Weather Event Spotlight

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. When
the storm hit, it came with wind speeds of 100-140 miles per hour and stretched about 400
miles across. Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were
taken from their homes, and there was an estimation of about 100 billion dollars in damage. I
went to New Orleans two years after the storm hit and there was still an enormous amount of
reconstruction and support needed. They received the most trauma and destruction and when
people had no homes to live in, 15,000 people were welcomed into the Superdome for safety.
Thousands of people were desperate for food, water and shelter. Chaos broke out in the city
with no way to escape and those grieving over lost ones trying to cope. In all, Hurricane Katrina
killed nearly 2,000 people and affected some 90,000 square miles of the United States.
Weather Narrative
Week One: March 12 March 18

Little rain: around 0.42 inches of rain

Mostly cloudy/partly sunny
Warm weather: 60-70
Cool nights

Week Two: March 19 March 25

Only two days rain: 0.95

Partly sunny/cloudy
Cooler week: 50-65
Cooler nights: 40-30

Different areas of weather-related interest would be the South-East. This region includes states
such as North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The climate during the summer season
across the Southeast is the same in many areas. High temperatures usually range around the
upper 80s to lower 90s for most of the Southeast except in the mountains where it is cooler due
to the higher elevation. Due to the close proximity of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, it
is usually humid and thunderstorms occur often in the Southeast region. Temperatures during
the winter vary much more than during the summer. For example, it can be 80 degrees
Fahrenheit and sunny in Florida while places in the Appalachian Mountains deal with sub-freezing
temperatures and blinding snow. Polar fronts can dip down as far south as Florida and bring
freezing temperatures to nearly all the Southeast; however, extreme cold air outbreaks where
temperatures dip down below 0 degrees Fahrenheit are very rare, even in places like Virginia and
North Carolina.
Today, towards the end of the months of March the temperatures are fairly high and are getting
back to normal spring southern weather. Although in Alabama, there have been damaging

storms. However there are predicted highs of 80 this week with only one day of rain all
throughout the Southeast region of the United States.

Weather Lore
Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight.
Red Sky in the morning, Sailors warning
The colors we see in the sky are due to the rays of sunlight being split into colors of the
spectrum as they pass through the atmosphere and bounce off the water vapor and particles in
the atmosphere. The amounts of water vapor and dust particles in the atmosphere are good
indicators of weather conditions. They also determine which colors we will see in the sky.
During sunrise and sunset the sun is low in the sky, and it transmits light through the
thickest part of the atmosphere. A red sky suggests an atmosphere loaded with dust and
moisture particles. We see the red, because red wavelengths (the longest in the color
spectrum) are breaking through the atmosphere. The shorter wavelengths, such as blue, are
scattered and broken up. A red sunrise can mean that a high pressure system (good weather)
has already passed, thus indicating that a storm system (low pressure) may be moving to the
east. A morning sky that is a deep, fiery red can indicate that there is high water content in the
atmosphere. So, rain could be on its way. When we see a red sky at night, this means that the
setting sun is sending its light through a high concentration of dust particles. This usually
indicates high pressure and stable air coming in from the west. Basically meaning that good
weather will come.
The saying originates from the bible, a quote from Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew
Chapter 16. It was reiterated in a William Shakespeare poem Venus and Adonis. In general, I
think that the saying is true, in the way that depending on when the red in the sky is prominent
there is either good weather or bad weather. Scientifically, the saying could be completely
false, but it seems to always lead to the right data.
Clear moon, frost soon
Clear Moon, frost soon. When the night sky is clear, Earth's surface cools rapidlythere is no
cloud cover to keep the heat in. If the night is clear enough to see the Moon and the
temperature drops enough, frost will form. The saying is fairly accurate but only when the
temperature goes below freezing during the night. When the sky is clear, the Earths crust cools
faster than normal that is because there is no clouds to keep the heat in. A combination
between no cloud cover, light winds, and a cold air mass which is a perfect setup for frost
formation. There is no clear or reliable source onto where the saying comes from.