Weather Sites

2.6 Million Years of Climate Change
http://www.beringia.com/climate/index.html
Climate Change is a very "hot" (and, admittedly, controversial) topic that easily engages students. This site, from the Beringia Interpretative Centre in Canada's Yukon, gives plenty of information about how climate has changed since the ice ages. It covers: forces that cause climate change; changes that occur to plants and animals during climate change; how to read climate changes with tree rings, and many others. Very clear drawings and photos help support the text.

All About Snow
http://nsidc.org/snow/index.html
Supposedly the native people of Alaska have dozens of words to describe snow. All About Snow, from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, goes even further by presenting just about everything you might want to know about snow, from avalanches to snow science. There is also a snow glossary to help understand the difference between a blizzard and a squall.

Atmospheric Optics
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/
"Light playing on water drops, dust or ice crystals in the atmosphere produces a host of visual spectacles - rainbows, halos, glories, coronas and many more. Some can be seen almost every day or so, some are once in a lifetime sights. Find out where to see them and how they form. Then seek and enjoy them outdoors."

Climatic Extremes and Weather Events
http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/severeweather/extremes.html  
"National Climatic Data Center has developed both national and global data sets that have been used by both government and the private sector to maximize the resource provided by our climate and minimize the risks of climate variability and weather extremes. The Center has a statutory mission to describe the climate of the United States and NCDC acts as the Nation's Scorekeeper regarding the trends and anomalies of weather and climate."

Edheads: Weather Activities
http://www.edheads.org/activities/weather/
Through these colorful, interactive activities, students can choose to report the weather using common map symbols, or they can predict the weather that will be coming to a nearby city. There are great resources for students, like a live weather map and a weather glossary. There are also lesson plan ideas for teachers.

Forces of Nature: Hurricanes
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/interactive/index.html?section=h
This interactive National Geographic site allows users to learn what a hurricane is, what causes hurricanes, and the characteristics of hurricanes. Uses may 'create your own hurricane.' The site also contains 3D images of real hurricanes for users to peruse.

Global Climate Change: Research Explorer
http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/
At this Web site, you can explore scientific data relating to the atmosphere, the oceans, the areas covered by ice and snow, and the living organisms in all these domains. You’ll also get a sense of how scientists study natural phenomena—how researchers gather evidence, test theories, and come to conclusions.

Global Warming Facts and Our Future (Koshland Science Museum)
http://www.koshlandsciencemuseum.org/exhibitgcc/index.jsp  
Climate Warming Is a Global Problem; but the impacts and potential solutions will affect us locally and in many different ways. The challenge for each of us and for our policy makers is to pursue effective responses that are as fair as possible to all people and nations. In this exhibition the National Academies provide scientific information to help us make informed decisions and to help answer some important questions. Sections cover The Greenhouse Effect , Carbon Cycle, Causes of Change, Past Change, Predicted Change, Impacts of Change, and Responses to Change.

Global Warming is Hot Stuff!
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/air/global.htm#top_of_document
Here's a great place for students to explore the concept of Global Warming. It explains the Greenhouse effect and discusses the results of global warming. Authors also explain ways that we can all help slow this process.

Hurricane Katrina Resources for the Classroom
http://www.edgateteam.net/Lessons/katrina.htm
This site is divided into three sections: Lesson Plans, Projects & Texts; Learning More About Hurricanes; and Hurricane Katrina. There are many links to information under each category.

Inside a Hurricane
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/insideahurricane.html
Take an interactive tour inside the eye of the hurricane, and learn what makes these severe storms happen. Students will also learn how to make a hurricane spiral and 3D glasses.

Interactive Weather Maker
http://www.scholastic.com/kids/weather/
This Scholastic site allows users to have a little fun and learn about weather conditions at the same time as it invites users to 'create your own weather.' Users must have the Flash Plug-In installed to view this site.

Making a Weather Station
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/weatherstation.html
This site from the Miami Museum of Science has information on Air Pressure, Moisture, Project Materials, Temperature, Wind, Hurricane Conditions and Tools. The information is presented in a clear, easy-to-read format - with few words on each page and lots of inviting graphics.

National Geographic Videos:Tornado Montage
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/environment-natural-disasters/tornadoes/tornado-montage.html
Launch a short video montage of tornadoes that reveals their awesome and destructive power. This is one of many Natural Disaster videos on this site. Other topics for videos include Animals, Daily News, Environment, Science & Space, etc.

Nick Walker: The "Weather Dude"
http://www.wxdude.com/
A weather site for young people. Logically laid out and filled with easy-to-understand weather information, this site offers everything from local, regional, and national weather forecasts to questions and quizzes for young visitors. There is also an assortment of classroom plans for weather studies in elementary school through high school.

Perfect Disaster
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/perfectdisaster/perfectdisaster.html?dcitc=w99-530-ah-0003  
Typhoons, thunderstorms, and hurricanes! The Discovery Channel has created this Website to complement one of their recent programs. The site is divided into several sections, including one that includes a number of historic disaster puzzles. Here, visitors can piece together the post-eruption locale of Pompeii and the mighty tornado that swept through Kirksville, Maryland in 1899. In an area of the site that is quite informative, visitors can learn about the Fujita Tornado Scale, which classifies tornadoes based on their estimated wind speeds. Finally, the Anatomy of A Disaster area allows users to enter a virtual tornado and learn about the dangers of solar-storms.

Scholastic Winter Storms
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/winter/index.htm  
Students hear all sorts of stories about winter storms. This is your chance to tie those stories into the science of storms, and look at severe storms over the past three hundred years. Two areas worth a visit are the Interactive Weather Maker and the Winter Storms Timeline. A Teacher's Guide is included in this section.

Seasons Interactive
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::800::600::/sites/dl/free
/0072482621/78778/Seasons_Nav.swf
This interactive by McGraw Hill helps illustrate the concept of seasons by providing users with a series of tools to manipulate and observe this cycle. Change the Earth's inclination, the speed in which it travels, and how seasons would both feel and appear if our inclination was set to that of other planets. There's also great background information available here as well.

Setting the Record Straight: Global Climate Change
http://www.un.org/News/facts/
Global climate change is a very "hot" topic, one that is sure to be the subject of student research. For students gathering information on this very controversial topic, it is helpful to understand the United Nations position. This site offers just such an explanation, along with the U.N. position on other topics. There is also a link to multiple UN publications on climate change. This is an information site aimed at high school students.

Sila: Clue to Climate Change (Canadian Museum of Nature)
http://www.nature.ca/sila/hm_e.cfm  
We invite you to explore a place where climate is changing faster than anywhere else on earth: the Arctic. What's up with climate change in the Arctic? What does it mean for northern people, plants and animals? Where else in the world are similar changes happening? What can we do about it? Step right up and discover how climate change at the top of the world is everyone's business, no matter where you live. In conjunction with the website, there are three lessons related to climate change. Each has a downloadable presentation (PowerPoint) and additional information.

Snow Crystals
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/photos/photos.htm
This is a gallery of snow flake photographs and information. It is interesting to see how intricate and individual snow flakes really are. Read all the information you would ever need to know about snow crystals and their origin.

Space Weather
http://www.spaceweather.com/
"Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment," is the slogan of this site. From the great pictures of things like meteoroids and the aurora borealis to the current space weather conditions, this is a site you'll enjoy. There is a wide variety of information and weather related links.

Sun Times Global Sun/Temperature Project
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/tempproj3/en/
Visit the site for details.

Tornado Project Online
http://www.tornadoproject.com
As tornado season approaches, check out what the storm chasers are doing at the Tornado Project Online. The Project, which started in 1970, has all things tornado-related on its site, including games, a section on storm chasing, storm photos, instructions on how to build a tornado simulator, and true tornado stories.

Visualization Projects
http://www.vets.ucar.edu/vg/categories/all.shtml
Visualization Projects includes simulations of more than 40 phenomena: sea ice and CO2, climate change (230-year period), clouds and precipitation, coral reef evolution (starting 21,000 years ago), universal fire shape, fire twirl and burst behavior, tornadoes, thunderstorms, typhoons, El Niño events, greenhouse gases and sulfate aerosols, polar vortex breakdown, CO2 and temperature, CFCs in the ocean, cloud evolution (7-day period), daily weather in the U.S., and more.

Weather Dictionary
http://weatherdictionary.com/
This weather dictionary provides a search feature for weather terms. It provides clearly written, easy-to-understand definitions. Enter a term such as "tornado" to access not only a definition of the word, but also a listing of all related terms, including "multiple vortex tornado," "wedge tornado," and "Tornado Alley."

Weather Forecasting
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fcst/home.rxml
Aspiring meteorologists and those interested in learning more about the science of weather forecasting will find this site worthwhile. It will help you learn about the science behind predicting the weather and what is involved in forecasting with a detailed examination of different methods.

Weather Photography
http://www.weather-photography.com/index.php
This site contains photographs of many weather phenomena, and techniques to photograph them. The photo collection is split up into five galleries: Atmospheric Optics, Lightning, Clouds, Astronomy, and Miscellaneous. There is also a Photo of the Month among other things.

Weather Scope: An Investigative Study of Weather and Climate
http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/weatherproj2/en/  
Weather Scope is a new educational project that uses online real time data investigations and hands-on activities to guide student discovery of the science behind the factors that affect weather and climate. After completing this project, the students will learn how to how to record weather data and represent it in graphs and maps, how to compare weather in different places and different times, and ultimately be able to identify and explain the factors that affect temperature and current weather conditions, and possibly forecast future ones. Weather Scope is recommended for students grades 5 through 8 and can be implemented on the 9-12 grade level. Also in Spanish.

Web Weather for Kids
ttp://eo.ucar.edu/webweather/
Learn what makes weather wet and wild, do cool activities, and become hot at forecasting the weather on Web Weather for Kids!