Hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Visible warning signs include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness, and exhaustion. The U.S. governments Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recommended steps for a person suffering…
Frostbite is freezing of the skin and underlying tissues. The lower the temperature, the quicker frostbite will occur. Frostbite typically affects the extremities, particularly the feet, toes, hands, fingers, ear lobes, or tip of the nose. The U.S. government's Occupational…
Wind chill temperature is a measure of the combined cooling effect of wind and temperature. As wind increases, heat is carried away from the body at a faster rate, driving down both the skin temperature and eventually the internal body…
A Flash Flood is a flood caused by heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time, generally less than 6 hours. Flash floods are usually characterized by raging torrents after heavy rains that rip through river beds, urban…
The Beaufort Wind Scale (BEW-fert scale) or sometimes called The Wind Intensity Scale: is used to estimate wind speeds based on observation of objects in relationship to the wind. This method of measuring wind speed was named after Admiral Sir…
A Tropical Cyclone - generically describes a low pressure system that typically forms in the tropics. A collection of strong thunderstorms makeup a cyclone, and in the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds rotate counterclockwise. In the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast…
A Derecho (deh REY cho), or sometimes called a "Bow Echo" due to the bent curve of the radar signature, is a wide spread, long-lived, line or cluster of strong thunderstorms, that rapidly moves east or southeast, and produces a…
WATCH A watch is issued when the risk of hazardous weather has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location, or timing is still uncertain.? A watch is intended to provide lead time to prepare for the potential weather event. Under watch…
