Luke Howard's Life And His Contribution To Meteorology

Luke Howard was born on November 28,2018 in London England. His father was Robert Howard and his mother
Elizabeth nee Leatham. His wife was Mariabella Eliot and his children Robert Howard and John Eliot. Luke Howard attended a Quaker Grammar School in Burford, Oxfordshire, where he developed his Latin which later aided him in naming the categories of clouds. Luke Howard became a pharmacist by profession, leading to him setting up his own pharmacy. His interests in clouds later on led him to becoming an amateur meteorologist. Luke Howard proposed that there were three types of clouds; cumulus, cirrus and stratus. Howard named these based on there visual representation and latin words to fit there description. Howard then discovered how these clouds work and how they constantly change due to rising and falling from convectional rays and gravity. Luke Howard's work became known worldwide due to authors, poets and artists placing his information in their work, making everyone aware of Howard's work. Although not the first to name the clouds, as Jean-Baptiste Lamarck previously did this, but Luke Howard's work was more acceptable and understood throughout the world due to the more versatile language it was used in. Luke Howard died in Tottenham, England on March 21, 1864, but lives on as 'The Father Of Meteorology' and 'The Godfather Of Clouds'.

  Vilhelm Bjerknes

Vilhelm Bjerknes was born in March 14, 1862 in Oslo Norway. His Father was Carl Anton Bjerknes and his mother name was Aletta Koren. His father was a teacher and was teaching mathematics, but later on he left his job to go and study Hydrodynamics. Vilhelm completed his education in the University of  Kristiania where he learned physics and mathematics. Later on in 1887 he studied Hydrodynamic. After getting a masters in Science he found out that it is best to study atmospheric motion when you combine thermodynamics and hydrodynamics. Doing this helped read the motion of the atmosphere and making long term predictions more reliable. After realizing the potential of his work he went to the United States to get funding. After getting funding he studied until 1941 when WWII started. At this point money and resources was low. After the war Bjerknes and his group continue their studies until the government decided to make the Western Bergen Weather Service. The group's accuracy of forecast got better to the point where they was able to do it for the public.

Symposium

Hailstorm May 8th,2017
          On May 8th, 2017, a intense hailstorm hit Denver, Colorado and surrounding areas. Colorado is one of the three state east of the Rockies dubbed “hail alley” because of the frequent hailstorms that they encounter. This hailstorm was depicted as the worst hailstorm to ever hit that area amounting to about 2.3 billion dollars in property damage and crops according to Eagle Insurance Company. This surpasses the Hailstorms on July 11, 1990 and June 20, 2003 by at least 1.2 billion dollars. The hailstones were at about the size of a golf ball measured at an average of 2.75 inches in diameter. Hailstones at this size on average reach about 100 mph and are enough to put holes in windshields and windows and have the power to tear the outlays of houses.
           This hailstorm lead to the destruction of countless windshields, the closing of 14 school districts for a week, and the flooding of many houses and buildings.

William M. Gray - Hurricane Study

William M. Gray was a pioneer in the research of tropical cyclones and his work is praised by many scientists today in the field of hurricane study. William was born on October 9, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. Upon finishing high school and undergrad, he worked in the United States Air Force as an overseas Weather Forecaster. After four years, he decided to come back to America and earn his masters and doctorate. He eventually started working at Colorado State University and taught Atmospheric Science. While at CSU, he started researching about tropical storms/cyclones and what factors drive them to become a full sized hurricane that ravages through countries.He discovered how hurricane activity is almost always associated with warm water. While doing further research he discovered how different factors influenced tropical storm activity. With all this research he also added how hurricanes are cyclical, and there is a season for which they occur. He released a hurricane seasonal forecast, and surprisingly he was right. He also studied tropical storm movement, structure, development, and intensity changes. After retiring from CSU in 2005, he became a controversial figure in climate change. His argument was how humans did not affect climate change, if so only a small portion, and that it is a natural process of the Earth. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 86. He left behind a remarkable legacy that was built on the study of hurricanes, which is still used today.

2011 North American Heat Wave

A Map of Higher and Lower than Average Temperatures Across the US

The 2011 North Americana Heat Wave was a massive ridge of hot and humid air that covered the Midwest and the East Coast. The Heat Wave, which is classified as a long period of high atmosphere-related heat stress which would have adverse effects on the affected people, affected about 141 million people and covered one million square miles.
This devastating heatwave was caused by a ridge in the jet stream that trapped the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico within the ridge, commonly known as a heat dome. This heatwave was associated with high humidity levels, levels in which the Dew Point reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and unusually hot night time temperatures that remained above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Another byproduct of this Heat Wave was the sheer amount of records that were broken or tied, over 26, 000 records. Some of these records broken were that Dallas, Texas broke its previous record of most days over 100 in a year (69 days) and beat it with a  new total of 70 days. Wichita falls, Texas broke its record of 42 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit setting a new record of 52 days. In the east coast, Newark, New Jersey set a new record for highest temperature reached with 108 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the precious record of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Another record broken was in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina, where the temperature reached over 100 degrees Fahrenheit for five days in a row breaking the previous record of four consecutive days. A more detailed chart on the records broken or tied can be found here http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/a-record-hot-summer-interactive-map.

Tetsuya Theodore Fujita - Tornado

Tetsuya Theodore Fujita a.k.a “Mr. Tornado” was born on October 23, 1920 in Kitakyūshū City, Japan. He was Japanese-born American meteorologist who created the Fujita Scale, or F-Scale, a system we use for classifying tornado intensity based on damage to structures and vegetation.
He also discovered macrobursts and microbursts, which are associated with severe thunderstorms also hazardous conditions.
The original F-Scale was used to estimate tornado intensity based on the severity of damage to buildings but was later revised as the Enhanced Fujita Scale to include wind (EF-Scale).

Tornados were classified into one of 6 categories:
EF0- Gale - (65-85 mph) - light damage, winds, branches broken off
EF1- Moderate - (86-110 mph) - hurricane wind speed, cars pushed, window glass break
EF2- Significant - (111-135 mph) - roofs torn off, mobile homes demolished, cars thrown & moved
EF3- Severe - (136-165 mph) - significant damage done to large buildings, homes destroyed
EF4- Devastating - (166-200 mph) - well constructed homes are leveled, building totaled
EF5- Incredible - (200> mph) - homes swept away, concrete structures critically damaged