Author Archives: Michael Fagin

22 May

Plane Crash

Weather for PilotsWith 0 comments

Plane crash and the ensuing  forensic analysis is critical as we look at a recent cargo plane crash. Beyond the tragedies that spawn from victims losing lives, small aviation accidents may lead to insurance claims of hundreds of thousands of dollars, while large accidents can devastate into the billions. In 2015, there were 1,282 civil

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13 Apr

Storms

Historical Weather Data, Weather ConditionsWith 0 comments

Storms. Spring 2018’s Severe Storms in the Midwest may be notably destructive. When warm air masses of the southern plains collide with downward-sloping, cool air from Canada, the atmosphere attempts to sort out its differences. The act of moving that air to perform the balancing act, when done rapidly, can evolve into the atmospheric tantrum

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07 Mar

Airplane Accidents

Weather for PilotsWith 0 comments

Airplane Accidents-Crash of Saratov Airlines Flight 703. The afternoon of February 11th, 2018 saw, not far from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, the crash of an AN-148-100B aircraft enroute from Moscow to Orsk, Russia near the Kazakhstan border. The aircraft carried 65 passengers and six crewmembers. There were no survivors. While the investigation is ongoing some facts

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18 Feb

Weather Consultants

Historical Weather Data, Weather ExpertWith 0 comments

Weather Consultants use records from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) database – upper-level atmospheric maps, radar, satellite, hourly and other historical data – to recreate historical weather events. Making that possible are resources provided by the National Weather Service, the Air Force, the FAA, the National Doppler Radar Network, etc. Global data from over

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06 Nov

Cyclones-Typhoons-Tornadoes-Fujiwhara Effect

Hurricane, Weather ConditionsWith 0 comments

Cyclones-Typhoons-Tornadoes-Fujiwhara Effect.  The Fujiwhara effect became of a subject of meteorology in 1921, when Japanese Meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwhara focused on the movements of whirlpools and other vortices and then researched the physics present when they approach each other. A similar phenomenon is possible when atmospheric vortices merge. Many weather features, including generic Lows and winter weather

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12 Oct

La Niña Winter

Weather ConditionsWith 0 comments

La Niña Winter. 2017-18 Northwest Cascade snow outlook. Want snow? It’s shaping up to be a good late autumn and winter for an abundance to cover the slopes of Washington’s Olympics and Cascades. It’s time for ski resorts and skiers alike to get ready. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) prediction ensemble members are agreeing on cool

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11 Oct

Air Quality

Air QualityWith 0 comments

Air Quality is impacted from forest fires, and the resultant smoke carbon released. The Pacific Northwest and much of the West Coast of the US continues to go through a very bad fire year with considerable degradation to our atmosphere and air quality over a vast area. It seems appropriate to ask just how much

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03 Sep

Hurricane Harvey

HurricaneWith 0 comments

Hurricane Harvey was the final ingredient needed to devastate Houston, combining with many including booming population growth, crumbling infrastructure, low elevations and stretching urbanization replacing freshwater wetlands (which once helped with drainage, at least during smaller storms.) It was still debated whether or not Tropical Storm Harvey was going to turn into a hurricane before

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08 Aug

Weather Insurance

Weather ConditionsWith 0 comments

Weather Insurance. With the surge in near record heat across the West US. It is perhaps timely to review possible heat induced losses for residences and vehicles. Obviously, wildfires carry their own hazards but what about plain old hot weather? How can excessive heat cause damage that may trigger insurance claims? Are there limitations on

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13 Jul

Hurricanes- Pacific

HurricaneWith 0 comments

Hurricanes- Pacific. Pacific hurricanes are only different from Atlantic hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons because of where they occur. When the symmetrically identical atmospheric engines develop east of 180°F and north of the Equator, they’re called Pacific hurricanes. How busy is the Eastern Pacific Ocean? Pacific hurricanes are a virtually annual occurrence and typically there are

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