NCAR Develops Sunspot Computer Model

NBC 4 Chief Meteorologist Jym Ganahl has some pretty convincing evidence that sunspots directly affect our weather.

He describes them as a furnace...
more spots = more heat and warmer weather;
fewer spots = less heat and cooler weather.

We've had a remarkable lack of sunspots in the past year or so... and, sure enough, temps have been kinda cool.

Now, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) says it has created the earth's first comprehensive computer model of sunspots.

Here's more info about the program. Very cool!
http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2009/sunspots.jsp

Survey: Americans Use 300 Billion Weather Forecasts Annually

The researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research did a survey and found that 90% of us look for weather forecasts on a regular basis. In fact, the survey says, we do it at least three times a day!

According to a NCAR/UCAR news release, "U.S. adults obtain an estimated 300 billion forecasts each year."

Here's a link to the full report.

http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2009/forecasts.jsp

What Are Those Bright Stars in the Evening Sky?

If you've been out in the evening, looking southwest, when there are breaks in the clouds, you've probably seen a couple of very bright "stars."

They're actually planets. Jupiter and Venus. Over the past few weeks, they've been getting closer and closer together. Tonight, they've been joined by a crescent moon.

Here's a link to more info from Earth & Sky.org.

Happy stargazing!

Do Worms Fall Out of the Sky?

Had a great call at work today.

A woman says, after a recent rainfall, the parking lot and the driveway were covered with worms. So many worms, they must have fallen from the sky and covered the ground. Is that possible?

Well, ummm, in a word, no.

There is no (normal) mechanism to pull the worms up into the air. Let alone drop them back to the surface. Sure, a tornado can rip things out of the ground a drop them miles away… but that’s just not normal.

Think of it this way: when a hurricane picks up moisture from the ocean, that moisture fuels the storm and falls later as rain. The rain is not salt water. It’s just plain water. That’s because salt doesn’t evaporate. So, the salt isn’t pulled up into the air… only the water. As luck would have it, worms don’t evaporate either. So they don’t fall with the rain.

Believe it or not, even though there are lots and lots of worms, they crawled there.

Thanks for the question! Wow.

What Kind of Winter Will We Have in Ohio?

Lots of people are asking. Here's a note from Tom:

From: Tom
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 7:00 AM

Marshall - what is your prediction for the upcoming winter? Some snow, no snow, cold temps. - what do you think? I'm hearing from people a little of both. Tom

Mother nature always has a few tricks up her sleeve. But here's a link to NOAA's current outlooks:

Of course, there's always a catch. It only takes a small shift in the jet stream or ocean currents or sea surface temperatures (or a few extra flaps of a butterfly's wings) to completely change the outlooks/forecasts.

Right now, it looks like the polar jet's dip into the U.S. is going to stay far enough west of us to allow us have slightly above average temps and relatively normal precipitation.

To be honest, I never put much stock in the outlooks… ‘cause so much can change between now and then. But it's still a good, educated guess... until Mother Nature decides to throw us a curve ball.