Wild Weather on the Web

From hot, sunny days to freezing cold blizzards, weather can seem like a great mystery! Join this virtual field trip as we explore some terrific sites that help explain what's behind our wild weather.

Start your journey at Dan's Wild Wild Weather Page. You can find out how meteorologists use satellites to make accurate forecasts. Take a look at the current infrared satellite image of North America. Do you see any tornado storms forming? Did you know that more tornadoes occur in the United States than in any place else in the world? Learn about these powerful winds, then find out how to measure them using the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale.

What's more dangerous than tornadoes? Sabrina would tell you it's lightning. She and her parents were hit by lightning, which kills and injures more people every year than tornadoes and hurricanes do. Find out what happened to Sabrina, and then read her Lightning Information and Safety page, where she'll tell you what it felt like to be hit by lightning, share some safety tips for the home, and explain why lightning is so dangerous. Be sure to visit the Flash to Bang page, where Sabrina shows how to tell how far away lightning is. Check out the bolt from the blue photo that shows just how far lightning can strike from a storm.

Next, meet The Weather Dude, a Seattle meteorologist who created a page just for kids and teachers. Start out at Meteorology A to Z and learn all about terms like atmosphere, humidity, and ultra-violet rays. Then check out Musical Meteorology, where you can download songs or just read the lyrics to lots of fun weather songs! At his questions and quizzes page, you can ask Nick a question or take an online quiz. Check Nick's weather proverbs in his stuff for kids to find out how for centuries people have been using "nature's forecasters" to predict the weather.

Travel inside a hurricane to see what fuels these powerful storms. Next, find out how you can make a hurricane spiral. You can also try tracking a hurricane. Finally, find out how hurricanes are named. One might just be named after YOU!

"Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise," said Ben Franklin. Learn how to be weatherwise at Franklin's Forecast at The Franklin Institute Science Museum. Find out how meteorologists use technology to look for ten weather events — like thunderstorms, fog, and cold fronts. Along with each explanation, you'll find an exciting video clip. Would you like to have your own weather station? Why not make all the tools you'll need, like a barometer, a hygrometer, and a rain gauge. You can even make your own compass with just a stick, a few stones, and the sun.

Dan's Wild Wild Weather Page
http://www.wildwildweather
.com

Kids' Lightning Information and Safety Page
http://www.azstarnet
.com/anubis
/zaphome.htm

The Weather Dude
http://www.wxdude.com

Franklin's Forecast
http://sln.fi.edu
/weather/index.html