Plains as the entire area from North Texas up to North Dakota?
Our weather differs vastly from weather in Oklahoma, much less Kansas,
Nebraska and the Dakotas. They get much colder than we do, they get more
snow. We get more tornadoes! If you shrunk Texas down to the size of
Oklahoma, though, they'd get more tornadoes PER SQUARE MILE, but Texas gets
more tornadoes than any other state simply because it's bigger than any
other state.
Otherwise, weather in the Metroplex is different than weather in East
Texas, in the Panhandle, in West Texas or even in Central Texas. We're our
own region, and our weather differs greatly than other places. East Texas
and Central Texas get more rain, Central Texas gets more flooding than we
do, West Texas and the Panhandle gets drier air, dust storms and snow.
Significant events for the Metroplex would be the Fort Worth/Arlington
tornadoes of 2000, the Cinco de Mayo hailstorm May 5, 1995 that produced the
costliest damage of any individual storm on record. Many, many people (22,
I think) died in Dallas as a result of the flooding rains from that
hailstorm.
We've had several tornadoes that hit Lancaster, Wylie, Arlington (other
than 2000), flooding rains that hit all over the Metroplex, ice storms, heat
waves, and deadly lightning strikes.
Weather in this part of the country (the Plains) differs from other
places in the world because it is the region where tornadoes are most likely
to form. No other place in the world gets the type of weather that
regularly leads to tornado seasons: warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico
streams northward across the Plains at the same time cold, dry air blasts
down from up north. (Like today.) Sometimes, these conditions lead to
severe weather, sometimes they don't (like today).
This is just a snippet of weather in the Metroplex...imagine how much
information there is for each city in each state in each region! Hopefully,
this is enough information to get you started. Good luck with the project!
Rebecca
-----Original Message-----
From: Gema Padgett [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 10:27 AM
To: Miller, Rebecca (NBC)
Subject: RE:
<< File: JPEG image >> Thank you for such a quick response.
We are very excited about our first "collaboration" as a class.
The website you gave us will be very good!
I will explain what we are going to do as a project so that
you can better understand our definition of region.
Our class is creating an extensive website of Texas weather.
We are going to break it down into the following regions: Coastal Plains,
The North Central Plains, The Great Plains, and The Mountains and Basins.
When I mentioned region, I meant the region that we live in, The North
Central Plains. I realize we are very close to the Coastal Plains region
also. Is there a definite dividing line? We feel our weather matches the
North Central Plains better than the Coastal Plains.
When you give us your thoughts on important weather events
that have occurred in our region, we are going to research that to find out
more.
We are also going to poll other meteorologist in other
regions to get their thoughts and feeling on their weather in their region.
I see you often on the news at the zoo. We will be taking a
field trip there to do research.
Thanks,
Gema
I have attached a picture of our class.
Oh right, that's an easy one! There are only about a hundred books written
on this topic, scholars who devoted their lives to answering the
question...and you want me to answer it in an e-mail! HA-HA-HA. You have
much confidence in me, and for that I thank you. OK, I'll be serious now.
There are many factors that have to exist in order for a hurricane to
form. BUT, even though these factors exist, that doesn't mean a hurricane
will form!
In order to have hurricanes, water temperatures must be at least 80
degrees F or warmer. You must have a cluster of storms with converging
winds at the surface and diverging winds aloft, and these storms cannot form
within 4 degrees of the equator. These conditions arise because the earth
spins, and because it is heated unevenly by the sun because the earth is
tilted on it's axis.
If you want a really fun way to research this, go to the Fort Worth Zoo!
Yes....in the Texas Wild portion of the zoo, there is a four part video on
hurricanes. I put this video together a year ago, and it is shown in the
Bait Shack in the coastal part of Texas Wild. I'm sure it will answer all
of your questions, and you also get to go to the zoo to do your research!
Let me know if you need more help. Rebecca
-----Original Message-----
From: Gema Padgett [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 11:56 AM
To: Miller, Rebecca (NBC)
Subject: Texas Weather Project
Hello,
Our teacher contacted you about a month ago about a project
we are doing on Texas weather. We have researched the Galveston storm of
1900. We have a question we would like for you to answer.
Why do hurricanes happen?
Thank you
We look forward to hearing from you,
James and Kenyan
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