Friday, February 15, 2008

Bucket O' Bookmarks: BudBurst

Citizen scientists sought

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Gardeners, for years you've been relying on data from meteorologists to plan your activities; now you have a chance to repay the favor by helping climate research. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has announced that, starting today, Project BudBurst is soliciting data on the timing of leafing and flowering of native tree and flower species throughout the U.S.

Cinquefoil wildflowers in Colorado. (Photo by Carlye Calvin, ©UCAR.)

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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Today in Weather History: Feb. 14 vs. Jan. 14

As we noted last month, January 14, statistically speaking, is virtually allergic to snow. That's not the case for today's date, however. The February 14 daily snowfall record of 4.9" in 1885, while far from the overall February daily record of 16.4" in the blizzard of Feb. 11, 1983, is still quite respectable. In the modern era, the record snowfall for the 14th at National Airport is a bit lower, 3.5" in 1970.

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Local Lecture: Meet a Met

Following last month's presentation by Paul Kocin, former Weather Channel winter expert, the local chapter of the American Meteorological Society is hosting another operational forecaster for its February meeting next week. Ken Reeves, expert senior meteorologist and director of forecasting operations at AccuWeather, Inc., will be speaking on the subject, "Accuracy vs. Value: How Our Forecasts are Used." Reeves hosted an online chat at the Mother Ship last August on severe weather in the Midwest.

The meeting is a week from tonight, the 20th, beginning at 6:45 p.m. at the Environmental Protection Agency office, 1310 L St., NW. There is no charge to attend, but because of federal government security requirements, you must RSVP no later than the close of business tomorrow. RSVP information and directions are available on the DC-AMS Web site.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Political Science: Debate 2008

With voters going to the polls for the presidential primaries in all three local jurisdictions tomorrow, some citizens might be concerned that very little attention has been given to where the candidates stand on scientific issues. Physics Today, the magazine of the College Park-based American Institute of Physics, has been questioning presidential candidates since 1976 on their positions regarding science. This year, they have collected candidate stands on science education, teaching evolution, nuclear weapons, science investment, energy policy, and climate change from Democrats Clinton and Obama, as well as Republicans Huckabee, McCain, and Paul.

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Seasonal Outlook

Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.


Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.