The 16-day forecast blog got a pretty uniform response -- no deal!
I agree with you.
I have a meteorology degree and I still don't think we'll ever be able to predict accurately that far out, no matter how far technology advances.
There is just too much to account for and so much we don't even full understand about weather and the atmosphere.
Remember this is a brand new science when compared to a time scale since this country was first settled.
It's only been since the 1950s and 60s when radar, satellites and computers really took off to a point that allowed us to learn what we know today.
So when we put it into that time perspective, we've came a long way.
But when you look at the current time we live in, a world full of instant gratification with demands that technology should be able to deliver what we want when we want it and even how we want it -- the job of weather forecasting can be a huge disappointment.
I am glad to see none of you are of that mindset -- you are realistic and can appreciate the 16-day but also know to take it with a grain of salt.
One of you said the 16-DAY is good as a guide for what may be coming down the pike.
It is definitely good for that --- trends CAN be seen 16 days out, but the fine details typically cannot.
And thanks dewdrop for the link to the website where the guy burned himself. I can tell you if you stick to the coffee cup, that shouldn't happen.
The contents get high enough they instantly cool and evaporate.
But the 3 or 5 gallon bucket is a little over the top, and it will probably have a painful ending.
I don't think any human would be strong enough to safely hoist that amount of water into the air so that it all vaporizes.
Water is VERY HEAVY when you deal with gallons!
I hope that guy healed up and is better now.
Today, I was having a discussion with another teacher as to why boiling water works better than hot water from the tap. We both have our theories on this. Can you provide some insight?
ReplyDeleteHere is my version of "taking a cup of boiling hot water and hoisting it into the air as hard, fast and high as you can, and it will become an instant cloud of vapor". See video HERE. The video was taken in Oshkosh, WI on Friday, Jan 16, 2009 at 7am ish. Temperature was -13°F. :)
ReplyDeleteBoy, you have the crunchy snow up in Wisconsin ;)
ReplyDeleteI tried this last night, and it worked very well. Temp was 5 above.
Question about today's weather: here in southeastern Michigan it is frigidly cold (-9 this morning) and clear skies. We live about 10 miles north of downtown Detroit and the Detroit River. My husband works downtown and drove from these perfectly clear blue skies into fog down on the river. What would be causing this? Is because the water relatively warm compared to the air temperature even though it is iced over?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I'm going to try the boiling water thing today or tonight with a photographer friend, if he'll help me out (i.e. agree to hang out in the dark frozen tundra that is my property in Central NYS).
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I heard about, which sounded kind of fun, was blowing soap bubbles in this weather. I haven't tried it myself (yet) but I saw some photos online--apparently if you blow them upwards into the air when it's this cold, they will be in the air long enough to freeze before they hit the ground.
Thermodynamics-heat transfer-latent temperature of evaporation.
ReplyDeleteI'm no professor but i do dabble with mobile AC. GaDW-2
KJ4FQR 73's everyone!
I appreciate your sound out!
ReplyDeleteOSNW3 did a great job with his experiment.