Science Symposium: Luke Howard

Isaiah Ramos                                                                                                   9/24/2020

Meteorology                                                                                                        Block 2

                                                        Luke Howard

    Luke Howard was a British Manufacturing Chemist who was able to create a naming system to differentiate the all types of clouds. Luke Howard was far from being one of the smartest scientist, but he was definitely a very curious one. He made countless errors from his work which is really the only thing he learned from. Inspired by John Dalton, a friends of his, who in 1797 released a paper on cloud droplets are influenced by gravity, he really began his work in Meteorology after that. one of his first works, "On the Modification of Clouds", came to be what he actually is most known for in the present day. According to his paper he claimed that every cloud belonged to one of three major cloud groups, them being cumulus, stratus, and nimbus. Howard's main interest was to be able to study how the clouds made their constant transitions from one type to another, and this classification system made it much easier for him. 

    Even though in 1803, the year after the paper was published, many scientists began to use his work, it was not officially adopted by the World Meteorological Organization, 32 years after his death. His second most recognizable work would be titled, The Climate of London published in 1818. He would be one of the first scientists to suggest the environments made unnaturally, such as New York City with all of its buildings and roads, have a heavy toll on the climate and weather for that area. At the time since he was not known in the field of science until after his death, he left London for Yorkshire in 1824 with his main focus on charity and educational work. Although Howard made some feeble attempts to make a discovery in 1842 and 1847, he simply spent any time he had left researching and not to focused and discovering something amazing. Currently, there are four official names for clouds, them being cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and nimbus. He not only made the nomenclature for clouds, but in addition studied how the different types of clouds can tell you what the weather is going to be like on that day.

        

The Superstorm of 1993- Shah, Zakei

 

Zakei Shah

Mrs. Tuorto

Meteorology 

Block 2

                                 The Storm Of The Century 

       This storm occurred on March 12, 1993. It could be seen as the deadliest weather event of the 20th century and it devastated the eastern coast of North America during March 12-14. It killed more than 250 people as it moved from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and it had tremendous snowfall amounts. The storm began as a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico, but then as it moved northward it strengthened. The development of deep thunderstorms over the gulf added fuel to the strengthening system. This contributed to the storm being as bad as it was. During the height of the storm, snowfall rates of 2-3 inches per hour occurred. Other than the snow, 15 tornadoes struck Florida which contributed to 44 deaths and a 12-foot storm surge which resulted in 7 deaths. The brutal weather conditions caused every major interstate highway and airport to be closed sometime during the storm along the Eastern Seaboard. There was enough volume of water to flood the entire state of Missouri 1 foot deep. It was unusual for the storm to strike when it did, but poor analyzing took some lives. The tools and the warning system  back then weren’t perfect. The intensity of the low and the resulting storm surge was not fully captured by the storm surge as the superstorm strengthened. There were no new laws created, and no lasting weather effects, but the storm caused $5.5 billion in damage.

   

Tetsuya Theodore Fujita

 

                                        Tetsuya Theodore Fujita 

         Tetsuya was a Japanese meteorologist that is best known for his contributions to the science of storms. Through his countless discoveries and advancements, he earned the nickname Mr. Tornado. His early sines of science interest came after World War II, after the bombs dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he visited both of the sites and observed debris, and calculated at what height the bomb detonated. Along with this, he began working for the Department of Education in his area and taught Meteorology to teachers, during this he would venture to high mountain ranges to see the clouds and observe their movements. Most of the observations that he documented were published in both English and Japanesse. One of the first groundbreaking discoveries that Fujita had was the creation of a mesoscale. This mesoscale was simultaniusly with mesoanalysis which is the observation of weather patters on a horizontal scale. This scale was able to measure high and low pressure in storms less than 1 mile wide and up to 600 miles wide. 

           The most notable creation of Fujita was his Fujita Scale (F1-F5), this was a scale that was used to measure the strength of tornados. This scale was very efficient and accurate because it combined the use of qualitative and quantitative observations that occurred during or after the storm. These observations allowed the storm to be placed on a scale of F1-F5. The scale was updated to the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF1-EF5) after there were more additions to the damage analysis portion of the scale. Another important contribution of Fujita was the discovery of micro and downbursts, these were windstorms that carried extremely violent winds that were very dangerous. This discovery came after Fujita connected a mysterious plane crash to his atomic bomb studies in his early years. When he connected the wind patters and how they traveled he realized how similar they are. Because of this, there have been a lot of safety mechanisms that are paired with traffic control and meteorologist that keep people safe from these windstorms.