Technology Council

Archive for the ‘Weather Radar’ Category

Both the weather man and weather woman have become icons throughout the world. People religiously tune in their televisions to hear a prediction of the upcoming weather. Most of us however, refuse to admit that the weather man and the weather report is not an exact science. We live by the weather predictions, plan our days, plan our vacations, plan our outdoor work, and dress accordingly. The weather forecast is important to everyone in one way or another and it’s not limited to civilians. The military as well as the aviation industry rely heavily on current and future weather conditions.  Weather reporting has advanced in step with modern technology, obviously computers play an important role in the forecast nowadays. As advanced as computers are today, they still can only predict the future some of the time. They can make predicting easier and more accurate than weather prediction of years gone by.  As a matter of fact, weather is part of every day’s news show and a televised news show would be incomplete without the weather segment.

Weather forecasting appeared on the television airwaves in October of 1941. It was the first time a visual representation of current and future weather conditions were presented to the public. There were radio broadcasts of weather forecasts since January of 1921 but nothing could compare to a weather forecast the public could view for themselves. The first weather man ironically was a cartoon character who sang a tune while the weather was displayed on the screen. It may sound primitive now but in its time it was state of the art. The 1950′s brought about a new era. The live TV weather man armed with a chalkboard, some chalk, a sense of humor, and an arsenal of meteorological knowledge was about ot become part of our daily lives. The weather forecasts were vague and primitive but basically better than nothing at all. As confidence in the weather forecasts grew, so did the public’s interest in the weather man. A well-done, inaccurate forecast was better than no forecast at all. As time passed and the weather segment on the daily news program continued to gain popularity, women stepped in and became television weather forecasters as well.

As with everything else, the weather forecast itself evolved. The presentation became much more involved and complex. The weather man now had to present current conditions along with some detailed statistics for those viewers who were interested in weather-related stats and history. Even those TV viewers who may have never had an interest in the specific details of weather, now had something to talk about at the dinner table or at work the following morning. The weather segment of the news broadcast was becoming mandatory for all news shows based on its growing popularity. The chalkboards of old were soon replaced with cardboard models and then of course by computer animations and even the infamous “green screen”. The green screen, in reality a blank green screen, allowed the weather man to stand in front of a large scale weather map and actually point to various aspects of the map. Television viewers of course see the maps and graphics clear and colorful which totally enhanced the forecast. The visual effects became almost as important as the weather forecasters themselves.

Weather men and women began to earn reputations either good or bad based on their forecasting skills. What the public didn’t realize was that the reputation was also earned from pure personality. The presentation and a little luck made some TV weather people stars and others into goats. An incorrect forecast is expected, to some extent, because even the weathermen themselves will admit that weather is not an exact science. Overall it comes down to personal preference, some viewers would rather watch a man deliver the forecast and others prefer a woman, some viewers may tune to a particular TV station based primarily on the computer graphics used during the weather segment and others may choose to watch a weather person purely for their physical appearance. How do you rate your local weather man or weather woman and why is he or she your favorite anyway?

Bahamas weather brings visions of sunshine and warm days, but it’s not true for at least part of the year.

The Bahama islands are the most popular tourist destination in the entire Caribbean region largely due to numerous cruise ships that visit there. They also are convenient to U.S. tourists because of the islands’ closeness to the Florida coast, U.S. ports and U.S. airports

The Bahamas are the most northern destination in the region and have cooler weather during the winter months, making the night air and ocean swimming uncomfortable at times.

The average monthly high temperature is about 84 degrees Fahrenheit and the average monthly low is 69 degrees, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The average high reaches its peak of 89 degrees from July through September and bottoms at less than 80 degrees from December through March.

The islands receive a higher than average amount of rain at more than 55 inches a year with an average of 12 rain days a month. At least seven inches or more falls from June through October, but the wettest month of all is August, which has more than 9 inches of rain and 19 rain days. In contrast, December through March experience less than 2 inches of rain.

January and August through December are the least popular months of the year to visit the Bahamas, while February through July are more popular, according to statistics from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

However, cool weather and heavy rains make January, February and March, June through October, and the month of December the times when there is a higher risk of unpleasant weather. The ideal weather months are April, May and November.

For more information:

Click Bahamas weather forecast for 7-day outlooks and current conditions, plus travel tips, attractions and more.

Weather is not like climate that normally stays the same for much longer periods, weather changes very often every day or every hour. One day witnesses sunny skies and the next day it is cloudy. Sometimes, it would be a rainy morning and a sunny and warm in the afternoon. The weather changes so often that it is difficult to predict. One wonders why and how the weather changes.

One the same hand, Mars is said to be Earth’s twin plant. Mars and Earth orbit around the sun almost at the same speed. Although lately astronomers have discovered newer, smaller planets that resemble with Earth more than Mars does. But Mars role in Earthling history whether real or imaginary, remains unquestionable. There have been many movies, stories, books and artworks depicting Mars as a world- in-waiting.

For a long time, it has been thought that Mars harbor life because of the visible changes of color on its surface that is said to be caused by the changing of the seasons. Mars may have harbored life millions of years ago but it remains a mystery why it went extinct. There is a wide belief that Mars has both warm and cold seasons and a surface that looks deceptively fit for human habitation. Human’s mind definitely wants to know why Mars have seasons.

When talking about the changing of weather on earth, there are factors that affect weather changes which are wind direction, elevation and clouds. The direction the air is moving from affects the type of weather such as air from the ocean will bring in more humid air, air from the desert will bring in dry air and air from the Polar Regions will bring in colder air. The elevation factor comes in when the weather will be more unsettled at the time air is flowing from a lower elevation towards a higher elevation. Weather becomes more fair and calm when air is flowing from a high elevation towards a lower elevation. The factor of clouds come in when weather tends to be cooler during the day when there are clouds blocking most of the sun’s heat and UV rays. It will get warmer at night when there are clouds in the sky. The heat that has gathered during the day cannot easily dispel at night because the clouds kept it inside the lower atmosphere near the ground.

Weather changes also depend on the type of pressure. Low pressure tends to bring in cloudy conditions and rainfall. On the other hand, high pressure tends to bring in fair weather. Tropical low pressures do not have fronts. This keeps the air mild even when the weather gets unsettled.

Mars tilts at an angle similar to earth spins around an axis that does not move up or down. When Mars tilts on one side, the northern side points to the sun while on the other side of the orbit which is the southern part faces the sun also. When most parts face the sun then the sun naturally gets a wider mileage. Back on the surface the sun’s light gets very intense makes the surface a lot warmer. This results in the summer season. The other part that sides away from the sun does not get warm so it is winter season over there. Because Mars has volatile atmosphere, the changing of the seasons is usually accompanied by high temperature swings.