October 27, 2013
Snow:
Snow is formed when tiny particles of water turn into a gas called water vapor. That water vapor goes up into the atmosphere and, when it is cold enough it will turn into a water droplet. But, if it is cold enough, instead of forming back into water droplets they become ice crystals. When the ice crystals bump into each other they form snowflakes. When there are too many snowflakes in a cloud, they fall out as snow.
Snow:
Snow is formed when tiny particles of water turn into a gas called water vapor. That water vapor goes up into the atmosphere and, when it is cold enough it will turn into a water droplet. But, if it is cold enough, instead of forming back into water droplets they become ice crystals. When the ice crystals bump into each other they form snowflakes. When there are too many snowflakes in a cloud, they fall out as snow.
October 13,2013
Types of Lightning:
There are many different types of lightning. Here are just a few.
Cloud-to-Ground Lightning: This type of lightning is the type of lightning mentioned in the below article. It goes from the cloud to the ground.
Sheet Lightning: This type of lightning lights up the whole cloud. This type of lightning happens in the cloud.
Cloud-to-Cloud Lightning: This type of lightning goes from one cloud to another cloud.
Fun Fact: Lightning is jagged because the electricity finds the easiest way to the ground through the air. That is why lighting is jagged.
Types of Lightning:
There are many different types of lightning. Here are just a few.
Cloud-to-Ground Lightning: This type of lightning is the type of lightning mentioned in the below article. It goes from the cloud to the ground.
Sheet Lightning: This type of lightning lights up the whole cloud. This type of lightning happens in the cloud.
Cloud-to-Cloud Lightning: This type of lightning goes from one cloud to another cloud.
Fun Fact: Lightning is jagged because the electricity finds the easiest way to the ground through the air. That is why lighting is jagged.
October 13, 2013
Lightning:
Lightning is a dangerous weather phenomenon. Lightning comes from thunderstorms and can heat the air around it to 50,000 degrees fahrenheit! Lightning starts to form when particles in the clouds bump into each other. That creates an electrical charge. Soon the cloud fills up with these electric charges. There are two kinds of charges, positive charges and negative charges. The positive charges gather at the top of the cloud. The negative charges gather at the bottom of the cloud. Because opposite charges attract, those positive charges build up on the ground. The charges on the ground concentrate on tall objects. When a positive charges coming up form the ground and negative charges coming down from the cloud connect, a lightning bolt appears.
Lightning:
Lightning is a dangerous weather phenomenon. Lightning comes from thunderstorms and can heat the air around it to 50,000 degrees fahrenheit! Lightning starts to form when particles in the clouds bump into each other. That creates an electrical charge. Soon the cloud fills up with these electric charges. There are two kinds of charges, positive charges and negative charges. The positive charges gather at the top of the cloud. The negative charges gather at the bottom of the cloud. Because opposite charges attract, those positive charges build up on the ground. The charges on the ground concentrate on tall objects. When a positive charges coming up form the ground and negative charges coming down from the cloud connect, a lightning bolt appears.
October 11, 2013
Famous Hurricanes:
There are many hurricanes and only a few hit land, or make landfall, each year. Usually when hurricanes strike they are a weak hurricane, usually Category 1, and don't cause much damage. But there are a few, however, that caused a lot of damage and loss of lives. Here is just a rundown of some of the more recent bad boys (and girls).
Hurricane Katrina, 2005:This hurricane struck in the Gulf of Mexico and caused $81.2 billion in damage and at least 1,800 people lost their lives.
Hurricane Andrew, 1992: This hurricane struck Florida and caused $44.9 billion in damage and 26 people lost their lives.
Galveston Hurricane, 1900: 8,000-10,000 people lost their lives in this storm and it almost wiped the city of Galveston, Texas off the map.
Hurricane Mitch, 1998: As this hurricane struck Central America, it caused $6 billion in property damage and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. 11,000 people died of flooding and mudslides as a result of this storm.
Now, you have a clearer picture of the true force of hurricanes!
Famous Hurricanes:
There are many hurricanes and only a few hit land, or make landfall, each year. Usually when hurricanes strike they are a weak hurricane, usually Category 1, and don't cause much damage. But there are a few, however, that caused a lot of damage and loss of lives. Here is just a rundown of some of the more recent bad boys (and girls).
Hurricane Katrina, 2005:This hurricane struck in the Gulf of Mexico and caused $81.2 billion in damage and at least 1,800 people lost their lives.
Hurricane Andrew, 1992: This hurricane struck Florida and caused $44.9 billion in damage and 26 people lost their lives.
Galveston Hurricane, 1900: 8,000-10,000 people lost their lives in this storm and it almost wiped the city of Galveston, Texas off the map.
Hurricane Mitch, 1998: As this hurricane struck Central America, it caused $6 billion in property damage and destroyed tens of thousands of homes. 11,000 people died of flooding and mudslides as a result of this storm.
Now, you have a clearer picture of the true force of hurricanes!
October 3, 2013
How Tornadoes Are Rated:
Tornadoes are rated using something called the Enhanced-Fujita Scale. This system measures how much damage tornadoes cause and their wind speed and gives them a rating from EF 0 to EF 5. The EF stands for Enhanced-Fujita. Check out the video below for more information on this scale.
How Tornadoes Are Rated:
Tornadoes are rated using something called the Enhanced-Fujita Scale. This system measures how much damage tornadoes cause and their wind speed and gives them a rating from EF 0 to EF 5. The EF stands for Enhanced-Fujita. Check out the video below for more information on this scale.
October 3, 2013
How A Tornado Forms:
Tornadoes start in large and powerful storms called super cells. These are the stages in which tornadoes go, from funnel cloud to its disappearance.
1) Funnel Cloud: The funnel cloud, or start of a tornado, comes down from the sky, out of the thunderstorm. The funnel cloud descends and the column of cloud forms as moisture from the air condenses because of the low pressure in the funnel cloud.
2) Tornado: The funnel cloud touches the ground and becomes a tornado. This tornado can cause devastation across many miles. The longest path of any tornado was in the Tri-State Tornado. The tornado trekked 352 kilometers (219 miles) across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The base of the tornado can't be seen because of the debris the tornado kicks up.
3) Disappearance: Eventually, the tornado will run out of energy. When it does, it also slows down. Eventually, after around 30 minutes, the tornado disappears into the thunderstorm it formed from.
How A Tornado Forms:
Tornadoes start in large and powerful storms called super cells. These are the stages in which tornadoes go, from funnel cloud to its disappearance.
1) Funnel Cloud: The funnel cloud, or start of a tornado, comes down from the sky, out of the thunderstorm. The funnel cloud descends and the column of cloud forms as moisture from the air condenses because of the low pressure in the funnel cloud.
2) Tornado: The funnel cloud touches the ground and becomes a tornado. This tornado can cause devastation across many miles. The longest path of any tornado was in the Tri-State Tornado. The tornado trekked 352 kilometers (219 miles) across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. The base of the tornado can't be seen because of the debris the tornado kicks up.
3) Disappearance: Eventually, the tornado will run out of energy. When it does, it also slows down. Eventually, after around 30 minutes, the tornado disappears into the thunderstorm it formed from.
September 21,2013
Hurricane Basics: Hurricanes form over warm water and cause damaging winds, enormous amounts of rain, and huge walls of water called storm surges. Hurricanes form around an area of bad weather called a low-pressure center. When hurricanes move onto land, they can cause massive damage. But, once they hit land they start to lose strength rapidly, until eventually they disappear or dissipate over either land or cold waters. If the storm is not yet a hurricane, it is called a tropical storm. If still the storm is not yet a tropical storm, it is called a tropical depression. To measure wind speed and damage caused, weathermen or meteorologists made a scale call the Saffir-Simpson scale. It measures the wind speed of hurricanes and gives the hurricane a category from Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane.
Hurricane Basics: Hurricanes form over warm water and cause damaging winds, enormous amounts of rain, and huge walls of water called storm surges. Hurricanes form around an area of bad weather called a low-pressure center. When hurricanes move onto land, they can cause massive damage. But, once they hit land they start to lose strength rapidly, until eventually they disappear or dissipate over either land or cold waters. If the storm is not yet a hurricane, it is called a tropical storm. If still the storm is not yet a tropical storm, it is called a tropical depression. To measure wind speed and damage caused, weathermen or meteorologists made a scale call the Saffir-Simpson scale. It measures the wind speed of hurricanes and gives the hurricane a category from Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane.