Fourth of July!

Hey Everyone!

Today is a very special day as it's America's birthday! Yay!! Whoo!! Some of y'all will be greeted with hot dogs, some savory barbecue, hanging with friends/family, rain...lots of it, but most of all fireworks. If you don't have fireworks on this, are you really celebrating this day correctly? 

This post will be shorter than my past few as this one will just give y'all some interesting facts about those firework shows & how they correlate with the weather. In addition, we'll take a look back at some interesting facts about this "poppin" holiday. With that being said, it's July 4th, 2018 so let's get into another edition of Weather Wednesdays. 

Happy Birthday America. You are 242 years young. Throughout all the struggles which arise in your history,  the people of this nation always seem to come to an agreement to keep this country's spirit alive. Freedom...defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants, is what makes this country so special. No matter your sexuality, gender, race, religion; you are allowed to voice you opinion and people will listen. Your voice matters. It is with all these differences which makes America what it is...a country full of life, full of dreams/goals to accomplish, full of new possibilities and experiences. It's easy to forget how fortunate we are to live in such a country, but I believe it is important to acknowledge this as not everyone in the world gets the same opportunities.

Fun Facts about Independence Day: 

1) Three US Presidents who signed the Declaration of Independence actually died on July 4th.

2) The first firework show took place in Philadelphia in 1777.

3) Americans spend over $1 billion dollars on fireworks every year. 

4) It did not become a federal holiday until 1870.

5) Independence day should actually be celebrated on July 2nd as this is when Congress voted for independence from Great Britain. 

If you would like to learn more, definitely click the "Fun Facts about Independence Day" as I have linked the website for you all. 

Last but not least, because this is a weather blog, I can't let you not know how fireworks & the weather are related. Without good weather, how can there even be fireworks?? Take a look at the AccuWeather video below to see how the two are related.

There you have it! As you look into the night sky tonight, try to remember the true meaning behind this wonderful holiday as well as remember that without good weather, you wouldn't be able to be looking into the night sky. Fireworks will become fire"not-working."

I hope you all though have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday. Stay safe, have fun, and be responsible. I'll see you all here next week for another edition of Weather Wednesdays!

Your Future Meteorologist,

Aric Ilbeig

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment" -Unknown

* Comment down below what you are doing to celebrate today. I'd love to know! 

Hurry! There's A Hurricane Coming! (Part 2 of Part 2)

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to another Weather Wednesday blog. This is the final installment to the blog series "Hurry! There's A Hurricane Coming!" Ironically enough, this last installment is about what to do when a hurricane is headed in your direction. Do you go outside and take pictures for social media or do you bunker in your home if you decide to ride the storm out? Can you do both...?

With that being said, today is Wednesday June 27, 2018 and we are about to learn what we should to to prepare for a hurricane.

In last week's blog, we found out that if the hurricane is category 3 or stronger, it is considered a major hurricane. If that strength of a storm is headed in your direction, you would be best either evacuating or based on your own judgement as well as your local meteorologists, stay at home to withstand the storm. Sometimes, depending on where the storm is headed specifically, you might be able to stay at home, but if your house or where you live is endanger of being flooded, it would be best to evacuate.

That "flows" right into my next point, flooding. When it comes to damage from a hurricane, a lot of people think it's the strong winds or heavy rains which cause the most damage when in fact that's not the case. What causes the most damage is the storm surge. Now what's a storm surge you ask?

A storm surge occurs when a hurricane moves over a body of water bringing the ocean waves/tides along with it onto the land. All this water coupled with the rain is what will cause flooding. According to Weather Underground, 2005's Hurricane Katrina produced a 27.8 feet storm surge, the highest ever recorded on the US coast. Just imagine that for one moment...27.8 feet, that's almost 30 feet of water just coming out of the ocean and just pouring into the streets of Louisiana.

Comparatively, 2017's Hurricane Harvey reported only over 12 feet in storm surge. Funny thing is, both storms tie each other as the two costliest storms racking up $125 billion dollars in damage. As you can tell, the storm surge is extremely dangerous, so one of the most important things you can do as a property owner so to make sure you have some flood insurance even if you're not located in a flood zone. That's number one on my list, get you some flood insurance.

Number two, start gathering supplies now before the storm comes. Items you should have include but are not limited too...

1) Packs of bottled water
2) Canned food/non-perishable food items (chips, cereal, bread, peanut butter, candy...anything that will keep you somewhat nourished for at least a few days)
3) Flashlights/Candles
4) Battery powered fans
5) Portable chargers for your phones/other devices

These five are what I deem important for myself & my family.

Number three would have to be getting your house ready. If you have stuff lying around outside such as lawn chairs or yard statues and you think they might be able to become airborne, your best best is to either bring them inside your home or store them away somewhere whether that be your garage or a storage unit. Now if you live by people who don't take this action, you either want to, a) voice your concern to them in hopes they will move their stuff or b) start covering up your windows with some storm shutters. My hope for you would be that option a is taken. Regardless though, it's always good to cover up your windows just in case something, such as a tree branch or a rock comes flying through your window.

Moving to number four, stay away from the water. Have you heard of the saying "turn around, don't drown?" Well if you haven't, now you have. Even though it might not be raining outside at a certain moment, you could potentially walk into an area which you thought was shallow but was in fact deep. Whenever you see pools of water, your best bet is to just turn the opposite direction even if you think, it's a shallow area. That photo for social media can wait. I guarantee if there's a large power outage in the area, no one will be on Facebook or Instagram posting storm photos.

Last but not least number five listen to your state officials/authorities and local meteorologists. If they tell you to evacuate, then evacuate. Don't try your luck. It is better to be safe than sorry. As a meteorologist, their main responsibility is convey the weather over to you so that you know what is going on and you're able to stay safe throughout your day. If you happen to leave and turns out nothing major happened, it's a win win for you and your property. Definitely heed those warnings and take them seriously.

This dog may look miserable, but at least it's somewhat protected from the rain...if it was raining. 

There you have it though. When it comes to hurricane preparedness, those are my five tips for all of you who live along the coastal parts of the United States. If you want to obtain a more in depth reading, please direct yourself over to this site here.

As always, thank you for all the support and I hope through these past three blogs, you were able to pick up a little something you didn't know before about hurricanes.

Have a wonderful rest of your week & I'll see y'all here next time for another Weather Wednesday.

Your Future Meteorologist,
Aric Ilbeig

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment" -Unknown

Hurry! There's A Hurricane Coming! (Part 1 of Part 2)

Hey Everyone!

Welcome back to the Weather Wednesdays blog, except it's not Wednesday. It's actually Thursday which of course does not go with this blog title, but in the grand scheme of things, what's most important is that you & I both learn about meteorology together. :) With that being said, it's Thursday June 21, 2018, so let's get into understanding hurricanes even more.

In last week's blog, we learned how hurricanes were formed. To summarize it, remember that a hurricane starts off as a storm or a system of low pressure in the Atlantic. The surrounding air, or higher air pressure, begins to mix into the storm creating warm air which rises. As this warm air mass rises, it begins to cool creating clouds. Wind then decides to come into the party and boom after growing and strengthening, a hurricane is born. Neat right? In the comments below, post if you have ever been through a hurricane.

Today & tomorrow, we're going to cover how hurricanes are named & how they are categorized.

Let's start with how they are categorized. Can anyone guess...? (STOP! Don't read ahead until you've guessed)

Well they are categorized with categories. Who would have thought right? It's only in school during an exam when a question with an answer so simple like this will make you question it even after the exam is over.

This system of classification system was brought to life in 1971 by the brains of two people. Those two individuals were civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist as well as the director of the National Hurricane Center at the time, Robert Simpson. Through them, the system used to classify hurricanes is officially called the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale. The way the scale works is that it classifies hurricanes into five different categories. Those categories are categories 1,2,3,4 and 5. Again, nothing special...just all simple things. These categories are based of a hurricane's wind speed and damage. Below is a table I've put together so we can better understand each category.

Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale:

Category	Wind Speed	Description
Category 1	74-95 mph	· Roofs could become damaged · Tree branches may snap · Trees could be uprooted · Power outages possible
Category 2	96-110 mph	· Major roof damage is possible ·     Tree branches will break, and trees will be uprooted · Power outages will occur
Category 3	111-129 mph	·Structure of home will begin to deteriorate · Fallen trees will begin to block roads ·     Power & water will be unavailable until the storm is over
Category 4	130-156 mph	·Structure of home is pretty much destroyed ·  Power & water outages · Roads will be blocked ·The affected area will have to be rebuilt & made new again
Category 5	157 or higher mph	· Homes will be destroyed · Trees will be uprooted ·  Roads blocked · Power & water out ·Destruction & damage rate is very high

Essentially, if a category 3 or above hurricane is headed towards your city, you better make sure you are prepared if you are planning to withstand the storm or have already evacuated. Once the storm has hit a category 3 or above, it is considered a major hurricane.

Here is a video with The Weather Channel's meteorologist Mark Elliot. He will give you a visual representation of what might occur to a house during a hurricane at each of those stages:

Aside from these categories though, you might hear the term tropical wave, tropical depression, or tropical storm. These are the pre-stages before a storm becomes a hurricane. A tropical wave has winds 25 mph or below, a tropical depression has winds 26-34 mph, and a tropical storm has winds 35-73 mph.

There you have it though! That is how the hurricane classification system works!

Make sure you comment down below if you have ever experienced any hurricane and what it was like! Also, don't forget to hit that follow button on the side for more up to the date weather information.

I hope you all have a tropical Thursday!

Your Future Meteorologist,
Aric Ilbeig

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment" -Unknown

Hurry! There's A Hurricane Coming! (Part 1)

Hey Everyone!

What is going on or should I say what is "swirling" on? ;p

I hope this past week has been wonderful for you all and that you are accomplishing whatever it is you've been wanting to get done. I'm still struggling to be productive, but as long as you're achieving what you've set your mind too, that's all that matters here.

Today is June 13th, 2018 and on this Weather Wednesday, we will be discussing Hurricanes. This blog is part 1 of a three part series. Part 1 will focus on the formation of a hurricane, part 2 will focus more in detail the characteristics of a hurricane, while part 3 will go over how you can become prepared when it comes to dealing with the storm. With that being said, let's get into the "eye" of the storm.

Hurricanes; powerful forces of mother nature would should not be taken lightly. What exactly are they though and how do they form? Where do they come from and how do they get their names? These are just a few of the questions which I will answer for you in this three part series.

Origins of a Hurricane:

Hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones...whatever name you may hear, they all denote the same thing. The difference between all three is just the location in which the storms form. Storms forming in the Atlantic & Northeastern Pacific oceans are called hurricanes, storms forming in the northwestern part of the Pacific ocean are called typhoons, and storms forming in the Indian ocean are called tropical cyclones.

World Map

With that in mind, when it comes to the recipe for a hurricane, there is really only one thing that is needed...warm ocean waters. Through a series of steps, here is how a hurricane forms:

1) The warm air over the ocean rises causing lower air pressure (storms) to form below.
2) Higher air pressure then comes in to mix with that lower air pressure causing more warm air to form and rise.
3) As the warm air masses continue to rise, they begin to cool off & the water which is inside of them begin to form clouds.
4) Adding wind into the mix, this whole system begins to spin & grow.
5) As the storm strengthens, an eye forms in the center of it & a hurricane is born.

Hey everyone, my name is Hurricane Isabel!

For a visual representation of what we just discussed, please watch this video brought to you by Meteorologist Ginger Zee of ABC News:

The Atlantic hurricane season officially started on June 1st, so if you live anywhere on the coast of the United States, start preparing now. It is never too early to prepare for a hurricane. 

As always, thank you for the support & I hope to see you back here for part 2 where we will discuss how these storms get their names along with how they are classified. 

Your Future Meteorologist,
Aric Ilbeig

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment" -Unknown

Are you studying meteors??!

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had a terrific week since I last posted. Each week, I try to be productive, but every week which comes by, that productivity level just seems to dwindle :/. Does anyone else feel the same way? Let me know down in the comments below and maybe I can write a blog about being non-productive. Or maybe you can give me some advice on how to become productive. 

Today though is Wednesday June 6, 2018 and it's time for Weather Wednesdays. Let's get into it!

Now some of you may already know or have a general idea of what meteorology is. Others of you may have heard of it, think you have an idea of what it is, but in reality have no clue what it actually is.

When I say I want to become a meteorologist to someone, one of three reactions usually takes place and I'll lay them all out right here in conversation format:

Reaction 1:

Person 1: Have you graduated already?

Me: No...

Person 1: Well when do you graduate? What are your plans afterwards?

Me: I have one more semester left & I want to become a meteorologist.

Person 1: Oh, well that's cool! So weather right? Are you going to be on TV?

Me: Umm...ya know, I'm not really sure. I'm keeping my options open.

* This is the person who actually has a general idea about meteorology.

Reaction 2:

Person 2: So what do you want to do with a Biotech degree?

Me: Well my plan is to actually get into meteorology. 

Person 2: Oh! (along with a confused face). What do you want to do with that?

Me: Well I want to become a meteorologist and learn about the weather.

Person 2: Oh I see. Well that's pretty cool! So you want to be on TV?

Me: *sigh* Look, I'm keeping my options open, but if you see me in TV, then you know I wanted to be on TV. 

* This is the person who has no clue what meteorology is, but pretends they do know. I give them the benefit of the doubt by saying weather just in case they may know and just needed clarification. 

Last but not least, here's the last reaction...

Reaction 3:

Person 3: So what are your plans after graduation?

Me: Well my plan is to probably go to grad school and get a masters in meteorology.

Person 3: Meteorology?! So you're going to study meteors? Aren't you a biotech major?

Me: (insert palm to face emoji right here) Yeah, I am, but I want to become a meteorologist. 

Person 3: Oh, so like the person on the news who tells people about the weather?

Me: Yeah! 

* At least this person is honest. You always have to appreciate honesty. 

This could be me one day, but I'm keeping my options open

----

Once I say meteorologist, it seems like most people can register that with the weather and being on TV. Granted though, I can't blame anyone for thinking meteorology has to do with the study of meteors. The word "meteor" is in the name. It's not like other "-ology" words such as "zoology" or "biology" or even "technology" where the prefix can actually give you a close idea of what it means. The prefix "meteor" actually means "things high up" and of course "ology" meaning "the study of." When putting the two parts together, you get that meteorology is the study of things high up. According to dictionary.com, the exact definition of meteorology is "the science of dealing with the atmosphere and its phenomena, including weather and climate."

That's exactly what meteorology is; nothing to do with meteors, but everything to do with what meteors fall though, the Earth's atmosphere.

Without consciously really thinking about it, weather is what impacts us day in and day out. It is what determines the type of clothes you will wear throughout the day. It is what determines how much your electricity bill is each month. It determines what sports are played during certain months of the year. It can even determine how your hair looks.

"Weather" you like it or not (see what I did there :p), weather effects all of us. It is what essentially drives our lives.

Thank you for the support and for reading my second blog post. Now that we have defined what exactly meteorology means together, we should all know that it has nothing to do with meteors. #SpreadTheKnowledge

Remember if you want to keep track of my coordinates on becoming a meteorologist, definitely hit that follow button on the side. I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your Wednesday and I'll catch you back here next week for another Weather Wednesday.

Your Future Meteorologist, 
Aric Ilbeig

Comment down below how the weather might affect you. Also, if you have ways to be productive, let me know!

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment" - Unknown

Putting the "Me" in Meteorology: About Me

Hey Everyone!

My name is Aric Ilbeig and welcome to the Weather Wednesdays Blog. 

As you may be able to guess by the blog title now, my career goal is to become a Meteorologist.

"Wait, so you want to be a weatherman?" is the first response I receive back from 99.9% of people I talk too. I'll go so far to even make a "forecast" to say the next person I talk too will react the same way. Although being in front of the camera and on TV is cool, I want to keep my options open. There are a wide range of career options for individuals pursuing a career in this specific field.

Currently though, I am a student at the University of Houston studying Biotechnology.
"Wait, what? Biotechnology? Shouldn't you be studying meteorology?" is the second response I receive back from most people. To this, I say yes, I should be. There's a long story as to why I'm not, but I'll keep it brief here through a series of steps:

My Meteorology Journey Thus Far:

1) Initially entering UH, I was studying to get a degree in Petroleum Engineering. Obviously that did not work out...:/

2) When trying to switch over to the Natural Science & Mathematics College for a degree in Environmental Science (Atmosphere Science is a path you can take with this degree), I did not meet certain requirements. Once again, that didn't work out...:/

3) Lastly, during my sophomore year, I went ahead and applied to Texas A&M University declaring myself as a meteorology major. Well...I got accepted (finally something worked out), but I decided to stay at UH for various reasons.

----

Now that brings us to present day 2018. Looking back, deciding whether to stay at UH or leave to Texas A&M to study what I was truly passionate about was by far one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. Even though that may be the case, I do not regret staying at UH...or at least I try not too. There will always be a part of me which looks back to ask "What if I transferred over? How would things have been different?" To that, I say I don't know. Circumstances could have been better or they could have been worse, but what I do know is that I am thankful for all the people I have met at UH, the friends I have made, and the memories created which will last me a lifetime.

Planning on graduating this Fall 2018, my plan as of now is to pursue a Masters degree in Meteorology/Atmospheric Sciences. Growing up, I have always had an interest in the weather. I remember in the 5th grade, as a class, we would record the daily highs and lows and then create a line graph for it. Shortly afterwards, it was during the 8th grade when Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast of Texas and I just remember grabbing one of those Hurricane Tracking Maps and actually tracking the storm. It may or may not have been for an assignment, but regardless I just found it pretty cool. I even ordered a DVD to serve as a memory of the storm as Hurricane Ike was the first ever hurricane which I did not evacuate for.

2010 Hurricane Tracking Map

2018 Hurricane Tracking Map

At the end of the day though, no matter what your profession is, no matter where you are in this world, no matter your race, gender, sexual preference, how much money you have, your social status...no matter any of that, there are two things I believe every human being has in common. One, is the desire to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy and two, is the weather. Weather affects each and everyone of us. It does not discriminate.

As I learn more about this field and gain more knowledge, I plan to share that with y'all in hopes that maybe you yourself can catch a 10,20,30 or even a 100% chance of attraction towards the weather around you just like I have.

Every Wednesday...Weather Wednesday that is, you should see a new post in this blog. If you would like to track my coordinates on becoming a meteorologist as well as get up to the minute notifications, definitely hit that follow button on the side. Thank you for the support & I hope you all have a fantastic Friday or fantastic day depending on where you are in the world.

Your Future Meteorologist,
Aric Ilbeig 

Comment down below if you already enjoy the weather! What percent are you at? What part of weather fascinates you the most?

"We may not be able to change the world, but we can change somebody's world for a moment"
 - Unknown