41 Years Later...Still Going Strong

Yay, another Earth Day post!!! :-)

It's wonderful to see how Earth Day has grown to become a magnificent event over the past 41 years. Below is the first part in a thirteen part CBS Special News Report about Earth Week (April 16 to 22), anchored by Walter Cronkite in 1970.



Over 500 million people all over the world take part in various Earth Day events now and even some web have gone green for this day. Just take a look at some of these sites:





Wherever you are and whatever you're doing to raise awareness and to help make this planet a better place for all Earth's inhabitants, keep it up! Earth is a beautiful planet. Let's keep it that way! Make everyday Earth Day :-)

Arsenic Removal in Noakhali

Happy Earth Day everyone!!!

Just wanted to share with you, a documentary created by my friend Hamshi Karunarajah, author of Climate Surprise, and her research group at the Asian University for Women, in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The documentary focuses on using Chinese Brake Ferns as an eco-friendly implement to the remove arsenic from ground water in Noakhali. Check it out:

Seattle Visit

Earlier this year, I boarded a plane to Seattle, Washington. It was for the 91st Annual American Meteorological Society Conference. I had a great time at the conference and in Seattle and I just wanted to share some pictures I took while I was there. The Cascade Range is so gorgeous!!!

View of Mount Rainier from the plane

Lenticular clouds and Mount Rainier

Some of the Casacade Mountains

Me atop the Space Needle

Mount Rainier with Lenticular Clouds

View of the Bay

Flying over dense fog

Mount Rainier and valley fog

This isn't really weather related, but I thought it was something cool that I saw, while I was there.

It's Life-Size Chess!

Earth Day 2011/BP Oil Spill

April 22nd is Earth Day 2011 and it is quickly approaching. On this day many celebrations and events take place around the world, in order to help the environment and raise awareness about topics such as power consumption, recycling and conversation. Planet Earth is the only planet we have and we should help to make the world a better place, not for ourselves but for other inhabitants.

One year ago today was the worst oil spills in U.S. history. This was the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (also known as the BP Oil Spill) occurred in the Gulf of Mexico near the Mississippi River Delta. Eleven people lost their lives in a wellhead blowout which caused the spill and hundreds of wildlife were affected. This picture from Yahoo Images, shows a dead fish floating atop a pool of oil.

Image Credit

Though difficult to look at, this image shows some of the impact of the disaster on wildlife. About 4,900,000 barrels of crude oil leaked over a 2,500 to 68,000 square mile radius and though the spill date ended on July 15, 2010, the well wasn't officially sealed until September 19. I remember watching CNN and seeing commentators and images of the oil rig and the coast line covered in oil on the main screen. This was followed by a live picture of the well still leaking oil, towards the bottom of the screen. I also remember breathing a small sigh of relief when the well was officially sealed. The clean up lasted for months. If you'd like to read about the incident, Wikipedia has a good article on it. Check it out here.

The environmental impact is still ongoing and according to Wikipedia, " In January 2011, an oil spill commissioner reported that tar balls continue to wash up, oil sheen trails are seen in the wake of fishing boats, wetlands marsh grass remains fouled and dying, and that crude oil lies offshore in deep water and in fine silts and sands onshore. A research team found oil on the bottom of the seafloor in late February 2011 that did not seem to be degrading. NOAA declared "an unusual mortality event," ongoing since last February 2011, after a spike in the number of dead dolphins washing up in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida."

This Earth Day let us not forget the disaster of the BP Oil Spill as well as other disasters that had effects had on the inhabitants of this planet. Let us find better ways to manage these incidents, as unfortunately they will occur. RestoreTheGulf.gov is a wonderful site towards providing information about the restoration in the Gulf and EarthDay.org is a great site looking at the Earth Day events occurring in your local area and around the globe. We should continue to reuse, reduce and recycle, and find ways of better sustainability. A little love can go a long way, especially when thinking of not only for ourselves, but our for future dependents, and other inhabitants (such as animals and trees), that exist in this world with us.

Seasonable Temps and Showers

Area Forecast
Washington, DC
(April 18- April 24)

April's transition is getting a bit smoother this week as a high pressure system remains to our south. For Monday we can expect partly sunny skies and a high near 70. Winds will be from the south at 8 to 10 mph. Monday night we can expect expect increasing clouds and a low near 53 as the high moves off the coast. Winds will be from the south at 11 to 14 mph. A low pressure system develops near the region for Tuesday as we can expect a slight chance of showers in the afternoon and a high near 73. Tuesday night there is a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms with a low near 57. That low pressure system moves in for Wednesday as we can expect showers mainly after 2 pm and a high near 80. There's a slight chance for showers Wednesday night as we can expect mostly clouds skies and a high near 55. Thursday we can expect partly sunny skies as that low pressure system moves north and high pressure moves towards the region. Expect a high near 63. Thursday night we can expect a low near 46 and partly cloudy skies. For Friday we can expect partly cloudy skies and a high near 64 as that high moves into the region. Friday night looks to be partly cloud with a low near 47. Saturday a low pressure system from our west moves in. Expect a chance of showers with mostly cloudy skies and a high near 69 and expect partly cloudy skies and a chance of showers for Saturday night. Low near 57. That low will remain in the region for Sunday as we can expect mostly cloudy skies and a chance of showers with a high near 70. Sunday night looks to bring a chance of showers with mostly cloudy skies and a low near 55.

source: NOAA

Tohoku Earthquake/The Storms Came A Rumbling

Well hello everyone, what a long time it's been since I've last posted. It's almost been a year! So much has happened during that time. I graduated from Kean University and now I'm attending Howard University pursing a Ph.D.

So much weather has occurred as well. More recently back on March 11, 2011, the Tohoku earthquake which was a devastating 9.0 earthquake. It struck off the coast of Japan and triggered a major tsunami which caused a tremendous loss of life. There were over 1021 recorded aftershocks, in with more than 63 of them were over 6.0. On the one month anniversary of the disaster, a 7.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Japan and tsunami warnings were issued, but later cancelled as the threat diminished. The Fukushima I Nuclear power plant has recently been rated level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Level 7 is the highest level on the scale and the only other disaster to reach this level was the Chernobyl disaster back in April of 1986. A nine-month plan has been set to move the plant into a more stable state. More information about the plan can be read here.

Yesterday we received some intense storms here in Maryland. These storms were part of severe weather pattern which caused an outbreak of tornadoes in the Southern states, over the last two days. So far 55 tornadoes were confirmed and there were over 243 tornadoes initially reported. The maximum recorded tornado was an EF3 and 40 people have lost their life. No other outbreak in the United States, before this occurrence resulted in this number of fatalities since the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak. This event occurred February 5–6, 2008 and killed 57 people.

Of the reported tornadoes, the National Weather Service is estimating it would take a few days to confirm these cases. Why you might ask? Well much of the damage may have been caused by straight-line winds and not from a tornado. With many thunderstorms there will be wind gusts, and distinguishing what type of weather phenomena occurred can be tricky. Especially for insurance claims.

Straight line winds can reach up to speeds of 130 mph which is around the same as an EF2 tornado and are caused by downbursts or outflows from the thunderstorm. The debris pattern from straight line winds, spreads out in one direction. Tornadoes are categorized as rotating columns of air caused by unstable air, lifting and moisture in the low to mid levels of the atmosphere (in summary). The debris pattern from tornadoes spreads out in different directions and is often rotational. The debris field for straight line winds can cover miles as the debris field for tornadoes tends to be more narrow, though some fields have gone out for miles.

Below is a radar image of the system I obtained from RAP Weather. The time is 2023 UTC or 4:23 PM EST (to get eastern standard time, 5 hours is subtracted from the UTC time).

The line of storms are very well defined. Here is the base reflectivity image taken from the WSR-88D Radar that I obtained from NOAA. It is of the storms for the Baltimore MD/Washington DC area. The time is 7:19 PM EST or 2313 UTC.

Notice the strong band of storms west of Washington, DC? These storms later moved further North towards Westminster.

I felt really compelled to start this blog up again. The wait is over. I'll be updating more with weather events and happenings. If you have Twitter follow me @Weathersavvy1. Stay tuned!

Protection Of The Planet Is Protection Of Our Future

This Thursday, April 22 will mark the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, which was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson to help raise awareness about the Earth and its safety. Earth Day started when 20 million people participated in environmental activities across the United States and since then, the day has grown to be celebrated across the globe in over 184 countries. Help to make a difference in the world by volunteering in your community. More information can be found here: http://www.earthday.org/.

Back to Average Temps/Showers

Area Forecast
Union NJ
(April 20-April 25)

It hasn't been feeling like it did two weeks ago when the temperatures here in Union reached into the upper 80s. The temperatures we're feeling now are more near the average for this time of the year, though the winds coming from the northwest make it feel much cooler. For Tuesday we can expect sunny skies and a high near 71. Winds will be out of the northwest at 3 to 9 mph. We can expect mostly clear skies and a low near 46 for Tuesday night. There is a slight chance of rain on Wednesday as a cold front from the northwest moves into the region. Expect a high near 69 and partly cloudy skies. Winds will be calm for the morning and then will become slightly breezy at 7 to 10 mph and from the south, later into the day. There is another chance for showers Wednesday night, mainly before midnight, as we expect a low around 47. That cold front will move out Thursday afternoon as we can expect a slight chance of showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High will be near 68. Weak high pressure will build Thursday night as we can expect a low near 42. Friday looks to be dry with partly sunny skies and a high near 61. That high will move off the Atlantic Coast for Friday night as we can expect partly cloudy skies and a low near 44. The weekend looks to be rainy as a low pressure system crosses into the region. expect a chance for showers and high temperatures in the lower 60s for both days.