Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Let The Change Begin, Restarting State Climate Series

I am blogging to the sound of wind whistling past my back door and watching a huge bank of clouds billow up over the Continental Divide.

Living on the southeast side of Denver with a full western exposure offers some wonderful views!

It's all part of a huge weather change sweeping across the region today. After topping out in the upper 80s on Tuesday, residents of Salt Lake City are waking up to foggy conditions with rain and temperatures holding in the lower to mid 40s.

A few severe storms are possible today across northeast Colorado, western Kansas and western Nebraska. Right now the thinking is that storms will be isolated, but the ones that do form could be potent.

Back in May I attempted to start a climate series where we'd talk about all the states in detail over a series of days in the blog.

Tennessee was first, followed by Washington, Missouri and Vermont. In late July I got so busy with work and summer that I just couldn't put the time into researching more states.

Well thanks to Ben Black, CoCoRaHS observer and volunteer recruiter for Hawaii, I am happy to announce the climate series is back and will start with information courtesy of Ben!

Hawaii Climate Intro



Hawai`i has joined the lower 48 states in contributing rainfall data to CoCoRaHS! They are actively building a network of volunteers across the settled islands of the 50th state.

Yes, Hawai`i is an island state, but it’s really also a mountain state. The great volcanic peaks that formed the island chain rise from the ocean floor over 20,000 feet just to break the surface of the water, then as much as another 13,796 feet to face off against the oncoming weather born here by the westerly flow of the trade winds.



The trade winds carry weather generally from offshore of Mexico and Baja to Hawai`i on their way toward Asia. This prevailing weather pattern is the delivery service for much of the precipitation that keeps this outpost in the Pacific green and inviting to residents and visitors.

Click here to read more about the global circulation of wind patterns and the trade winds.

Another source to learn more about trade winds.

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