Weather and Climate

Floods Floods are one of the most common natural hazards in the United States. They can affect local neighborhoods or entire river basins and multiple states. Approximately 3,800 towns and cities in the United States, each with populations over 2,500, are situated on floodplains. Since 1903, the National Weather Service has recorded an average of ninety-two flood-related deaths per year, excluding those related to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Over half of these fatalities since 1997 have involved vehicles.Weather Forecast For...

Residents of Arizona have a saying: "We only get about 7 inches of rain a year, but you'll remember the night it comes." In 2014, that memorable night was September 8. Later that day, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Phoenix announced that the city rain gauge at Phoenix International Airport had received 3.29 inches of precipitation. This heavy rainfall broke the previous calendar-day record of 2.91 inches set on September 4, 1939. Several surrounding stations recorded totals exceeding...

Between August 4 and August 6, 2023, an outburst flood from a glacial meltwater lake released record amounts of water into Mendenhall Lake and down Mendenhall River towards Juneau, Alaska.  The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Juneau reported significant flooding in areas along the river that had not previously experienced such events. The floodwaters caused substantial erosion, sweeping trees and buildings into the river. "Decades worth of erosion happened in one weekend," Rick...

A wet weather pattern is expected to bring several inches of rain to Alabama through Tuesday, potentially causing widespread flash flooding. The National Weather Service office in Birmingham forecasts different rain totals for various regions: 1 to 1.5 inches for Tuscaloosa and Gadsden, 2 to 4 inches for the Montgomery area, and 3...

Definition and classification of ocean currents. Definition: Currents are translational movements of water bodies in seas and oceans, characterized by direction and speed. ...

Ocean and sea level Sea level terms a. Sea level – The free level position of the surface of the world ocean at a...

General concept Definition of ocean waves As a result of various natural forces acting on ocean and seawater, oscillations and forward movements of particles occur in seawater, as in any medium, called wave motion or...

The bottom of the world’s ocean Bottom terrain Cross-section of the earth’s crust. Assume that the average cross-section through the earth’s crust in Fig. 1 shows the elevation curve of the...

World ocean and its basic characteristics Distribution of soil and water on earth The surface of the earth is 510 million km², which is 361 million km...

Storm forecasting service Of great significance to the safety of navigation are warnings about dangerous phenomena, which are transmitted by the national meteorological services. In many countries with territorial waters,...