"Some people are weatherwise, but most people are otherwise." - Ben Franklin
"There are lies, damn lies, and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
"42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot." - Steven Wright
"WARNING: COMPUTER SIMULATION - MAY BE ERRONEOUS and UNVERIFIABLE." - Michael Chrichton
(State of Fear, 2004)
"It's just human nature to take time to connect the dots, I know that.
But I also know that there can be a day of reckoning,
when you wish you had connected the dots more quickly." - Al Gore
(An Inconvenient Truth, 2006)
"We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future; we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read." - Abraham Lincoln
"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you're misinformed." - Mark Twain
"Don't believe everything you see or hear in class." - Dr. T
In the News - 11Aug07 New Antarctic Ice Record, ICECAP Blog; 15Aug07 TOMS Laid to rest, EO Portal; 13Nov07 Arctic Ocean Circulation Changes, JPL News Release; 24Nov07 Herbert Saffir, 90, WashPost; Dec07 AGU revises position on Human Climate Impact, AGU Policy; 14Jan08 Escalating Ice Loss, WashPost; 31Jan08 Droughts Blamed on GW, WashPost; 01Feb08 Snowpack Decline Blamed on GW, WashPost; 04Feb08 Do Crops Affect Weather?, WashPost; 06Feb08 Dust Storms Carry Contaminants, WashPost; 08Feb08 Biofuels Increase GW, WashPost/ScienceMag; 10Mar08 Carbon Output Must Near Zero, WashPost; 12Mar08 Wine Growers Worried, WashPost; 13Mar08 EPA Tightens Ozone Standard, WashPost; but... 14Mar08 Ozone Standard Changed by Bush, WashPost; 19Mar08 Perrenial Arctic Ice Cover Diminishing, WashPost; Arthur C. Clarke 29Mar08 Modelers Beat Rob DeFeo?, WashPost;
Earth Orbit Parameters from the US Naval Observatory (UTC):
2007: Perihelion Jan 3 20 Equinoxes Mar 21 00 07 Sept 23 09 51
Aphelion July 7 00 Solstices June 21 18 06 Dec 22 06 08
2008: Perihelion Jan 3 00 Equinoxes Mar 20 05 48 Sept 22 15 44
Aphelion July 4 08 Solstices June 20 23 59 Dec 21 12 04
1. 23/24 Jan 08 - No classes, Dr. T at AMS Annual Meeting.
2. 30/31 Jan 08 - Overview and Classroom Operations (Ch. 1 & GIS/VG procedures)
Ben Franklin's Essay on Daylight Saving Time: Letter to the Editor,
Journal of Paris (1784); DST is often attributed to BF (Mr. Franklin).
Web sites for in-class weather briefings:
The latest direct from the NWS! Watches & Warnings, Satellite & Radar Images, OR NowCoast.noaa.gov
NWS Ridge - NEXRAD
SSEC, satellite image source for weather discussion
NCEP Model Analyses and Forecasts
ARL Ready Current Meteorology & Tools
The Washington Post
Earthweek, Green news weekly
2008-Quiz01, 2008-Quiz02, 2008-Exer01 - Sargeant Diagram
gis01: GIS & Virtual Globe basics, maps & weather (Wx) data
Punxsutawney Phil says 6 more weeks of winter!
3. 06/07 Feb 08 - Orbital Mechanics & Radiation (Ch. 2), Temperature (Ch. 3)
IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Gas Absorption Atlas
NWS Warning Shapefiles - tornadoes strike the South
2008-Quiz03, 2008-Exer02 - raob plot
gis02: projections & satellites
4. 13/14 Feb 08 - Temperature (Ch. 3), Galactic & Solar Influences (Ch. 16 parts)
ASOS, upper air
Space Weather Scales, NCEP Space Environment Center
Old News 6Dec06: Solar Flare Larger than thought possible, WashPost;
Living with a Star
2008-Quiz04, 2008-Exer03 - surface analysis
gis03: Antarctica, 2008-Quiz04a
Friday, 22 Feb 08 Icestorm is a Bust
5. 20/21 Feb 08 - Humidity (Ch. 4) & Clouds (Ch. 5)
NWS Wind Chill Table, Heat Index Table
Cooperative Observer Program
2008-Quiz05a, 2008-Quiz05b, 2008-Quiz05c, 2008-Quiz05d
2008-Quiz05, 2008-Exer04 - meteogram
6. 27/28 Feb 08 - Cloud Development (Ch. 6) & Precip (Ch. 7)
Stuve Diagram
snowfall impact scale, paper on what this is about, USPS snowflake stamps
2008-Quiz06, 2008-Exer05 - cloud goes over the mountain
Field Trip - 07 Mar to ASOS Test Facility in Sterling, VA - Field Trip Report
7. 05/06 Mar 08 - Global Circulation (Ch. 10) & Meteorological Optics (Ch. 19)
2008-Quiz07, 2008-Exer06 - zonal winds
Spring Break, Daylight Savings 9 Mar (Spring ahead)
Field Trip - Marian Koshland Science Museum - Global Warming Exhibit (self-guided field trip)
Field Trip - 20 Mar RAOB Test Launch in Sterling, VA - (subject to change) be there at 9:30am for inflation (approx 1.5 hr)
8. 19/20 Mar 08 - Wind names, snow names
2008-Quiz08, 2008-Exer07 - Climate Data Problem
9. 26/27 Mar 08 - Thunder & Lightning!
Exam #1 in class at 9:30 pm (CLOSED BOOK), Exam #1 Study Guide and Sample Exam from 2007
WWLLN, Lightning Injury Research program
Development of the NLDN - Bull Amer Met Soc, 89, No 2, Feb 2008, pp 180-190.
10. 02/03 Apr 08 - "Tarnadoes" - National Severe Storms Laboratory
2008-Quiz09, 2008-Exer08 - Tornado Structure & Climatology
Fujita Scale, Storm Chasing Safety
NWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services (OCWWS)
Field Trip - Friday, 4pm, 4 Apr to WRC TV, NBC 4 Studios (must sign up)
11. 09/10 Apr 08 - Tropical Cyclones (TC) - National Hurricane Center
2008-Quiz10, 2008-Exer09 - TC Structure & Climatology
Saffir-Simpson Scale, NWS Service Assessments
12. 16/17 Apr 08 - Trajectory Analysis
2008-Exer10 - Trajectory Analysis
EXAM 2 - Take Home, due in one week
13. 23/24 Apr 08 - Global Warming, El Nino, Humans, Witches, etc.
IPCC 4th Report, The Physical Science Basis vs. Roy Spencer's Perspective
ALL WORK DUE (except remaining field trips)
Field Trip - Monday, 28 April at 10am, KLWX WFO at Sterling, VA; Office Tour Policy
14. 30 Apr/1 May - LAST CLASS, reserved
Field Trip - Tuesday, 6 May - NPS Air Quality Station at Big Meadows, Shenandoah Nat'l Park
15. 07/08 May 08 - FINAL EXAMS
There is a review period before the final
Dr. T class impact scale
The schedule above is always subject to revision.
KML/KMZ Collection: MODIS Daily Images for Google Earth
Meteorology Photos: