New Ohio Drought Monitor: Better for Mahoning Valley, bad news for Ohio

The latest drought report came out this morning and most of the Valley remains under moderate drought conditions. However northeastern Trumbull County and southeastern Columbiana County have decreased to only dry conditions.

In the last week, afternoon thunderstorms have helped out the area in dumping over two inches of rain in some towns in a single day. This is good news but thunderstorms only produce localized downpours and don't help the region as a whole.

While the Valley is improving, Ohio has gotten worse in the last week. Abnormally dry conditions now cover over 75 percent of the state. This is up from only 70 percent a week ago. On top of this, the coverage area of the moderate drought has increased from 26 percent to 33 percent.

Ohio hasn't seen this type of moderate drought since October 2012. The National Drought Mitigation Center says that if the drought continues we could start to see some damage to crops and pastures. Also under these conditions streams, reservoirs, or wells could become low and some water shortages may develop.

Though with the showers and storms in the forecast for the next couple of days we can only hope that conditions continue to improve. The bottom line is that we need the rain to continue and throughout most Ohio.

FEMA wants people to be prepared

We all know the basics of how to protect ourselves in extreme heat. Make sure your drink plenty of water. Stay out of the sun as much as possible. Put on sunscreen. On top of these steps there are other thing people can do to be safe in the warm weather. FEMA has a list on their app of things you should also do before and after the heat wave. 

Here are are a few things that FEMA says you can do in order to prepare for the heat:

• Check air-conditioning ducts for proper insulation.
• Weather-strip doors and sills to keep cool air in.
• Cover windows that receive morning or afternoon sun with drapes, shades, awnings, or louvers. (Outdoor awnings or louvers can reduce the heat that enters a home by up to 80 percent.)
• Know those in your neighborhood who are elderly, young, sick or overweight. They are more likely to become victims of excessive heat and may need help.
• Be aware that people living in urban areas may be at greater risk from the effects of a prolonged heat wave than are people living in rural areas.
• Get trained in first aid to learn how to treat heat-related emergencies.

Once the heat is here, FEMA also explains ways in which you stay safe:

• Stay on the lowest floor out of the sunshine if air conditioning is not available.
• Consider spending the warmest part of the day in public buildings such as libraries, schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and other community facilities. Circulating air can cool the body by increasing the perspiration rate of evaporation.
• Eat well-balanced, light, and regular meals. Avoid using salt tablets unless directed to do so by a physician.
• Avoid drinks with caffeine. Persons who have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease; are on fluid-restricted diets; or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a doctor before increasing liquid intake.
• Limit intake of alcoholic beverages.
• Dress in loose-fitting, lightweight, and light-colored clothes that cover as much skin as possible. Avoid dark colors because they absorb the sun’s rays.
• Check on family, friends, and neighbors who do not have air conditioning and who spend much of their time alone.

These are ways in order to beat the heat but extreme heat is not the only Natural Disaster that Mother Nature will through our way this year. For more preparedness facts you can go online to www.ready.gov or download the FEMA app on your phone. Also for the latest information about current and local weather you can also download the WKBN Storm Team 27 Weather App.

Signs of heat related illnesses

With most of the country experiencing a heat wave this weekend, its no surprise that some of us could see a heat index of 100 degrees over the weekend. The problem is that during this extreme heat a lot of us are going to be participating in road races, outdoor activities, and even local downtown events. It is still safe to be outside but people should be on the lookout for heat related illnesses.

I went down to Poland High School to see how the football team trains in the heat and what they look out for when it comes to heat related illnesses. On top of moving practices to the morning, when it is cooler, they also make each player weigh themselves during each practice. Every players weight it monitored over the course of the summer and if the player looses close to ten pounds of water weight he will be pulled out of practice and monitored.

I was also told that each coach knows the first signs of heat sickness and what to do in a heat related case. Head athletic trainer Kirstie Bournias-Zemba told me over the phone that the first sign that the body is overheating is that the player stops sweating. This can also be associated with cramping and exhaustion. Once a player shows and signs of heat sickness they are immediately taken off the field and given fluids. She explained that once a player is in the shade and resting, if he does not start sweating in 5 mins then the parents are contacted and paramedics if parents can not be reached.

For the average person who will be involved in outdoor activities this weekend, Kirstie stresses that we need to drink as much water as possible when dealing with the heat. Also stay away from any caffeinated drinks or energy drinks. Caffeine can rob the body of needed water to stay hydrated while in the heat. So if you are in a road race or doing any strenuous activities this weekend here is a way you can watch how much fluid are in your body.

Weigh yourself before your workout, once you a done weigh yourself again and compare the two weights. If you lost more than 3 percent of your weight in a few hours then you are or on the verge of dehydration. That means if you weigh a 100 lbs then you shouldn't lose more than three pounds. The rest of the weight goes as such:

100 lbs-  3 lbs of water weight
133 lbs-  4 lbs of water weight
166 lbs-  5 lbs of water weight
200 lbs-  6 lbs of water weight
233 lbs-  7 lbs of water weight
266 lbs-  8 lbs of water weight
300 lbs-  9 lbs of water weight

This chart is just a guideline, if you are beginning to cramp or become disoriented please stop activities immediately and seek shade. Please be safe this weekend and watch out for those around you too.

Plans this weekend need to include plenty of water and shade

If you watch 27 First News meteorologists, we put a "Feels Like" graph up of the Valley from time to time. The graph shows current heat indices for the certain cities around our neighborhood but how to they differ from regular temperatures? The temperatures just measures the heat in the atmosphere but the heat index measures the heat and humidity in the atmosphere. Again, why should we even care what it heals like if we know that its already going to be hot outside?

Hot is just plain hot. Right?

Well there is more to it than that! In a brief science lesson, when people sweat the water evaporates off there body and cools them down. However, in humid conditions, the evaporation process is slowed down so people do not cool off as quickly as say standing in dry air. This is fine if people are in cold and humid air but  not when its 90 degrees outside. People need to cool off but with the humidity is over 50%, this hinders the process to stay cool.

So if we look at the chart of heat index, we know the foretasted temperature is going to be in the mid to lower 90s with a Relative Humidity of around 50%. Connect the dots and we get a heat index or a "Feels like" temperature of around 100 degrees!

So if you are planning on going out this weekend here are some rules you will need to follow to stay cool in this extreme heat:

Rule 1: If you are planning on going for a run or being outside for a long period of time, limit your sun exposure. At the peak of the day, temperatures in the sun can be over 10 degrees warmer than in a shady spot.

Rule 2: Drink plenty of water. This rule is a given but some people do not realize that if you are planning on doing strenuous activities, that you need to start to hydrate a hour before you start sweating.

Rule 3: Done with your game or outside activities? Make sure you have some damp towels in your cooler to help cool you off quickly and decrease the change of suffering from a heat related illnesses. Oh and hydrate some more now too. Yes I put it in there twice, because it is just that important.

On the other side, the grass is not always greener

As a meteorologists, people have a love/hate relationship with us depending on what type of weather we tell you is coming. So when we call for sunny skies people tend to like us a little more than saying its going to rain on their parade; literally. However what could be a beautiful week ahead for most people, is not always welcomed by everyone.

This is because we are currently under a moderate drought. This drought is considered a short term drought which is expected to last no more than six months, though if this continues for the next few months it could spell disaster for some farmers. A moderate drought is classified as a drought that could damage crops and pastures, cause streams, reservoirs, or wells to become low, and for our area to develop water shortages. Under these conditions it is recommended by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that local officials should request voluntary water-use restrictions.

Before people start to panic and freak out about running out of water, let me explain that currently it is not dire situation when it comes to water restrictions. On the other hand, for farmers this is a critical time when crops are growing and irrigation is key to having a successful harvest in the fall. If this drought continues or even gets worse then not only does this become worse off for growers and farmers but it even will have a direct impact on all of our day to day activities. So even though our lawns are starting to turn brown, we can bounce back from this drought but only if we get a lot of rain, and soon.

So enjoy these sunny skies and warmer weather but careful what you wish for because the grass might not be greener on the other side.

Sunday Science Moment- July 3rd 2016

SUNDAY SCIENCE MOMENT

July 3rd 2016

Ever wonder why a hot air balloon floats? The air in the balloon has the same properties and chemical make up as the air around the balloon, so why does it begin to rise when filled up? It all has to do with the air temperature. When you heat up a balloon, the warmer air expends to fill up the balloon. The air inside the balloon becomes less dense then the air around it and allows the hot air to rise. This concept helps explain practical applications like this one, though on the Fourth of July there is a different reason to talk about air masses. An understanding of warm and cold air masses comes into play when figuring out why we can hear our neighbor’s fireworks down the street. 

When the firework goes off, BOOM, that sound wave travels out in every direction until it is dissipates by running into object around the blast. Commonly known as attenuation, the sound wave can only travels as far as objects will allow it to or until it runs out of energy. One of those objects that sound waves can run into is air itself. You see every sound wave needs a medium for which it can travel through, such as water, air, or a solid object. If you watched a movie where there is an explosion in space with a loud boom, they are wrong. Space has no medium so sound cannot travel from point a to point b. So when it comes to air masses, it all depends on what kind of medium is in place that determines how far that sound wave travels.

What I have created is a firework going off over downtown Youngstown. To the left is a cold air mass and to the right is a warm air mass. The current conditions for the Fourth of July right when the fireworks go off are going to be wet and warm. Since the air is warmer it means that the molecules are moving faster when compared to a cold air mass. Due to the fact that there is a warm air mass in place means that, like the hot air balloon, the air is less dense. This allows the soundwave to move faster, covering more distance in less time. With this information we can figure out that since the sound wave is moving further in less time it means that there is less time for the sound wave to attenuate or dissipate. 

In the picture above we can see that in the same amount of time the soundwave in the green warm air mass is traveling faster than the sound wave in the blue cold air mass. After a period of a few second the sound wave moving through the warm moist air mass will move further before dissipating. As seen below the other sound wave did not travel as far and has already dissipated. So what does this mean for people throughout the Valley on this Fourth of July?

It means one of several things; first it means that the sound wave will travel further so those people down the street launching fireworks might sound like they are actually in your front yard. You will also most likely to hear the fireworks from the street over and probably even a few neighborhoods over. Also if you have any pets, they are more likely to hear fireworks even further away than a few neighborhoods over. So if they are scared of fireworks, like my dog, they might be sleeping as close as they can to you tonight. Also for those trying to go to bed early, you will most likely be kept up from the loud bangs until your neighbors go inside. Lastly, if you plan on launching any fireworks that are not allowed in Ohio, just remember that tonight; your angry neighbors will be able to hear you loud and clear. Just a friendly heads up.

If you have any weather related questions or want something explained, let me know. Enjoy the weather and I'll be back next week for the next Science Moment. 

Sunday Science Moment- June 25th 2016

SUNDAY SCIENCE MOMENT

June 25th 2016

           During this time of year it is typical to have an afternoon shower or storm move through the area. In Northeast Ohio we also see most storms fire to the West of our area and then move our way. This is because these storms rely off of the sun. Commonly known as day time heating, the sun is what fuels these storms and provides enough instability in where the thunderstorms can thrive. However in the last few weeks we have seen that the sun sets right as the line of storms get over us, which causes the storms to weaken. In fact most of the time the showers don't make it over us and all we are left with is cloudy skies overnight. 

           This is what promoted this week’s Science Moment. During the overnight hours, in the last week alone, we have seen temperatures that range from the upper 40s to the lower 70s. So what causes this drastic change in temperatures during the night? There are a lot of factors that play into the fluctuation of temperatures. Winds, dew points, and rain are some just to name a few. Though recently a major contributing factor has been the cloud cover we have seen some nights during this last week. The sun’s rays are the strongest in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer months; this is why we see the highest temperatures during the summer. Pretty straight forward. During the day we see that the sun warms up the surface to Highs typically in the 80s. However for the low temperature, it all depends on whether or not the cloud cover rolls in during the overnight hours.

          For example, when we have the clouds roll in during the evening it creates a cap layer that does not let the heat escape. The clouds act like an insulator and can cause temperatures to drop slightly to only in the middle to lower 60s. We know that warm air rises but when that air hits the clouds most of the warmer air stays stagnate until the clouds clear or there is a strong wind that comes in that pushes out the warmer air at the surface. The other example is that after a warm day, we do not have any clouds roll in and there is a clear night. On a calm clear night the heat is allowed to escape and as the warm air rises it mixes and/or dissipates into the atmosphere. On those nights we saw temperatures dropped up to 30 degrees in some areas. Knowing that cloud cover is not the only reason for the variability in overnight lows. So the next time you see the clouds come rolling in before you go to bed, during the summer, the odds are pretty high that you might not need a jacket when you wake up the next morning. 

If you have any weather related questions or want something explained, let me know. Enjoy the weather and I'll be back next week for the next Science Moment.