Portal:Weather
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The weather portal
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.
Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.
Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns.
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, the weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind. (Full article...)
Selected article
The 1999 Sydney hailstorm was the costliest natural disaster in Australian history, causing extensive damage along the east coast of New South Wales. The storm developed south of Sydney on the afternoon of April 14, 1999 and struck the city's eastern suburbs, including the central business district, later that evening.
The storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones in its path. Insured damages caused by the storm were over A$1.7 billion, with the total damage bill (including uninsured damages) estimated to be around A$2.3 billion, equivalent to US$1.5 billion. It was the costliest in Australian history in terms of insured damages, overtaking the 1989 Newcastle earthquake that had resulted in A$1.1 billion in insured damages. Lightning also claimed one life during the storm, and the event caused approximately 50 injuries.
The storm was classified as a supercell following further analysis of its erratic nature and extreme attributes. During the event, the Bureau of Meteorology was consistently surprised at the frequent changes in direction, as well as the severity of the hail and the duration of the storm. The event was very unusual, as the time of year and weather conditions in the region were not conducive for a severe thunderstorm to form.
Previously selected articles: Surface weather analysis, Snow in Florida, More...
Did you know (auto-generated) - show different entries
- ... that weather whiplash is the phenomenon of rapid swings between extremes of weather conditions?
- ... that Eric Berger wrote about weather for the Houston Chronicle even before he became a certified meteorologist?
- ... that Japanese actor Kouhei Higuchi prepared for his role on the television drama adaptation of My Personal Weatherman by learning from a weather forecaster?
- ... that extreme event attribution estimates how much climate change causes weather events, such as the 2021 Western North America heat wave?
- ... that the weather forecast for HD 189733 b is "Westerly winds at 2000 m/s, with molten glass showers"?
- ... that an attempted British-Norwegian attack on the German battleship Tirpitz was abandoned after two Chariot manned torpedoes were lost due to bad weather?
Selected image
A pickup truck was wrapped around this utility pole by the extreme winds from the Moore, Oklahoma tornado which occurred on 1999-05-03. The truck was then pummelled by winds which exceeded 200 mph (320 km/h), stripping most of the sheet metal off the truck. The F5 tornado was one of the most severe ever observed, and destroyed more than 1500 homes, killing 36 people.
Recently selected pictures: Spearman, Texas dust storm, Cordell, Oklahoma tornado, Mammatus clouds, More...
More did you know...
...that the Flying river is the name given to the transport of water vapor from the Amazon rainforest to southern Brazil?
...that hurricane shutters are required for all homes in Florida unless impact-resistant glass is used?
...that the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research is a combined weather and ocean research institute with the cooperation of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the University of Hawaiʻi?
...that the SS Central America was sunk by a hurricane while carrying more than 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857?
...that a hurricane force wind warning is issued by the United States National Weather Service for storms that are not tropical cyclones but are expected to produce hurricane-force winds (65 knots (75 mph; 120 km/h) or higher)?
...that the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System is a software package for tropical cyclone forecasting developed in 1988 that is still used today by meteorologists in various branches of the US Government?
Recent and ongoing weather
- Wikinews weather portal
- March 26, 2021: Tropical moisture ceases to cause severe floods in South East Australia
- February 19, 2021: Winter storms hammer Texas, fatalities reported
- December 28, 2021: Typhoon Phanfone strikes Philippines
- February 1, 2022: Deadly floods in Brazil after heavy rainfall
- April 15, 2022: South African floods kill at least 300 people
- Weather of 2024
- 2024 Atlantic hurricane season
- 2020–21 North American winter
- 2024 Pacific typhoon season
- Tornadoes of 2024
This week in weather history...
July 19
1977: The Laurel Run Dam in West Taylor Township, Pennsylvania was overtopped and subsequently failed due to heavy rains, killing 40 people. This was just part of the second great flood of Johnstown which killed 84 people in total.
July 20
2008: Hurricane Bertha, the longest-lived July Atlantic hurricane on record, dissipated over Atlantic Canada.
July 21
1909: A major hurricane made landfall at Velasco, Texas, killing 41 people.
July 22
2006: Hurricane Daniel reached peak intensity over the open Pacific Ocean, with maximum sustained winds of 130 knots (150 mph; 240 km/h).
July 23
2012: Typhoon Vicente made landfall over Taishan, Guangdong, China. The storm killed 32 people, in addition to causing an environmental disaster when 7 shipping containers of polypropylene plastic pellets were washed into the sea near Hong Kong.
July 24
1979: Tropical Storm Claudette made landfall near the Texas/Louisiana border, causing record rainfalls and $400 million dollars (1979 USD) in damage.
July 25
1987: Hurricane Eugene struck Colima, Mexico, killing three people.
Selected biography
William Ferrel (January 29, 1817 – September 18, 1891) was an American meteorologist who developed theories that explained the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell in detail, and it is after him that the Ferrel cell is named. (Full article...)
Previously selected biographies: John Dalton, Sir George Stokes, More...
Related portals
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Other candidates:
- Featured Article Review: 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
- Featured List Removal Candidate: List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
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WikiProjects
The scope of WikiProject Weather is to have a single location for all weather-related articles on Wikipedia.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing.
WikiProject Severe weather is a similar project specific to articles about severe weather. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
WikiProject Non-tropical storms is a collaborative project to improve articles related to winter storms, wind storms, and extratropical cyclones.
Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!
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