World Meteorological Day
This day commemorates 60 years of service to the world by the World Meteorological Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. The WMO says this service is on behalf of humanity’s “safety and well-being.”
Meteorology is the study of weather. People have always studied the weather—our earliest ancestors studied the skies and clouds, kept track of the seasons, and tried to predict the weather of the immediate future. Today, with lots of scientific observations and experiments, weather instruments and computers, and satellite imagery, we are able to do a lot better at recording weather measurements, comparing current weather to that of the past, and spot weather trends—and all of that means that our weather predictions are better…but it’s still a challenge to “get it right.”
Weather forecasters can’t be totally accurate, but by talking about “the chances of rain,” the likely time a hurricane will arrive at a particular spot, and the expected temperatures, meteorologists do all of us a HUGE service! There will always be some surprises, when it comes to weather—some nice, and some nasty.
Learn more about f
orecasting.
The Weather Dude has a clear explanation about weather forecasting, and a YouTube video tells how people at KTNV station put weather reports on TV.
Now try weather reporting using this EdHead game.
Check out the art of Remi Benyamin, which is inspired by the swirling air masses captured on satellite photos of Scandinavia.
You can’t beat weather for dramatic photos!
Weather Pix has some great images.
Explore storms on Chris Kridler’s Sky Diary.
