U.S. Lightning Fatalities Graphic

Here's a great graphic out of NOAA showing United States Lightning Fatalities from 2006 - 2015. So far the deadliest year has been 2006 with 48 deaths. The graphic also shows which gender the fatality was, which is interesting because it's almost 80% male!! 

Lightning is a very dangerous aspect of any thunderstorm, even non-severe storms! Remember, if you can hear thunder then you're close enough to be struck by lightning! Also, many people believe thunder and lightning are separate events but lighting is the action that causes thunder to occur! 

When a storm is headed your way, please seek shelter immediately, stay away from windows and don't use your plumbing (sink, shower). If a house is directly struck by lightning, the energy can flow through utilities like plumbing and strike you while you're inside your home! 

If you can't find shelter during a storm, stay away from tall objects like trees, a car is safer to stay in than a field, just don't touch the metal frame of your car. If you are stranded outside, kneel down as low as you can be, while also limiting the amount of your body touching the ground, don't stand in water. 

A great way to stay alert to storms in your area is by downloading various apps. A free app with lightning detector built into it is the WeatherBug app. It will tell you how far away the closest lightning strike is. You can even change settings to allow the app to alert you when lightning is close by.  

With technology today, lightning strikes should truly be freak accidents! 

Want to watch a cool 3D visualization of how lightning forms? Check out the cool video 

A Guide to Measuring Snow by NOAA!

Below is a cool infographic on how to properly measure snow from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Since snow doesn't always fall straight to the ground from the clouds, you need to be careful to not measure in drifts that farm near buildings or other objects. Also take multiple measurements to insure the best reading! 

This is definitely something fun to do with the kids or any weather enthusiast and if done correctly you can report your results to your local National Weather service office or even your local tv meteorologist who will be certainly looking for snow measurements on social media (Twitter, Facebook). Take a pic of your ruler in the snow and send it with the average measurement to your local meteorologist and it may end up on tv! 

Here's a measurement I took in early 2014. We got just about 6 inches of snow! 

It's Getting Hot in Here...2014 Warmest Year on Record

Big news on Twitter on Friday January 16th, which usually seems to get overlooked. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the news as well as a graphic showing that 2014 was officially the warmest on record. According to the graphic, we've been above average every year since the late 1970s!! That's about 38 years! I'm only 27, so that means I've NEVER seen a below average year globally in my entire lifetime! 

It's interesting to note that this chart has taken into account not only land temperature anomalies but also ocean temperature anomalies. There are some theories out there that suggest a slowdown in warming over the last decade is the direct result of the oceans sucking up all the heat. If this is true, not only will the oceans be changing drastically (👎😁) but what happens when they can't absorb anymore of the excess heat? Do average temps suddenly skyrocket? Seems to be a lot of questions about the future of our ever changing climate! 

Check out the graphic below. 

It was a Warm, Green Christmas in 2014!

There was no white christmas this year in the Tri-State region. In fact it was one of the warmest Christmas eves and Christmas days in decades! It was also one of the wettest as well! The graphic below was released by the New York City National Weather Service office. It shows the records, as well as official temps and rainfall for the area's weather station. Bridgeport, CT is the closest station to my hometown. However, check out how warm it got at LaGuardia airport in New York! It got up to 63 degrees on Christmas day, that beat the record by 6 degrees from 24 years ago in 1990! 

It was also one wet, Christmas Eve with it being the wettest on record at Islip, NY and Kennedy, NY.