²©ÌåÓý

²©ÌåÓý

Weather-Ready Nation

National Program

Social Media: Science (Summer)

Weather.gov > Weather-Ready Nation > Social Media: Science (Summer)

Back to Social Media

Social Media: Science (Summer)
#²©ÌåÓýCitizenScience #CitizenScience

 

Please help the ²©ÌåÓý spread these messages on social media! Everyone is welcome to use the text and images provided below to help the ²©ÌåÓý build a Weather-Ready Nation.

How Are Tornadoes Confirmed?

Facebook
Have you ever wondered how tornadoes are officially confirmed? Meteorologists at ²©ÌåÓý forecast offices apply a careful, thorough process with roughly 4 steps.

Twitter
Have you ever wondered how tornadoes are officially confirmed? Meteorologists at ²©ÌåÓý forecast offices apply a careful, thorough process with roughly 4 steps.

How are tornadoes officially confirmed? ²©ÌåÓý (²©ÌåÓý) meteorologists at local Forecast Offices apply a careful, thorough process to verify that a tornado actually occurred. Step 1: Gather Information. ²©ÌåÓý meteorologists gather damage info from emergency managers, storm spotters, and the public. If you have any pictures or video, please share them with us. Step 2: Plan Storm Survey. Using the information gathered, ²©ÌåÓý meteorologists decide which locations to send storm survey teams. The number of teams depends on the extent of damage reports - usually no more than three teams per day. Step 3. Conduct Storm Survey. ²©ÌåÓý meteorologists travel to impacted areas to assess damage. Preliminary conclusions can be made about the type and severity of storms using damage indicators. Step 4: Report Conclusions. Once back at the office, ²©ÌåÓý meteorologists will assess the data, consult experts, then write summaries and reports of findings. This process can take hours or days.

+Alt text

 

Science of Tornadoes (Video)

Facebook
Of all the many dangerous weather hazards, tornadoes are one of the most powerful and destructive. Although the details of their formation are still being researched, we do know the general steps. Watch this video for a quick science lesson.

Twitter
Although the details of tornado formation are still being researched, we do know the general steps. Watch this video for a quick #science lesson.

 

Science of Lightning (Video)

Facebook
You already know to take shelter as soon as you hear thunder or see lightning. But have you ever wondered why lightning and thunder happen in the first place? Watch this video for a quick science lesson.

Twitter
You already know to take shelter as soon as you hear thunder or see lightning. But have you ever wondered why lightning and thunder happen in the first place? Watch this video for a quick #science lesson.

Science of Hail (Video)

Facebook
Chunks of ice that fall from the sky can cause serious damage to people, animals, and property. But what exactly causes hail to form? Watch this video for some hail science!

Twitter
Chunks of ice that fall from the sky can cause serious damage to people, animals, and property. But what exactly causes hail to form? Watch this video for some hail #science!

 

Science of Debris Flow

Facebook
When normally dry soil becomes overly saturated, it can reach a point where it turns to a liquid state and flows downhill. Learn all about the science of debris flows in the infographic below, and visit for more about floods.

X/Twitter
Learn all about the science of debris flows, and visit for more about floods. #WeatherReady

Flood Science - Debris Flows Debris Flows: Dangerous land and water flow caused by rainfall, terrain and loose-bare soil. Flash flooding and debris flows are common in or near burn scars. Debris flows carry everything: A debris flow is a moving mass of loose mud, sand, soil, rock, water and air that travels down a slope under the influence of gravity. To be considered a debris flow, the moving material must be loose and capable of 'flow', and at least 50% of the material must be sand-size particles or larger. In areas of very steep slopes they can reach speeds of over 100 mph. Burn scars are notorious for debris flows: Burned soil can be as water repellant as pavement. When vegetation is burned at high intensity, water repellent compounds are vaporized, and condense on the soil layers below, which prevents soil from absorbing water. As a result, much less rainfall is required to produce a flash flood. Rainfall and gravity take over: As water runs downhill through burned areas it can create major erosion and pick up large amounts of ash, sand, silt, trees and boulders. The force of the rushing water and debris can damage or destroy culverts, bridges, roadways, and buildings even miles away from the burned area. The risk of debris flow could last years: Most burn areas will be prone to this activity for at least two years. Each wildfire burn area poses its own unique risk of flash flooding due to many factors including proximity to population centers, burn severity, steepness of terrain, and size of the burned area. www.weather.gov/flood 

+Alt text

 

Science of Snowmelt Processes

 

Facebook
At certain times of the year, water from melting snow can be responsible for almost all of the streamflow in a river. The processes of snowmelt are crucial in forming accurate river flood forecasts. Learn more about floods at weather.gov/flood.

X/Twitter
At certain times of the year, water from melting snow can be responsible for almost all of the streamflow in a river. The processes of snowmelt are crucial in forming accurate river flood forecasts. Learn more about floods at .

Flood Science - Snowmelt Process Snowmelt Processes: During certain times of the year, water from snowmelt can be responsible for almost all of the streamflow in a river. It's important for hydrologists to understand these processes in order to accurately forecast river floods. Snow Distribution: The path that weather systems take is the most important factor in determining snowpack, but terrain and vegetation also influence how snow accumulates on the ground. Snowpack Characterisitcs: The temperature and the amount of water (snow water equivalent) in the snowpack and important to the melting process. Before rapid melting can occur, the snowpack as a whole needs to be warmed to 32 degress F. Snow Energy Exchanges: Incoming solar radiation, emitted longwave radiation, turbulent transfer of heat, ground conduction, and heat transferred during rainfall are all important factors in heating or cooling the snowpack. Weather Factors: Strong winds and high dew point temperatures aid in melting by limiting the effects of evaporative cooling and allow the layer directly above the snowpack to remain warm due to turbulent mixing. Rain falling on a snowpack can accelerate the melt process as well. Where the Water Goes: Once rapid melting begins, the water will either infiltrate into the soil, run off into streams and other bodies of water, pool in place and potentially refreeze as ice, or a combination. Ice jam floding can occur if the river channel has excessive ice cover. www.weather.gov/flood 

+Alt text

 

Streamflow Routing

Facebook
Even without rain or snowmelt, floods can happen along any rivers, creeks, and streams. This is because of something called streamflow routing, which occurs when water volume in a river moves from upstream to downstream. Learn more about floods at weather.gov/flood.

X/Twitter
Even without rain or snowmelt, floods can happen along any rivers, creeks, and streams. This is because of something called streamflow routing, which occurs when water volume in a river moves from upstream to downstream. Learn more about floods at weather.gov/flood.

Flood Science - Streamflow Routing Streamflow Routing: Describes the movement of water volume from one point to another along a river. Hydrologists use this to predict flood peaks. Hydrologic Routing Techniques: Advanced formulas are used to determine the behavior of flow from point A to point B in a stream, creek or river. Streamflow Characteristics: The geometry of the channel may vary at different points along a stream or river and will affect the amount of discharge for a given volume of water. Watershed Characteristics: Additional inflows to a stream between point A and point B further complicate the predictability of the flow. Rating Curve: A rating curve is a relationship between stage and discharge at a cross section of a river. The output from a hydrologic modle is a discharge or flow, which can then be converted stage - a measure of the water level at a given point on the river. Floodplains: These are lowland areas adjacent to the river or stream that are prone to flooding due to increases in streamflow on the channel -- which may result from water that is routed downstream. www.weather.gov/flood 

+Alt text

 

Air Pollution Science

Facebook
What is air pollution? The two primary culprits are: 1) Airborne particles such as smoke, dust, dirt, and soot, also called particulate matter. 2) Ground level ozone, which is formed when nitrogen oxides emissions react with other volatile organic compounds in the presence of heat and sunlight. To learn air quality safety tips, visit weather.gov/safety/airquality

Twitter
What is air pollution? The two primary culprits are particulate matter and ground level ozone. Check out the graphic below, and visit weather.gov/safety/airquality to stay #WeatherReady

Air Pollution Science - Particulate Matter: Airborne particles such as smoke, dust, dirt, soot, and salt. The sources of these particles are numerous - including vehicles, factories, fires, and any other natural or human activity resulting in the addition of particulates into the air. Ground Level Ozone: Ground level ozone is not directly emitted into the air, but forms when nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions react with other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of heat and sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhause, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of NOx and VOCs

+Alt text

 

Weird Weather (Video)

Facebook
Haboob. Funny name, dangerous weather phenomenon. Learn about them and other examples of weird weather in this short video: #wxscience

Twitter
Haboob. Funny name, dangerous weather phenomenon. Learn about them and other examples of weird weather in this short video: #wxscience

 

What is a 500-year flood? (video)

Facebook
The term 500-year flood doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s only going to happen one time every 500 years. Rather, it’s a reference to the probability of occurrence. #FloodScience

Twitter
The term 500-year flood doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s only going to happen one time every 500 years. Rather, it’s a reference to the probability of occurrence. #FloodScience

 

Science of River Flooding

Facebook
Water is essential for life on Earth.  But, in large enough quantities, the very substance we drink and use to grow crops can destroy homes, businesses, and cause fatalities. Learn all about the science of river flooding in the infographic below, and visit for more flooding education. 

Twitter
Learn all about the science of river flooding with this graphic, and visit for more flood science. #WeatherReady

SCIENCE OF RIVER FLOODING - Water is essential for life on Earth. But in large enough quantities, the very substance we drink and use to grow crops can destroy homes, businesses and cause fatalities. River flooding occurs when river levels rise & overflow their banks or the edges of their main channel and inundate normally dry areas. River flooding can be caused by heavy rainfall, dam failures, rapid snowmelt and ice jams. Six Steps to Create a River Model Hydrologic Cycle: Hydrologists try to understand and simulate the natural hydrologic cycle, which is the intricate combination of many processes such as evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, infiltration, interflow, groundwater storage, and runoff. Precipitation: Precipitation is the primary input to basin hydrologic processes and serves as the primary driver of hydrologic models. Accurate representation of precipitation input is an important intial step. Small river channel systems are very sensitive to rainfall. Runoff: The next step is to compute the amount of precipitation that appears in surface water within a relatively short time from the onset of a storm event. This is runoff. Runoff consists of 3 components: overland flow, rain falling directly on surface water bodies, and interflow. Unit Hydrograph: After computing basin runoff, the next step is to calculate a forecast hydrograph in units of discharge. A hydrograph is a plot of the change of stage or discharge with respect to time. Discharge is the volume of water flowing past a location per unit time and is usually expressed in cubic feet per second (cfs). Streamflow Data: Scientists use streamflow measurements to capture the vital relationship between discharge (volume flow rate) and stage (height) for a given location. This can only be done by taking streamflow measurements at different river levels and noting the corresponding stages. This relation is called a rating curve. Routing: Hydrologists analyze and interpret how the water moves once it’s in the river and how a flood wave is modified due to the effects of storage and friction as it moves downstream. So, what happens upstream affects the entire downstream community. 

+Alt text

 

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper

Facebook
Did you know that weather satellite GOES-16 houses the very first operational lightning mapper flown in geostationary orbit? GLM measures total lightning (in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground) activity continuously over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions with near-uniform spatial resolution of approximately 10 km.
When used in conjunction with radar data, GLM trends allow forecasters to make warning decisions earlier and more confidently.

Twitter
Did you know that weather satellite GOES-16 houses the first operational lightning mapper flown in geostationary orbit? The data provided helps forecasters make potentially life-saving decisions.

The Geostationary Lightning Mapper. GLM measurements help the weather, aviation, disaster prep, and fire communities with early warning of lightning strikes, identifying storm intensity, tornado lead times and false alarm reduction, and detection of heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

+Alt text

 

What are Rip Currents?

Facebook
Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of water in the surf zone that move quickly away from shore. Moving at speeds of up to eight feet per second (or 5 mph!), rip currents can move faster than an Olympic swimmer. #RipCurrentScience

Twitter
Rip currents are powerful, narrow channels of water flowing away from shore at surf beaches and can reach speeds of 8 feet per second! #RipCurrentScience

What Are Rip Currents? Narrow currents of water flowing away from shore at surf beaches. Commonly form around breaks in sandbars, and also near structures, such as jetties and piers. Moves at speeds of 1-2 feet per second, but have been measured as fast as 8 feet per second.

+Alt text

 

Thunderstorm Types (Video)

Facebook
Did you know there are different types of thunderstorms? Watch this video and learn what they are: #ThunderstormScience

Twitter
Did you know there are different types of thunderstorms? Watch this video and learn what they are: #ThunderstormScience

 

Types of Tornadoes

Facebook
Supercells are not the only types of storms that develop tornadoes. Did you know that there are multiple types of tornadoes that can form? Learn all about them in the infographic below, and visit weather.gov/jetstream/tornado.

Twitter
Did you know that there are multiple types of tornadoes? Visit weather.gov/jetstream/tornado for more info. #WeatherReady

TYPES OF TORNADOES - Supercell Tornadoes: Tornadoes that come from a supercell thunderstorm are the most common, and often the most dangerous. A rotating updraft is a key to the development of a supercell, and eventually a tornado. There are many ideas about how this rotation begins. One way a column of air can begin to rotate is from wind shear – when winds at two different levels above the ground blow at different speeds or in different directions. Once the updraft is rotating and being fed by warm, moist air flowing in at ground level, a tornado can form. Landspouts: Landspouts, narrow, rope-like condensation funnels that form while the thunderstorm cloud is still growing and there is no rotating updraft. The spinning motion originates near the ground. Waterspouts: Waterspouts, similar to landspouts, except they occur over water. Gustnadoes: Gustnadoes, whirls of dust or debris at or near the ground with no condensation funnel, which form along the gust front of a storm. Dust Devils: A well-developed dust whirl; usually of short duration, rendered visible by dust, sand, and debris picked up from the ground. Dust devils are best developed on a hot, calm afternoon with clear skies, when intense surface heating causes large temperature differences in the lowest couple hundred feet of the atmosphere. Fire Whirls: Much like dust devils, the extreme heat of fires create strong updrafts, near the ground that interact with circulations in the lower atmosphere. Fire whirls are usually about 1 to 3 feet wide and 50 to 100 feet tall.

+Alt text

 

Lightning Types

Facebook
Did you know there are many different kinds of lightning? Learn all about them in the graphic below or by visiting #LightningScience

Twitter
Did you know there are many different kinds of lightning? Learn all about them in the graphic below or by visiting #LightningScience

Lightning Types: In cloud-to-ground lightning (CG), a stepped leader, will zigzag downward in roughly 50-yard segments in a forked pattern. This stepped leader is invisible to the human eye. A return stroke of bright luminosity travels about 60,000 miles per second back towards the cloud. A flash consists of one or perhaps as many as 20 return strokes. Cloud flashes sometimes have visible channels that extend out into the air around the storm but do not strike the ground, known as cloud-to-air (CA). The terms sheet lightning or intra-cloud lightning (IC) refers to lightning embedded within a cloud that lights up as a sheet of luminosity during the flash. Lightning can also travel from cloud-to-cloud (CC). Large thunderstorms are capable of producing other kinds of electrical phenomena called transient luminous events (TLEs) that occur high in the atmosphere. They are rarely observed visually and not well understood. The most common TLEs include red sprites, blue jets, and elves. Ball lightning is a rare and randomly occurring bright ball of light observed floating or moving through the atmosphere close to the ground. Observations have widely varying identifying characteristics for ball lightning, but the most common description is that of a sphere having a radius of 15–50 cm, orange or reddish in color, and lasting for only a few seconds.

+Alt text

 

Skywarn

Facebook
Do you know what to watch for when severe weather threatens? Check out ²©ÌåÓý Skywarn. Help keep your community safe by volunteering to become a trained storm spotter for NOAA's ²©ÌåÓý. Potential volunteers should visit and contact their local ²©ÌåÓý office. #CitizenScience

Twitter
Learn about #²©ÌåÓýCitizenScience opportunities! Become a trained Skywarn storm spotter and help keep your community safe! Visit www.weather.gov/skywarn/ #CitizenScience
 

²©ÌåÓý Skywarn: ²©ÌåÓý Citizen Science

+Alt text

 

CoCoRaHS

Facebook
Ever wanted to take rain or snow measurements? Join CoCoRaHS or Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. This volunteer network of observers measures precipitation from their backyards. Any age can volunteer. Data is used by ²©ÌåÓý meteorologists to help with forecasts.

Twitter
Ever wanted to take rain or snow measurements? Learn more about #²©ÌåÓýCitizenScience and join CoCoRaHS today! #CitizenScience

CoCoRaHS: ²©ÌåÓý Citizen Science

+Alt text

 

mPING

Facebook
Check out mPING (Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground) project. Weird name, cool app! You can report the type of precipitation you see where you are. No need to measure! Use the free mobile app to send reports anonymously. Reports are automatically recorded into a database, which improves weather computer models. The information is even used by road maintenance operations and the aviation industry to diagnose areas of icing. #CitizenScience

Twitter
Check out mPING! Weird name, cool app for #CitizenScience! Report weather types via the mPing app and help improve weather model forecasts! #²©ÌåÓýCitizenScience

mPING: ²©ÌåÓý Citizen Science

+Alt text

 

COOP

Facebook
The ²©ÌåÓý Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) is truly the nation's weather and climate observing network of, by, and for the people. With over 8,700 volunteer observers, this program has existed since 1890 and is one of the few programs that measures snowfall and its water equivalent. Help ²©ÌåÓý Citizen Science and become a COOP! You can help support warnings and forecasts and build a climatological database! For more information, visit weather.gov/coop/Overview

Twitter
Join ²©ÌåÓý COOP! The ²©ÌåÓý Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) is truly the nation's weather and climate observing network of, by, and for the people. Help support warnings and forecasts and build a climatological database!
weather.gov/coop/Overview #²©ÌåÓýCitizenScience

²©ÌåÓý Cooperative Observer: ²©ÌåÓý Citizen Science

+Alt text