Category Archives: Basic Meteorology
Thunderstorm Basics: Structure, Types, and Forecasting Methods
Thunderstorms are among the most powerful weather events on Earth. They can bring much needed rainfall, yet they also produce dangerous hazards such as lightning, hail, flash flooding, and tornadoes. Understanding how storms form, how they evolve, and how meteorologists…
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed. This scale estimates potential property damage. Hurricanes reaching Category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant…
What is a Nor’easter?
A Nor’easter is a storm along the East Coast of North America, so called because the winds over the coastal area are typically from the northeast. These storms usually develop in the latitudes between Georgia and New Jersey, within 100…
Cloud Types
Looking at the clouds it may appear there are endless cloud types, however you may be surprised to know there are really only 4 core types.? From his Essay of the Modifications of Clouds (1803) Luke Howard divided clouds into…
Project Atmosphere
American Meteorological Society Education Program Summer Workshop Sunday, July 16, 2017 - 09:00 to Friday, July 28, 2017 - 17:00 Information about the Summer 2017 workshop Workshop Details July 16-28 2017 National Weather Service Training Center Kansas City, Missouri The…
Weather Balloons
The National Weather Service uses weather balloons in predicting and tracking potential disasters. Learn more from the video above Related Articles: How tornadoes form Tornado facts Life cycle of thunderstorms Criteria for a tornado warning Criteria for a…
Know The Hurricane Hazard Terms
Tropical?Cyclone: A warm-core non-frontal synoptic-scale cyclone, originating over tropical or subtropical waters, with organized deep convection and a closed surface wind circulation about a well-defined center. Once formed, a tropical cyclone is maintained by the extraction of heat energy from…
Understanding Hail
Hail, Showery precipitation in the form of irregular pellets or balls of ice more than 5 mm in diameter, falling from a cumulonimbus cloud. Ok great with the definition out of the way we can breakdown this amazing weather phenomenon…
The Hydrologic Cycle
The hydrologic cycle involves the continuous circulation of water in the Earth-Atmosphere system. At its core, the water cycle is the motion of the water from the ground to the atmosphere and back again. Of the many processes involved in…
