Our atmosphere is constantly changing. The state of the atmosphere and how
it changes is what we call weather. The immense ocean of air
in which we live has the ability to reconfigure itself quickly on many
different scales; this serves as a source of wonder, pleasure,
vexation and danger.
Because weather can influence our lives so greatly, it has become necessary
to make attempts to accurately predict it. During the last century
weather prediction grew from little more than an art into a well-recognized
discipline within the now-robust science of meteorology (the study of the
atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and their prediction).
Weather prediction, or weather forecasting, by its very nature is
less than perfect; because of this imperfection and the significant
effects weather exerts on our daily lives, the weatherman became
fodder for jokesters, skeptics and complainers. During my tenure as U.S.
Air Force meteorologist and weather forecaster, our jovial response to the
critics became, “Our forecast is guaranteed. If it fails for any
reason, we’ll give you a new one.”
The quality of weather prediction has improved dramatically over the
last 30 years. Numerical models, satellite imagery, doppler radar and
other state-of-the-art technologies have revolutionized the field of
meteorology. Nearly gone is the moniker of weatherman,
in great part because many of today’s meteorologists are women.
Forecasting the weather is still far from perfect, but great strides have
been made — especially in the arenas of severe storm prediction and
tropical meteorology. As accuracy has improved, respect has grown for
meteorologists and their role as protectors of the public interest.
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published prior to 13 April 2003, updated 23 March
2006.
Ten Spider Weather & Meteorology provides resources with which you can
both learn about the weather and plan for its effects on your life.
Topics covered range from allergies to weather radar. You can find your
local forecast, aviation weather, radar and satellite imagery, warnings
and advisories, hurricane and tropical storm maps, information on what
causes tornadoes, and much, much more. You can even learn about and shop
for weather instruments. View the
Weather
& Meteorology SiteMap for a complete list of our meteorology and
weather-related topics.
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WEATHER & METEOROLOGY SITEMAP
(367 Resources updated 19 November 2008 plus RSS feed & images)
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AVIATION WEATHER
(12 Resources updated 23 January 2008)
CLIMATOLOGY
(22 Resources updated 13 July 2005)
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HYDROLOGY
(10 Resources updated 19 November 2008)
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SEVERE WEATHER
(99 Resources updated 12 June 2008)
TROPICAL METEOROLOGY
(64 Resources plus images updated 18 August 2008)
WEATHER INSTRUMENTS & EQUIPMENT
(29 Resources updated 28 April 2007)
WEATHER & HEALTH
(15+ Resources updated 27 May 2008)
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