Homeschool Zoo Annex

Science of weather

Locally, the topic of conversation seems to be the weather. I'm sure that's true where you live as well. For us, it seems that we went straight from winter to summer, with no spring weather as a buffer zone for starting plants and gardens. For example, we went from rainy weather with temperatures in the 50s or so to the way it has been the last few days - hot, dry, and temperatures hovering near 100.

In addition, we've experienced several strong storms that include wicked straight line winds and even some tornadic activity. Today, Saturday, is a prime example. The temperature this morning at 5:30 was already 85 and went up from there. Now, at 5 p.m., the skies are darkly overcast and a wind is getting up, indicating we may be in for yet another strong storm.

Afternoon storms like this are known as convection storms. The hot air near the surface of the earth rises rapidly, causing currents and meeting with cooler air higher in the atmosphere. That air wants to drop, causing some turbulence and also creating the conditions that can feed strong thunderstorms and spur tornadoes.

NOAA has some great information about weather, of course, including some activities your family might be interested in  Just go and see what you can download. I think you'll have fun while you learn!

Labels: Science

posted by hszoo @ 1:14 PM