Working together when severe weather strikesTeamwork is defined in Web-

ster’s New World Dictionary as “a

joint action by a group of people,

in which each person subordinates

his or her individual interests and

opinions to the unity and efficiency

of the group.”

Working as a team or being a

team player is important in all as-

pects of life. Being part of a team

does not mean that the individual

is no longer important, though. It

means that effective and efficient

teamwork goes beyond individual

accomplishments. Teamwork is

most effective when everyone

works together to achieve a com-

mon goal.

Our hometown Rays, Lightning

and Bucs players know the im-

portance of teamwork, and so do

the news people at Bay News 9,

especially the morning crew. Erica

Riggins, Juli Marquez and Chuck

Henson work together, rain or

shine, to help you get your day off

to a great start.

Traffic Reporter –Chuck Henson

There’s a rea-

son you hear the

phrase “Weather

and Traffic To-

gether” on televi-

sion. Juli and I

both go into high

gear anytime there are adverse

weather conditions. Wet roads

lead to increased accidents and

heavier traffic. If there are two

things I believe everyone wants

to know before leaving the house

each morning, they are what the

weather will be like today and

what disasters await you on the

highways. I am so proud of the

Traffic Product at Bay News 9. We

dedicate more than 40 minutes

during Your Morning News specifi-

cally to traffic reports. No other

Tampa Bay television station even

comes close to that amount of

specific traffic coverage. Comple-

menting the traffic reports on the

air is my Twitter feed (@BN9Traf-

fic). The feed has been in exis-

tence for a little more than a year

and we’ve recently crossed our

18,000th traffic tweet and have

more than 1,500 people following

the feed.

Meteorologist Juli Marquez

The weather

doesn’t just affect

my job, it is my

job! As the me-

teorologist for Your Morning News, I’m

responsible for the forecast you

see every morning. Each day there

is a weather story. Sometimes

the weather is sunny, sometimes

it’s stormy and sometimes we are

tracking hurricanes. It can be hot

or cold. On quiet days, it’s nice to

be able to show the sunshine and

talk about the beautiful weather.

On stormy days, it’s important to

spend a lot of time showing Klys-

tron 9, tracking storms and letting

people know about any severe

weather in our area.

Your Morning News Anchor, Erica Riggins

A good journalist

always strives to

present all sides of

controversial or is-

sue-oriented news

stories to viewers,

but there is only one side to report

when severe weather strikes.

Keeping our community safe is the

No. 1 priority for all of us during

severe weather. Our viewers are

united with the same purpose to

protect their families and neigh-

bors. My goal, along with all of

Bay News 9’s producers, reporters

and photographers in the field, is

to make sure viewers have all the

information they need to stay safe.

Property can be replaced, but our

lives can’t. It feels good to know

people can count on us to bring

them live, non-stop coverage until

they’re out of harm’s way.

Bay News 9 Project Weather

Weather can be mysterious, ex-

citing and sometimes dangerous.

That’s why Bay News 9 created

Project Weather to help provide

kids with the information they

need to stay safe. Project Weather

is made up of interactive educa-

tional resources to help prepare

students for the future.

Students will need skills in sci-

ence, technology, engineering or

math for 80 percent of jobs in the

next 10 years. Therefore, educat-

ing kids about weather sciences

is the perfect subject for the Bay

News 9 Weather Experts!

The Project Weather Scholar-

ship Contest is a one-time award

of $1,000 presented to seven high

school seniors who excel in sci-

ence. The scholarship is granted

as a part of Bay News 9’s commit-

ment to educating children about

science and weather. For more

information, go to baynews9.com/

projectweather.

Global warming

The issue of global warming has been in the news a lot, especially when it comes to weather and the effects human practices may have on weather. No one can say what the future holds for global warming. But it’s clear that people, especially young people, need to think ahead. Research global warming, and then decide whether or not it is a serious problem. Use the St. Petersburg Times and its archives to assist you with your research. You can find the newspaper archives on the electronic edition, as well as at Tampabay.com. Write an editorial or letter to the editor outlining your thoughts. Discuss what you have learned and what remedies can alleviate global warming.

Tampa Bay-area weather

Look in the St. Petersburg Times to find pictures, stories and advertisements that illustrate your area’s climate. In small groups, talk about how the climate shapes your way of life. Now, pick a city or country with a totally different climate. Do research on that city or country and find out how life might be different there as a result of the climate.

Learning with the Times

Weather is all around us. Weather is what the air is like in any one place at any one time. How hot or cold is the air? How much dampness, or moisture, is in the air? How fast is the air moving? How heavily does the air press on the earth?

Weather is what happens in the air from minute to minute. The weather can change a lot within a very short time, especially in Florida. For example, it may rain for an hour

and then become sunny and clear.

Weather is what we hear about on the television news throughout the day or see online or read about in the newspaper. Weather includes daily changes in precipitation (rain),

barometric pressure, temperature and wind conditions in a given location. Weather is fueled by the sun. Other factors also affect weather, such as friction, or resistance, between the land and sea; the rotation of Earth; and the shifting of wind. These cycles and forces create complex and ever-changing patterns. Weather is the way water changes in the air.

Without water, there would be no clouds, rain, snow, thunder or fog. In fact, weather affects our lives and all things on Earth, plays a big part in our lives and affects many of the things that we do.

Sources: United States Environmental Protection Agency and ThinkQuest

The St. Petersburg Times is one of nearly 1,000 U.S. newspapers offering “a living textbook,’’ the daily newspaper, to teachers and students. The NIE program provides Tampa Bay-area classrooms with newspapers and curricula for students, teacher support, classroom activities and a library of resource materials – at no cost to the teachers.

Our mission is to support the educational communities of the Tampa Bay area by promoting literacy and readership while we continue to make a difference in the lives of countless students by providing up-to-the-minute resources.

The St. Petersburg Times NIE program invites businesses, organizations and individuals to underwrite the classroom delivery of the St. Petersburg Times through our sponsorship program. You will gain great exposure to students, families and teachers. Most of all, you will be helping to prepare our future work force by improving reading and thinking skills. Reading increases vocabulary, writing skills and knowledge of the world around us.

For information about the Times NIE program, call 727-893-8138 or 800-333-7505, ext. 8138, or visit tampabay.com/nie. Like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/StpeteNIE, and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/StpeteNIE.

This publication incorporates the following Sunshine State Standards:Science: SC.3.N.1.1-7; SC.3.N.3.1-3; SC.4.N.1.1-8; SC.5.N.1.1-6; SC.5.N.2.1-2; SC.5.E.7.3-7; Language Arts/Reading: LA.3.1.4.1-4 LA.3.1.5.1-2; LA.3.1.6.1-10; LA.3.1.7.1-8; LA.3.2.2.1-4; LA.3.3.1.1-3; LA.3.3.2.1-2; LA.3.3.3.1-4; LA.3.3.4.1-6; LA.3.4.2.1-2; LA.3.5.1.1; LA.3.5.2.1; LA.3.6.1.1; LA.3.6.3.1-2; LA.3.6.4.1; LA.4.1.4.1-3; LA.4.1.5.1-2; LA.4.1.6.1-10; LA.4.1.7.1-8; LA.4.2.2.-2; LA.4.3.1.1-3; LA.4.3.2.1-3; LA.4.3.3.1-4; LA.4.3.4.1-6; LA.4.4.2.1-2; LA.4.5.1.1; LA.4.5.2.1-5; LA.4.6.1.1; LA.4.6.3.1-2; LA.5.1.4.1-3; LA.5.1.5.1-2; LA.5.1.6.1-11; LA.5.1.7.1-8; LA.5.2.2.1-4; LA.5.3.1.1-3; LA.5.3.2.1-3; LA.5.3.3.1-4; LA.5.3.4.1-5; LA.5.4.2.1-2; LA.5.5.1.1; LA.5.5.2.1-2; LA.5.6.3.1-2

NIE staffJodi Pushkin, manager, jpushkin@sptimes.comSue Bedry, development specialist, sbedry@sptimes.comCarolyn Mantell, account coordinator, cmantell@sptimes.com

CreditsWritten by Jodi Pushkin, NIE managerDesigned by Stacy Rector, Times staff

Klystron 9 is the most advanced and powerful TV weather radar. Bay News 9 has the only privately owned weather radar with a Klystron tube in the world. Most TV station radars use a less-expensive and less-reliable tube. The Klystron tube gives our radar the ability to operate as a Doppler radar 24/7. Other radars built for TV stations can’t do that. We also use the power we are able to create with the Klystron tube to make this radar the most powerful owned by any TV station. Our 1.25 million watts of peak power is unmatched in the industry. Klystron 9 is also the first dual-polarization radar in Florida. Dual-pol gives us more details about the amount of rain falling, the type of precipitation falling and any hail that might be falling from a storm. In the future, all weather radars will be dual-pol: The National Weather Service hopes to upgrade in about five years. Klystron 9 was one of the first dual-pol weather radars in the country. Another feature unique to Klystron 9 is called pulse compression. We can electronically take the powerful signal already used by our radar and make it even stronger by using a computer to change the pulse length. Pulse compression has been used for years, but Klystron 9 is the first high-power TV station radar to use this technique to make an even stronger signal. But you can’t just depend on computers and technology. Bay News 9 has a staff of experienced meteorologists who have worked in the Tampa Bay area for years and are familiar with the region’s unique climate and weather patterns. Our staff constantly analyzes the data from Klystron 9 to give you the best alerts to possible severe weather, keeping you and your family safer.

Castles in the airClouds are formed when water vapor condenses, or squeezes, into water

droplets or ice crystals as warm air rises and cools. There are many types of

clouds, and you can tell a lot about the weather by observing them.

There are four basic cloud categories:Cirro-form are high-level clouds which form

above 20,000 feet and are usually composed

of ice crystals. These high-level clouds are

typically thin and white in appearance, but can

create an array of colors when the sun is low

on the horizon.

Nimbo-form clouds typically form between

7,000 and 15,000 feet and bring steady

precipitation. As the clouds thicken and

precipitation begins to fall, the bases of the

clouds tend to lower toward the ground.

Cumulo-form clouds look like white fluffy

cotton balls and show the vertical motion

or thermal uplift of air taking place in the

atmosphere. The more humid the air, the lower

the cloud base. The tops of these clouds can

reach more than 60,000 feet.

Strato-form clouds consist of a featureless

low layer that can cover the entire sky like

a blanket, bringing generally gray and dull

weather. The cloud bases are usually only a

few hundred feet above the ground.

Source: National Weather Service

Have you ever gazed into the sky and seen clouds in the shape of a dinosaur, your next-door neighbor’s face or some other strangely familiar thing? Everyone sees something different! As a class, spend some time outside observing the clouds. Then write a story or poem about what you see.Source: This activity is taken from Understanding the World of Weather, a KRP Publication.

PRedicTing The weATheRRadar is an electronic instrument that determines the direction and distance of objects that reflect radio energy back to the radar site. It stands for radio detection and ranging. Doppler radar detects precipitation intensity, wind direction and speed, and provides estimates of hail size and rainfall amounts.

The effects of natural disasters

Weather and natural disasters affect our daily lives, health and economy. Many natural disasters occur only in certain parts of the world, but their occurrences can have an impact on the lives of those who have not experienced firsthand the drama and tragedy accompanying these events. Use the St. Petersburg Times to keep track of natural disasters during the next month. Keep a natural disaster journal. In your journal, identify each disaster and its location. Create a chart listing all of the natural disasters. Choose a disaster that did not happen in your area and make a list of some of the ways in which you or other people in your community would be affected by this particular kind of disaster. Write a brief essay outlining the disasters and how they affect communities. Share your information with your class.

Learning with the Times

Weather, weather, everywhere

Working together

The meteorologists and reporters at Bay News 9 work every day to get the weather and community news to you so you can be prepared. Check out the information about them on Baynews9.com and watch them on the air. What skills, interests and knowledge does a successful reporter or meteorologist have? Using news articles in the St. Petersburg Times as models, write a summary of these skills in the form of a short news article.

Learning with the Times

Activitydreaming of clouds

Klystron 9by Mike Clay, Bay News 9 Meteorologist

Making a rain gaugeMaterials:Jar RulerPermanent marker Chart paperPencil

Procedure:1. Measure and mark inch and half-inch marks on the side

of the jar or container, measuring from the bottom up. 2. Place the gauge outside in an open area.3. Check the rainfall in each 24-hour period. You can

use separate gauges for daily, weekly and monthly recordings.

4. Empty the daily gauge after each recording, and set it back outside to measure the next day’s rainfall.

5. Chart your results.6. Compare your measurements to those recorded in the

St. Petersburg Times!

Creating rain experimentMaterials:Glass mayonnaise or canning jar PlateHot water Ice cubesIndex cards

Procedure:1. Pour about two inches of very hot water into the glass jar.2. Cover the jar with the plate and wait a few minutes

before you start the next step.3. Put the ice cubes on the plate.4. Watch what happens.

Creating a tornado experimentMaterials:Two-liter plastic bottle WaterFood coloring Dishwashing soapOptional: Glitter, plastic houses and or cars

Procedure:1. Take one empty plastic bottle and remove the cap.2. Fill it 2/3 of the way full with water.3. Add one small drop of glitter & food coloring (optional).4. Put a single drop of dishwashing soap in the water.5. Put the cap back on the bottle very, very tightly.6. Spin the bottle.

Creating fog experimentMaterials:Black paper Gallon jarColored warm water Matches*Gallon-size bag of ice

Procedure:1. Tape the black paper on the back of the jar so you

can’t see through the jar. 2. Fill one third of the jar with colored warm water.3. Light the match and hold it over the jar opening.*4. After a few seconds, drop the match into the jar and

cover the top of the jar with the bag of ice.5. Record your observations.*You must have an adult present.

Creating a thunderstorm experimentMaterials:Clear plastic container (size of a shoe box)Red food coloringIce cubes made with blue food coloring

Procedure:1. Fill the plastic container 2/3 full with lukewarm water.2. Let the water sit for one minute.3. Place a blue ice cube at one end of the plastic

container.4. Add three drops of red food coloring to the water at

the other end of the plastic container.5. Watch what happens.

Rain and floodsWater droplets form from warm air. As the warm air rises

in the sky, the air cools. Warm air holds quite a bit of water. That is why the air feels wet, or humid, in the summer. When enough of these droplets collect together, we see them as clouds. If the clouds are big enough and have enough water droplets, the droplets bang together and form even bigger drops. Once the drops get heavy, they fall because of gravity, and then we have rain.

Not including wind-driven rain, raindrops fall between seven and 18 miles per hour in still air. The range in speed depends on the size of the raindrop. When there is wind or a great deal of heavy rain, flooding can result. Clogged drains in the streets and overflowing rivers and lakes cause floods. When the flooding happens quickly, it is called a flash flood.

Flash floods are the No.1 weather-related killer in the United States. Most deaths due to flooding in the United States are due to people driving their cars into flooded areas. It may only take 12 to 16 inches of water to cause a car to float!

Along the coast, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. In the past, large death tolls have resulted from the rise of the ocean associated with many of the major hurricanes that have made landfall. Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm, over and above the predicted astronomical tides.Sources: Florida Division of Emergency Management and National Hurricane Center

TornadoesA tornado is a violently rotating column of air, suspended

from a cumulo-form cloud or underneath a cumulo-form cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud. Literally, in order for a vortex, a whirling mess of air, to be classified as a tornado, it must be in contact with the ground and the cloud base. The most violent tornadoes are capable of tremendous destruction, with wind speeds of 250 miles per hour or more. Damage paths can be in excess of one mile wide and 50 miles long.

ThunderstormsThunderstorms develop in warm, moist air in advance of

eastward-moving cold fronts. These thunderstorms often produce large hail, strong winds and tornadoes. Tornadoes in the winter and early spring are often associated with strong frontal systems.

Tornadoes may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up. Occasionally, two or more tornadoes may occur at the same time.

Waterspouts are weak tornadoes that form over warm water. They are most common along the Gulf Coast and southeastern states.

Waterspouts occasionally move inland, becoming tornadoes and causing damage and injuries.Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory

ThunderThunder is caused by lightning. The bright light of the

lightning flash caused by the return stroke mentioned above represents a great deal of energy. This energy heats the air in the channel to above 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit in only a few millionths of a second! The air that is now heated to such a high temperature has no time to expand, so it is now at a very high pressure.

The high-pressure air then expands outward into the surrounding air, compressing it and causing a disturbance that reproduces in all directions away from the stroke. The disturbance is a shock wave for the first 10 yards, after which it becomes an ordinary sound wave, or thunder.

Thunder can seem like it goes on and on because each point along the channel produces a shock wave and sound wave.

According to the American Meteorological Society, “Meteorology is the science of the atmosphere.” The word has its origins in the Greek language. The word “meteoron” means something that happens high in the sky. A meteorologist is a person with specialized education “who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe or forecast Earth’s atmospheric phenomena and/or how the atmosphere affects the earth and life on the planet.” The Bay News 9 meteorologists are weather experts who all became fascinated with the field of meteorology for different reasons.

Chief Meteorologist Mike ClayMost meteorologists got into the profession because of a big storm when they were kids. For me, I was about 14 when a tornado struck near my hometown in Texas one evening. The tornado started in a field near the local NBC affiliate. They moved a camera to the big

‘garage door’ in the studio (most TV stations built in the ’50s had garage doors in the studio to drive cars in for automobile commercials) and simply pointed it out into the parking lot and showed the tornado live for about 20 minutes as the weatherman and news anchor did ‘play by play’ of the tornado’s path. I was hooked. Ten years later, I became the main weather anchor at that same station. I started my TV career there and stayed for five years. I never saw a tornado near the station, though.

Meteorologist Juli MarquezI became a meteorologist because I was fascinated by the weather. Whether it’s nice or stormy, the weather affects everyone. For me, the weather is never boring. There is always something interesting happening somewhere. When people are waking up and

planning their day, I like being able to say it’s going to be a beautiful day. When severe weather threatens our area, I do my best to make sure they have the most up-to-date information. Being a meteorologist allows me to have fun on some days and be serious on other days. It’s all about helping people start their day the right way.

Meteorologist Brian McClureWhen I was growing up, there weren’t too many true meteorologists on TV. I remember watching the local weather forecast and wondering why the atmosphere behaved the way it did. There never seemed to be any good explanation. Sometimes

the forecasts were correct and sometimes they weren’t. But I wanted to understand what was really going on in the atmosphere. As a senior in high school, I was

playing sports and enjoying life as most students do. My guidance counselor asked me one day where I was applying for college. I didn’t really have a good answer and told him I didn’t know where to apply yet because I didn’t know what career path I wanted to take. He simply asked me, ‘What do you enjoy?’ One thing led to another and I realized that my childhood interest in meteorology was something I should look into. While studying meteorology at North Carolina State University, I realized there were many avenues that a meteorologist can take to pursue a job. Sitting behind a desk doing research didn’t fit me. After giving a presentation to my peers in my senior college class, I realized that I was better suited for a career in communication. The one thing that really felt comfortable to me was passing along my knowledge of meteorology to the general public. So I ended up going into the TV meteorology business. To this day, I realize my main passion is breaking down the science of meteorology to allow everyone to understand the weather forecast.

Meteorologist Josh LinkerWhen I was about 8 years old, living on Long Island in New York, I remember watching the meteorologist on television talking about a snowstorm coming. I was so excited about it. When I woke up the next morning, there wasn’t any snow on the ground. I was very

disappointed. It made me wonder about the weather and how complicated it must be. My interest in the weather continued to grow from big nor’easters during the winter. Then, in 1985, Hurricane Gloria moved quickly up the east coast of the United States. It was amazing to me, the amount of damage that storm caused. I knew at that point I wanted to be a meteorologist so I could better prepare people for bad weather. Shortly before I went to college, another hurricane hit the Northeast. Hurricane Bob in 1991 caused a lot of damage, as well. It was exactly what I needed in my mind to seal the deal for me to major in meteorology at the State University of New York at Albany.

Meteorologist Diane KacmarikIn high school, I still did not know what I wanted to do for a career. I did know that I liked the earth sciences, specifically meteorology, but I had no idea what I would want to do with it. I was terrified of public speaking, so I had no interest in being on TV. After my

third year of meteorology at Penn State University, I applied for a summer internship or job in the field. I only got one response. I got a phone call from Joe DeNardo, the chief meteorologist at WTAE in Pittsburgh. There weren’t any jobs at his TV station, but he offered me an internship. He encouraged me to try TV meteorology and helped me make a tape for my resume.

Weather: mysterious, exciting and sometimes dangerous

What is weather? Basically, weather is the condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time. Weather is the way the atmosphere is behaving, mainly with respect to its effects upon life and human activities. Most people think of weather in terms of temperature, humidity, precipitation, cloudiness, brightness, visibility, wind and atmospheric pressure, as in high and low pressure.

In most places, weather can change from minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day and season to season. In the Tampa Bay area, weather can change from city to city and county to county. There are a lot of parts to weather. In Florida, weather includes sunshine, rain, cloud cover, wind, hail, flooding, thunderstorms, steady rains from a cold front or warm front, excessive heat, heat waves and more.

Source: NASA

The Weather Experts

Learning with the Times

Mascot wanted

When Groundhog Day arrives in February, all eyes are on Punxsutawney Phil to see if he will see his shadow. The hurricane season needs a mascot, and it is your job to create one and create a comic strip about the new mascot and how it came to be. Review the comic strips in the St. Petersburg Times for ideas on design, style and content. Create a mascot and then design a comic strip around that mascot. Share your comic strip with your class.

Learning with the Times

Stormy weather = stormy mood

Weather affects our lives in many ways. We check the weather forecast in the St. Petersburg Times each day, and we keep track of weather bulletins and alerts. Throughout the month, keep a journal of your thoughts about the weather’s effects on your life. Be sure to include how different weather conditions change your moods and affect your day-to-day plans. Create a feature article for the Times to show the connection between weather and moods. Share what you have learned with your class-mates and family.

Learning with the Times

Influencing weatherAn area’s weather is influenced by many things, including geographical features and air pollution. Search the St. Petersburg Times for stories about or pictures of things that might influence the weather in your area. Compare your findings with your classmates’. Be prepared to explain your thoughts.

Lightning Did you know that lightning is one of nature’s most deadly

hazards? Every season is lightning season here in Florida. The state is known as the “Lightning Capital of the United States.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory, “Lightning is a gigantic electrostatic discharge (the same kind of electricity that can shock you when you touch a doorknob) between the cloud and the ground, other clouds or within a cloud.”

There are some conflicting ideas about how lightning actually works and how it interacts with the upper atmosphere or Earth’s electromagnetic field. According to NOAA, “Lightning is one of the oldest observed natural phenomena on Earth. It has been seen in volcanic eruptions, extremely intense forest fires, surface nuclear detonations, heavy snowstorms, large hurricanes and, obviously, thunderstorms.”

Three types of lightningGround flashes: There are two categories of ground flashes: Natural and artificially triggered. Natural ground flashes occur because of normal electrification in the environment. Artificially initiated lightning includes strikes to very tall structures, airplanes, rockets and towers on mountains. Triggered lightning goes from ground to cloud, while natural lightning is cloud to ground.

Cloud-to-ground lightning: In this type of strike, a channel of negative charge will zigzag downward in roughly 50-yard segments in a forked pattern. This path, known as a step leader, is invisible to the human eye and shoots to the ground in less time than it takes to blink. A typical cloud-to-ground flash is a negative stepped leader that travels downward through the cloud, followed by an upward-traveling return stroke.

Cloud flashes: Cloud flashes sometimes have visible channels that extend out into the air around the storm but do not strike the ground. The terms “sheet lightning” and “intra-cloud lightning” refer to lightning embedded within a cloud that lights up as a sheet of luminosity during the flash. Heat lightning is lightning-induced illumination that is too far away for thunder to be heard. Lightning also can travel from cloud to cloud. Lightning refers to long, horizontally traveling flashes often seen on the underside of strato-form clouds.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Severe Storms Laboratory

ExpERiMEnTs