Few strangest weather phenomena

Weather is more than just wind and rain

Everybody loves to complain about the weather, whether it’s too cold, too hot, too sunny or too rainy, we’re never completely satisfied. However, most of us should count ourselves lucky for having never experienced the both fascinating and intimidating weather phenomena nature has to offer. From harmless white rainbows to apocalypse-like lightning, we look at some of the strangest weather around the world and where to see them.

  

      

https://www.loveexploring.com/galleries/67035/weird-weather-phenomenon

(Images taken from google/IE)

Drought and flooding are the most deadly natural phenomenon

• Hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes might seem like the most dangerous natural hazards you could ever face, but floods and droughts actually kill more over time.
• Better predictions for hurricanes and other tropical cyclones, as well as tornadoes, have reduced the death tolls from such events in recent decades. But flooding deaths are on the rise.
• Victims often underestimate the power of water when driving into flooded areas.
• Heat waves rarely make lists of the deadliest natural disasters, but in modern times their death tolls have surpassed other phenomena.
• Over half of all deaths from natural disasters worldwide are due to drought and famine, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
• Droughts and floods could take a higher toll in the future as global warming increases the prevalence of these events in certain areas, scientists say.

 

(Images/video taken from google/IE)

Fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow

• It is believed that rainbows were named depending on their shape. The arc appears like a bow (as in bow and arrows), and it was always raining when the phenomena appeared. Despite old folk tales about pots of gold and leprechauns at the end of rainbows, you will never reach the end of a rainbow.  Rainbows are hardly seen at noon. Rainbows are very common in the evenings and mornings. To form a rainbow, sunlight requires striking a raindrop at almost 42 degrees. On very rare occasions the moon’s light will generate a rainbow effect at night, known as a moon bow. Despite the fact that all we can easily see from Earth is white light, all 7 colors are very present. Rainbows often appear near waterfalls and in the tropical regions of the Earth. From an airplane, a rainbow will look like a circle. We can only see a portion of it on land. Earth is the only planet in the solar system where rainbows are possible. A fog bow, sometimes called a white rainbow, is a similar phenomenon to a rainbow. In many cases, when the droplets are very small, fog bows appear white, and are therefore sometimes called white rainbows. When droplets forming it are almost all of the same size, the fog bow can have multiple inner rings, or supernumeraries, which are more strongly colored than the main bow. The fog bow’s lack of colors is caused by the smaller water drops, so small that the wavelength of light becomes important. A fog bow seen in clouds, typically from an aircraft looking downwards, is called a cloud bow. Mariners sometimes call fog bows sea-dogs.

  

(Images/video taken from google/IE)

Catatumbo lightning

• This atmospheric phenomenon occurs only over the mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela. When warm and cold fronts meet where the river empties into Lake Maracaibo, it forms just the right conditions for this phenomenon. Nearby marshes emit methane gas, improving the electrical conductivity of the clouds, which also helps cause these extended lightning strikes which can last 10 hours. It originates from a mass of storm clouds at a height of more than 1 km, and occurs during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours per day and up to 280 times per hour. It occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo, typically over the bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. Catatumbo lightning changes its frequency throughout the year and it is different from year to year. For example, it ceased from January to March 2010, apparently due to drought, temporarily raising fears that it might have been extinguished permanently.

(Images/video taken from google/IE)

WEATHER PARAMETERS/ELEMENTS – CONTROLS OF CLIMATE

• According to the literature, everyone agrees that it is reasonable to reserve the term parameter for measurable environmental components, constant over time, and the variable term for elements that vary with time. Atmosphere is a function of a variety of interacting Elements like
• Solar radiation, Air masses, Pressure systems (and cyclone belts), Ocean Currents and Topography. Solar radiation is probably the most important element of climate. It is first and foremost heats the Earth’s surface which in turn determines the temperature of the air above which is a very important factor in determining the weather, because it influences or controls other elements of the weather, such as precipitation, humidity, clouds and atmospheric pressure.
• Air masses: An air mass is a large body of air with generally uniform temperature and humidity. Air masses control the characteristics of temperature, humidity, and stability.
• Winds: The horizontal movement of the atmosphere is called wind. Wind can be felt only when it is in motion. Wind is the result of the horizontal differences in the air pressure. Wind is simply the movement of air from high pressure to low pressure. The speed of the wind is determined by the difference between the high and low pressure. The greater the difference the faster the wind speed.  (Closer the isobars stronger the winds.)
• Pressure systems: Air pressure is the weight of air resting on the earth’s surface. Air has specific weight. This weight exerted by the air is atmospheric pressure. It is defined as the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the Earth’s atmosphere. Pressure systems have a direct impact on the precipitation.
• Ocean currents: They greatly affect the temperature and precipitation, Topography affects climate in a variety of ways. The orientation of mountains to the prevailing wind affects precipitation. Windward slopes, those facing into the wind, experience more precipitation due to orographic uplift of the air. Leeward sides of mountains are in the rain shadow and thus receive less precipitation.
• Humidity: Atmospheric moisture is the most important element of the atmosphere which modifies the air temperature. It is the measurable amount of moisture in the air of the lower atmosphere. Relative humidity is the ratio of the water vapors present in air having a definite volume at a specific temperature compared to the maximum water vapors that the air is able to hold without condensing at that given temperature. Precipitation is simply any water form that falls to the Earth from overhead cloud formations.
• Cloudiness: Clouds are suspended water in the atmosphere. They are usually the most obvious feature of the sky which give us a clue about what is going on in our atmosphere and how the weather might change in the hours or even days to come.
• Visibility: The most critical weather element.  Obstructions to visibility include clouds, fog, smoke, haze, and precipitation. Visibility is often reduced somewhat by air pollution and high humidity. Fog and smoke can reduce visibility to near zero, making driving extremely dangerous. The same can happen in a sandstorm in and near desert areas, or with forest fires. Heavy rain (such as from a thunderstorm) not only causes low visibility, but the inability to brake quickly due to hydroplaning. It is measured in KM/Meter or SM(statue mile in UK)
• Controls of climate: Latitudes, Altitude, Land and water; Distance from land and water; Low and high pressure cells, Winds and air masses, Mountains barriers/Relief and Ocean currents.

 

 

(Images/video taken from google/IE)

Future climate

• Human-induced climate change is projected to continue, and it will accelerate significantly if global emissions of heat-trapping gases continue to increase.
• Extreme weather and its association with atmospheric conditions
  • Tornado: clouds, strong wind, rain, hail
  • Hurricane or cyclone: strong wind, heavy rain
  • Blizzard: heavy snow, ice, cold temperatures
  • Dust storm: strong winds, arid conditions
  • Flood: heavy rainfall
  • Hail storm: cold or warm temperatures, rain, ice
  • Ice storm: freezing rain

  

(Images/video taken from google/IE)

YouTube user Dutchsinse has been predicting quakes with 75-80% accuracy

• YouTube user Dutchsinse has been predicting quakes with 75-80% accuracy; he correctly predicted major quakes in Peru and Alaska. An online independent forecaster continues to make prescient predictions of future earthquakes using seismic data, Google Earth, and imaging from the recently launched GOES weather satellite. His predictions have consistently fallen within a 70 to 80 percent accuracy range, correctly predicting the recent spate of earthquakes on the Pacific, from southern Peru to Alaska. His predictions over the next week portend earthquakes shaking locations in the Midwest and northern New York.
• In the wake of predicting a 7.9 magnitude in Alaska, as well as a 5.8 magnitude quake in northern California, shows two plumes of steam erupting from locations in Death Valley and the Grand Canyon. Dutchsinse points to these two spots as being isolated, arid, and desolate localities to dispel comments from detractors saying he’s just seeing weather phenomena or controlled burns from farmers.

(Image/Video taken from google/IE)

Earthquake Recording Instrumentation for Buildings

• The science of structural response to earthquakes is about to get a massive data resource boost due to a mandate introduced in the Philippines for seismic instrumentation in buildings.
• In recent years PHIVOLCS (the national earthquake authority) have warned that an earthquake of up to magnitude 7.2 is overdue for the West Valley Fault, which would be potentially devastating for Manila and surrounding populated areas. In 2015, the Department of Public Works and Highways issued a directive to all building officials that the seismic monitoring requirement would no longer have exemptions.
• The engineers at ESS Earth Sciences in conjunction with the seismologists at the Seismology Research Centre have ensured that the new Kelunji Gecko-HR strong motion accelerograph  meets the requirements specified in the DPWH guidelines. Taking less than an hour to setup, the Gecko SMA-HR records ground and building vibrations continuously, with over a year of data stored in the memory buffer, ensuring no earthquake is ever missed. With its simple LCD and keypad interface, the Gecko can be set up without a computer without the need for highly trained technical staff.

 

(Images/video taken from google/IE)