Weather

How Pilots Avoid Thunderstorms & Lightning When Flying The Plane

Thunderstorms are one of nature's most powerful -- and electrical -- phenomena.

Thunderstorms may be an awesome force to watch and admire form afar, but they are something that many of us try to avoid. After all, it's not much fun to be struck by lightning!

So how do pilots avoid thunderstorms when they are up in the air close to a storm while flying a plane?

Thunderstorm avoidance is a technique important to pilots. Thunderstorms have been known to take down a number of small planes, and they even have been responsible for (or at least suspected as being the cause of) some accidents involving large planes. 

• One way pilots avoid a thunderstorm when flying a plane is to fly on top of the thunderstorm.
   
• They also use air traffic control's help as well -- since they can see on radar what a pilot cannot see out the window when flying through rain.
   
• Another thing pilots do is track storms on radar ahead of time to see where the thunderstorms are heading.

Is It Going To Rain Today? The Answer Is Either 'Yes' Or 'No'

Have you ever wanted to walk out your door for the day and know if you were going to need your umbrella?

7-day local forecasts can be helpful, but sometimes you just want a Yes or No answer as to whether it's going to rain or not. Right? 

Well, then here's a good site for you: Is It Going To Rain?

By simply punching in your zip code, you will get a quick answer as to whether it is going to rain or not -- based on where you are.

• Yes - means you have rain coming.
• No - means you don't have rain coming.

It's as simple as that!

How To Survive The Storm: What Comes In Survival Kits?

Putting together a survival kit for situations like severe weather is probably one of the smartest things you can do to prepare yourself for Mother Nature's bad days.

Often, home survival kits are needed for blackouts, being flooded or snowed in, and when damage or destruction has occurred to places where you buy groceries, clothing, and other necessary things for life.

Survival kits are also vital when your home has been greatly affected by the weather and you need a way to survive without your usual food, housing, and comfort items.

Survival kits usually include:

• Flashlights
• First-aid kit
• Change of clothes
• Water
• Toiletries
• Weather radio
• Cards, a small board game, or something else to pass the time

Survival kits can assembled and used for all types of weather events, but some of the most common scenarios during which you will likely use a survival kit are:

• Tornadoes
• Blizzards
• Severe thunderstorms
• Flooding
• Hurricanes

How To Get Flood Insurance For Your Home

Flood insurance is something many of us need but often don't have.

Why? Usually because it is usually so  expensive that most of us can't afford it.

Also, though, many insurers today don't even offer flood coverage to certain people because of the expense to the company should a claim be made. This is especially true in places like Florida, where hurricanes threaten every year and billions of dollars in damages have been caused by flooding events.

So what do you do if you want flood insurance? Here are a few tips:

• Flood insurance, generally, is a separate type of insurance policy, so prepare to have to pay for it separately from your other insurance coverage.
   
• Check FEMA insurance rate maps or your local county government to find out if you live in a flood zone.
   
• Insurance usually takes 30 days to take effect, so that means the flood insurance you take out today will not cover next week's hurricane flood damage. Don't wait for a hurricane warning to get flood insurance!

Predicting Long Range Weather Forecasts: Possible With A Chance Of Inaccuracies

Did you ever want to have a weather forecast that could tell you what the weather was going to be like say, oh, about 6 months from now?

While many say forecasting weather beyond 5 or 7 days is full of too many inaccuracies, there is still an effort to make long-range weather forecasts and predictions anyhow.

Interestingly, The Old Farmer's Almanac has been making year-long weather forecasts for decades and decades, yet modern technology still struggles with making accurate year-long forecasts.

Still, some meteorologists try to make long-range forecasts for major companies who want the data to project and prepare for sales or upcoming events.

The goal, it seems, is to have long-range weather forecasting available on a regular basis to all. That day may eventually come as long-range forecasting becomes more reliable and as the technology becomes less expensive.

For now, though, you can try making your own weather predictions. Or, take the easy way out and just make your picnic plans, party preparations, or vacation itineraries based off the 7-day forecast on the local news.

 

Kids Can Control The Weather With This Interactive Weather Maker

How would you like to control the weather? No, really -- here's your chance to actually control the weather!

Well, sort of.

Scholastic (the major children's book publisher) is offering kids a chance to control the weather using an interactive weather maker.

The interactive weather maker lets you do practically anything you want with the weather. You must follow only 2 rules:

• You have to keep the temperature at the equator warmer than the temperatures toward the North Pole and South Pole
   
• You have to keep the difference between the 2 temperatures less than 71 degrees

Sounds pretty fun, huh?

If you just want to know what the local weather is going to be like and don't want to worry about having to control it, then be sure to use some of these tips to get the best local forecast:

• Use more than one local news station (if available) to get an idea as to the "average" forecast
   
• Be sure to check out local online news services for their local forecasts and a view of the local weather radar to look for incoming storms

Fun Weather Coloring Pages For Kids... They're Free!

Here's some weather fun -- weather coloring books offered by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

These fun coloring books feature 2 fun kid characters named Billy and Maria. Together, they introduce their young coloring friends to a number of interesting weather topics, including tornado safety, thunderstorms, winter weather, and a trip to the National Weather Service (NWS).

These weather coloring books for kids can be downloaded and printed for free.

They would make wonderful activity books for your children, your students, or any other young friends or family members who might have an interest in weather and meteorology!

There are many great ways to help pique a young person's interest in weather, including fun weather activities and experiments that will certainly make any young child curious about weather, meteorology, and all the great and dramatic things that happen in the sky.

How And Why Hurricanes Form

Hurricanes can cause severe and even devastating destruction to homes and businesses when the storms make landfall.

But in nature they serve a very important role.

Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters when gathering thunderstorms become an area of low pressure and further strengthen.

Hurricanes can travel at speeds of 20 miles per hour or greater and pack winds of over 155 miles per hour. It's easy to see why hurricanes wind up doing some pretty extreme damage.

So, how exactly do hurricanes serve a good purpose when they tend to destroy our communities and many things within them?

Actually, hurricanes do a number of beneficial things:

• Hurricanes cool off areas underneath with rain, wind, and cloud cover.
   
• Rains from a hurricane can snap a drought very quickly.
   
• Hurricanes may destroy trees and mess up beaches, but in the process they encourage the growth of new trees and create new sand bars and other beach formations.

Tips For Watching The Next Meteor Shower

Meteor showers happen often and can be seen at various times from a variety of locations all over the world.

The most challenging part about watching meteor showers is knowing when they can be seen from a location near you.

Here's when you can expect to see the next meteor shower and what to expect.

Once you nail down a time and a location, the next hurdle is making sure Mother Nature keeps clear skies above -- so you can actually see the meteor shower!

Believe me, clouds really can be a problem with meteor showers. I have tried to view some meteor showers in the past but the sky got cloudy and I couldn't see any meteors streaking across the heavens!

Thankfully, there is almost always a meteor shooting across the sky somewhere, so if you wait long enough you will likely see one.

FUN TIP: If you want to hear meteor showers, turn on your FM radio so that all you hear is static. Whenever a meteor shower happens, the ionosphere (where radio waves bounce up in the atmosphere) is ionized, temporarily allowing stations up to 1,000 miles away to be heard on your radio!