Portal:Weather
The weather portal
Weather is the state of the Earth's atmosphere at a specific place and time, typically described in terms of temperature, humidity, cloud cover, and stability. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.
Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.
Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns.
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, the weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind. (Full article...)
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that environment minister Peng Chi-ming drafted Taiwan's first weather insurance policy?
- ... that Japanese actor Kouhei Higuchi prepared for his role on the television drama adaptation of My Personal Weatherman by learning from a weather forecaster?
- ... that a Michigan TV station rescued and restored a weather ball that had been sitting for years in a scrapyard?
- ... that actress Jennifer Brooke and her colleagues faced severe weather from Storm Imogen while filming her death scene for Hollyoaks?
- ... that Richard Davis made the earliest known continuous land-based weather recordings in New Zealand?
- ... that Come In was recorded on a hands-free microphone attached to a pair of headphones?
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Cloud-to-cloud lightning from a nighttime thunderstorm in Zwickau, Germany.
Recently selected pictures: Eye of Hurricane Isabel, Cirrus and cirrostratus clouds, Altocumulus undulatus, More...
More did you know...
...that the Flying river is the name given to the transport of water vapor from the Amazon rainforest to southern Brazil?
...that hurricane shutters are required for all homes in Florida unless impact-resistant glass is used?
...that the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research is a combined weather and ocean research institute with the cooperation of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the University of Hawaiʻi?
...that the SS Central America was sunk by a hurricane while carrying more than 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857?
...that a hurricane force wind warning is issued by the United States National Weather Service for storms that are not tropical cyclones but are expected to produce hurricane-force winds (65 knots (75 mph; 120 km/h) or higher)?
...that the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System is a software package for tropical cyclone forecasting developed in 1988 that is still used today by meteorologists in various branches of the US Government?
Recent and ongoing weather
This week in weather history...
September 28
1917: A major hurricane made landfall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h)). This was the strongest hurricane to impact the Florida Panhandle until Hurricane Opal almost 80 years later.
September 29
1917: A major hurricane struck the northern Gulf Coast of the United States, though only 10 people were killed due to warnings well in advance of the storm.
September 30
1966: Hurricane Inez, which killed nearly 1000 people across several Caribbean islands, made landfall at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
October 1
2015: Hurricane Joaquin, one of the worst hurricanes to hit the Bahamas on record, sunk the SS El Faro, killing 33 crew aboard.
October 2
1858: A hurricane hit San Diego, California, the only known hurricane ever to strike the Pacific coast of the United States.
October 3
2010: The storm system that would eventually become Hurricane Otto began producing torrential rains in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, eventually bringing more than 20 inches (51 cm) of rain to the US and British Virgin Islands.
October 4
2009: Tropical Storm Grace formed over the Azores. This was the furthest northeast formation of a tropical cyclone in recorded history.
Selected biography
Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy FRS (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845.
He achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during FitzRoy's famous survey expedition to Tierra del Fuego and the Southern Cone, which took Charles Darwin round the world.
FitzRoy was a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate daily weather predictions, which he called by a new name of his own invention: "forecasts". In 1854 he established what would later be called the Met Office, and created systems to get weather information to sailors and fishermen for their safety.
He was an able surveyor and hydrographer.
As Governor of New Zealand, serving from 1843 to 1845, he tried to protect settlers and Māori from speculative land sales. (Full article...)
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Other candidates:
- Featured Article Review: 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
- Featured List Removal Candidate: List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
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WikiProjects
The scope of WikiProject Weather is to have a single location for all weather-related articles on Wikipedia.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing.
WikiProject Severe weather is a similar project specific to articles about severe weather. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
WikiProject Non-tropical storms is a collaborative project to improve articles related to winter storms, wind storms, and extratropical cyclones.
Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!
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