Yin-Yang Winter
March 29th, 2012 | Bill KirkSnow, ice, bitter cold - These are some of the words that come to mind when we think about winter. However, this past winter was anything but cold and snowy in the Central and Eastern U.S. While many are ready to blame Global Warming for the recent warmth in the States, they forget to account for the other parts of the globe in their accusations. In fact, if we take a look back at this winter we see there was actually plenty of "winter-like" weather across the globe, especially in Asia. Abnormally mild weather (Yang) would not exist if there wasn't a nearly equal cold force (Yin) to balance out the Earth's energy.
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2011 Global Temperatures are in...WE'RE ALL DOOMED!!!
November 8th, 2011 | Bill KirkThought we'd use a little media hysteria with the headline to get your attention, but sleep easy as the 2011 year-to-date global temperature is a not so whopping +0.15°C above average and cooling quickly (October came in at +0.11°C). One day scientists will look back on the bad science, bad data collection, data manipulation to prove a point (aka fraud) and outright corruption around Global Warming research. Rather than try and prove all that right now, I thought we'd just show you how bad our own government is at collecting weather data that we all use for research. The scary thing? The U.S. has the best weather reporting network in the world but as we'll show - we can't accurately measure yesterday's temperature let alone the pulse of the planet.
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Cooking the Books - A New FICTIONAL World Atlas?
September 17th, 2011 | Bill KirkA new World Atlas released in the U.K. this week is yet another example of "cooking the books" by so called climate scientists and editors like John Vidal with a clear global warming agenda. In this case, real climate and satellite data was brushed aside for a PhotoShop airbrush to make Greenland (actually snow covered year round) appear a little greener thanks to runaway Climate Change. You would think the Publishers would do a bit more fact checking after the UK Climategate scandal but why let the facts get in the way of selling books. Then again maybe it's a FICTIONAL ATLAS?
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Leaves Better Learn to Fly!
August 23rd, 2011 | Bill KirkThe leaves better get some flight training from Pink Floyd as Major Hurricane Irene is about to blow in! We'll look beyond the impacts of the hurricane season to predict just how vibrant this fall foliage season is likely to be...and of course end with a Floyd classic! ;)
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Dog Days of Summer...Get Sirius!
July 13th, 2011 | Bill KirkThe dog days of summer are officially here, so to figure it all out we need to know a little history, math, weather, stocks, astronomy, and cynology! And you thought all we were going to talk about was dogs! Get Sirius! :)
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The Weather & Economy is Going "Back to the Future"
June 3rd, 2011 | Bill KirkGuess when all of this occurred: Record strong tornadoes; extremely snowy Winters across the Northern Hemisphere and U.S.; major flooding in Australia and Southeast Asia; worst drought in 30 years for Northern Europe, the Southwest U.S. and China; lowest global hurricane activity in 30 years; global temperatures near average; hundreds of thousands killed by major Earthquakes; thousands killed by tsunamis in the West Pacific; weakest solar cycle in 50+ years; Pacific Ocean temperatures below average; U.S. unemployment at 9%; soaring energy, food, and commodity inflation; gold prices soared to record levels; extreme gas prices; Middle East unrest; democrats blame republicans, republicans blame democrats...can you guess the year?
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"Is this something we have done?" NO!
May 6th, 2011 | Bill KirkThis kind of reporting in the midst of a natural disaster with hundreds killed by tornadoes is nothing short of really poor journalism that is unfortunately common with today's media when it comes to Climate Chagne basics. “Let’s be candid here,” Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News said. “When you and I go home, you see friends, family, you get e-mail from people you know, people ask the same question, what’s going on here? Is this something we have done? What has happened to the climate, because it seems so much of what we cover is relentless weather-related tragedy?”
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Weather & Syrup - Tricky and Sticky
March 25th, 2011 | Bill KirkIt's syrup season in the Northeast U.S. and Canada and we're off to a good start thanks to the weather. So goes the weather so goes the flow of sticky, sappy syrup out of Sugar Maple trees in New England. Vermont is the biggest producer of Maple Syrup in the U.S. and last year's very hot start to Spring across the Northern U.S. cut U.S. production by 19%. We'll look at how weather influences this sweet stuff and why gas prices look so cheap at $4 a gallon.
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You Ate More Radiation Than Tokyo, Japan!
March 18th, 2011 | Bill KirkIf you had a banana for breakfast and maybe plan on a beer, nuts and a steak for dinner tonight you'll be exposed to twice as much radiation as that measured in Tokyo today! Yet thanks to foreign media hysteria we've pretty much scared the Japanese out of Tokyo. We'll explore some Geiger counter readings for everyday items and compare them to Japan levels to help put the media coverage into perspective.
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Japan - a Lesson in Human Nature
March 17th, 2011 | Bill KirkThe devastation in Japan as a result of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami is absolutely heart wrenching and our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the Japanese people. The manner in which they are handling this crisis is a model for the world - no looting, no mass hysteria and little media sensationalism. I observed this first-hand living in Iwakuni (south of Hiroshima), Japan many years ago - very much a country where loyalty, honor and respect for others are ingrained into their way of life. Not the case here in the U.S. and other parts of the world where the media LOVES A CRISIS and hysteria, panic, exaggeration - anything goes when it comes to getting our attention.
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Blizzard Alley Meet Tornado Alley
March 4th, 2011 | Bill KirkIt's that time of year when cold air meets warm air for big Spring snow storms and the start of the severe thunderstorm/tornado season in the U.S. This coming week we'll get a chance to see both Blizzard Alley active and at the same time Tornado Alley should come to life. Now would be a good time to set up some severe weather alerts in wt360.com!
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Food Inflation Hysteria - Relax - Have a BEER :)
February 15th, 2011 | Bill KirkIf you think you're paying a lot more at the grocery store for everyday items these days - you are - and in part we can blame Mother Nature for that but don't even utter the words "It's Global Warming!" As the global economy improves so does the demand for consumable categories like food, beverages, clothes, auto products, health and beauty aids, toys and BEER. But what if the supply goes down with a curve ball from the weather? The weather certainly has in part sent prices higher for coconut oil, cotton products, rubber, wheat, coffee and yikes barley = BEER, say it ain't so!!! You'll spend a little less for hot cocoa, rice and olive oil...but what's that about my BEER???
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Frosty meet Sneezy!
February 11th, 2011 | Bill KirkWhile most of us suffered through mountains of the white stuff this Winter, South Texas had a blizzard of a different kind - Mountain Cedar tree pollen. With tree pollen levels the most in over a decade in parts of the Texas hill country it's not surprising that allergy sufferers are already seeking help from itchy/watery eyes and endless sneezing. This early onslaught of pollen is likely to be a common theme for folks in the South this year while we fare a littler better in the North.
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U.S. gets a D- in Science & Math
January 27th, 2011 | Bill KirkThis week 3,500 scientists, meteorologists, climatologists, students, businesses and weather organizations gathered in Seattle, Washington for the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The theme of the 2011 AMS Annual Meeting is “Communicating Weather and Climate” but a government report out this week shows just how poorly U.S. students compare to their international counterparts when it comes to the importance of academic disciplines in advanced math, physics and science.
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Bad science destroys Queensland. Who's next?
January 18th, 2011 | Bill KirkBy now we've all heard that the flooding in Queensland, Australia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Brazil, etc. etc. is all due to "man-made Global Warming!" Diane Sawyer here in the U.S. said so on national TV this week so it must be true? Her guest was Professor RichardSomerville a "climate scientist" from the University of California – he sounded credible and after all 2010 was the wettest year ever; record heat killed 56 thousand people in Russia; record cold and snow across the Northern Hemisphere for the 4th straight winter; record freezes in Florida - it's all man-made Global Warming a sign of things to come (oops – we should use the new term "Climate Disruption" - Global Warming is so 2009). All of this may indeed be a sign of things to come but nothing to do with "Global Warming" as there isn't any - not on land and definitely not in the Oceans!
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49 of 50 U.S. States (71%) Covered in Snow!
January 12th, 2011 | Bill KirkFor the 2nd year in a row 49 of 50 U.S. states have some snow on the ground! On the 13th of February 2010 all states but Hawaii were covered in snow including Florida with 68.1% of the U.S. covered. This time Florida has escaped the snow but Hawaii, yes Hawaii, has snow on the top of Mauna Kea at 13,796 feet (4,205 meters). A whopping 70.9% of the U.S. is covered in snow - most likely the most since the 1970s and possibly the late 1800s.
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WT360's Weather Super Hero Sighting?
January 7th, 2011 | Bill KirkHello Earthlings, I'm your new WT360 super weather hero to save you from boring weather forecasts and other earthly calamities! My objective is simple to spread awareness about future YEAR-AHEAD weather. My motive is a little bit more complex: to get people to believe that weather matters.
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Bye...Bye...Blackbird :(
January 4th, 2011 | Bill KirkSo what killed 5,000 red-winged black birds in Beebe Arkansas New Year's Eve? The testing is underway but the conspiracy theories suggest they all hit a UFO and plunged to their deaths (least likely), weather blogs say it was severe thunderstorms - lightning, hail and strong up drafts and others say it was fireworks. We'll examine the facts that we know so far and look at other things that have fallen from the heavens over the years...
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Witches thought to be meteorologists? UH OH!
December 20th, 2010 | Bill KirkThis doesn't happen very often - a lunar eclipse on the first day of Winter. According to the US Naval Observatory it's only happened once in the past 2,000 years on 21 December 1638 and won't happen again until 21 December 2094. The rare lunar event is not the only unusual happening in space as the Sun is up to some very unusual antics as well that will have an impact on planet Earth's weather for decades to come. If you don't like the cold, you won't like the answer!
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390ppm = "Global Climate Terror" Really?
December 15th, 2010 | Bill KirkMother Nature wins again as the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico suffers through another inconvenient embarrassment - coldest conditions in over a 100 years for the 29 Nov - 10 Dec, 2010 COP16 Conference! In fact, the all time coldest December day ever occurred at 50F (10C). It didn't help that Europe was suffering through one of the coldest/snowiest outbreaks in decades for the 4th straight year with the U.S. not far behind in the Deep Freeze. These inconveniently timed natural reminders are affectionately being called the "Gore Effect"...every time he speaks or the UN huddles up there tends to be some sort of record blizzard or record freeze dominating the headlines. This might explain why the next conference went as far South as they could - Durban South Africa! Here's some "Global Climate Terror" fodder to warm you up...
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Ocean Dump + Big Waves = Plastic Soup?
December 9th, 2010 | Bill KirkYou will not find this soup on the menu this holiday season and if you did, your bowl would be bigger than the state of Texas! We all know that everything in Texas is BIG so this is really big. The soup we're talking about is a huge swirling mass of "plastic soup" or "Pacific Garbage Patch" that is stuck in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California and another one near Japan. When the waves pick up (you can now monitor waves for day 1-8 in wt360.com) and come from a certain direction Hawaii's pristine beaches can go from paradise to a nightmare.
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wt360 Prediction - Global Cooling for 15 Years!
December 6th, 2010 | Bill KirkThe media and Cancun revelers at the Climate Summit would love to see the headline, "2010 the Warmest Ever", but it's not going to happen! While a moderately strong El Nino (warm sub-tropical Pacific Ocean) early in the year did send global temperatures up to +0.97C above average, they've since plummeted some 0.55C (1F) as the Pacific cooled rapidly and now enters a moderately strong La Nina phase (cold sub-tropical Pacific Ocean). But, there is a much bigger and broader global weather pattern at play here and something worth reading up on - Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) cycle. So goes PDO so goes the world climate! We'll explain here so you can dazzle your friends and colleagues at the next holiday party as we know all casual conversations start with "how about this weather"!
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Google Trends, Weather Trends and Stephen Colbert?
December 1st, 2010 | Bill KirkSo what does Google Trends, Weather Trends, the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Cancun, Santa Claus, Al Gore, Winter Weather Forecasts, Black Friday, Carbon Trading, Global Warming, President Obama and Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert all have in common? Not much! :) At least according to Google Trends. Read on for what's hot and what's not.
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Weather Radar Won't Cook Your Turkey
November 8th, 2010 | Bill Kirk115 years after the accidental discovery of X-rays, Google opted to X-ray their logo today - safer than what the German scientist did back in 1895. The X-rays were called this because they were an "unknown" (reason for the X) type of radiation or very small wavelength with high levels of energy. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen's first subject to test the new X-ray device wasn't a Google logo but rather his wife's hand; not sure if that tells us how he felt about his wife or if he was just a big chicken or turkey. I'm leaning turkey. We'll move up to some bigger wave lengths to talk turkey on weather radars.
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What to Wear During a Chinook
October 29th, 2010 | Bill KirkThe media made a big deal on this week's big storm in the Northern Plains of the U.S. and whether or not a low pressure record was set in Big Fork, Minnesota. While this storm was intense and brought snow to the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains, dozens of tornadoes and strong winds to the Central U.S. the media bark was bigger than the bite! This storm pails in comparison to some of the record setters.
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The Flu, Weather and Guinea Pigs?
October 21st, 2010 | Bill KirkThe Northern Hemisphere is entering the dreaded Winter Flu season just as our neighbors down under are coming out of their Flu season. Scientists have debated for decades whether or not cold Winter weather has anything to with the Flu but it's a very hard thing to study in a laboratory. Intuitively the answer is yes since the Flu peaks, everywhere in the world, during the cold Winter season. So let's look at Australia, Winter weather and Guinea Pigs to find out why!
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Hurricane, Cyclone, Typhoon - What's in a Name?
October 18th, 2010 | Bill KirkSuper Typhoon Megi is roaring across the Northern Philippines Luzon province today with 112 mph winds (180 km/hr) and upwards of 10-20" (250mm-500mm) of rain creating widespread flooding, power outages and destruction of crops. Next for the weaker Typhoon Megi appears to be Taiwan late in the week with more heavy rainfall. So why is this storm called a Typhoon and what's the difference from a Hurricane? We'll get a little technical here to address this topic.
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Science Seeks Answers Not PR
October 7th, 2010 | Bill KirkLet me start by saying that this post contains content that is very graphic and disturbing. (Rating: No Children Under 17). I apologize for passing on the brutal images that have been created by others, but this is a subject that absolutely enrages me as a professional scientist and human being. Science is about advancing what we know, researching, and always looking out into the future. It is not about scaring people into submission; most importantly scientific findings should never be used to attack our children’s sense of safety.
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2010 Raise a Glass for Northeast Wines
October 4th, 2010 | Bill KirkKnow the world's weather and know what wine to buy now and later. It should come as no surprise that weather and wine go hand in hand. Typically a hot year with some rain (not too much, not too little) will yield an excellent year for grapes with a higher sugar content, and as such, better wines are produced. For example, 2003 in Rhone, Southern France was one of the hottest on record and yields were excellent with award winning wine from the region. While it was great to be a grape in France that year, the excessive heat took lives of nearly 15,000 people. This national tragedy marks 2003 as the death year in France.
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60 days + 64,000 forecasters = 59 day old forecast?
September 29th, 2010 | Bill KirkWhile some think weather prediction is as simple as looking out the window, licking your finger and holding it to the heavens to make a forecast, it's a bit more complicated than that, in fact much more complicated. The science behind predicting the weather has been around for over 100 years with the "primitive equations" that make even the smartest mathematician's head spin. To give a sense of that complexity a leading mathematician by the name of Lewis Fry Richardson in 1904 said it would take 64,000 highly skilled scientists 2 months to make a 1 day forecast! Hmmm...Houston, we have a problem.
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Welcome to the WT360 Blog
September 20th, 2010 | Bill KirkImagine saying to someone that, "you no longer have to leave the weather to chance...there is a place where you can discover your ideal future weather for any day, everywhere in the world 360 days ahead!" While that seems like an impossible statement, it's true...welcome to weathertrends360, bringing the world free, year ahead weather forecasts.
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Winter Outlook 2010-2011 (Northern Hemisphere)
September 19th, 2010 | Bill KirkLast year the Winter in the U.S. was the snowiest in 14 years (25% above average) with the 3rd straight season with very snowy conditions across the U.S. Our neighbors to the North in Canada had a reprieve with much below average snowfall (-30%) and we all remember the helicopters airlifting in snow to the Olympics.
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Woolly Worm Weather Folklore - Fact or Fiction?
September 18th, 2010 | Bill KirkI just saw my first "woolly worm" of the season (also known as the woolly bear for our friends to the North) here in Eastern Pennsylvania (USA) and it was all brown! Folklore suggest this will bring a mild Winter. Legend has it that the a reddish brown color on the fuzzy creature means mild Winter periods while the black areas suggest severe Winter weather. Fact or Fiction?
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