Portal:Weather
The weather portal
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Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.
Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.
Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, the weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind. (Full article...)
Selected article
The Christmas 1994 nor'easter was an intense cyclone along the East Coast of the United States and Atlantic Canada. It developed from an area of low pressure in the southeast Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Keys, and moved across the state of Florida. As it entered the warm waters of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean, it began to rapidly intensify, exhibiting traits of a tropical system, including the formation of an eye. It attained a pressure of 970 millibars on December 23 and 24, and after moving northward, it came ashore near New York City on Christmas Eve. Due to the uncertain nature of the storm, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) did not classify it as a tropical cyclone.
Heavy rain from the developing storm contributed to significant flooding in South Carolina. Much of the rest of the East Coast was affected by high winds, coastal flooding, and beach erosion. New York State and New England bore the brunt of the storm; damage was extensive on Long Island, and in Connecticut, 130,000 households lost electric power during the storm. Widespread damage and power outages also occurred throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where the storm generated 30-foot (9.1 m) waves along the coast. Due to the warm weather pattern that contributed to the storm's development, precipitation was limited to rain. Two people were killed, and damage amounted to at least $21 million dollars.
Recently selected articles: Evansville Tornado of November 2005,Typhoon Tip, Hurricane Floyd, More...
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that WILS-TV in Lansing, Michigan, featured a singing weather girl and pianist dressed appropriately for the next day's forecast?
- ... that astrophysicist and space-weather specialist Professor Peter T. Gallagher led the building of Ireland's first serious radio telescope, the 3,000-antenna I-LOFAR, at Birr Castle?
- ... that actor Carl Weathers agreed to play Greef Karga on the Star Wars television series The Mandalorian on the condition that he direct future episodes of the show?
- ... that all five components of the climate system—air, water, ice, Earth's crust, and life—help determine Earth's average weather?
- ... that extreme event attribution estimates how much climate change causes weather events, such as the 2021 Western North America heat wave?
- ... that Eric Berger wrote about weather for the Houston Chronicle even before he became a certified meteorologist?
Selected image
A roll cloud off the coast of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Roll clouds are formed by strong outflow from a thunderstorm forcing surrounding air upwards.
Recently selected pictures: Hoar frost, Snowflakes, Ground fog, More...
More did you know...
...that the SS Central America was sunk by a hurricane while carrying more than 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857?
...that a hurricane force wind warning is issued by the United States National Weather Service for storms that are not tropical cyclones but are expected to produce hurricane-force winds (65 knots (75 mph; 120 km/h) or higher)?
...that the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System is a software package for tropical cyclone forecasting developed in 1988 that is still used today by meteorologists in various branches of the US Government?
...that a cryoseism is a sudden ground or glacier movement that can occur due to water freezing or ice cracking after drastic temperature changes?
...that BUFR is a binary data format standardized by the World Meteorological Organization for storing observation data from weather stations and weather satellites?
...that the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center issues weather forecasts for conditions that can cause avalanches in the mountains of western Washington and northwestern Oregon?
Recent and ongoing weather
- Wikinews weather portal
- July 25: Heavy monsoon rains kill over 100 in India, many thousands evacuated
- April 23: European Union to reduce carbon emissions by 55% of 1990 levels by 2030
- March 26: Tropical moisture ceases to cause severe floods in South East Australia
- February 19: Winter storms hammer Texas, fatalities reported
- December 28: Typhoon Phanfone strikes Philippines
- Weather of 2022
- 2022 Atlantic hurricane season
- 2020–21 North American winter
- 2022 Pacific typhoon season
- Tornadoes of 2022
This week in weather history...
March 22
2010: Severe storms struck the region around Perth, Western Australia, bringing high winds, large hail, and heavy flooding rains. It was the costliest natural disaster in the history of the territory, with more than A$1 billion in reported damage.
March 23: World Meteorological Day
1923: Joanne Simpson, renowned research meteorologist and the first woman to receive a PhD in meteorology, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
March 24
1994: Cyclone Nadia made landfall in Mozambique between Nacala and the Island of Mozambique. The storm directly killed more than 200 people, and also disrupted the local harvest causing starvation which would kill hundreds more.
March 25
1982: Typhoon Nelson made landfall on the central Philippines, killing 288 people.
March 26
2007: Heavy rain began impacting central Argentina, eventually leading to severe flooding that would leave 15 dead.
March 27
1977: Two airplanes collided in heavy fog on a runway at Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, resulting in the deaths of 583 passengers. Known as the Tenerife disaster, it was the deadliest weather-related air disaster in world history.
March 28
1983: NOAA-8, the first weather satellite of the Advanced TIROS-N series, was launched into a polar orbit.
Selected biography
Christophorus Henricus Diedericus Buys Ballot (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbœys ˈbɑlɔt]; October 10, 1817 – February 3, 1890) was a Dutch chemist and meteorologist after whom Buys Ballot's law and the Buys Ballot table are named. He was first chairman of the International Meteorological Organization, the organization that would become the World Meteorological Organization. (Full article...)
Previously selected biographies: Sir William Napier Shaw, Johannes Peter Letzmann, More...
Related portals
Quality content
Other candidates:
- Featured Article Review: 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
- Featured List Removal Candidate: List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
Subcategories
WikiProjects
The scope of WikiProject Weather is to have a single location for all weather-related articles on Wikipedia.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing.
WikiProject Severe weather is a similar project specific to articles about severe weather. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipdia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
WikiProject Non-tropical storms is a collaborative project to improve articles related to winter storms, wind storms, and extratropical cyclones.
Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!
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