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Flash Flooding in Parts of the US

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Catastrophic Flash Flooding:  Monday night (07/25/22) a catastrophic flash flooding event unraveled across parts of Missouri and Illinois. Dumping heavy rainfall with estimated rainfall totals from radar around 10 - 14 inches. Multiple interstates turned to rivers, dozens of water rescues and sadly one death.  The first Flash Flood Warning was issued at 1:03am, then the first Flash Flood Emergency was issued at 3:36am Tuesday morning. Flash Flood Emergency is the highest flash flood alert that can be issued by the NWS.  Why did this Happen? In the summer time, some storms do not have a lifting mechanism. That is why in parts of the South and Southeast do not have tornadoes in the summer is because a lifting mechanism is not present. Here in Alabama we are no stranger to flash flooding in the summer. Storms in the summer time do a thing called "Training effect". That is where showers and thunderstorms just keep going over the same areas. A good visual for this weather phe...
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The World Games 2022 Road Closures & Security Permitters

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 The World Games 2022 Road Closures & Security Permitters   As we are counting down the days until the World will be here in Birmingham, Alabama. Now road closures and security permitters are starting to go up. Below, is some of the road closures and a link to the City of Birmingham's website with the complete list of closures and areas where travel will not permitted and where travel may traveled thru the area.  The biggest impacted areas will be: City Walk, BJCC, Protective Stadium, City Hall, and Jefferson County Courthouse TEXT "BHAMREADY" to the number 888777 for updates regarding road closures and other information from officials with the City of Birmingham. 
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#ShowYourStripesDay 2022

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 Last week on June 21, 2022 was #ShowYourStripesDay 2022! What is #ShowYourStripesDay: a day to spread awareness about Climate Change and rising global temperatures with the iconic warming stripes. Warming Stripes graphics represent the change in temperature over the last 100+ years. Each stripe represents one year, and the color corresponds to temperature.  Who Created #ShowYourStripesDay: Ed Hawkins, a climate scientist, created the warming stripes to visualize the long-term rise in global temperatures caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels. Red stripes equal above average temperatures and blue equals below temperatures.  First, we will start off with the global temperature change for 1850 - 2021.    Each line is the average temperature across the globe, taking temps from all across the globe, in different cites, states, and countries averaging it out for the year.  There are two types of causes with the regard of Climate Change. Clim...
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Behind the Science: Car Thermometers

 Is your Car Thermometer Right? During the last few weeks car thermometers have been reading over 100° in many cases with the extreme heat we had. Is that truly correct or is the thermometer on your car wrong?  Correct Answer: The thermometer on your car is WRONG . Why? Behind the Science: First, everyone knows we record temperatures with a thermometer. Gabriel Fahrenheit created the thermometer. The first ones used alcohol, later he used mercury. Mercury expands or contracts based on the temperature.  Your car does not have a thermometer on it, it has a Thermistor ! A thermistor uses electrical current to measure the temperature. Now these are both very accurate ways to record the temperature. The big thing is WHERE is exactly your car is that is it trying to record the temperature. These are off by a long-shot.  Why is my car Temperature Wrong? Well, official weather stations are usually at an airport. They are in shaded areas, typically grassy areas that are i...
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Is Tornado Alley shifting eastward with time?

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 Is Tornado Alley shifting eastward with time? That is a big question that some meteorologists and citizens are asking now with the increase in tornadoes over the past few years in places like the Mid-South and Southeast. On average 1,200 tornadoes hit the United States each year, according from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. We all know to well that we can have tornadoes in Alabama every month, year-round.  Where Tornado Alley Originated: The term "Tornado Alley" was first used in 1952 as the title of a research paper project about severe weather in the United States. The project was conducted by U.S. Air Force Meteorologists Maj. Ernest J. Fawbush and Captain Robert C. Miller and covered a region extending from areas of Texas to locations throughout the Mid-Western United States. The image below is where the classic tornado alley lines up.  Graphic: AccuWeather  Evidence: One piece of evidence that is over the past few years, the storms in...
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