Merging Waves

In March Japan was hit with a high magnitude earthquakes and then a tsunami that killed thousands. Today scientists said that the huge wave was caused by merging waves. At least two or more waves had to merge together for this wave to be so powerful. Ocean ridges and mountains below the water were able to channel the waves caused by the large earthquake.

I found this to be a great article. Researchers have not be able to observe merging waves before now. Scientists used data from satellites to observe this behavior. Also, they now are able to predict some risks for tsunamis in the future. This made me think of our labs and how some of the tools are used to prevent risk. Now scientists can better forecast the tsunami danger all around the world.
article and picture from http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/06/world/asia/japan-tsunami-nasa/

Heavy Rain in the South

A large cold front swept through the Ohio Valley to the Mississippi Valley and parts of Eastern Texas. Rain was dumped in this area which was very helpful for Texas but not needed for Ohio and Mississippi. In a days time about 3-5 inches of rain fell in these areas. This was not good because the land was already wet which could cause flooding. Some areas that could flood were roadways, farmland, and smalls streams and creeks.

The picture on the left is from weather.com and is showing precipitation levels in that area. The storm is supposed to keep moving east and maybe turning into snow.

I found this to be a rater bleak article. Texas really needs the rain and the areas north do not. I have been blogging about these areas for the last couple months. I feel like they should be focusing on the area of Texas that received the much needed rain rather than the potential 'minor' flood areas.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/flood-threat-south-ohio-valley_2011-12-04

Now Snow and Sleet in OK & TX

Browsing weather.com I came across a short article. I found it to be a rather rare occurrence that my last two blogs were mentioned both in this article. Texas is getting a small amount of precipitation in the north. A snow/sleet storm is moving through Oklahoma and northern Texas. Some areas have seen 1-2 inches of snow in Texas, but unfortunately would not help the drought situation because the quantities would be minimal. The image here is just the radar map from weather.com. It shows mostly Oklahoma but you can see some northern area of Texas getting hit with the storm too.
First Oklahoma is shaking with multiple earthquakes and Texas in in a historic drought. Now snow and sleet fill Oklahoma and parts of the north in Texas. Fortunately the south in this time has warm weather, making the temperature rise during the day and cause the snow to melt away.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/wintry-precipitation-hazardous-travel_2011-12-05

NASA Watches Texas Aquifers

As we all know Texas is in a major drought. With only receiving 12 inches of rain this year, they are down 15.5 inches. This is a big event. Texas aquifers (ground water supply) is at a record low. There is very little rain in Texas and the more people use the aquifers, the supply lessens. The aquifers haven't been this low for more than 2% of the time since 1948.
The NASA satellites measure gravity based on mass variation. He was able to put this data together with data about the rain Texas got, and is able to see the aquifers are dangerously low. This time of year is a very dry year for Texas. The next hope for rain won't be until spring.

I found this article to be very interesting. It really makes me think of 'water water everywhere but not a drop to drink.' This drought has been going on in Texas for almost a year. Most likely it will take a very long time and lots of rain to refill the aquifers to their normal level. I don't know how this will happen or how likely this is because Texas is usually in times of drought.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/nasa-texas-drought_2011-12-01

Oklahoma Still Shaking

I have wrote about in past blogs about the earthquakes in Oklahoma. Last week I spotted an article about their recent earthquakes. In November 23 earthquakes were recorded. I blogged about the one at a magnitude of 5.6 that caused lots of damage and had an unusually high magnitude. People say the recent tremors have been slight, only able to shake a water glass but not strong enough to knock anything to the floor. Apparently the quakes can be traced back to 2 years prior. Once again a possible cause could be the process of extracting oil from the ground.

I find this to be really interesting. Oklahoma is in the middle of the North American Tectonic plate. There are fault lines but it is not an area where plates are rubbing together, which is where you would expect multiple earthquakes. As I have stated before when you think Oklahoma you think tornadoes. I know that the oil extracting process is a thought cause of the quakes. It will be interesting to find out if it really is or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/us/oklahoma-continues-string-of-recent-mild-earthquakes.html?_r=1

Santa Ana Winds

On Thursday Southern California was hit hard by the Santa Ana winds. The winds took out power lines, windows, trees but at a much higher magnitude. The winds are currently back in Southern California, but not as bad as before. Speeds in the mountains could be from 50-60mph and in the lower elevated areas from 40-50 miles per hour. The picture is from weather.com. This illustrates areas for potential wind damages.

One interesting thing is that with these winds the humidity drops at a sharp rate. This is why there is high fire danger, and if a fire would start combining with the winds, it could be an even bigger disaster.

Below are some pictures from the damage the winds on Thursday caused. After looking at these pictures it makes me think a tornado went through Southern California. I thought this was interesting because the cause of this damage was only winds.