Tag

Frontal boundaries bring some of the most drastic changes in the weather that we perceive.  Most of you who live in the middle latitudes (30-60 degrees north or south, North America) can probably recall a time where it was warm one minute and then the wind shifted and it started...

Thus far, we have talked about the basics of weather.  Temperature, moisture, pressure, fronts, and so on, mostly as discrete elements. As hinted before, there is virtually nothing that is absolute in meteorology, just as you see in firefighting operations.  Just because the...

In part 1 we began our discussion on the various scales of weather and started to examine how the various scales of weather are relevant to both emergency managers and first responders.  We will finish up our discussion with the last two scales that are important to the public...

When looking at the weather, especially in the job as a firefighter, it is often necessary to consider data on different scales.  For example, if one is trying to model the air-flow between buildings within a city, we’re talking small scale.  Eddies around buildings mix and they...

Our weather is critically dependent on the hydrologic cycle, or in simpler terms, the cycle of water. Water has three primary forms (phases) that we experience here on earth.  Two of the three are fairly easy to quantify – liquid water and ice.  These states are both very...

When we tune into local media, we often hear the term “air pressure.” As we’ll get to in later discussions, pressure is an important ingredient into weather and forecasting. It has implications with the depth and intensity of weather systems as well as the thermal vertical...

In our last article we discussed temperature and moisture and their effects and impacts on firefighting. This week we will review humidity and its’ impacts on firefighting. The concept of atmospheric moisture and its impact is a bit more elusive to comprehend.  Most of us...

When most people think of severe weather, tornadoes are usually the first thing to pop into one’s mind. However, there are other significant weather threats beyond tornadoes.   Firefighters (volunteer and paid) are often called to serve as storm spotters.  Therefore, recognition...