A Wrap-Up of Isaac's Storm

Now that we have finished reading the interesting yet sad story of the Galveston hurricane and its victims, what are your final impressions?  Was there something in the story that surprised you, shocked you, or made you wonder?  Did you learn anything new about what life in 1900 was like, and/or how far weather forecasting has come in the last 100 years?  How did the personal stories of the victims and survivors make you feel?  As always, please carefully proofread your well-written comment.

The Blizzard of 1993 a.k.a The Superstorm

The Blizzard of 1993 was also known as The Superstorm because it did not just consist of heavy snowfall. Personally this has to be one of the more interesting storms I have ever heard of. What made me choose this topic was my imagination. As I was looking through storms to do my presentation on I came across this Blizzard and I just imagined twenty inches of snow outside of my house, or even standing in it. But the craziest part about this storm to me was where it happened. Large amounts of snow fall in Tennessee and Alabama, which made me think I'm going to the south to continue my education because of the warm weather and different environment.But they could potentially get weather like this too!

As we know a typhoon is our hurricane; Typhoon Haiyan which is also know by the locals by Typhoon Yolanda was a storm that did damage and left the Philippines in a horrible sight to man. This hurricane would be categorized as a category 5 hurricane because of its highspeed winds. As Haiyan encountered the Philippine soil the winds were at 196 mph, Haiyan killed 5,969 souls and caused  30.6 million pesos which is $700,000 to us in damage.

The Galveston Hurricane

A hurricane is a rapidly‑rotating storm system characterized by a low‑pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900s was the deadliest hurricane to ever hit the U.S.. On September 8, 1900, a category 4 hurricane ran through Galveston, Texas, killing an estimated 6,00 to 8,000 people. A fifteen foot storm surge flooded the city, numerous houses and buildings were destroyed. The Galveston Hurricane had winds of up to 145 mph. Hurricane Galveston began as a tropical storm in the central Atlantic on August 27th and followed a path south of Hispaniola. It intesfied over time and as it passed Key West, Florida on September 6th, it became hurricane. Dr. Isaac Cline, who was a meteorologist predicted the storm coming into Galveston and a heavy loss of life, but no one believed him. Before the Hurricane arrived to Galveston it was a very nice, calm day. 48 people took refuge in his house. thirty-two of the 48, including his wife, drowned in the storm surge.  An estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people lost their lives in the storm, most in Galveston. The symbol of The Galveston Hurricane was the orphange. 90 orphans lost thier lives, only 3 of them survived out of 93 orphans. The Galveston Hurricane brought forth a damage of 32 million dollars, which is approximately 1 billion dollars in todays money. The Galveston Hurricane is still to this day, the deadliest hurricane to hit America.

Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike was a very devastating hurricane which occurred in 2008. This hurricane caused many problems for people in different countries. A hurricane is a very violent storm with high winds that are classified to be seventy-five miles per hour or more. Hurricanes have a diameter of about five hundred miles, which is very huge and covers large parts of land. Most of the activity happens on the outside of the hurricane which has severe winds and very heavy rain. Most of the destruction happens from there. Hurricane Ike was first a tropical wave off the coast of West Africa around August 29th. A couple days have gone by and the wave had traveled westward which began to grow. By the night of September 3rd till the morning of September 4th the hurricane had gotten stronger and had winds reaching up to 145 miles per hour. It was characterized as a category four hurricane. It had hit the countries of Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, and United States. Although Hurricane Ike only touched down on United States soil on September 13, 2008, it caused a whole of tragedies. Houses were ripped apart, flooding all over, crops were spoiled, and just a image that you can never forget. Throughout the hurricane, it caused one hundred deaths but only twenty in the United States. Sadly, a least twenty-five people were missing. The amount of money that was needed for revenue had been tremendous. Over 26 billion dollars worth of repairs was needed. Many families were left with nothing and the sad part about it was nothing could be done to gain everything back. If you think tropical storm sandy was bad, just imagine it to be three times more powerful and devastating. That is really the best way to describe Hurricane Ike. A hurricane is something that no one wants to go through.

Superstorm Sandy

Superstorm Sandy was formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22, 2012. It was first formed as a Category 1 hurricane that made its first landfall in Kingston, Jamaica.Then it went on and gained force and hit Cuba and Haiti as a Category 2 hurricane. After it traveled along the east coast of the United States where it made its first landfall in Atlantic City, NJ. Right before it hit New Jersey the  hurricane weakened and became a post-tropical storm. It was still very strong when it hit the New Jersey and New York Area. Both states including a few more were under states of emergency. All forms of public transportations were suspended during the hurricane. During the hurricane there was a lot of help for victims of the storm, such as The Red Cross which was providing shelter for over 9,000 people. The estimated value of damage was 36.8 billion dollars. There was over 100 deaths 43 in New York and 37 in New Jersey. There was also a 5 billion dollar damage to the New York subway system. Over  100 miles of beaches were destroyed and eroded. 7.9 million businesses and homes were powerless because of the storm. The storm broke three record, the first being the highest wave measure in the New York Harbor which was 32.5 feet. The second record was the lowest barometric reading to ever be recorded in and Atlantic storm in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The last, the highest storm surge ever in Battery Park was recorded at 13.88 feet. There is still areas that are recovering from Superstorm Sandy such as coastlines.

2003 European Heat Wave

The 2003 European Heat Wave was one of the most deadliest and hottest summers to ever be recorded in Europe in over 400 years! The Heat Wave lasted from about June 2003 till August 2003. Just imagine the minor heat waves that we experience here in Jersey for only about to five days, compared to the this heat wave which lasted nearly over two months. So much problems came to be during this time period. Difficulty breathing was especially one of the biggest concerns. Stepping outside and just not being able to walk down the street is nerve wrecking. It was such a difficult period to be living in Europe throughout that time. Nearly over 35,000 deaths occurred. Can you imagine how much that is? Just due to a heat wave! A heat wave is known to be one of the most lethal weathers. Being able to do outdoor activities was impossible. People everywhere were doing everything to stay cool and not let it affect them. Europe throughout the time had weather reaching hundred degrees fahrenheit or even more! Due to so much energy and heat beaming towards to the earth and the heat wave just getting stronger each day rather then weak, caused so much problems. Agriculture was tremendously affected. Many of the crops that was being planted or grown died out. Due to the heat, crops need a specific type of weather for it to be grown. With the heat wave, it did not allow for plants to even start growing. Without crops, a whole lot of food was not able to exported or even given out to certain markets, which had a huge effect on the economy. Another huge concern was that respiratory problems developed throughout that time or even a little after it. Many forest fires developed as well. Forrest fires were growing rapidly due to so much heat around. The cost of the heat wave resulted in over eleven billion dollars of revenue and healthcare. 2003 European Heat Wave is something that no one will ever want to go back and relive, it was such a devastating time for all of Europe.  

Lord Rayleigh

Lord Rayleigh also known as John William Strutt, was one of the most famous scientist that came from England. He was born on November 12, 1842 in England. While growing up he had bad health which kept him out of school a lot. He went to Trinity College in Cambridge where he started to read mathematics. At first it wasn't his greatest skill but then improved and his skills let him overthrow his competitions. He won the Nobel Prize after finding the gas Argon. Strutt was a physics teacher and his great achievement was finding out how we project sounds. He wrote a book named "The Theory of Sound", which explained how any types of sounds move place to place. He said that sound waves spread everywhere at a certain speed that go through obstacles such as walls or hill... His theory began to make sense that sound waves start as vibrations that explains the vibrating feeling on our atoms apple. This is my summary on Lord Rayleigh and his theory of sound.

A Warming Planet

Temperature is very important to people; they want to know it so they know how to dress, if they will be able to do an activity outside, or if they will need to turn on the heater or air conditioner at home.  Temperature has become even more important to people as we realize that the Earth is warming faster and faster.

Do some research - and no, Wikipedia can't be your primary source - to determine one of the effects of a warming planet.  What else changes as average temperature rises?  Don't go for the obvious; in fact, you need to read the responses that are submitted before yours, and you can't repeat another person's findings.  (How's that for an inducement to do your homework early?)  

As always, proofread for spelling, punctuation, proper grammar usage, complete sentences, and clarity.  It's acceptable to have someone help you with proofreading!

Luke Howard the Namer of Clouds

Like Howard was a manufacturing chemist and amateur meteorologist. He was  known as the Namer of Clouds or the Father of Meteorology because he kept constant records of the weather. The beginning of the nineteenth century was a time when scientists started classifying and sorting things they observed, studied or discovered. Clouds were thought to be too changeable to categorize. Luke Howard, in a paper titled, "On the Modifications of Clouds," classified clouds based on three simple categories. They were cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Later, he introduced a new term and combined the names of the basic cloud types. They became four other categories: nimbus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus, and cumulostratus.

 Dust Bowl 1930's (also known as the "Dirty Thirties")

       The Dust Bowl of the 1930's was a decade of devastation. The Dust Bowl was a time were severe dust storms,droughts, floods, tornadoes, and blizzards hit southeastern Colorado, southwest Kansas, and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas. The Dust Bowl affected the whole west ward region and later on it came to affect the whole country. The Dust bowl was created by Tons of topsoil being blown off barren fields and carried into storm clouds for hundreds of miles. The Dust Bowl got its name after "Black Sunday" which was a storm cloud traveling at 60 miles per hour that covered eastern Oklahoma, people thought that the world was ending that day. The clouds were able to carry the soil because of the erosion in the soil. Farmers did not take care of their soil well enough so the soil was so weak that when these heavy winds came, it flew right up with them. The Dust Bowl Forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their homes and farms, it left those people in devastation and in ruins. The positive affect that the Dust Bowl brought on today's society was that it taught farmers new farming methods and techniques. The 1930’s fostered a whole new era of soil conservation.

Copernicus's Solar System

           

              Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died on May 24, 1543 in Torun, Poland. The reason he died was because he had a stroke. He got or earned his education from the University of Padua from 1501 to 1503. The book he wrote was Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres. Nicolaus parents were Nicolaus Copernicus Sr. and Barbara Watzenrode. Nicolaus proved the geocentric theory wrong which means that, “Earth is the center of the Universe, not the Sun.” So he created his own theory called the heliocentric Theory which means that, “the Sun is the center of our Universe, not the Earth.” The Solar System is where we live at. Our Solar System contains eight planets, really small planet like Pluto, satellites like moon and other things that orbit the sun. The only reason we are living is because of Solar System, if there was no Solar System we would not be living. The sun is a star at the centre of our solar system. It is a huge spinning ball of hot gas that lights up the Earth and provides us with heat. If there was no Sun we will freeze to death.

Success!

Kris and Josh successfully created supercooled water (water that is below freezing but remains liquid); they were able to freeze their supercooled water by tapping it to get the water molecules to line up in an ice matrix.  Check it out!

Why is it Isaac's Storm?

You are now past the halfway point in our book, Isaac's Storm.  The author has been very clear about how American meteorologists discounted the hard-won knowledge of the Cubans, the mismanagement and mischief that went on in the early Weather Service, and how all signs and information pointed towards a hurricane of great strength barreling towards Galveston, TX.

The author has been somewhat less clear on why he calls the great Galveston hurricane "Isaac's Storm."  Explain, in a well-written and thoroughly proofread paragraph, why you think the author gave 'ownership' of this historic hurricane to Isaac Cline.

The Blizzard of 1888

        The blizzard of 1888, also known as “The Great White Hurricane,”  ranged from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine in March 11-14.  To this date it has been by far the biggest blizzard in United States history! The blizzard began as heavy rainfall but turned to snow when the temperature dropped to zero when a cold front from the north west descended upon the area. It caused up to 50 inches of snow in some areas with gusts of wind up to 80 miles per hour! Causing snow drifts of up to 50 ft high that can easily buried trains and many buildings. Leading to over 400 deaths with an additional 100 deaths of people at sea trapped or their ships sunk with frozen harbors. The snow resulted in New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and Maryland being isolated for over a week and many telephone lines down. Causing over 25 million dollars in damage over a billion dollars in todays money. As a result, of this storm New York and many other states Began burying their telephone lines and the creation of the first subway 9 years later in Massachusetts.   

Father Benito Vines

Father Benito Vines or better known as Father Hurricane was the first to really make progress on hurricane monitoring and hurricane prediction. Fr. Benito Vines made sure that all the discoveries he made went to benefit Cuba where he made the biggest impact. Fr. Benito Vines went to Cuba with the sole purpose to save lives by predicting hurricanes and being able to warn people earlier. Along with that Fr. Benito Vines started what we today use as the emergency warning system for hurricanes. Fr. Benito Vines was always regarded as the best and most accurate forecaster ever and whenever he was challenged he made sure to prove them wrong by predicting the next biggest storm. Fr. Benito Vines was not only a hero but the reason why today we can predict hurricanes so well.

Edward Lorenz Chaos Theory

Edward Lorenz Was a meteorologist and a mathematician who loved to study the weather. He was the first true experimenter of chaos and tried to explain why it was so hard to make good weather forecasts. This would unleash a scientific revolution called chaos theory. There are two main components of the chaos theory, no matter how complex they may be rely upon an underlying order, and that very simple or small systems and events can cause very complex and unexpected behaviors or events. This idea is known as sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Lorenz discoveries shocked the scientific world and in all of its fields. We learn that the heartbeat is chaotic, the stock market, the solar system, and of course the weather.

Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew was first formed on August 22,1992 in the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards the southern part of Florida.It made land fall in Elliot Key, a regatta to the east of Florida, as a Category 5 Hurricane. Then it went on to southern Florida as a Category 4 hurricane. After it hit Elliot Key and southern Florida, Andrew went through the Gulf of Mexico and finally hit Louisiana as a Category 3 hurricane. The damage in Elliot Key was worth 25$ billion and the hurricane caused 26 direct deaths and 39 indirect deaths. Hurricane Andrew destroyed 49,000 homes and damaged 108,000 homes. 

Movie Summary

As we watched this movie about the sun, I realized that while the sun is a main source of life on Earth, it can also be a huge threat to our survival. The sun frequently emits CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections), which are magnetic solar flares that contain at least 25,000,000 J of energy. These flares can be as large as a third of the sun; big enough to surround the whole Earth. Scientists say that if one flare makes direct contact with the Earth, it would cause an apocalyptic crisis. It will burn out and shut down 99.9% of all Earth's energy and electricity. Without any electricity or energy, there will be no power, no water or food, no gas, and no transportation. Without these everyday necessities and appliances, the human population will perish quickly.

Another thing I found interesting about this movie was how magnetism plays a huge role in both the Earth and the Sun. The earth has what is called a magnetosphere, which protects the Earth from the magnetic solar flares that come its way. However, if too many flares hit the magnetic field, it will cause the polarity of the magnetosphere to reverse direction and eventually disappear.

Magnetic solar flares

      The video from the History Channel was about solar flares and how they could affect earth if they penetrate our magnetic shield. Solar flares are massive surges of electrically charged plasma that has shot off of the sun into space. But, not to often the earth has a direct hit from a solar flare. Our first line of defence is our magnetic shield. Our magnetic shield grabs the electrocharged plasma and reflects it around the earth or some is pulled towards the north and south poles. This can been seen as the northern lights or auroras. These auroras are caused when the electrocharged plasma from the sun interacts with the earths atmosphere and magnetic shield and causes the atmosphere to glow. But, if we did not have our magnetic field, the solar flares would cause a magnetic apocalypse. Where the electrocharged plasma would destroy the world’s electric circuit. As a result, there would be no communication, gas, food, or water. It can cause many deaths up to half of earths population. Another way that this can be a reality is if the earth’s magnetic shield flips and during the flip we could have no protection from the sun’s flares. On the bright side, N.A.S.A has launched a new satellite, S.D.O. that watches the sun’s activities and is equipped to take readingings of space weather. So we can be better prepared for solar flares if not predict space weather. 

Big Thompson Canyon Flood of 1976

On July 31, 1976, a huge flood rushed through the Big Thompson Canyon and River in Denver, Colorado. There were a total of 144 deaths, many homes lost, and most of the US-34 in that alley destroyed and washed away. This flood was formed over the course of the day by  warm easterly winds being pushed up towards the peak of the canyon, and the rain clouds formed from these winds and water vapor moved at less than 20 mph, causing these clouds to pour torrential rain over the area for several hours.

SBP Metereology

Gabriel Fahrenheit was an physicist, engineer, glass blower. He was a very intelligent person. He develop the Fahrenheit scale by three fixed points first one was 0 F, second was 32 F, and third was 96 F. I learn a lot about him, I'm glad I search information about him.

Super storm March 1993

Super storm 1993 was , in my perspective demonic . It killed 300 people and had different other storms to form from it. Because of the storm Orlando, Fl was 33°F at that time which is pretty odd from our knowledge. One thing that we can be relieved about is that we haven't seen a storm that bad. I pray that we never do. This storm will never be forgotten.

Neutron radiation

Neutron radiation is a kind of ionizing radiation which consists of free neutrons. A result of nuclear fusion, it consists of the release of free neutrons from atoms, and these free neutrons react with nuclei of other atoms to form new isotopes, which, in turn, may produce radiation. Neutrons may be emitted from nuclear fusion or fission  or from any number of different nuclear reaction such as from radioactive decay or reactions from particle interactions. Large neutron sources are rare, and are usually limited to large sized devices like nuclear reactors. Health physics neutron radiation is considered a fourth radiation hazard alongside the other types of radiation. Another, sometimes more severe hazard of neutron radiation, So it is harmful for us. The radiation affects our skin and muscle tissue.

The EF-5 Tornado of Moore Oklahoma in 2013

On May 20th, 2013 an EF-5 tornado ran through a swath of Moore Oklahoma. This was a disastrous and devastating tornado for the small town. It took away the lives of 24 people and out of those people were seven children. The tornado was on the highest category of the Fujita scale, which measures wind speeds, with winds that ranged from 200 mph and up. It wiped out schools, medical centers and homes leaving little hope for the residents of that town. Moore Oklahoma sits in what we call “tornado alley”. What happens is warm moist air from the gulf, warm dry air from the southwest, and cold air from the Rocky Mountains and Canada all come together creating perfect conditions for a thunderstorm. If the thunderstorm rotates in a circular motion it can create a mesocyclone. A mesocyclone doesn't always lead to a tornado but in Moore Oklahoma’s case it did. There was over 2 billion dollar’s worth of damage from the storm. F.E.M.A, Red Cross, and other major outlets came to help and support the residents. This tornado did cause people to think of better ways of protection to help reduce the number of deaths if a tornado was to ever hit again.

Radiation

Radiation is ever-present in our lives.  We interact with radiation from other sources, and even give off our own!  Most of us understand that the sun outputs radiation, because we can see it (as visible light) and feel it.  What about all the other different types of radiation, though? 

Research the type of radiation assigned to you, and tell your blog audience about it.  What is it?  How can we detect it?  Does it affect us, and if so, how?  What is the source of your type of radiation?  Be sure to proofread; comments with spelling errors, text abbreviations, lack of punctuation, etc. will not be posted.  Have a friend check your post first!

Charles Doswell

    Charles Doswell earned his Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the spring of 1967. He worked as a student at the Weather Bureauin Madison. After graduation, he spent the first of 2-1/2 summers working as a student at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center, in Kansas City, Missouri. He began graduate school in the fall of 1967 at the University of Oklahoma, finishing his Master of Science degree in meteorology in January of 1969.

    He began storm chasing with a group of students. With his Doctor of Philosophy degree in meteorology he began his first real job as a Research Forecaster. This time with the newly-created Techniques Development Unit which was assigned to do applications research for the Severe Local Storms Unit of NSSFC. After about six years, he transferred to the Environmental Research Laboratories Weather Research Program. After four years in Boulder, Chuck decided to take advantage of the developing opportunities here in Norman, Oklahoma, and transferred to NSSL in the fall of 1986. After more than 14 years with NSSL. He retired from Federal Service, and joined the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma as a Senior Research Scientist. It is a part time position, and he is continuing his involvement with teaching that he began several years ago mainly, his Advanced Forecasting Techniques course. Dr. Doswell is a certified consulting meteorologist.

   His research interests focus mainly on tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, but he had a interest in everything related to weather.

John hope

John hope was born may 14, 1919 in Pennsylvania, he grew up and went to the army but soon found his future career when he realize that he loved weather conditions like thunderstorms, strong winds, hurricanes, etc. He then worked as a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Memphis, Tennessee, for thirteen years. When astronaut John Glenn made his famous spaceflight in 1962, Hope served on the mission's meteorological team. In 1968, Hope began working for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. While at the center, Hope began receiving recognition for his technical achievements in hurricane forecasting. After retiring from thirty two years with the National Weather Service, John Hope joined The Weather Channel when it was created in 1982. Hope became quickly recognized as The Weather Channel's  hurricane expert. John later died in June 13, 2002 in Georgia.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina will forever be embedded in the minds of all Americans, It was in a way a wake up call to our lack of responsiveness towards crisis and an eye opener to building regulations in the country. Katrina effected 15 million people, killed 1,833 people, bankrupt 35 insurance agencies and threw America's economy on a rollercoaster. Rated as the costliest disaster in American history, Katrina will forever be remembered.  The Hurricane originally formed in the Bahamas on August 23, 2005. The cause was the rush of the cold weather towards the warm which made the water the right temperature to support a hurricane the rush of wind from the north collide with opposite wind forming a hurricane which made its way into the city of New Orleans and devastated it, with the power of a category 5 hurricane wind speeds reach 150 mph destroying homes, collapsing roofs and trees destroying levees which flooded the city. In total 81 Billion in property damage. As a country we learned we needed a quicker government response to disasters so that meant improving the F.E.M.A  system, next we learned that as smart as we are we cant control nature, and last we learned that in times of grief are when we stand strongest together as a nation. In all Katrina was a hard lesson learned.

Weather and Your Life

We talked in class about a study that showed an increase in violent crime as temperatures rise.  Some people say they are happiest when it is sunny; others gain calm from a rainy, cloudy day.

I've always hated the cold, and dread the midwinter months; not being able to spend a lot of time outside makes me antsy, and I can never seem to bundle up enough to avoid my hands and feet going numb and feeling cold all the way to my bones.  On the other hand, the bright sunshine and mild temperatures of an early fall day make me feel more energetic and positive.  Add a breeze into the equation, carrying the scent of falling leaves, and it's pretty much a perfect day.

How do you feel the weather affects your life?  Does the weather influence your mental state?  Have you ever felt physically affected by the weather?  Please comment in a well-written paragraph (that means doing some proofreading, spellchecking, and grammar-policing!).