Weather

Professional Tips For Taking Outstanding Winter Pictures

Winter pictures are beautiful, but sometimes they can be hard to capture on film.

Snowy conditions have a way of throwing off the color and overall crispness of your photograph. In fact, taking pictures in snow often proves to be a true challenge for many photographers.

But here are a few of 10 tips for taking great winter pictures:

• Take photos of overnight snowfall early in the morning, before the sun gets too bright.
• Don't take pictures if the sun is in front of you.
• To add a little more life to your picture, it helps to have some color in the foreground or middle of your snowy scene.
• Use your camera's action setting when taking a shot of moving subjects, like skiers and skaters.

Understanding Weather Symbols On Your Local Weather Map

Have you ever looked at your local weather map and wondered what all those weather symbols mean?

Sometimes the weather map itself can be a bit challenging -- knowing what all those weather symbols mean, for some of us, is like trying to read Greek hieroglyphics!

Weather people use these weather symbols to denote virtually everything there is to record about weather, including:

• Temperature
• Wind speed
• Wind direction
• Precipitation

Some weather symbols, like temperature, wind direction, and the type of precipitation you probably already know, especially when they are displayed on your local weather map in a newspaper or on TV. But some other weather symbols on your local weather map may be just a bit more difficult to figure out unless you've got a good handle on weather 101.

Let's take a look at 6 of the most-basic weather symbols you usually see on your local weather map:

• Blue line with small triangles: A cold front
• Red line with red semi-circles: A warm front
• Big line with blue triangles and red semi-circles: A stationary front
• Big purple line with purple triangles and purple semi-circles: An occluded front
• Big (usually blue) H: An area of high pressure
• Big (usually red) L : An area of low pressure

Winter Weather Fun: Make A Snow Sculpture

One of the many fun things about winter weather is snow. With snow, you can make all kinds of wonderful things -- snowmen, snow houses, and even a snow sculpture straight from the wildest depths of your imagination!

Making a snow sculpture is fun and really easy to do, especially if you have all the snow sculpting tools you need to make your project a little easier -- and more fun!

• Shovel
• Trowel
• Garden Hoe
• Spatula

Wet snow is the easiest type of snow to work with when making a snow sculpture. Sprinkling your snow with a bit of water as you build your sculpture can make things easier for you, especially if your snow is drying out as you work with it.

If you're feeling particularly good about your snow sculpting skills, you may want to consider entering a snow sculpting contest -- they're held in all kinds of places during the winter and is a great way to show off your snow sculpting skills!

How Air Pressure Affects Your Weather

Air pressure is important in weather. In fact, air pressure is one of the most important factors in determining the type of weather we'll be having.

You've probably heard about high pressure and low pressure when watching the weather segment of your local newscast. The weatherperson talks all about high pressure and low pressure and points to the big H and L on the weather map.

But what is high pressure and low pressure, and why should it matter to you?

Here's a basic look at the effects high pressure and low pressure bring to your local and regional weather:

• High pressure brings fair weather. High pressure is a generally stable mass of air that helps keep storms away.
• Low pressure is associated with storms. Low pressure is relatively unstable and occurs between areas of high pressure.

Here's A Fun Winter Weather Idea: Make Fake Snow!

Even when dealing with Old Man Winter, you can't always guarantee you'll get your annual dose of snow.

So what do you do if you -- or the kids -- are hoping for some snow but it just doesn't look like any white stuff will be falling at your home?

Thankfully, there are many ways to make fake snow!

That's right -- if the real stuff just isn't coming your way anytime soon, you can always order up a batch of the next best thing. Fake snow is really easy to make.

In fact, there's such a demand for fake snow that there are now fake snow machines and products that will help bring white winter fun to your home in minutes.

There are also many do-it-yourself recipes for making fake snow. Some of the various ingredients needed to try some of the concoctions in the fake snow recipe book include:

• Mashed potato flakes
• Talcum powder
• Soap flakes
• Sugar

Are You Prepared? How To Buy The Best Emergency Survival Kits

Emergency survival kits are vital to have on hand at all times. They can help save your life and those of the people you love and care about in

• Hurricanes
• Blizzards
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic Eruptions
• Floods
• Tornadoes
• & Other Emergency Situations

Be picky when shopping for a survival kit. After all, only the best emergency survival kits are worth buying.

Be sure your emergency survival kit includes:

• A rechargeable, crank, squeeze, or solar powered flashlight
• A reliable radio that also runs on a rechargeable power source
• Plenty of water
• Toiletries
• Enough power bars or non-perishable food to provide essential daily calories and nutrients

Too Hilarious! Funny Snowman Pictures Bring Winter Weather Smiles

Every winter, we love seeing the funny snowman pictures that people post online, publish in magazines and newsletters, and enter in photo contests.

Some snowman pictures are funny -- others are just downright hilarious!

Some of the best snowman pictures show Frosty (or whatever you call your snowmen or snowwomen) wearing clothes, caps and jerseys of a favorite sports team, or simply just chillin' in the cold winter weather.

Snowman pictures always make us happy, so if you have a funny snowman picture that brightens up your day, be sure to share it with the rest of the world! We all need to smile.

The Amazing Life Of Ben Franklin: Weather Pioneer

When you think of our nation’s forefathers, you probably didn't realize that one of the most famous was also one the first real weathermen in our country: Ben Franklin.

Weather was one of Franklin’s passions. Ben Franklin, weather bug that he was, invented and discovered many things involving weather. After all, Franklin was one amazing inventor, too.

It takes a special person to not be a president yet still appear on the United States half-dollar and $100 bill, right?!

You’re probably asking what Ben Franklin did with weather... besides the story about Franklin tying a key to a kite and flying it during a thunderstorm to test for electricity. 

Well, you might be surprised just how much Ben Franklin did to study weather and advance the science of meteorology as a whole.

What are a few of the many Ben Franklin weather-related advances? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading: Ben Franklin Weather-Related Advances

4 Awesome Weather Books For Kids

Love for the weather and meteorology as a whole often starts when a person is young. These young, budding meteorologists often ask questions like:

• Why is the sky blue?
  
• How does the wind blow?
  
• How hot is the sun?

Sometimes, when kids ask questions like these, their parents just don't know where to go to find their weather-loving child good weather books for kids!

Fortunately, there are many wonderful books designed to foster the love of weather in a child.

My parents encouraged my love of weather with weather books -- all kinds of weather books. Where I'm from, hurricanes threaten every year. My parents helped develop my love of weather and even taught me a thing or two about mapping, coordinates, and math using the hurricane tracking guides found in our local grocery stores.
 

Continue reading: 4 Weather Books For Kids

4 Perfect Weather Gifts Sure To Make Anyone's Day

Have you ever wondered what kind of gift to give the weather lover or wanna-be meteorologist in your life but just weren't sure what to pick out?

You'll be glad to know there are many wonderful weather gifts for those who are wild about weather.

The trick to choosing the best weather gifts comes in deciding your price range and the recipient's reading level and interest.

• Young children may love an elementary-level book about tornadoes.
• Teens might enjoy a video about storm chasers.
• The older weather bug might flip out over a hand-held electronic weather station.

Continue reading: 4 Perfect Weather Gifts