Click the image above to go to a post on the Atlantic‘s website by Senior Editor and technology writer Alexis Madrigal about being better prepared to discuss the weather. Not the way a previous generation might have talked about it, but no thanks at all to the climate conundrums confronting this and future generations:
Talking about the weather used to be a euphemism for not talking about anything at all.
But lately, that once-innocent diversion has become mottled with darkness. No matter how many times scientists tell us that weather isn’t climate, the day-to-day weather sure does remind us of the long-term trends that together form the climate.
Is the unseasonably warm, dry weather we’re having in California a pleasant occasion for pleasantries or an impending sign of planetary doom? Maybe both.
The same goes for hurricanes and polar vortices and any other anomaly. We talk about our strange local weather, but we are also talking about our planet’s future.
And what that means is: Talking about the weather no longer simply requires looking outside or checking the temperature on an app. We need context, long-term trend lines, analysis, and—because why not—also data and maps and webcams and pictures from space.
Here’s how to elevate your weather-talking game with help from @burritojustice, the best Twitter feed for eclectic, unexpected links (especially about the weather and historical mapping).
There are three general types of resources here. First, there are people and institutions that analyze the weather and tell us about them. The second category is unfiltered public weather data and imagery. And the last tranche of resources deliver forecasts or computer models on which forecasts are based.
People and Institutions
The first stop for budding weather nerds is Jeff Masters’ Wunderground blog. This is meteorology, raw and uncut. Masters breaks down newsy weather phenomena better than anyone.
On Twitter, friends swear by @EricHolthaus, a meteorologist who recently joined for Slate. Others love Anthony Sagliana, who writes for Accuweather. There are many meteorologists with prominent online presences, like Cliff Mass for the Pacific Northwest/West, the Capital Weather Gang for the D.C. region, and @phillywx for the Delaware Valley. Check out, for example, Mass’s look at western snowpack as seen in satellite imagery from 2013 and 2014.
It’s also worth following the regional Twitter accounts that interest you. For example, if you’re interested in tornadoes, the NWS’s Norman, Oklahoma regional office is a must follow. Or if you follow space launches out of Johnson Space Center, there’s a feed just for you.
During a weather event, these Twitter feeds often present the most interesting Weather Service information in a way that’s easy to access.
If you’re not a Twitter user, they have a variety of ways to receive important alerts. Specific types of weather events tend to have their own web outposts, too. For hurricanes, for example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains the National Hurricane Center.
There are also several tools and apps that provide a lot of data all in one place for your local weather. The standard is probably Weather Underground, but there are many sites. Check out, for example, Weatherspark for a detail-rich interface…
Read the whole post here.
Organikos 