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Welcome to Weather Notes!
WxNotes is a new website for weather notes and commentary. I am a meteorologist, currenty in graduate school working on my master's degree. My research interests involve remote sensing of tropical precipitation using the TRMM satellite. While I enjoy doing reserach, I also have interest in broader topics related to weather, science, and the environment, which is why I started this website. I plan to create some basic "help" pages to show the basics of weather and climate. I also plan to do significant reading and news study in order to become up to date with current weather events.
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Monday, June 20, 2011
New Book Review Posted: Rare Earth by Peter Ward and David Brownlee
One of the most popular themes in science fiction is the prevalence of alien intelligent life in the Universe. While the supposed real-life abductions and UFO sightings may be silly, the scientific consensus has been that intelligent life is common in the Universe. Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee support the idea that simple life forms are common in the Universe, but contend in Rare Earth that any type of complex, multi-cellular animal life is extremely rare. Their book covers the “Rare Earth Hypothesis” which explores the difficulties that evolution overcame to reach today’s complexity, as well as the special conditions of the Earth, Moon, Sun, and Solar System that produced the extended period of stability needed to foster complex life and prevent sterilization of the entire planet.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
New Book Review Posted: The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
Human societies have often anticipated major disasters. There have been prophets and omens, engineering stress studies, and just a gut feeling that things are about to go wrong. People have often had the propensity to fear the worst but hope for the best. Many pray to the almighty to protect them from danger. Others put their trust in professionals, experts, or elected officials. In the back of their minds, many think it could never happen to them. In the case of the 1889 Conemaugh dam burst and Johnstown Flood, the potential for disaster was a common unspoken fear for many years before the disaster, and the disaster itself was a dreadful manifestation of those nightmares.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
New Book Review Posted: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson
Galveston, Texas was one of the most vulnerable US cities ever built. The tens of thousands of residents on the island in 1900 were unaware of this fact. Times were too exciting to be concerned with natural disasters: the frontier had closed, the American West was booming, and the race with Houston was on to become Texas’ primary port city. Besides, their trusted meteorologist, Isaac Cline, insisted as a rule that Texas was safe from hurricanes. Isaac’s Storm details the disastrous hurricane that permanently changed the rules and the history of Galveston forever. Erik Larson’s carefully researched book explains the systemic mistakes that contributed to the disaster and shares the accounts of those who survived the worst of the storm. Larson prudently combines the perspectives of the government officials, victims, and rescuers to tell a complete story of one of America’s worst natural disasters.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
New Book Review Posted: Killer 'Cane by Robert Mykle
From a modern perspective, the farming communities near Lake Okeechobee in the 1920s were primed for a major disaster. Drawn by the lure of the rich black soil, farmers braved frequent droughts, floods, blistering heat in the summer, frost in the winter, and swarms of mosquitoes year round in hopes of making a fortune selling vegetables. For Henry Martin, one of Mykle’s primary subjects, taking chances was the only life he knew. “Henry Martin, like most pioneers, was a born gambler. He loved the chance to double it all. As a farmer, each day he made the ultimate wager—he bet against Mother Nature.” (Mykle 57) In September 1928, this dangerous bet went terribly wrong, as a major hurricane laid a perfect strike on central Florida...
Also, I am finishing up with final exams next week, so look for some improvements over the next month!
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