Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Thunderstorms Produce..... Antimatter???

Apparently thunderstorms do produce anti-matter!  A recent study released by NASA has shown that lightning from thunderstorms here on Earth actually produces anti-matter that is sent out into space!  For more on this, go to following article: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/11jan_antimatter/

I realize this will most likely be over some people's heads, but it's really cool!

Friday, January 7, 2011

It's all down hill from here!

Well, we made it!  After today, things should slowly become a whole lot better.  You may be wondering what I'm talking about.  Well, I'm referring to our climatic average high and low temperatures.  We (at least in the Coulee Region) have hit our coldest average high and low temperatures for the season.  From this point forward, these two numbers that you constantly hear about on weather reports will start to climb as we head through February and into the spring months of March and April!

But I need to make one clarification here.  This does not mean we are entirely through with the cold weather.  To understand why, I need to tell you the what exactly I mean by the average high and low temperatures.  The average high and low temperature are actually the normalized high and low temperatures over the past 30 years (sometimes longer!  Meteorologist and climatologists use the past 30 years as a good period for a current climatic average).  Thus, the average high and low are actually a statistical average over that 30 year period of time!  Therefore, any exteme cold or heat that we have seen on a given day in the past (like in 1996 when the low was around -30F at the end of January/early February) would alter the average high and low temperatures for that day, but not by a whole lot, especially given 30 years of data. 

Thus, on one hand, things are looking brighter - it will soon be getting warmer since the average highs and lows are rising.  However, we could still have a cold snap.... so don't put that parka away just yet!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Winter Weather Trivia #1 Answer

I asked you:

True or False. It must be 32°F or colder for it to snow.

Well, the answer is: False. It has been known to snow with temperatures in the mid 40's. Temperatures are below 32°F up in the clouds where the snow is forming.