How the Weatherworks Answers Weather Questions

HOW THE WEATHERWORKS is now answering some of the many interesting and informative questions web site visitors send to us. If you have any questions about the weather or its affect on people, plants, and things, please check the listing below first to see if your question has already been answered. If not, then we hope you will e-mail your questions to us. Be sure to include your full name, city/state where you live, and your age. Also, let us know why you have this question. This background helps us answer the questions more easily and more appropriately. Sometimes there may even be a specific historical event in your area that could make the information we supply more meaningful to you.

Then check back here periodically to see if your question has been answered. As our question/answer inventory grows, we will try to order the questions alphabetically and by topics to make it even easier for you to find particular information.

Due to our growing workload, it is hard for us to answer all the e-mails we receive. It is even more difficult (no, make that impossible) to reply to e-mails that require a rapid turn-around (e.g., I need an answer for a school project by tomorrow). So, if you need help for a school project or assignment, please give us at least a week to ponder your question and think about how we might help you. Inquiries that show a student has tried to answer a question (e.g., "this is what I think is happening .... am I correct?) are much more likely to receive a reply than those that ask for "everything we know about a particular topic."

A special plea to parents....although you may think you are helping your child by asking a question on their behalf, you are not. A large part of homework is about the research process. If you search the web or write for information, you are really denying your child the opportunity to learn this valuable skill. By all means monitor your child's online activities, but let them actually carry out the research by conducting informational web searches and also writing to us.

Thanks for taking the time to e-mail us. We care about your questions and interest in weather. Again, please understand that due to the volume of mail we receive, and our other commitments, we're not always able to provide a personal response or answer all questions.

Sincerely,

Mike and Barbara (The How the Weatherworks science education team)

QUESTION ANSWER

ADVECTION -- Elinore Begala-Gordon of Highland Lakes, NJ asked "What do warm air and cold air advection look like on an 850 millibar chart?" ANSWER

PRESSURE (BAROMETRIC) -- Fernando Sanchez of Bogota, Columbia asked "How can the barometric pressure be lower, at the same instant, in Miami than in Bogota (about 9000 feet above sea level)? Readings from the Weather Channel on November 3, 1997 at 11:30 am showed the following: Miami 30.08 inches of mercury and Bogota 30.38 inches of mercury."

"Also, why don't barometer readings change a lot here? Because of this, I can't seem to use my barometer for weather forecasting. Why?"
ANSWER

PRESSURE (BAROMETRIC) -- Kristina Gollwitzer of Wellsboro, PA noted that she has been trying to understand the difference between barometric pressure, sea level pressure and absolute pressure. She is trying to set up an electronic altimeter/barometer to use on hiking trips. The device doesn't display actual barometric pressure, but rather sea level and absolute pressure.
ANSWER

CLOUD COLORS -- The 8th graders in Sarah Gullett's class (Bedford, TX) wanted to know "why are some clouds gray and some clouds white?"
ANSWER

CLOUD COVERAGE -- Inger K. Hultgren of New York City, NY has a bet with a friend as to the difference between the terms "partly sunny" and "partly cloudy". Which do you think is cloudier? Why? ANSWER

CLOUD LAYERS -- John Wahman of Glendale, AZ has a decent understanding about how clouds form as air rises. What he doesn't understand is how there can be layers of clouds above and below other layers. When on an airplane (e.g., Arizona to Florida, probably over New Mexico or west Texas), John has seen as many as three distinct layers at different altitudes.

John wants to know how this can be.
ANSWER

CLOUD TRAVEL -- Nick T. of Olympia, WA wanted to know if "it was possible for a cloud to travel around the world". Nick (age 12) asked "out of curiosity..."
ANSWER

DEW POINT CHANGE -- Jennifer Nichols of Kearny, Arizona asked "What causes the dew point to change?"

The question was originally posed by her father, a weather buff, but it was Jennifer who sought out the answer. COOL!
ANSWER

DEW POINT & HUMIDITY -- Gaye Wren and her friend of Concord, California (and their spouses) wanted to know "why 78 degrees fells warmer in the summer then 78 degrees in the winter".
ANSWER

FROST -- George Irwin of Gambrills, MD wanted to know. "If it were possible to have a frost when nighttime low temperatures were expected in the mid to upper 30's."
ANSWER

FROST -- Brian E., from Madison, WI noted "...it was cold the other night and we were a few degrees away from a frost. That triggered a question that has perplexed me for some time now -- Why does frost tend to form on top of picnic tables and not on the bottom?
ANSWER

HURRICANES (MOTION) -- T. P. James of New Orleans, LA asked "why do hurricanes move east to west when our weather generally comes from the west and north?" ANSWER

SNOW -- Jeff Wood of Ithaca, NY wanted to know. "How many inches of rain would equal a foot of dry snow?" ANSWER

SEASONAL (AND DAILY) TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS -- Jared Pratt of Idaho Falls, ID wanted to know. "Why is the weather hotter after the summer solstice?"
ANSWER

RADIOSONDES (SOUNDINGS) -- When it is cold outside and cold enough to snow, how come is it colder up in the sky? Also, if it is so cold in the sky, how come the clouds do not freeze and fall down at once?

Leif lives in Songtan, Korea (Osan AFB) where his dad is stationed in the military."

ANSWER

TEMPERATURE -- Marge Manor and her husband (Bay City, MI) raised the following question. They noted that they have researched it and still have not found an answer to "If it is zero today and it is twice as cold tomorrow what would the temperature be?" This is not a joke, Marge noted. We are looking forward to an answer.
ANSWER

THUNDER & LIGHTNING -- Tania Louviere from Hammond, LA contacted us with following question: "My daughter, Lena, wants to know how lightning is made. She also wants to know what makes the thunder sound. My nephew, who is eight years old, told her that the thunder is caused when the clouds hit together. Isn't that cute?

We would just like to learn what really happens. All the kids are curious now, not to mention her Dad and myself. Thank You."

ANSWER

THUNDER SNOW? -- John Fonville (originally from Greensboro, NC but now in the Poconos of northeastern PA) contacted us with following question: "Why does it not lightning when there is a snow storm or blizzard? If this does happen, I have never experienced it. Just curious. "
ANSWER

THUNDER SNOW? -- The Filik's (Middlesex County, NJ) contacted us with following situation: "It was a stormy night on January 14, 2006; warm temperatures during the early part of the day gave way to a chilly, windy (gusts up to 50mph or more) afternoon. Temperatures continued to drop (with near blizzard conditions developing into the evening. Around 10 pm the entire sky lit up whitish blue, but there was no sound , no thunder. The light didn't come from one single source or area, but it covered the entire sky, lighting up the nearby neighborhood, house and yard. During the next 15 minutes, it happened twice again. The entire sky as far as could be seen was lit up. It looked like what is portrayed in movies as a nuclear blast. But there was no mention of this on the local news. Curious? Was it thunder snow?"
ANSWER

TORNADOES -- Brian P. (Reseda, CA - about 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean) wonders a lot about tornadoes. For example, he wants to know

(a) what makes a tornado happen?

(b) can they happen by mountains?

(c) can a dust devil turn into a tornado? and

(d) is the United States the only place that has tornadoes?

He also wanted to know if tornadoes occur in California.

ANSWER

TORNADOES -- Robert Greenough's 3rd grade class at James Monroe Elementary School (Bermuda Dunes, CA) wanted to know about naming tornadoes. It seems that during a discussion about Hurricane Floyd, they wondered why it was that hurricanes are named, but tornadoes are not.

Do you know why tornadoes aren't named? --

ANSWER

WEATHER MODIFICATION (HURRICANES) -- Roland H. of Pompano Beach, FL wrote "...My friends and I were wondering why the Government doesn't invent a "liquid oxygen" missile that can be deployed underneath a major hurricane to cool down the water temperature. Wouldn't this cut off the Hurricane's breath? Would it be possible?"

Two days later, Robert F. of Lucasville, OH wrote: "...My idea is to stop the hurricanes before they reach inland....why not dump tons and tons of dry ice in the center of the hurricane to cool the water temperature down? I think this would perhaps slow the hurricane down enough to save lives and property damage."

ANSWER

WIND CHILL -- William Moore of Irving, TX and a few of his friends have had a ongoing debate about whether or not the wind chill factor affects the freezing of water. They have had many long discussions on this matter and are looking for clarification."
ANSWER

WIND GUSTS -- Ann Detweiler and Mark Leichty of Corvallis, OR wanted to know. "Why the wind blows in gusts."
ANSWER

Look for other questions to be posted soon...

This page was last updated on January 19, 2006.

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QUESTION	ANSWER
ADVECTION -- Elinore Begala-Gordon of Highland Lakes, NJ asked "What do warm air and cold air advection look like on an 850 millibar chart?"	*ANSWER*
PRESSURE (BAROMETRIC) -- Fernando Sanchez of Bogota, Columbia asked "How can the barometric pressure be lower, at the same instant, in Miami than in Bogota (about 9000 feet above sea level)? Readings from the Weather Channel on November 3, 1997 at 11:30 am showed the following: Miami 30.08 inches of mercury and Bogota 30.38 inches of mercury." "Also, why don't barometer readings change a lot here? Because of this, I can't seem to use my barometer for weather forecasting. Why?"	*ANSWER*
PRESSURE (BAROMETRIC) -- Kristina Gollwitzer of Wellsboro, PA noted that she has been trying to understand the difference between barometric pressure, sea level pressure and absolute pressure. She is trying to set up an electronic altimeter/barometer to use on hiking trips. The device doesn't display actual barometric pressure, but rather sea level and absolute pressure.	*ANSWER*
CLOUD COLORS -- The 8th graders in Sarah Gullett's class (Bedford, TX) wanted to know "why are some clouds gray and some clouds white?"	*ANSWER*
CLOUD COVERAGE -- Inger K. Hultgren of New York City, NY has a bet with a friend as to the difference between the terms "partly sunny" and "partly cloudy". Which do you think is cloudier? Why?	*ANSWER*
CLOUD LAYERS -- John Wahman of Glendale, AZ has a decent understanding about how clouds form as air rises. What he doesn't understand is how there can be layers of clouds above and below other layers. When on an airplane (e.g., Arizona to Florida, probably over New Mexico or west Texas), John has seen as many as three distinct layers at different altitudes. John wants to know how this can be.	*ANSWER*
CLOUD TRAVEL -- Nick T. of Olympia, WA wanted to know if "it was possible for a cloud to travel around the world". Nick (age 12) asked "out of curiosity..."	*ANSWER*
DEW POINT CHANGE -- Jennifer Nichols of Kearny, Arizona asked "What causes the dew point to change?" The question was originally posed by her father, a weather buff, but it was Jennifer who sought out the answer. COOL!	*ANSWER*
DEW POINT & HUMIDITY -- Gaye Wren and her friend of Concord, California (and their spouses) wanted to know "why 78 degrees fells warmer in the summer then 78 degrees in the winter".	*ANSWER*
FROST -- George Irwin of Gambrills, MD wanted to know. "If it were possible to have a frost when nighttime low temperatures were expected in the mid to upper 30's."	*ANSWER*
FROST -- Brian E., from Madison, WI noted "...it was cold the other night and we were a few degrees away from a frost. That triggered a question that has perplexed me for some time now -- Why does frost tend to form on top of picnic tables and not on the bottom?	*ANSWER*
HURRICANES (MOTION) -- T. P. James of New Orleans, LA asked "why do hurricanes move east to west when our weather generally comes from the west and north?"	*ANSWER*
SNOW -- Jeff Wood of Ithaca, NY wanted to know. "How many inches of rain would equal a foot of dry snow?"	*ANSWER*
SEASONAL (AND DAILY) TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS -- Jared Pratt of Idaho Falls, ID wanted to know. "Why is the weather hotter after the summer solstice?"	*ANSWER*
RADIOSONDES (SOUNDINGS) -- When it is cold outside and cold enough to snow, how come is it colder up in the sky? Also, if it is so cold in the sky, how come the clouds do not freeze and fall down at once? Leif lives in Songtan, Korea (Osan AFB) where his dad is stationed in the military."	*ANSWER*
TEMPERATURE -- Marge Manor and her husband (Bay City, MI) raised the following question. They noted that they have researched it and still have not found an answer to "If it is zero today and it is twice as cold tomorrow what would the temperature be?" This is not a joke, Marge noted. We are looking forward to an answer.	*ANSWER*
THUNDER & LIGHTNING -- Tania Louviere from Hammond, LA contacted us with following question: "My daughter, Lena, wants to know how lightning is made. She also wants to know what makes the thunder sound. My nephew, who is eight years old, told her that the thunder is caused when the clouds hit together. Isn't that cute? We would just like to learn what really happens. All the kids are curious now, not to mention her Dad and myself. Thank You."	*ANSWER*
THUNDER SNOW? -- John Fonville (originally from Greensboro, NC but now in the Poconos of northeastern PA) contacted us with following question: "Why does it not lightning when there is a snow storm or blizzard? If this does happen, I have never experienced it. Just curious. "	*ANSWER*
THUNDER SNOW? -- The Filik's (Middlesex County, NJ) contacted us with following situation: "It was a stormy night on January 14, 2006; warm temperatures during the early part of the day gave way to a chilly, windy (gusts up to 50mph or more) afternoon. Temperatures continued to drop (with near blizzard conditions developing into the evening. Around 10 pm the entire sky lit up whitish blue, but there was no sound , no thunder. The light didn't come from one single source or area, but it covered the entire sky, lighting up the nearby neighborhood, house and yard. During the next 15 minutes, it happened twice again. The entire sky as far as could be seen was lit up. It looked like what is portrayed in movies as a nuclear blast. But there was no mention of this on the local news. Curious? Was it thunder snow?"	*ANSWER*
TORNADOES -- Brian P. (Reseda, CA - about 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean) wonders a lot about tornadoes. For example, he wants to know (a) what makes a tornado happen? (b) can they happen by mountains? (c) can a dust devil turn into a tornado? and (d) is the United States the only place that has tornadoes? He also wanted to know if tornadoes occur in California.	*ANSWER*
TORNADOES -- Robert Greenough's 3rd grade class at James Monroe Elementary School (Bermuda Dunes, CA) wanted to know about naming tornadoes. It seems that during a discussion about Hurricane Floyd, they wondered why it was that hurricanes are named, but tornadoes are not. Do you know why tornadoes aren't named? --	*ANSWER*
WEATHER MODIFICATION (HURRICANES) -- Roland H. of Pompano Beach, FL wrote "...My friends and I were wondering why the Government doesn't invent a "liquid oxygen" missile that can be deployed underneath a major hurricane to cool down the water temperature. Wouldn't this cut off the Hurricane's breath? Would it be possible?" Two days later, Robert F. of Lucasville, OH wrote: "...My idea is to stop the hurricanes before they reach inland....why not dump tons and tons of dry ice in the center of the hurricane to cool the water temperature down? I think this would perhaps slow the hurricane down enough to save lives and property damage."	*ANSWER*
WIND CHILL -- William Moore of Irving, TX and a few of his friends have had a ongoing debate about whether or not the wind chill factor affects the freezing of water. They have had many long discussions on this matter and are looking for clarification."	*ANSWER*
WIND GUSTS -- Ann Detweiler and Mark Leichty of Corvallis, OR wanted to know. "Why the wind blows in gusts."	*ANSWER*
Look for other questions to be posted soon...