A major storm alert has been broadcast throughout all of Northern and Central Utah! The weather forecasters are telling us to charge up our phones, buy candles, batteries, flashlights and prepare for up to a foot of snow on the valley floor! I have my batteries, propane tanks filled, food in the pantry for one week, ready to ride out this horrific storm that is being broadcasted every 5 minutes on KSL Radio News! What happens next? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! The huge storm bottoms out near Elko, Nevada and I'm stuck with a pantry full of Tostitos and Onion Dip, Lucky Charms, Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate and a dozen cans of chicken! Say What!! Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th century. Unfortunately WE are not in charge of the weather. Scientists can only make predictions about the weather, and they do their very best to make things right.... Modern weather forecasting uses scientific knowledge to predict future atmospheric conditions across the globe from observations of the current state, made from land; at sea; in the air, and from space. That's a lot of data collection! (And you thought math people were nerds...) No matter what the weather, predicting weather is fun and helpful. Some days are complete failures and other days are right on the mark. We will try our hand at forecasting and arguing our claims scientifically on Tuesday.
6 Comments
|
Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |