The rules for the contenst are posted at: Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest.

NOAA: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/

According to NOAA the current ten year average tornado trend is 1270 tornadoes per year. Prior to 2000 there was only one year that exceeded 1000.

Last month I posted that we were experiencing unusually early tornadoes in January. This unusual activity is continuing on into February with deadly results. Tornados can occur in any month, but they usually don’t become frequent until April peaking in August. This year we have already had a record setting number of tornados (291 by February 14th).  According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety

–“In 2001, a total of 1,081 tornadoes hit 43 states and killed 37 people.” –“The only other year on record when the total number of tornadoes went over 1,000 was in 1973 when a record number of 1,102 twister hits.”

Pretty incredible!

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On January 1, 2008 I started a new blog called 1:5:10:365. On it I am posting a daily tip for becoming a better steward for our homes and planet. Today I posted an out of order tip regarding emergency alert radios.

Please check out my new blog at: 

http://1510365blog.wordpress.com/category/latest-1510365-tips/057-urgent-tip-emergency-weather-radio/

If this is true it would means that hurricanes would have a limited temperature range in which they can form. If the ocean is too cold – there isn’t enough energy. If the ocean is too hot – the energy is too extreme and leads to an atomosheric chaos too great for storms to form.

If this is true - it demonstrates further that we have a lot to learn about our climate and the extremes that are being produced.

I’m not a climatologist but if I am reading this correctly, this study may help explain the Atlantic hurricane respite we have experienced over the last two years. It may also help explain the increase in hurricanes and tropical storms hitting the west coast of Mexico and Southern California.

My book Extreme Weather Hits Home has lots of information about how to prepare our buildings to better withstand these uncertain times and the extreme and constantly shifting conditions . If you can’t find it at your local bookseller, ask them to order it.

 Temperature records for January were set in Buffalo, Toledo, Atlantic City New Jersey and Chicago.

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2008/01/08/Severe.Weather/

 http://www.claims-portal.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=1779

or follow the blogroll at the right.

“The The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”

 Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Extraction

Chapter 3 – Production

Chapter 4 – Distribution

Chapter 5 – Consumption

Chapter 6 – Disposal

Chapter 7 – Another Way

So how can an ice storm be associated with global warming? Warmer temperatures mean the upper atmosphere can hold more moisture. When this moisture condenses it begins to fall as rain. If surface conditions are below freezing, the rain drops freeze and become ice. When upper atmosphere temperatures are cold the water falls as snow not rain. Snow is less damaging since it weighs about 1/10th as much as ice. So global warming is resulting in more ice storms because the snow doesn’t form.