(A preview of) Meteorology and Myth Part VII: “The Dead Man Walking”

Today I will share yet another avenue of my research in my “Meteorology and Myth” science education series.

There is room for more research on multiple vortex tornados. I would like to find a good student to work with me on this chapter.

Multiple vortex tornados contain several small but intense vortices revolving around the main tornado funnel cloud. These should not be confused with double (or other multiple) tornados produced by the same supercell thunderstorm.

Multiple vortex tornados produce some spooky images. The individual vortices seems to kick around as if they are alive. Our imaginations sometimes see a human-like figure.

The tornado vortex on the right appears to be “walking away”. The “Dead Man Walking” image in the poster is a still photo of the May 27, 1997 F-5 Tornado which killed 27 people in Jerrell, Texas. The tornado started out as a small rope, but grew into a large, multiple-vortex monster as it slowly walked across the landscape. I will share a documentary of that terrible day.

There is also another documentary worth viewing about this tornado.

YouTube user Antarctic Vortex has posted the full TLC Channel documentary. It is an important part of pop cultural history as well. It looks like the video was transferred from an old VHS tape recording. You can see the tracking lines at various points. Furthermore, the commercial breaks have been retained. This video is about a terrible, tragic event, but it was amusing to see the anachronisms about sharing photographs on America Online, or shopping at Blockbuster stores. The Native American legend is mentioned at time 16 minutes in, as a frightening moment is recreated in the documentary. It also includes a still frame of the “Dead Man Walking” image.

Look for an update to this chapter of Meteorology and Myth later in the 2020-21 academic year.

SUGGESTED REFERENCES:

Agee, E. M., J. T. Snow, and P. R. Clare, 1976: Multiple Vortex Features in the Tornado Cyclone and the Occurrence of Tornado Families. Mon. Wea. Rev., 104, 552–563, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1976)104<0552:MVFITT>2.0.CO;2.

Clay, Nolan. 2013. “Oklahoma storms: Amateur storm chaser took photo of tornado that killed him”. The Oklahoman. June 4, 2013. https://oklahoman.com/article/3841315/oklahoma-storms-amateur-storm-chaser-took-photo-of-tornado-that-killed-him?

NOAA Storm Prediction Center. 2020. National Severe Storm Laboratory Public Domain Tornado Images. Accessed June 1, 2020. https://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/torscans.htm

Wurman, J., 2002: The Multiple-Vortex Structure of a Tornado. Weather and Forecasting, 17, 473–505, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0434(2002)017<0473:TMVSOA>2.0.CO;2.

Wurman, J., K. Kosiba, P. Robinson, and T. Marshall, 2014: The Role of Multiple-Vortex Tornado Structure in Causing Storm Researcher Fatalities. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Societ., 95, 31–45, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00221.1

(A preview of) Meteorology and Myth Part VI: Satan’s Winds

My series continues with another topic: “Satan’s Winds”.  I put together this conference poster draft. Now I am just waiting to find an outlet for it. Most conferences I attend have canceled their in-person meetings, and are converting to “online conferences” and “virtual sessions”.

Click poster to view larger.

I think that this would be a good topic for an undergraduate student to present at a local or regional conference. I need a student to “take the ball and run with it”, and to conduct a thorough literature review.

I know what you are going to say – it is not SATAN — it is Santa Ana — as in the canyon named after the Mexican General. Actually … there is some debate about the origin of the name. You will just have to wait until you hear my explanation. The Santa Anas are certainly a devil of a problem though. Please view this short documentary from KCET Online about the history and importance of Santa Ana.

I also found out that several California pop groups have recorded songs using Santa Ana winds as a theme. The Beach Boys for example. There is a humorous music clip from the TV show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” which sings the problems associated with the devil wind in the style of Franky Valli.

At least the cancellation of so many conferences cannot be blamed on Santa Ana. Look for more updates on this project this fall.

REFERENCES AND FOR FURTHER READING:

Abatzoglou, J. T., R. Barbero, and N. J. Nauslar, 2013: Diagnosing Santa Ana winds in Southern California with synoptic-scale analysis. Weather Forecasting, 28, 704–710.

Cao, Y., and R. G. Fovell, 2016: Downslope windstorms of San Diego County. Part I: A case study. Monthly Weather Review. 144, 529–552.

Durran, D. R., 1990: Mountain waves and downslope winds. Atmospheric Processes over Complex Terrain, Meteorological Monographs, No. 45, American Meteorological Society, 59–81.

Guzman Morales, J., A. Gershunov, J. Theiss, H. Li, and D. Cayan, 2016: Santa Ana Winds of Southern California: Their climatology, extremes, and behavior spanning six and a half decades. Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 2827–2834.

Masters, Nathan. 2012. “SoCal’s Devil Winds: The Santa Anas in Historical Photos and Literature”. KCET, October 25, 2012. http://www.kcet.org.

Needham, John. 1988. “The Devil Winds Made Me Do It : Santa Anas Are Enough to Make Anyone’s Hair Stand on End”. Los Angeles Times. March 12, 1988. http://www.latimes.com.

Rolinski, T., S.B. Capps, and W. Zhuang, 2019: Santa Ana Winds: A Descriptive Climatology. Weather and Forecasting, 34, 257–275.

 

(A preview of) Meteorology and Myth Part 5: The Legacy of “Huricán” — A Carib God of Evil

Click for full size.

I wanted to share a preview of another chapter in my ongoing science education series “Meteorology and Myth”. The fifth part considers the hurricane gods of the Caribbean Basin.

Mesoamerican history contains many stories of local and regional deities. The native peoples of the Caribbean had to deal with destructive hurricanes occasionally. To the peoples of the Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico coasts, hurricanes are nothing but destructive. It is not surprising that hurricane gods would be considered evil, vengeful deities.

How do we know when and where ancient hurricanes struck? There is a new field of Earth Science which studies this question – Paleotempestology. Scientists use various “proxy data” to estimate the number, strength, and location of tropical cyclones which ocurred before modern instrumentation. Well, just click on the poster to view full size and read it now to learn more!

This poster is the start of perhaps a conference presentation. I would like to have a student participate and pick up the research from here. As always, I am looking for students who want to work on research projects and individual investigation studies.

Look for more updates this coming academic year.

SUGGESTED REFERENCES, GRAPHICS AND LINKS:

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/fossilized-caribbean-corals-reveal-ancient-summer-rains

https://medium.com/@newstlnews/hurricane-facts-folklore-and-superstitions-abound-as-storm-season-looms-b59172802fdf

https://theconversation.com/jesuits-as-science-missionaries-for-the-catholic-church-47829

https://theconversation.com/shipwreck-records-and-tree-rings-unveil-caribbean-hurricane-history-and-clues-to-the-future-55730

https://twitter.com/laturla/status/905774721786159105

https://www.deviantart.com/lpsalsaman/art/TAINO-INDIAN-SYMBOLS-GODS-342488062

https://www.mysticseaport.org/news/2015/logbooks-to-help-weather-research/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43062-4

http://www.powhatanmuseum.com/Hurricane.html

https://www.primerahora.com/noticias/puerto-rico/notas/el-dios-juracan-era-una-deidad-femenina

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Recent-tropical-cyclones-TCs-near-Belize-with-stalagmite-d-18-O-d-13-C-value-time_fig2_249520471

https://www.sepm.org/files/43article.wpbk53a9x4qh6bu6.pdf

https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2019/08/hurricanes-are-named-after-huracan-the-mayan-god-of-wind-fire-and-storms/

https://www.thoughtco.com/where-does-the-word-hurricane-come-from-3443911

Geography Photo Contest (Continued)

Here is one last batch of entries in the GEOGRAPHY PHOTO CONTEST! Three classes were competing for the prize this Spring Semester. Click on any image to view larger, and start the slide show.

 

I think that this Online Assignment worked out well. I enjoy my students’ creativity.

Good news:  This was the last assignment this semester!

EVEN MORE Geography Student Photos!

Continuing on with photos from another class of participants in this semester’s GEOGRAPHY PHOTO CONTEST. These are again the students in an introductory Geography course. Click any photo to start the slide show in full size.

If you want to see the original assignment you can read it LINKED HERE.

Students were assigned to take a photo and describe the geography. This time I said it was OK to use a photo they had taken previously. (Students were not otherwise doing a lot of traveling this semester).

Students love this assignment! … I think.

It is a fun way to end the term with an assignment which boosts their participation score.

Please enjoy …  and please leave a comment! Vote for your favorite!

 

More Student Photos!

Here are a few more participants to this semester’s GEOGRAPHY PHOTO CONTEST by the students of my Intro Geography course. Click any photo to start the slide show.

You can read the original assignment LINKED HERE.

Students were assigned to take a photo and describe the geography.

Please enjoy …  and please leave a comment!

 

“Meteorology and Myth — Part II: A Fair Candlemas”

Welcome QR Code readers! If you have scanned the QR Code on my poster or conference presentation, it has brought you here. I am still compiling my full presentation for the SouthEastern Division of the American Association of Geographers Conference, to be held November 24-25, 2019. This post is just a placeholder for the presentation and reference list TBA. In the meantime, enjoy this preview.

I will be continuing my “Meteorology and Myth” Weather-and-Climate Education series this fall with another project on weather lore, this time titled “Meteorology and Myth – Part II: A Fair Candlemas”

This post is just a placeholder for now.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: I teach an introductory course in “Weather and Climate”.  Whenever February 2nd rolls around, a student will  ask if the “Groundhog Day” predictions are true. I used to always answer “NO!” The presence or absence of sunshine on any one particular day can not be used to determine either a shortened or a prolonged winter. Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions are just folksy nonsense.

However, I got to thinking about it … and began to hypothesize that there may be a teaching opportunity in this legend. Although the Groundhog’s prediction does not make meteorological sense in the short term, perhaps there are long-term climatological averages about prolonged-winters and early-springs, which may have allowed the folklore to survive and diffuse.

The purpose of the overall project is to develop general education teaching modules which bridge topics in geography, atmospheric science, history, art, culture and folklore. Students in the arts and humanities often struggle with physical science. Equally, students in Geoscience and other STEM fields often need a greater appreciation for the arts and humanities. The intent is not to have students “prove” whether or not Groundhog Day predictions are true.  Instead, the  goal is for students to have a better understanding of atmospheric circulations, global teleconnections and weather patterns. Secondarily, students should have a better appreciation for folklore, history, culture and environment.

SEE THIS REFERENCE LINK BELOW FOR IMAGES, ARTWORK AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL INFO:

REFERENCES FOR ALL GRAPHICS, IMAGES AND ARTWORK

Look for more updates and embellishments later in November!

A SPRITE IDEA

Welcome QR Code readers! This post is just a placeholder for another project in my Meteorology and Myth Science Education Series. This new project is titled “The Elusive and Ephemeral Sprites”.

Look for more updates and a re-post when I finish the poster presentation.

In the meantime, if you want to see a good introduction to Lightning Sprite research, please see the YouTube playlist below!

 

… what a sprite idea!

Art, Allegory and Geographic Education: Cultural and Meteorological Lessons from the Sky Deities of Japan

10-21-2019: This is an update and repost from May of this year. Please check out the YouTube video above. If you go to YouTube, put a “like” or comment if you have a question or compliment!  I will be presenting more about my investigation into the sky deities of Japan at the Applied Geography Conference in October. This presentation grew out of my “Meteorology and Myth” research. The abstract for my presentation: “Art, Allegory and Geographic Education: Cultural and Meteorological Lessons from the Sky Deities of Japan” has been accepted for a special session on Physical Geography. Here is a sample slide:

The following is a slideshow of some of the artwork to be discussed, TBD

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Credit goes to the original artists. No copyright infringement is intended. See the full presentation for all credits and references, TBD.

This year’s AGC will be held in Charlotte, NC October 23-25. See the link here for more information about the conference,

http://www.appgeogconf.org/

LINKS AND REFERENCES FOR ART AND IMAGES PDF HERE:

SUGGESTED REFERENCES AND LINKS FOR ART AND IMAGES

and more art …

More Refs and Links

IN JAPAN LIGHTNING IS RED!

Ino Hayata Hironao seizing the Nue as it falls to the ground amid clouds and lightning. From the series “One of the Eight Hundred Heroes of the Water Margin of Japan” (Honcho Suikoden goyu happyakunin no hitori). Woodblock print, signed Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga, published by Kagaya Kichiemon (Kichibei), circa 1830-1832. Vertical oban (39.6 x 26.7 cm.)

Welcome QR Code readers!

This post is a placeholder for REFERENCES and LINKS for a student research poster to be presented at the North Carolina Geographical Society annual meeting in Greensboro, NC on November 1, 2019. See these PDF files to download all weblinks:

SUGGESTED REFERENCES AND LINKS FOR ART AND IMAGES

More Refs and Links

ABSTRACT:  Lightning is a short-lived, but powerful part of nature. Although lightning photographs are often published,  lightning flashes have seldom been painted by landscape artists. Colorful skies are common in art history, but painted lightning is rare. Most lightning storms in western landscape art have depicted the flashes as either white, or yellowish. An interesting part of art history is the red lightning bolts depicted in the classic paintings of Japan’s Edo Period (1603 – 1868).  Edo’s Ukiyo-e artists almost always depicted lightning as red in color. Furthermore, the bolts are often painted in a nearly abstract, linear fashion, and not in lightning’s true dendritic shape. Is the red lightning of this famous period “artistic license”, or can the deep red colors be explained as something else? Are there some logical reasons why these artists painted lightning as red? Could the style reflect mythology rather than realism? Importantly, are there atmospheric science lessons to be learned, and teaching moments to be made in this discussion? The purpose of this educational project is to advance that dialog.

https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15324coll10/id/90981

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/artist-woodblock-japanese-prints-online/utagawa-kuniyoshi-1797-1861-53/58101

https://waraie.com/en/thunder-god-raijin

https://www.fujiarts.com/japanese-prints/k355/186k355f.jpg

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/75299

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/ukiyo-e-japanese-woodblock-prints/

https://www.thingsjapanese.com/osaka-school-after-hokuei-kabuki-scene-lightning-dragon-demon.html

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For more Japan weather deities artwork, please see the presentation linked here.