Weather forecasts are a vital part of everyday life. They help us prepare for unexpected events, such as bad storms, extreme heat, cold waves, droughts, and more.
To predict the weather, we look at a variety of factors. Some are as simple as looking at the sky, while others are more involved, such as weather patterns in the past or movement of clouds across the globe.
Clouds
The weather for tomorrow will be a mix of sun and cloud. A high near 64 degrees will be accompanied by a calm wind.
The temperature will be on the cool side at night. The low will be in the mid 50s. The wind will be from the east.
The weather might not be as clear as you’d like and some lingering fog will make for a challenging morning commute. The best way to stay in the know is to download AccuWeather’s app for your phone or tablet. The app is free to download and offers a number of features, including the ability to create your own custom forecast. You can also find the latest weather and news reports in your feed. The weather app also includes a helpful “weather forecast alerts” feature, which notifies you when an alert is triggered. The app also offers a map of your location, as well as a number of other useful tools.
Wind
Wind is air in motion, and it helps shape our weather. It can dry our clothes in summer and chill us to the bone in winter.
It also transports water vapor great distances around the globe. It is a vital driver of ocean surface currents, including the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Gulf Stream.
The way wind moves depends on a variety of factors, including differences in pressure, temperature, and the planet’s rotation (the Coriolis effect).
As air warms, it rises. Cool air tries to move in and replace the rising warm air, so the pressure changes.
In addition, air friction along the ground determines speed and direction of the wind. Locally, the speed and direction of winds can vary greatly from what would be expected on a weather map because of terrain features such as hills and mountains.
Pinecones
Pine trees have a unique reproductive structure called a cone. Cones contain pollen that travels from one tree to another.
As a result, trees have two different kinds of cones: male and female. The male cones grow and release pollen, while the female cones hold seeds.
In response to dry weather, a pine cone opens and drops feather-light seeds. These seeds are easy to catch in the wind and disperse far from the original source.
However, wet conditions dampen seed dispersal. This is why a slight rise in humidity triggers pine cones to curl their scales to protect the seeds inside.
This is a clever, efficient scheme that enables pine cones to predict rain. It also points to ways that engineers could develop new materials and systems that respond automatically to changes in temperature or humidity.
Animals
Animals are living things that use their bodies to sense, move, and react to the environment around them. This allows them to find food, mates, and safety.
They also have specialized nerve cells that help them sense light, sound, and touch. Their nervous systems direct the muscles and organs that allow them to move and respond to their environment.
There are millions of different kinds of animals, from the polar zones to the hot deserts. Each animal has its own unique way of responding to the weather and its surroundings.
In general, animals are more sensitive to changes in weather conditions than humans. They can sense changes in temperature, air pressure, and wind, among other factors.
