WBRZ http://www.wbrz.com/ WBRZ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Weather - Pat Shingleton Column en-us Copyright 2013, WBRZ. All Rights Reserved. Feed content is not avaialble for commercial use. () () Sat, 18 May 2013 17:05:26 GMT Synapse CMS 10 WBRZ http://www.wbrz.com/ 144 25 "Reef-or-Madness?" http://www.wbrz.com/news/reef-or-madness-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/reef-or-madness-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 17 May 2013 9:32:14 PM Pat Shingleton It's the season for baseballs, tennis balls, soft balls, golf balls and especially an ice-cold snowball. Years ago, a Georgia company created "reef balls." Eternal Reefs secures the ashes of the deceased, adds them to concrete and places them in artificial reefs. Owners of the company claim that their "reef balls" can help repair environmental damage by creating a perpetual reef. The balls are designed to last 500 years, are equipped with holes to dissipate currents and generate a surface texture that encourages growth of coral and other marine life. A series of balls have already been installed offshore, along the Gulf Coast, creating the Great Egg Reef. The cost of the human-remain balls runs from $1,000 to $5,000 with pet balls running about $500. Rest in Reef.


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]]> "Trippin' Out..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/trippin-out-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/trippin-out-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 17 May 2013 3:01:58 PM Pat Shingleton Jerry and Lois Thompson keep me posted on changing weather in the Rockies. Many of their travels take them to Alamosa, Colorado, that rests in the San Luis Valley. Jerry mentions that over 50 peaks surround the area at an elevation of 14,000 feet. To the east of Alamosa is LaVeta Blanca with Wolf Creek pass on the other side at 10,850 feet. Alamosa has a population of about 45,000 as the Thompson's have "summered" at Aspen Ridge Campground with friends from Brusly, Baton Rouge and Denton, Texas. He noted that temperatures in June through August begin at 45 degrees, hitting 80 by afternoon; rapidly plummeting after sunset. In addition to fishing and mushroom collecting, Alamosa is known as the Great Gateway that Jerry will disclose in another column.


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]]> "Hurling on the Ball Field..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/hurling-on-the-ball-field-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/hurling-on-the-ball-field-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Thu, 16 May 2013 5:20:58 PM Pat Shingleton Japanese Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu hurled the first ceremonial "first pitch" in 1908 in Koshien, Japan, a tradition that has since honored 22 Presidents. Unless a game is rained-out, the ceremony always occurs. The "first pitch" also designates the completion of pregame festivities and the beginning of the game. Years ago, the guest threw a ball from their grandstand seat to the pitcher or catcher of the home team. In recent years the tradition has moved to the pitcher's mound, affording the thrower an acceptable range to home plate. My last pitching experience was when the Ellwood City Elks played Chewton which unfortunately ended in a two-hitter. I'll toss out the first pitch tonight at the LSU-Ole Miss game at Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box in "weather" attire.


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]]> "Plants-Only What they Need..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/plants-only-what-they-need-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/plants-only-what-they-need-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Wed, 15 May 2013 4:24:16 PM Pat Shingleton Recent lightning storms placed a batch of nitrogen on our vegetation. An archived item from Nature Geoscience noted that scientists challenged a commonly held theory in 2011 about rainfall's activity after reaching the ground. It was previously believed that rainfall entering the soil would mix with additional "ensuing" rain until transportation into the plant. Oregon State University researchers determined that rain is securely captured within plants until it is needed. Three years ago, the movement of rainfall was tracked through the Cascade Mountains and because of specific water signatures, researchers followed the rainfall from soil to small pores adjacent to the roots. These pores stored the rainfall until it was used in the transpiration process. The excess rainfall was diverted from the plants directly to nearby streams.


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]]> "CO-2 Hits the Top Spot!" http://www.wbrz.com/news/co-2-hits-the-top-spot-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/co-2-hits-the-top-spot-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Tue, 14 May 2013 4:00:34 PM Pat Shingleton An Hawaii-based monitoring station tracks the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide and last Thursday that amount inched closer to a record. The publication "Atlantic" reports that in 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen predicted that carbon dioxide would reach 350 parts per million by 2013 and last week's 400 ppm mark posted the highest daily mean concentration in human history. The environmental activist group "350.org." called the recent reading a "grim but predictable milestone." Scientists first registered the carbon scale briefly moving past 400 ppm last summer. Thursday's record was the first time a daily average has passed that point with predictions that 400 ppm readings could become common-place. Energy efficiency, renewable power and emission reductions resulted in a 13% decrease in carbon emissions over the last seven years.


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]]> "The Million Things She Gave Me!" http://www.wbrz.com/news/the-million-things-she-gave-me-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/the-million-things-she-gave-me-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 10 May 2013 5:36:58 PM Pat Shingleton She lives in the house where she was born and won't relocate to where her children reside. Her oldest, Denis, was born in the Spring, Mike in the Summer, Patrick and Kevin in Winter, Maureen and Mark in the Fall. Whether a snowstorm or thunderstorm, she refers to them by saying, "It's getting bad out there..." Summertime chores were a discipline followed by sports-related activities or swimming. Leaves were raked and piled on the garden. The snowy winters found us clad in snow-pants, boots, hoods, gloves, and home-made stocking hats; we could hardly move. I escorted Sue Welsh to our school prom as she requested violets for her corsage. Mom and her friend, Loraine Blinn, picked hundreds of them and took them to the florist where Sue's corsage was constructed.


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]]> "Grunting before Fishing..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/grunting-before-fishing-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/grunting-before-fishing-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 10 May 2013 5:11:53 PM Pat Shingleton Friday's thundershowers brought the earthworms to the surface. When I was a young lad, we called them "night-crawlers"- large earthworms that didn't like the wet but fish loved ‘em. If a shower didn't get them moving, the garden hose did. We'd wet-down a section of the yard around 7 p.m. and gather the night-crawlers. As noted in a previous column, folks in Florida's Apalachicola National Forest still practice the art of "grunting." Rubbing a curved steel bar over a planted wooden stake creates a strange sound. The vibrations annoy the worms, driving them to the surface. Thousands pour out of the ground, becoming prime fishing bait. Local grunters earn $1,000 in three hours for 5,000 worms. Due to today's showers, you may not be fishing but possibly some grunting.


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]]> "Chewin', Talkin' and Glidin'" http://www.wbrz.com/news/chewin-talkin-and-glidin-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/chewin-talkin-and-glidin-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Thu, 9 May 2013 5:11:52 PM Pat Shingleton
Our grandfather, Bert Price, lived with us in the same house that his children were born. A retired "railroader" at US Steel, he chewed Mailpouch tobacco, gardened, and read two newspapers every day from front to back. He watched only two television shows: Lawrence Welk and Studio Wrestling. As noted previously, he never had a driver's license but would sit on the front steps watching the cars - waving at them when they honked. No matter what the season in western Pennsylvania, he wore the same clothes: long johns, coveralls, flannel shirt with suspenders, boots, work gloves and his railroad hat. Predicting today's and tomorrow's thundershowers reminded me of Gramps when we would sit on the back porch glider during a thunderstorm. Not saying anything, just sitting, gliding and watching. Great memories...


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]]> "Humidity and Cold Beer..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/humidity-and-cold-beer-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/humidity-and-cold-beer-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Wed, 8 May 2013 5:45:27 PM Pat Shingleton A survey, conducted by another publication, found that Ivar's Sports Bar and Grill serves the coldest beer in Baton Rouge. Researchers at the University of Washington Atmospheric Science Department believe that water condensing on the outside edge of a can increases the beverage temperature. Pat Quigley, a noted Petroleum Engineer, and Ivar's owner advanced this theory years ago contending that exterior can drops cause additional warmth. When water vapor condenses on cans and bottles it changes into a liquid, releasing heat-causing warming. "Can" heat doubles during episodes of high humidity, similar to an LSU baseball or football tailgate. On a humid day in Saudi Arabia, a 12-ounce can of beer will warm 16 degrees in 5 minutes. Quigley combats the increase by serving each beverage in a "huggy."


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]]> "Wheat-More Winter than Spring..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/wheat-more-winter-than-spring-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/wheat-more-winter-than-spring-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Tue, 7 May 2013 5:13:22 PM Pat Shingleton
The Great Falls Tribune reports that experts at Montana State University determined that over the last 58 years an annual mean temperature increase during springtime has impacted the performance of hard red spring wheat. Because of the warm-up, spring wheat seeding is twelve days earlier than 60 years ago. In addition to the increase, wheat breeders determined that temperatures are hotter later in the growing season and a late July temperature rise occurs when wheat is "filling" with starch - a critical stage in the growth process. A rapid temperature rise kills the plant. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 predicted that increasing temperatures could have a positive impact on crop yields in the early part of the century resulting in more winter wheat grown than spring wheat.


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]]> "Three Big Ones..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/three-big-ones-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/three-big-ones-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Mon, 6 May 2013 5:01:12 PM Pat Shingleton On this date in 2011, hydrologists monitored the record rise of the Mississippi River. As noted in a previous column, The National Weather Service Forecast Center's Mississippi River Flood History posted a timely item. In 1543 Hernando Desoto experienced a 40 day flood near what-is-now Memphis. In 1788 a hurricane caused severe flooding which also marked the arrival of Acadian settlers at Fort Bute, Manchac and Baton Rouge. Another spring-flooding episode occurred in 1825, known as the last inundation of New Orleans on the lower Mississippi River. During the greatest flood in history, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover was elected President, enacting legislation to implement flood control projects. One year later, construction on the Bonnet Carre Spillway began with a full capacity flow that would match Niagara Falls.


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]]> "More Storms, Better Forecasts..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/more-storms-better-forecasts-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/more-storms-better-forecasts-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 3 May 2013 5:45:41 PM Pat Shingleton We are 27 days away from the official start of Hurricane Season 2013. Since 2008, The Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project engaged the tropical community in hopes of longer lead times and greater accuracy in warnings. Their goals include reducing average track errors and intensity errors by 20% in five years with 50% reductions in ten years for the first five days for a land falling storm. Tropical storms rapidly intensify and detecting this intensification is the highest priority forecast challenge identified by the National Hurricane Center. The Project hopes to increase the probability of detection for rapid intensification to 90% for the first day. Another goal is extending the lead time for hurricane forecasts to seven days; matching the accuracy equivalent of the day-5 forecasts previously introduced in 2003.


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]]> "Errrrrrrrrrrrrr...." http://www.wbrz.com/news/errrrrrrrrrrrrr-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/errrrrrrrrrrrrr-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Thu, 2 May 2013 5:28:07 PM Pat Shingleton Years ago, traveling over Government Street to Independence Park offered a glimpse of a siren atop a telephone pole within a wooded area. It was installed during the Cold War to alert residents of an attack. The siren was later modified for weather purposes and impending storms. In April, 2011, sirens failed in Madison, WI, during an outbreak of intense tornadoes. Replacing the sirens are cell phones and even though sirens enhance a multiple warning system, wireless emergency alerts immediately display a "take shelter immediately" message with an audio alert. Alerts now transmit three types of warnings: Life threatening storms, Presidential Alerts and Amber Alerts. Many emergency management directors believe sirens are valuable despite their aged methodology, the inability of hearing them indoors and past examples of storm-related failures.


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]]> "The Alley and Not 'Bowling'!" http://www.wbrz.com/news/the-alley-and-not-bowling-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/the-alley-and-not-bowling-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Wed, 1 May 2013 3:52:33 PM Pat Shingleton
A vague, outlined swath of countryside, extending from the deep-south through the plains and the Midwest formerly was a loose definition of "Tornado Alley." As noted in a previous column, Discovery magazine noted that two traditional alleys have been identified from Oklahoma and Texas through Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri; into the Ohio Valley. Another alley identifies our area and the Gulf South, known as the Dixie Alley. The American Association of Geographers has officially identified four distinct regions that could also receive alley labels. Michael Frates, a graduate assistant at the University of Akron, analyzed tornado tracks greater than 20 miles; identifying 3,000 tornado cells. His research verified that our Dixie Alley has the highest frequency of long-track tornadoes, making it the most active in the United States


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]]> "Monroe, LA. #33..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/monroe-la-33-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/monroe-la-33-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Tue, 30 Apr 2013 5:47:19 PM Pat Shingleton The American Lung Association monitors air pollution at numerous field offices. They post their "State of the Air Report" each year, identifing ozone levels and particle pollutants throughout the United States. By example, the Assocation has given Baton Rouge a "passing grade" for annual particle pollutants, a "B" for particle pollution and an "F" for ozone. Los Angeles tops the list for the worst ozone in the country which inlcudes the Bakersfield area. The state of California posts nine out of 25 American cities with the most ozone. Other cities include Birmingham and Cincinnatti in the 14th position and Beaumont, Texas at number 20. The cleanest cities include Ames, Iowa at number one, Dothan, Alabama at 16, Muscle Shoals, Alabama at 20 and Monroe, Louisiana at number 33.


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]]> "2 X 4's and Tornadoes..." http://www.wbrz.com/news/2-x-4-s-and-tornadoes-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/2-x-4-s-and-tornadoes-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Mon, 29 Apr 2013 5:38:21 PM Pat Shingleton
Discarded liners previously used to encase offshore oil-rig piping were recognized as a model of "green" engineering and are now being recycled for another important use. In tornado prone areas, storm shelters provide valuable protection and the National Storms Shelter Association tests products to improve storm shelters. Recently the Texas Tech Debris Impact Test Facility fired 15-pound two-by-fours from a pressure cannon that did not penetrate the panels. The wooden projectiles hit the discarded liners at 100 mph, replicating objects that exit a funnel cloud. Applying modern materials science to storm shelters started after Hurricane Katrina and was advanced after 62 tornadoes ravaged Alabama. The newly designed panels are made of thermoplastic and fiberglass resins and fibers and are stronger per density unit than steel, currently used in shelters.


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]]> "Dam It...." http://www.wbrz.com/news/dam-it-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/dam-it-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 26 Apr 2013 8:55:40 PM Pat Shingleton The Pacific Institute reported six years ago that China is the most dammed nation in the world, followed by the United States, India, Japan, Spain and Canada. These placements remain the same. Outside Magazine reports that 47,665 large dams exist in 140 countries and the weight of their water is so immense scientists believe it alters the speed of the earth's rotation. As noted in a previous column, dams provide one-fifth of the world's electricity and are also a mainstay in providing beneficial irrigation for one-sixth of the world's food supply. The downside is that 80 million people have been displaced by dams worldwide. Dams also inhibit fish migration and alter water flow in addition to adjusting temperatures. In recent years more than 212 dams have been torn down.


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]]> "Salt of the Earth" http://www.wbrz.com/news/salt-of-the-earth-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/salt-of-the-earth-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 26 Apr 2013 7:54:50 PM Pat Shingleton  

You may be using a variety of "salts" for this final weekend in April. Salt farming depends on the weather and for French artisan farmers; it's a labor of love. The wind and the sun's heat creates a high tide in Guerande, France; an area of marshy meadows, also known as the "Cote Sauvage." Europeans harvested salt from this area since the ninth century and salt farmers or paludiers use the same technique and tools to collect this caviar of salt. The collection process begins with a wooden gate that traps the sea water into the marsh. When the correct amount of water flows at the correct rate, a maze of clay walls promotes slow evaporation. After a month, the water seeps into shallow pools and salt appears.

 


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]]> "Salt of the Earth-Part II" http://www.wbrz.com/news/salt-of-the-earth-part-ii-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/salt-of-the-earth-part-ii-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Fri, 26 Apr 2013 7:52:31 PM Pat Shingleton In addition to tides, sunny warm days are the key ingredients in salt farming. Continuing our Saturday column, salt farmers, known as paludiers, collect the gourmet of all salts for use in renowned restaurants worldwide. Once a wooden gate traps the sea water, a collection of clay walls promotes slow evaporation. Seepage leads to shallow pools and the appearance of the salt. Salt farmers use a tool, resembling a swimming pool skimmer to drag what looks like a lattice of thin ice into a wicker basket. After skimming the top, the evaporation process continues, leaving the clay-bottomed basin loaded with coarse grey salt. Natural salt is less acidic and less sharp than industrial salts and the paludier's harvest of 60 tons of salt relies on wind, water and sun


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]]> "Preparing for the Big One!" http://www.wbrz.com/news/preparing-for-the-big-one-/ http://www.wbrz.com/news/preparing-for-the-big-one-/ Weather - Pat Shingleton Column Thu, 25 Apr 2013 5:48:22 PM Pat Shingleton Two things that can't be denied to a nuclear reactor are power and water. Electric Light and Power reports that the 9.0 earthquake at the Fukushima plant in Japan, causing three meltdowns in 2011, was a game changer. Last month the Nuclear Regulatory Commission charged that the Tennessee Valley Authority failed to adequately protect the Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear plants from the potential for failure of earthen dams upstream. Officials contend that a monster flood could potentially cover electrical connections and pumps, preventing the cooling of reactors. Even though the NRC cited TVA with six violations, measures have been implemented to protect the plants against dam failure in the event of a possible "maximum flood." In 2010, Nashville was inundated with a record flooding that precipitated the investigation.

 

 


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