Airline Accidents Updates and injuries and the first thing you think about is fatalities. Late October (2016) there were two different aircraft accidents one in Chicago at O’Hare and the other in Fort Lauderdale Florida occurred. Thankfully no fatalities occurred. Two different types of aircraft were in use, two carriers but some at least superficial
Read MoreEvery fall the big question is what will this winter weather forecast bring? Forecasting three days, or even seven days has become quite accurate in general. Going out three months however, the record leaves a lot to be desired for many of the recent forecasts. Here in the Northwest skiers want to know how much
Read MoreFog formation accidents compose 24% of all aviation accidents. The monetary impact of accidents, injuries, delays and unexpected costs from fog is about $720 million annually. Visibility of less than one mile – called fog – is far more obstructive than mists – visibilities greater than one mile. Most accidents aren’t from hitting structures protruding
Read MoreWater Scarcity in the West Coast of the US is a big issue. In the simplest terms, there’s not enough water to meet the demands of the population and economy of the west. The two sources of water, surface and ground, are interconnected in so many ways it takes a hydrologist to understand it and
Read MoreRecord highs fueled west coast wildfires in late August that are still mostly unmanaged. A heat wave at the end of August peaked in the Pacific Northwest on the 19th when it was 109 in Medford, OR and 91 in Seattle, WA but in the 100s east of the Cascades. Over 10,000 firefighters have heard
Read MoreThe Californian Wildfires of 2016 could get huge. California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) calls the disaster that started in Monterey County the Soberanes fire. It’s now known to have started on July 22, 2016 at an estimated 8:48 AM when a campfire near the Soberanes Canyon Trail got out of control. The
Read MoreClimate change and global warming are used as interchange terms but they are not. Global warming is just one type of climate change. Climate and climate change is affected by everything from the amount of sunlight, cloud cover, atmospheric aerosols, volcanic activity and much more. Global Warming is just part of the climate that is
Read MoreIs La Nina coming this winter? The cyclical phenomenon, signified by cooler temperatures in the mid-Pacific Ocean, may be heading toward its next destination in its continual exchange of heat between the poles and the equator. La Nina can usually occur after a strong El Nino which is what we had last winter. Over the
Read MoreAs spring rolls into summer state and federal land managers are bracing for the inevitable wildfires to start. The big question is what type of fire season will the West Coast have in 2016. In Washington State, there have been three so far of note. Two, oddly enough, in Western Washington of unannounced origin and
Read MoreTypical Formation of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning. Lightning manifests due to the breakdown of the insulating property of dry air. When the localized electrical potential gradient exceeds about three million volts within fifty meters, the phenomenon shoots electrons into a cloud and toward the ground as a stepped leader. Composed of discharges spanning about fifty to a
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