Portal:Weather
The weather portal
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth.
Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.
Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns.
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, the weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind. (Full article...)
Selected article
The climate of India is composed of a wide range of weather conditions across a large geographic scale and varied topography. Analyzed according to the Köppen system, India hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging from desert in the west, to alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, to humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. Many regions have starkly different microclimates. The nation has four seasons: winter (January and February), summer (March to May), a monsoon season (June to September), and a post-monsoon period (October to December).
India's unique geography and geology strongly influence its climate; this is particularly true of the Himalayas in the north and the Thar Desert in the northwest. The Himalayas act as a barrier to the frigid katabatic winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly cold during winter; in summer, the same phenomenon makes India relatively hot. Although the Tropic of Cancer—the boundary between the tropics and subtropics—passes through the middle of India, the whole country is considered to be tropical.
As in much of the tropics, monsoonal and other weather conditions in India are unstable: major droughts, floods, cyclones and other natural disasters are sporadic, killing or displacing millions. India's long-term climatic stability is further threatened by global warming. Climatic diversity in India makes the analysis of these issues complex.
Recently selected articles: Subtropical cyclone, Precipitation, More...
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that after Irish post office clerk Maureen Flavin Sweeney reported worsening weather conditions, Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed to postpone D-Day by 24 hours?
- ... that an attempted British-Norwegian attack on the German battleship Tirpitz was abandoned after two Chariot manned torpedoes were lost due to bad weather?
- ... that weather whiplash is the phenomenon of rapid swings between extremes of weather conditions?
- ... that the weather forecast for HD 189733 b is "Westerly winds at 2000 m/s, with molten glass showers"?
- ... that extreme event attribution estimates how much climate change causes weather events, such as the 2021 Western North America heat wave?
- ... that Japanese actor Kouhei Higuchi prepared for his role on the television drama adaptation of My Personal Weatherman by learning from a weather forecaster?
Selected image
An animation of changing snow cover across the Earth over the period of a year. Snow cover is much more abundant in the Northern Hemisphere, which is not surprising considering that the large majority of land in the colder latitudes is in the Northern Hemisphere. Antarctica is perennially covered by snow or ice cap, except for a few places in the Antarctic Peninsula and the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
Recently selected pictures: Snow flakes, Sun dogs, Pyrocumulus clouds, More...
More did you know...
...that the Flying river is the name given to the transport of water vapor from the Amazon rainforest to southern Brazil?
...that hurricane shutters are required for all homes in Florida unless impact-resistant glass is used?
...that the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research is a combined weather and ocean research institute with the cooperation of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the University of Hawaiʻi?
...that the SS Central America was sunk by a hurricane while carrying more than 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857?
...that a hurricane force wind warning is issued by the United States National Weather Service for storms that are not tropical cyclones but are expected to produce hurricane-force winds (65 knots (75 mph; 120 km/h) or higher)?
...that the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System is a software package for tropical cyclone forecasting developed in 1988 that is still used today by meteorologists in various branches of the US Government?
Recent and ongoing weather
- Wikinews weather portal
- March 26, 2021: Tropical moisture ceases to cause severe floods in South East Australia
- February 19, 2021: Winter storms hammer Texas, fatalities reported
- December 28, 2021: Typhoon Phanfone strikes Philippines
- February 1, 2022: Deadly floods in Brazil after heavy rainfall
- April 15, 2022: South African floods kill at least 300 people
- Weather of 2024
- 2024 Atlantic hurricane season
- 2020–21 North American winter
- 2024 Pacific typhoon season
- Tornadoes of 2024
This week in weather history...
June 4
1958: A tornado outbreak killed 28 people in Wisconsin, including 21 deaths from a single F5 tornado.
June 5
1972: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment began in Stockholm, Sweden.
June 6
1973: Hurricane Ava became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record in the Pacific Ocean.
June 7
1997: Cyclone Keli formed in the South Pacific Ocean, the first tropical cyclone ever recorded in the month of June in that region.
June 8
1966: A tornado, one of the costliest in history, tracked across Topeka, Kansas, destroying a large portion of the city and killing 18 people.
June 9
1972: Intense rainfall led to the failure of Canyon Lake Dam along Rapid Creek near Rapid City, South Dakota. The resulting flooding killed 238 people and caused over $160 million in damage.
June 10
1682: The first known tornado in the history of Connecticut caused severe tree damage in the southwestern part of the state.
Selected biography
William Ferrel (January 29, 1817 – September 18, 1891) was an American meteorologist who developed theories that explained the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation cell in detail, and it is after him that the Ferrel cell is named. (Full article...)
Previously selected biographies: John Dalton, Sir George Stokes, More...
Related portals
Quality content
Other candidates:
- Featured Article Review: 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
- Featured List Removal Candidate: List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Discussion)
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WikiProjects
The scope of WikiProject Weather is to have a single location for all weather-related articles on Wikipedia.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing.
WikiProject Severe weather is a similar project specific to articles about severe weather. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
WikiProject Non-tropical storms is a collaborative project to improve articles related to winter storms, wind storms, and extratropical cyclones.
Wikipedia is a fully collaborative effort by volunteers. So if you see something you think you can improve, be bold and get to editing! We appreciate any help you can provide!
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