers 27 percent of Earth's surface and land topography influences weather patterns.

Ice
Ice is the world's largest supply of freshwater. It covers the remaining 3 percent of Earth's surface including most of Antarctica and Greenland. Ice plays an important role in regulating climate, because it is highly reflective.

Biosphere
The biosphere is the part of Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans that supports any living plant, animal, or organism. It is the place where plants and animals, including humans, live.

What is weather?
The weather is just the state of the atmosphere at any time, including things such as temperature, precipitation, air pressure and cloud cover. Daily changes in the weather are due to winds and storms. Seasonal changes are due to the Earth revolving around the sun.

What causes weather?
Because the Earth is round and not flat, the Sun's rays don't fall evenly on the land and oceans. The Sun shines more directly near the equator bringing these areas more warmth. However, the polar regions are at such an angle to the Sun that they get little or no sunlight during the winter, causing colder temperatures. These differences in temperature create a restless movement of air and water in great swirling currents to distribute heat energy from the Sun across the planet. When air in one region is warmer than the surrounding air, it becomes less dense and begins to rise, drawing more air in underneath. Elsewhere, cooler denser air sinks, pushing air outward to flow along the surface and complete the cycle.

Why do mountains affect weather and climate?
There are two sides to a mountain: wayward and leeward. Whenever it is raining, the wayward side gets the rain. As a cloud goes up the mountain, it keeps raining until there is no more water in the cloud. Now, as the cloud starts to go down the other side of the mountain, there is no more precipitation. So, the leeward side of the mountain doesn't get any rain. The flat ground on this side of the mountain is dry and humid.

What is the Water Cycle?
Earth has a limited amount of water. So, that water keeps going around. We call it the water cycle. The water cycle begins with evaporation. Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in rivers, lakes or the ocean. Then turns it into water vapor or steam. The water vapor or steam leaves the body of water and goes into the air. Transpiration is the process by which plants lose water out of their leaves. Condensation is when water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into water to form clouds. Think of it this way, when you open a cold soda on a hot summer day, your soda will start to sweat as water droplets form on the outside of the can. Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air can't hold it anymore. This is how we get rain or snow. Collection happens when the precipitation falls and is collected back in the oceans, lakes and rivers. When it falls to the ground, it will soak into the earth and become ground water. This is the water cycle and it just keeps repeating.

Click Here to learn more about the Earth's water cycle.

Why do the leaves change color?
During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the foods necessary for the tree's growth are manufactured. This food-making process takes place in the leaf in numerous cells containing chlorophyll, which gives the leaf its green color. Along with the green pigment are yellow to orange to red pigments as well. Most of the year these colors are masked by great amounts of green coloring. But in the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange to red colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor. The best time to enjoy the autumn color would be on a clear, dry, and cool day.

What is deforestation?
Deforestation is the cutting down large numbers of trees to use the land for something instead of a forest. Cutting down trees can affect the climate. After rain falls on a forest, mist rises and new rain clouds form. When forests are cut down, this cycle is disrupted, and the area eventually grows drier, causing a change in the local climate. If huge areas of trees are cut down, the carbon dioxide they would have used builds up in the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect. And without trees to hold the soil and absorb water, rain washes topsoil away, a process called soil erosion.

What is erosion?
Erosion is the wearing away of the land by water, ice or wind. Soil erosion is a natural process. It becomes a problem when human activity causes it to occur much faster than under natural conditions. Wind and water are the main agents of soil erosion.

What is acid rain?
Acid rain is rain, snow or fog that is polluted by acid in the atmosphere and damages the environment. Two common air pollutants acidify rain: sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. When these substances are released into the atmosphere, they can be carried over long distances by prevailing winds before returning to earth as acidic rain, snow, fog or dust. When the environment cannot neutralize the acid being deposited, damage occurs.

Why do we have seasons?
As the Earth spins on its axis, producing night and day, it also moves about the Sun in an elliptical (elongated circle) orbit that requires 365 1/4 days to complete. The Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees and is why we have seasons. When the Earth's axis points towards the Sun, it is summer for that hemisphere. When the Earth's axis points away, winter can be expected.

What is the significance of the Sun to the Earth?
Without the Sun, there would be no weather. Earth is positioned as the third planet, so our temperatures are sustainable for life. The average temperature of Mars is much colder, while Venus is much hotter.

How can you tell what time it is by looking at the Sun?
Because the sun ALWAYS rises in the east and sets in the west, you can tell the time just by looking at where the sun is. When you look east and the sun is on the horizon that means its approximately 6:00am. When the sun is directly above your head that means its noon. When you look to the west and the sun is on the horizon that means its approximately 6:00pm.

Why do we get more sunlight in the summer than in the winter?
You might not have noticed this, but the Earth tilts over slightly. If you have a globe at home or in school, you can see that the line between north and south poles, that goes through the center of the Earth, isn't vertical. It's actually tilting over by about 23 degrees. In our summer, the north pole is pointing towards the Sun so the Sun rises and sets roughly from due east to due west. In winter, the Earth is on the other side of the Sun so the North Pole is pointing away from the Sun. This means the Sun rises and sets more towards the southeast and southwest. You might notice this as you look out of the window. Think back to how high in the sky the sun was during the summer. Compare this to where the sun is during the winter and you'll see it's much lower down towards the horizon. Because the sun is lower down on the horizon, there's less time for it to travel between horizons. There's less distance for it to travel so the sun rises later and sets earlier meaning there's less daylight.

What is the purpose of the Moon?
The tidal effect of the moon helps to recirculate the oceans and keep them from becoming stagnated. The result of which would be catastrophic for advanced forms of life like humans.

What is Global Warming?
Global warming refers to an average increase in the Earth's temperature, which in turn causes changes in climate. A warmer Earth may lead to changes in rainfall patterns, a rise in sea level, and a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. When scientists talk about the issue of climate change, their concern is about global warming caused by human activities.

Is the Earth getting warmer?
Yes! The Earth has warmed by about 1ºF over the past 100 years. But why? Well, scientists are not exactly sure. The Earth could be getting warmer on its own, but many of the world's leading climate scientists think that things people do are helping to make the Earth warmer.

Click Here to learn more about Global Warming.

What is the Greenhouse Effect?
The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere like water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earths average temperature would be about 60ºF colder and would not be warm enough for humans to live. But if the greenhouse effect becomes stronger, it could make the Earth warmer than usual.

Global Warming may be a big problem, but can you make a difference?
Yes! There are several little things you can do to make a difference. Try carpooling. This will help reduce the amount of fossil fuels going into the atmosphere. Whenever you use electricity, you help put greenhouse gases into the air. Turning off lights, the television, and the computer when you are through with them. Also, planting trees is fun and a great way to reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air. Finally, don't forget about recycling.

What is El Niño?
El Niño is a climate pattern where the water in the Pacific Ocean near the equator gets hotter than usual and affects the atmosphere and weather around the world. El Niño climate conditions occur every few years, and they are not predictable. El Niño is Spanish for The Little Boy. It refers to the Christ child and was named by Mexican fisherman, who noticed the climate pattern often formed around Christmastime. In a normal year, the warmest water is in the far western Pacific. This forms thunderstorms. (Graphic Credit:USA TODAY)

In an El Niño year, the warmest water moves eastward across the Pacific. Thunderstorms disrupt the jet stream changing the weather pattern. (Graphic Credit:USA TODAY)

What type of a climate pattern do we see with an El Niño?
The climate pattern can change the weather of the United States, particularly in California and the southern states. Usually, El Niño brings more rain and higher temperatures. Also, warm ocean currents come farther north and all kinds of tropical fish can be caught in the waters far north along the United States West Coast. El Niño may also bring warmer than normal winter temperatures to the eastern part of the United States.

What is La Niña?
La Niña is sort of the opposite of El Niño. During a La Niña, the water in the same area along the equator gets colder than usual. This, too, affects weather around the globe and in the U.S. According to scientists, La Niña cycles generally create a more active hurricane season in the Atlantic.

What type of climate pattern do we see with La Niña?
In the United States, La Niña is expected to bring above normal temperatures throughout most of the Southwest and southern Florida in the late summer and fall. These warmer conditions will extend across the Southeast during the winter months. Cooler than normal winter temperatures are expected in the Pacific Northwest. Cooler than normal temperatures are also expected across the Great Lakes and Northeast later in the winter into spring. In addition to temperature effects, La Niña is also expected to affect rainfall. Drier than normal conditions will persist in west Texas, New Mexico and Arizona into October. The late fall and early winter forecasts indicate continued dry conditions throughout much of the southern U.S. and into portions of the Midwest. Above normal precipitation is predicted for much of the Pacific Northwest throughout the fall and into the winter months, and in the Ohio and Tennessee River Valley in the winter.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on El Niño. This lesson plan demonstrates the effects of El Niño, the trade winds, and upwelling.

Water Cycle Experiment: Here is a great experiment that teaches kids about how the water cycle works.

Acid Rain Experiment: Here is a great experiment on acid rain. It lets kids see how destructive acid rain can be to statue and buildings.

Ozone Pollution Science Fair Project: Here are some great science fair project ideas to help kids understand ozone pollution and makes them aware of how it is formed.

Greenhouse Effect Experiment: Here is an experiment that demonstrates how to recreate the greenhouse effect.

Global Warming Experiment: Here is an experiment investigates the effect on sea level due to the melting of floating ice due to global warming.

Science Fair Project Ideas: Here is a complete list of science fair project ideas. Discover the science behind the weather that impacts us every day.

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What is climate? Climate is the average weather usually taken over a 30-year time period for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same as weather, but rather, it is the average pattern of weather for a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the atmosphere.

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