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- What code should I use so that my Weather Buttons are side by side on my website and not under each other?
- I would appreciate a "Fahrenheit" alternative to the Celsius scale for my Weather Button. Do you offer this?
- Is it possible to have the extended forecast on a Weather Button?
- Is there a Flash version of the Weather Buttons available?
- Do you have XML or RSS feeds available?
About Weather
Science of Weather
Formulas and Measurement
- How is the water content of snow measured?
- How is snow measured?
- Why kilopascals and not millibars?
- What is the relationship between the various terms used in measuring atmospheric pressure: inches of mercury, kilopascals, millibars and inches. Why can't they be correlated in the reporting of weather conditions?
- Why do we always tap a barometer before reading it?
- How do you set a barometer?
- Where should I place my barometer in my house?
- Is the air pressure shown in the local forecasts a corrected figure or uncorrected? How do you convert one to the other?
- Where should I place a thermometer?
- When meteorologists report that 30 mm of rain has fallen, it always seems like more. How is rain measured?
- The weather report updated at 1500 AST would be a 3:00 pm report. What is the 1900 GMT that follows?
- I would like to know how the cloud ceiling is measured. For example, if the ceiling is 2,000 feet, how was that determined?
- What is the dew point?
- How is the dew point temperature measured?
- What is the purpose of having a dew point in the winter? If the temperature reached the dew point and it was still below, what happens?
- During the warmer months, the relative humidity is given together with the temperature displayed on television. When is the relative humidity used, and how is it calculated?
- What is meant by the weather term "Buys-Ballots Law"?
- Why does the weather change?
- How do meteorologists determine the number of lightning strikes during a thunderstorm?
- Does Canada use weather balloons?
- Where can I find out about wind chill?
- When is the first day of fall, winter, spring and summer?
- Why is the ceiling reported in feet, not metres?
- When do we change the clocks?
Weather Physics
- Why is the coldest part of the day just after sunrise?
- How can snow keep you warm?
- What is "mechanical mixing"?
- Is it too cold to go outside when the temperature is -12°C with the wind chill factor?
- What freezes faster, hot water or cold water?
- If it's 3°C outside with a wind chill factor of -8°C, will water freeze due to the wind chill factor?
- What colour is a lightning bolt?
- What is sublimation?
Radar and Satellite Measurement
- Why does the radar map almost always show precipitation over the same area, even when it is clear?
- Given the advent of radar- and satellite-based atmospheric measurements, do we still utilize individual weather station data?
- Why it is that sometimes the satellite image over Atlantic Canada looks quite ominous when there is very little precipitation – while at other times, it is indicative of a large low pressure system, typically a storm. Why the discrepancy?
Weather Facts and Information
Almanacs
Regional Weather
- Where is the hottest place in the world?
- Where are the hottest places in Canada?
- Where is the wettest place in the world?
- Which province is the wettest?
- Has it ever snowed in Los Angeles, or in any of California’s major cities?
- Why is it that on the East Coast they get hit with heavy snow and cold and the West Coast gets warmer weather in the winter when they appear to both be on the same latitude line and near the ocean?
- Why is the weather in North America, e.g., Ohio, colder than the weather in London, England, even though England is further north from the equator?
- There is lake-effect snow near the Great Lakes, but what about smaller lakes?
- Why is Ottawa colder and snowier than Toronto?
- Why do areas like Mansfield, Ontario, not receive the snowstorms that towns five and ten minutes west and north of it receive?
- From which direction do winter storms generally come from in the city of Ottawa? Has there been a change in the severity of storms in the Ottawa region?
- Why is it that southwestern British Columbia never gets caught in a deep freeze or a cold snap the way the Prairies do in the winter?
- What is "Arctic Outflow"? What dangers are associated with it, and is the west coast of Canada the only place where it’s a concern?
- Vancouver, British Columbia once had a cyclone about fifty years ago. Can we expect any high winds - ever - like are seen in Florida? Is it true that hurricanes happen on the east coast and cyclones on the west coast?
- Why is it often very windy in the Prairies?
- Why are the summer prevailing winds in Winnipeg from the west but 200 km away in Kenora the winds come from the south?
- What is the standard sea level barometric pressure for Vancouver, B.C.?
- Why do weather patterns in the U.S.A. usually travel from west to east?
- Where in Canada are thunderstorms more likely to be and what makes these areas different from others that don't get as many thunderstorms?
- In Ottawa, as soon as November 1 comes around every year, there are soft grey clouds that hang over the city for the whole month. Is there a lot less sun this time of year and what would cause these grey clouds to linger day after day?
- Is it true that Oklahoma has the greatest occurrence of tornadoes of any U.S. state or Canadian province?
- Why are there no hurricanes in California?
- Why do space flights get cancelled because of weather when they fly above any weather systems?
Forecasts and Observations
- How does The Weather Network create a local forecast?
- What time frame is meant when referring to morning, afternoon, evening, and overnight forecasts?
- How are The Weather Network's seasonal forecasts created?
- When are The Weather Network's seasonal forecasts issued?
- When do you show the Humidex?
- Why is there a difference in forecasts from The Weather Network and Environment Canada?
- Why are there sometimes differences between weather warnings and forecasts?
- How can the forecast for my area suggest not to expect any precipitation from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon while at the same time having a snow squall warning that says we will get between 15-25 cm in that same time period?
- What is the difference between a watch, a warning and an advisory?
- Why does the forecast change?
- Where can I find historical weather records and climate statistics?
- What is the difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny?
- What is the difference between a shower, a period of rain, a rain shower and a trace of rain?
- How often are weather observations taken?
- Why are sky conditions not available for some locations?
- How are meteorologists able to predict the amount of snow or rain that will fall?
- Why are long-range forecasts less reliable?
- Can contrails forecast the weather?
- What is a “meteorological bomb”?
- Is the air pressure shown on the local forecasts a corrected figure or uncorrected? How do you convert one to the other?
Weather Phenomena
- What is fog?
- What causes steam to rise from a wetted asphalt surface?
- What are waterspouts?
- Whiteout
- What are plough winds?
- What are winter rainbows?
- What is Hoar Frost?
- What are double rainbows?
- What are sundogs?
- What are Chinooks?
- I just want to understand why I never hear thunder during the winter?
- What are cold air funnels?
- Why does the sky on the horizon turn red or pink in the evenings?
- Why is the sky blue?
- Relationship between the jet streams and advancing cold fronts?
- Is there such a thing as the right time to see the northern lights?
- Can you tell me what is sea smoke and how it forms?
- The formation of a water spout while canoeing on a lake on a warm sunny day
- What does a cross, similar to rings around the moon mean?
- Does lighting comes DOWN from the SKY or UP from the ground to the sky?
- A couple of questions on the jet stream
- How do we predict tides? How do we predict when tides will be high or low and by how much?
- What is that odd blue ring around the moon at night?
- What is a "snow roller"?
- What was meant by the "Perfect Storm"?
- What causes lightning to sometimes appear green in colour?
- How do we predict tides and their height?
- What is a "snow roller"?
- What is "lake effect snow"?
- What was the "Perfect Storm"?
- What is the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane?
- What is a fire whirl (fire tornado) and what causes it to start?
- What is a heat burst?
- What are "les suetes" winds?
Weather Lore
- What is "the calm before the storm"?
- Dry cold versus damp cold?
- What is good fishing weather?
- When leaves show their undersides, is it a sign of rain?
- Is it colder during a full moon?
- Can you tell the weather from smoke signals around a chimney?
- Can you predict weather by sound?
- Why does the wind make more noise in the winter than in the summer?
- If it is red sky at sunset, does this mean that the next day is going to be an excellent day?
- What does it mean when you see a rainbow in the eastern sky early in the morning?
- Is there any basis for the belief that a ring around the moon at night means a storm the next day?
- Why "if there is dew on the grass, no rain comes to pass?"
Weather Elements
Precipitation
- How do you know if it is going to rain? What is meant by the "POP"?
- What is hail and is it dangerous?
- Why does hail make its particular sound?
- Are raindrops really tear-shaped?
- Why are snowflakes quite big on certain days, and then smaller on other days?
- Can snow have different colours?
- Why does snow squeak when you walk on it?
- Which day is the snowiest?
- What do you call it when snow evaporates before hitting the ground?
- When is it too warm to snow?
- What determines whether precipitation will fall as freezing rain or snow?
- Why are all snow flakes six sided?
- Can it ever be too cold for it to snow?
- Why does it snow at all when it's above zero degrees?
- What is the Bergeron Process?
El Niño
- What are El Niño and La Niña?
- How do El Niño and La Niña affect our weather?
- Is it possible to get a forecast for El Niño for next winter?
- What does history tell us of weather conditions following an El Niño year? Specifically, what is its effect in relation to western Canadian agriculture?
- Is El Niño getting blamed for weather it does not affect? For instance, can El Niño affect the weather inland?
Clouds
- What are the types of clouds and how are they formed?
- What are mammo clouds?
- Why don't clouds fall from the sky?
- How do holes form in clouds?
- What is the name for clouds shaped like a stack of pancakes?
- Under what conditions can we expect stratus clouds? Are these convective clouds?
- Why is it that in METARs (Aviation Routine Weather Reports), we often see a first layer of stratus fractus clouds and a second of stratocumulus clouds? Wouldn't cumulus fractus and stratocumulus be more appropriate?
- Why can clouds appear extremely dark when they are approaching yet lighten up when they are above us?
Weather Systems
- Are there more tornadoes these days?
- What are cyclones?
- When and how often do hurricanes happen in Canada?
- What is the most popular hurricane name?
- How are twisters formed?
- Why do some tornadoes form a “straight” funnel between the earth and the base of the cloud and some a more curvy “S-shaped” funnel?
- What determines the diameter of the actual funnel, as some tornadoes seem narrow and some seem to have a massive funnel?
- What are the Horse Latitudes?
- What is an Alberta Clipper?
- What does it mean when the barometric pressure is rising or falling?
- What is the difference between a thundershower and a thunderstorm?
- What’s the difference between a snow squall and a blizzard?
- How can snow fall in Mexico when we have warm temperatures and no snow in Canada?
- I heard that weather moves from west to east, such as from western Canada to eastern Canada (maybe 4-5 days later) and then another 4-5 days to England and France. Is this true?
- What are "cold fronts"?
- On average, how long does it take a weather system to move across the continent?
- What is a monsoon?
Seasonality
- Where has all the snow gone?
- What is an Indian summer and what is its origin?
- Why is it that the equinox has not yet arrived (equal day and night - 12 hours) yet some meteorologists say that we are in spring? I though that spring by definition was at the equinox!
- Why does the North Pole have roughly six months of daylight and six months of darkness? Does the same apply to the South Pole?
- What is the "ideal" range of humidity for the inside of the house during the winter months?
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