Questions tagged [weather]
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The Density of Clouds
Clouds are made up of tiny water or ice droplets, depending on temperature. This implies that cloud density is greater than that of dry air. Why don't clouds sink through their surrounding atmosphere ...
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Why is the sun brighter in Australia compared to parts of Asia?
Background:
I've lived in Philippines for several years, and visited other parts of Asia occasionally (Singapore, Indonesia, Hongkong).
I just moved to Western Australia a few months ago and I ...
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Have we figured out how to analyze turbulent fluids?
I was surprised to read that we don't know how to analyze turbulent fluids. On page 3-9 of The Feynman Lectures on Physics (Volume One), Feynman writes:
Finally, there is a physical problem that is ...
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Why aren't rainbows blurred-out into nothing after they are produced?
I understand how a prism works and how a single raindrop can scatter white light into a rainbow, but it seems to me that in normal atmospheric conditions, we should not be able to see rainbows.
When ...
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What's the reason for the seasons?
In the diagram, it shows that the fundamental reason for different seasons is when the northern hemisphere is titled towards the sun there's summer in northern hemisphere and winter in southern ...
user102321
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Does humidity make cold air feel colder?
I sometimes hear stories where people compare their feelings in winter in different places in the world.
It goes like
in city X the temperature was the same as in city Y, but the humidity made me ...
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How can I prevent being zapped by static electricity every time I touch a doorknob or handle in the office?
I don't know what it is about this office, but it seems everything I touch (doorknob, bathroom faucet, edge of kitchen sink in the break room), I get zapped by static electricity. It's getting old. ...
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How much heating does Earth inner core provide to the surface?
Compared to the energy that the Earth's surface receives from the Sun, how much power comes from the inner melted core?
How important is this contribution to the surface temperature?
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Can a Storm make the day longer/shorter?
I've read that changes in jet streams can affect the speed that the Earth rotates on its axis, thus making the day longer or shorter?
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Why are rain clouds darker?
I was taught in school that clouds are white due to the scattering of light. Since all rays are reflected it appears as white. But I am wondering about rain clouds. Why are rain clouds darker?
user247360
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How to calculate the upper limit on the number of days weather can be forecast reliably?
To put it bluntly, weather is described by the Navier-Stokes equation, which in turn exhibits turbulence, so eventually predictions will become unreliable.
I am interested in a derivation of the time-...
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What causes charge buildup in a cloud before a lightning storm?
I am curious what causes the charge build up in a cloud before lightning occurs. I have seen in a few places such as this, that the process is not fully understood. Is this some form of static ...
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Air column pressure distribution in the atmosphere for high/low ground pressure
I cannot figure out how to imagine the high and low (ground level) pressure effect on the rest of the atmosphere. How is the air column distribution different from a mean pressure?
"Areas of high and ...
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How to calculate Temperature Humidity Wind Index?
I would like to know how to calculate Temperature Humidity Wind Index (THW Index)? I know how to calculate Heat Index and Wind Chill. I am asking this because my weather station Davis Vantage Pro2 ...
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Why does snow stay after a snowfall?
I have just experienced a snowfall and I am not so clear on how it works.
Three days after a short day of snowfall, and having 2 min | 17 max degrees Celsius, full sunny scarcely cloudy each day, ...
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Why is the air inside an igloo warmer than its outside?
An igloo is not only used as shelter from snow but also to keep warm. Perhaps, a simple igloo is made of ice and nothing else still, why is its interior warmer than the exterior?
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Why doesn't Earth's atmosphere form bands due to different rotational speeds?
If the Earth's atmosphere is rotating at the same speed as Earth, then the atmosphere must be rotating much faster at the equator than at the poles. If you spin a ball covered in oil, it will form ...
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Why do clouds form in lumps?
What forces drive the water vapor to form the shapes every child draws? Why isn't water vapor forming an uniform mist layer consistently (which it some times does)?
I have two general ideas how this ...
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Is long-term weather forecast impossible in principle?
This question can be asked about any chaotic dynamical system, but hydrodynamics of the atmosphere makes it more concrete. Arnold describes his 1966 result as follows:
I have calculated the ...
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How much atmospheric pressure (CO2) is required to carry iron oxide dust in the wind?
It is common knowledge that there are dust devils and dust storms on Mars. But can we demonstrate that the atmospheric pressure on Mars, which is 0.6% of the pressure we experience on Earth, provides ...
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Why do clouds precipitate rather than fall from the sky?
After spending some time watching clouds, it occurred to me how interesting it is that clouds have more structure than just being homogenous, really humid layers in the sky. I see that a similar ...
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Mechanism for visible light frequency mixing in storm clouds
So I know that when red and blue light (or the frequencies/wavelengths we percieve as such) hit our eyes with the correct proportions, our eyes and brains interpret that as the color purple.
In ...
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Is there a molecular diffusion component to wind?
I'm thinking of vapor pressure from terrestrial water: A highly evaporating area in the ocean creates a volume of high relative humidity, the vapor tends to move to less humid air and by molecular ...
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What physical processes govern the formation and shape of clouds? [closed]
There are many kinds of cloud shapes that appear in the sky. In fact, it's not unusual to see several different kinds of clouds in the same sky. What kind of physics equations and processes govern ...
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Do clouds reflect ambient noise?
On days with a full blanket of low-hanging clouds overhead it seems I can hear more trains/traffic in the distance. Do clouds actually reflect ambient noise or is this some trick of the imagination?
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Do weather conditions change after sunset?
Maybe I haven't been searching well enough, but I can't find the answer to this question anywhere. The reason I'm asking this is because to me it seems as though it rains and storms less after dark. ...
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Is it sufficient to consider a small part of a system (without potential energy sources which can be released) to determine if it's chaotic?
The world around us abounds with chaotic systems: dripping taps (when a certain dripping rate is reached the dripping becomes irregular, which can be seen in this old but very entertaining video, ...
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Examples of phase transition nuclei whose dynamics impede their own growth?
I recently asked a question over on the Earth Science stack exchange about cumulus cloud formation from (roughly) point sources. These points can form around the same time across large areas, such as ...
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Determine the number of days with North-East wind direction from the number of days with North and East wind direction? [closed]
I have some data like:
Wind flow from north direction = “X” Numbers of days.
Wind flow from east direction = “Y” Numbers of days.
Then is there any formula to know numbers of days wind flows ...
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