The Weather Channel Presents 100 Biggest Weather Moments

Tim Spangler explains how the dimples on a golf ball create a turbulent layer to make the ball go faster.

Nancy Knight states she did not claim that while observing snowflakes, she found two that were alike.

Tim Spangler says Los Angeles is such a pretty place, but in 1972 it was so smoggy, he didn’t even know it had mountains.

Charles Knight says the people who winter over in Antarctica are stuck there for 9 months.

Richard Anthes discusses how Dr. Joanne Simpson influences science as the first woman to ever get a Ph.D. in meteorology (from the University of Chicago). She developed some of the first cloud models.

Tim Killeen says solar power is the most important source of renewable energy.

Elisabeth Holland says a large-scale volcanic emission can get high enough in the atmosphere to travel around the globe multiple times, affecting the weather worldwide. There was worldwide crop failure because there was no summer, so crops couldn’t grow.

Bob Henson discusses how Ben Franklin was interested in all aspects of human and natural behavior, and because of this, weather had great appeal to him.

Bob Henson talks about how realistic and mesmerizing the tornado was on The Wizard of Oz.

Elisabeth Holland says she doesn’t want DDT poisoning her or her children.

Tim Spangler says the problem with DDT is that it kills both good and bad insects as well as birds.

Tim Spangler talks about the weather conditions that made the game brutal.

Tim Killeen states our Sun’s relationship to Earth is what’s created our environment and life on this planet.

Roger Wakimoto states that Ted Fujita has been quoted as bringing order out of chaos. He briefly talks about the effects of an F4 tornado.

Charles Knight says a nimbus cloud is a raining cloud, so if you see one where you are, it’s going to rain soon.

Matt Kelsch states the South Fork Fishing Club was managing the lake above Johnstown. He describes what happened to the poorly maintained dam. 2,200 people died.

Richard Anthes says tree rings are the clues that the climate detectives have to unraveling the past.

Elisabeth Holland tells how important the ozone layer is, particularly for those battling cancer.

Tim Spangler talks about how when the ozone hole was discovered, people acted.

Bob Henson talks about the early days of television when the reporter simply read the weather forecast.

Bob Henson states there is no substitute for on-the-ground data that is gathered through scientific storm chasing.

Bob Henson states one of his favorite parts of the Weather Channel is Local on the 8s.

Elisabeth Holland talks about how the smog that persisted for 5 days in Donora caused sickness and death, finally spearheading a clean air act.

Roger Wakimoto talks about the science of Doppler radars.

Roger Wakimoto says that the moment the 1975 Eastern Airlines crash occurred, this was the beginning phase of our understanding of the microburst.

Tim Killeen says supercomputers are our crystal ball. He says supercomputer weather calculations are done through solving equations done on a global basis.

Richard Anthes talks about the minuscule calculating capability of the ENIAC.

Richard Anthes gives examples of the current effects of global warming, i.e. storms, precipitation, heat waves. The importance of benchmark observations, such as the carbon dioxide record, cannot be overstated. These observations are so scientifically precise and accurate, nobody can question them.

Warren Washington says that when climate models have been run for the next 100 years, they project climate we haven’t seen in hundreds of thousands of years.

Roberta Johnson says the only way we can produce the warming that we’ve seen over the past 40 years is if we add greenhouse gases.