weather quiz!

[David Young]

Scud is a term that chasers have used for a long time. What does scud actually stand for? (hint, scud is actually an abbreviation)

"Scud" may be used as an acronym by chasers now, but I'd bet all the money I have that it did not originate that way. In fact, I'll bet that someone decided to make an acronym out of it only within the last 20 years or so, while it's been a word for a lot longer than that.

 

[Matthew Havin]

Next question:

What, where, and when was the strongest wind gust ever reported?

 

[David Wolfson]

Easy question. Mt. Washington, NH, April 12th, 1934, 231 mph.

 

[Thomas Loades]

Does Moore, OK, May 3, 1999, 318 mph count? Althought it probably isn't wind. Otherwise, yeah, Mt. Washington.

 

[Cstok]

!!!!

Wait a second... what about Guam??

Typhoon Paka has ripped through the island of Guam, causing an estimated $ 200m in damage. Thanks to accurate predictions of its path, however, and efficient evacuation procedures, no deaths have been reported. More than 50 pregnant women had been taken to Guam Memorial Hospital, since the pressure from the storm can induce childbirth in women who are seven or more months pregnant. Nine of them did give birth during the storm.

Local weather stations were out of action after power failures, but a station in Honolulu confirmed a maximum gust of 236mph (380kph) which is the highest wind speed ever recorded. The previous high of 231mph was measured on Mount Washington on 12 April 1934.

The Independent (London), December 19, 1997,

 

[David Wolfson]

Not substantiated, according to Mt. Washington. http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/wor...rld-record.html

 

[David Wolfson]

I'll be presumptuous and post a question: strong squall lines passing across a body of water, such as the southern end of Lake Michigan, under certain circumstances are known to produce what occasionally destructive hydrodynamic phenomena?

 

[Sam Sagnella]

seiches (sp?)...?

 

[Patrick Kerrin]

So, someone ask the next question already - so much of this is going to come down to who is at their computer when the question comes up. Maybe there should also be a rule that you can't look up the answer on the web - but books are OK?

 

[Patrick Kerrin]

Originally posted by David Wolfson
I'll be presumptuous and post a question: strong squall lines passing across a body of water, such as the southern end of Lake Michigan, under certain circumstances are known to produce what occasionally destructive hydrodynamic phenomena?

Sorry, I didn't see that one there. I'll take a guess and say the answer is a storm surge - though I have never heard of such a case. If that is the case, would the "storm surge" be driven by strong outflow as opposed to extreme the low sfc pressure induced storm surge in hurricanes?

 

[David Wolfson]

Yeah. You got it, Sam. Seiches are what I had in mind. As your prize I guess you get to figure out a harder question.

 

[Morgan Palmer]

What is this type of radar phenomena called (the "flare" heading west northwest from this storm), and also, what causes it?


[Broken External Image]:ftp://ftp.werh.noaa.gov/share/ILN/88D-Techniques/6.TBSS/tbssbig.jpg

 

[Robert Dewey]

Would that be a hail spike, caused be none other than... hail?

 

[Morgan Palmer]

yep... the tech name is Three (or triple) Body Scatter Spike... but yeah, caused by large hail.

ftp://ftp.werh.noaa.gov/share/ILN/88D-Tec...BSS/tbssweb.htm

 

[Robert Dewey]

Guess I will ask a question now... This is a term I learned from The Weather Channel way back in the day...

What is it called when lightning strikes the ground, and the resultant heat fuses dry sandy soil together, to form a small piece of glass?