What Is It About The Weather

Can weather improve your alertness or reaction time? How does weather impact or ability to make decisions and stay aware?

What do you think about before you head on a shopping trip? Does it include a weather check...even if you are shopping indoors?

We often associate weather with putting us in a bad mood or even depressed, but can weather actually make you happy?

We know weather triggers animal migration, but is weather really a primary reason we migrate? Do we place an amenity value on weather?

Can accuracy and consistency both exists in weather forecasting? Which is more important in keeping trust when developing a weather forecast?

Certainly severe weather can make it hard to see well at times, but how does weather impact the colors we see every single day?

When did WWII really start? What role did weather play in its start?

There may be no industry with a more direct connection to weather than the construction industry. How do they, if at all, utilize weather data in their project planning and management?

It is well known that weather extremes can impact prices of commodities, market segments or individual companies, but what about financial markets as a whole? Can weather make market movers act even if in an irrational way?

Does weather impact the cooking we do in our kitchen? Can we adjust to keep weather from ruining our favorite treats?

What does weather have to do with your current elevation? Maybe nothing, but it sure is likely that if you are determining your elevation that measuring the weather is key.

COVID has had many far reaching impacts. Is it possible that one of those impacts is the quality of our weather forecasts?

Do you love summer so much that you crave its arrival? Is this memory driven response, related to body chemicals or something even more fundamental?

Many types of weather can lead to those dreaded weather delays, but which types of weather are the most dangerous for today's large jets?

Getting the weather right in a movie can certainly be a tricky thing, particularly when snow is involved. Getting those winter scenes just right can be important to conveying the right mood, but mother nature does not always want to cooperate. What happens when she doesn't?

Enhancements in technology have helped improve weather forecasting for many years, but now we are facing a clash between technology advancement and weather forecasts. Will our push into 5G technology set us back decades in weather forecasting?

You would think that anyone who was going to build a ski resort that they would consider the weather...right? Well apparently they don't always do that or if they do maybe they just block it out in their mind.

Did weather change how we travel through the air? In 1937 the airship Hindenburg caught fire during its landing in NJ. Was weather to blame and did it bring about the end of airships as an effective air travel method?

Do you suffer from weather related fatigue? How is it different from normal fatigue? What signs are there for this type of stress fatigue? How might we leverage similar situations we are dealing with related to the COVID pandemic?

Have weather forecasts reached a state where we trust and rely on them too much? Are they really good enough to allow us to plan days in advance for time sensitive tasks? Or will they just let us down when we need them most?

In this time of abnormal, we want to connect things to 'normal'. So is the connection of COVID to seasonal flu one we can make? Is seasonal flu even connected to the weather?

Weathering Time?

What Is It About The Weather? turns 100! On with the episode …

Certainly weather has shaped history on a global scale, but weather impacts lives every single day. Are there examples of cases where the impacts have been important for a local area or region such that it shaped the future? Some useful links: Great Storm of 1900 brought winds of change https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/history/article/Great-Storm-of-1900-brought-winds-of-change-7724171.php One legacy of the […]

Weather certainly impacts just about anything we do outdoors including sports, sometimes in positive ways and other times creating chaos. Soccer is not only dominate the world over, but it is clearly linked to the world of weather. But do you really understand the connections? In this episode we look at how important weather is […]

What would you do to survive weather extremes if you could not move? Plants don’t have the luxury of seeking shelter when bad weather comes, so how do they survive those extremes? Some useful links: How Trees Survive Extreme Cold (Or Not) https://www.howplantswork.com/2014/01/29/how-trees-survive-extreme-cold-or-not/ Do Plants Change the Weather? https://www.howplantswork.com/2016/06/01/wip-do-plants-change-the-weather/ How Cacti Survive: Surprising Strategies Quench […]

How sensitive is agriculture to small changes in weather? For a long time we have understood the idea of microclimates, but did you know that it plays a meaningful role in the foods and beverages we consume? Some useful links: The ‘micro-climate’ that turned Monticello into an agricultural sweet spot https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/05/18/the-micro-climate-that-turned-monticello-into-an-agricultural-sweet-spot/ Microclimate – ScienceDirect https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/microclimate […]

Can we overcome weather? Or can we at least push back a little? In this episode we explore some areas where we use our brains to at least keep weather at bay when needed. Here are some useful links: Living Snow Fences: Functions and Benefits http://www.extension.umn.edu/environment/agroforestry/components/UMN-Extension-LivingSnowFences.pdf StormSmart Properties Fact Sheet 6: Sand Fencing http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/czm/program-areas/stormsmart-coasts/stormsmart-properties/fs-6-fencing.html Skin […]

Earth weather can be hostile and deadly, but is it really all that bad? Would you trade earth weather for that on another planet or moon in our solar system? We discuss what your options might be in this episode. Here are some links you might want to flip through: List of Solar System objects […]

We have spent much time and effort in our attempts to modify ourselves and things around us to minimize weather impacts. We have also worked for decades to modify the weather with as many failures as successes. How about cheating weather? Can we be a bit more sneaky … and successful, in surprising weather? Some […]

We all understand the key role that weather plays in creating life. When it comes to severe weather however, we often focus on the danger, destruction and death that they deliver. But is that fair? Take something like lightning … is it just a source of danger? In this episode we explore the role lightning […]

Communicating weather information is challenging even in the best situations. How do we do this well in the mobile era with so little space and small absorption time? How do we make sure there appropriate consistency between varied sources so that people don’t get conflicting information during key decision making moments? Not an easy thing […]

Did Weather Give Us The United States? Kind of a big question to answer and maybe not easy to do. However, in this episode we explore the formative stages of the colonies that would come together and revolt against a distant monarch. Was weather a key element of their eventual success? Episode related links: The […]

Can Weather Change Time? Since the marriage of Mother Nature and Father Time, weather and time have had a long history. From Daylight Saving Time to UTC to conservation of angular momentum, we dig into the intertwined nature of weather and time. But can weather change time … have a listen to find out. Here […]

How does being out in the weather make you feel? How about just the sounds of weather and nature? Do they help relieve stress or calm you down? In this episode we explore the idea of how weather and nature sounds can help ease tension and stress in your life. Some useful links from the […]

Can weather save lives? So often we explore impacts that have unfortunate or negative outcomes on lives, but not everything is negative. Weather and our understanding of weather can play important and positive roles in our lives. In this episode we explore how our the discovery of the barometer would change our understanding of how […]

Why don’t we get more good weather movies? Is something wrong with weather as a key element or core plot? In this episode we explore why Hollywood so often disappoints when it comes to delivering on the weather front. Is it possible to change this? Is weather just too easy of a cheap thrill or […]

Weather has long been a part of our language, but is it losing its critical place in our conversations? Is weather becoming too emotionally charged to utilize it as a basic construct in conversations? In this episode we explore the role of weather in our communication process and how it might be changing. Is language […]

Weather and Energy have a long history together. What does the future of that relationship look like? Smooth sailing or rocky roller coaster? We explore both the past and the future of this fundamental relationship in the this episode. A few links for you: Renewables and the future of energy meteorology http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.2066/full In The Elements […]

If life is an inalienable right, then what falls into the category of steps to ensure that basic human right is protected legally? Do weather forecasts fall into that category? Do weather forecasts not provide critical information to preserve ‘life’? And if they do, at what point do we step beyond protection and into useful […]

Each year millions around the globe deal with severe cases of the flu. So is weather to blame? Is weather a cause of you catching the flu? Does weather influence how flu spreads around the globe each year? Let’s dive into the issue and try to get to the bottom of the flu/weather connection. Some […]

Many places on the earth tend to experience a specific range of weather types, but what about when the unusual happens? In the past we have explored these limits, but what about when things seek outside the norms? Here are some links from this episode: Us Fleet Preparations – Tornadoes & Waterspouts https://www.cnic.navy.mil/content/dam/cnic/cnrj/cfa_okinawa/pdfs/NEO/Tornados/Tornado%20Pamplet.pdf Hawaii Ski […]

So what exactly happens at a weather conference? Is it just a bunch of meteorologists giving weather forecasts one after the other? In this episode we explore the world of weather conferences and in particular the upcoming AMS Annual Meeting where our host will discuss the results of the recent survey many of you participated […]

We wrap up our series on where our weather forecasts come from. In this last phase of the process, the delivery, we explore the challenges and future changes to look for as your weather forecast source does its best to turn the fire hose of weather forecast inputs into a coherent and accurate forecast for […]

Does weather play a role in your charitable giving? In particular, does cold weather make you more likely to help others or give to a worthy cause? In this winter season, we explore the connection between weather and how likely we are to donate to charities in this episode. Here are some links for those […]

Did you know that the Statue of Liberty was a bit of a jab at Napoleon? Maybe you have heard that the march into Russia in 1812, was the start of Napoleon’s demise. You may have also heard about some brutal weather Napoleon’s forces faced as it traveled from Moscow back home. However, was weather […]

Have you ever wondered where your weather forecast actually comes from? How about how much it changes from when the model spits it out and you actually receive it? Many forecasts that reach you will have undergone some sort of correction to improve its quality. Post processing is a common element of the forecasting routine. […]

Please take the survey – www.WhatIsItAboutTheWeather.com/survey. Do you ever think about your relationship with weather in terms of an equation? Maybe you should. From simple aspects of how weather makes you feel to the more complex evaluation of how you act when potentially dangerous weather is forecast. Understanding a logical course of behavior can be […]

Do you always pay attention to the weather? How about when it looks like clear skies are likely? Some seem to and clearly some others should, especially if they are in the demolition or nuclear waste industries! In this episode, we take a look at how seemingly benign high pressure systems can actually cause lots […]

Trust factors influences many aspects of our decision making process, and it is no different with weather. Who do you trust to educate you about weather? Who do you trust to prepare you for weather? Who do you trust to protect you from weather? Who do you trust to save you during weather? Who do […]