TEMPEST NEWS | JANUARY 2021 - MENU - 2020 THROUGH THE EYES OF NASA

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 P o s t e d b y W e a t h e r f l o w ● J a n u a r y, 2 0 2 1

 TEMPEST NEWS | JANUARY 2021

2020 THROUGH THE EYES OF NASA

Along with the o u tbrea k o f th e n ovel co ro na virus, 2 0 2 0 ha d its fa i r s h a re s of cli m ate
crises around th e g lo be. Ch eck o ut unique satellite ima ges f ro m NA SA of s om e of
2020’s more se vere f ires , dro u g hts, hurrica nes, a nd mo re. Read More >>>

THE SCIENCE OF COLD AND FLU SEASON

We all know that we a re mo st likely to catch a co ld when the weath e r i s cold, bu t w h y
is that? Learn abo u t h ow co ld, dr y a ir ca n co ntribute to virus repli cati on a nd le ng th
of infection and wh at oth er fa cto rs mig ht be at pla y. Read more >>

HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS EFFECTING WILD BEES

Bees are a vital pa rt o f Ea rth’s eco systems, but how a re the y fari ng a m i dst ou r
changing weath er pattern s? A tea m o f resea rchers f ro m Penn State condu cte d a stu dy
to find out . Read more >>>

UNITED STATES TO REJOIN PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD

Through an Execu tive Order o n his f irst da y in o f f ice, the 4 6 t h P resident of the Un ited
States puts the natio n ba ck in to the Pa ris Climate Acco rd, but expe rts wa rn th at
there are plenty o f h u rdles a h ead. Read More >>>

TEMPEST INNOVATOR OF THE MONTH

Paul Stofer has been sto rm ch a s ing since 2 0 0 1 a nd ha s been pa rt of s e ve ra l re s ea rch
projects obser vin g h a il de velo pment a nd to rna dic thundersto rm s . He u s e s
WeatherFlow's orig in a l Sma rt Weather Statio n a nd Te mpest Weathe r Sy ste m to
obser ve and reco rd win d s peed a nd directio n, temperature, de wpoi nt a nd pre s s u re
changes in mesos ca le en v iro n ments.

Paul is based in D a lla s , Texa s but cha ses sto rms thro ug ho ut the s pri ng a cros s th e
plains states. He a ls o tra n s mits live video a nd repo rts f ro m his Weath e rFlow s y ste m s
to the web as well a s ba ck to th e FOX TV a f f iliate in D a lla s, Texa s for on-a i r u s e
during se vere weath er. Tra n s missio n ca pa bilities a re do ne thro u g h m obi le
broadband. Learn more >>>

If you spend time in th e mo u n tains, especia lly in Switzerla nd, North e rn Ita ly or
Austria, avalanch es a re a pa rticula r ha za rd. Over 9 0 % o f tho se k i lle d by a va la nch e
trigger the e ven ts th ems elves , a nd a f ter j ust 1 5 minutes in the s now th e ch a nce of
live recover y drops s ig n if ica n tly. Mo st skiers, hikers a nd snow-s h oe rs k now to ca rr y a
shovel, avalanch e tra n s ceiver (bea co n), a pro be, a irba g a nd so me ca rr y a n Ava lu ng (a
long tube to poke th ro u g h th e s now a nd breathe thro ug h in the e ve nt of a n
avalanche).

Unfortunately, a va la n ch es a re beco ming mo re co mmo n a nd mo re s e ve re w i th wa rm e r
temperatures that create a wea ker snow pa ck . Which is pa rt o f w h y th e White Risk
avalanche app an d we bs ite has become so in va lu a ble. Wh ite Risk o f fers a dizzying
and comprehens ive explo ratio n o f a va la nches thro ug h illustrati ons , m a ps , 3 -D
graphics and video s s h owin g th e mesmerizing de va statio n o f a va la nch e s .

One of the resea rch ers beh in d the White Risk a pp is Stepha n Ha r ve y, w h o h a s s pe nt
23 years at the WSL In stitu te fo r Snow a nd Ava la nche Resea rch SLF i n D a vos ,
Switzerland—pa rt o f th e Swis s Federa l Resea rch Institute fo r Fore st , Snow a nd
Landscape Resea rch . We ca u g h t up with Stepha n at his ho me in th e m ou nta i ns w h e re
he was just back f ro m s k iin g .

Q :Tell me about the I nstitu te for S now and Avalanche Re searc h.

A:We belong to WSL - th e Swis s Federa l Institute fo r Fo rest Snow a nd La nds ca pe
research. I research s n ow, a va la nches a nd e ver ything co ncerning i ce .

Q :How did you get into this? Did you grow up in the mountain s?

A: Yes, I gre w up clo s e to th e mounta ins. In Switzerla nd, ⅔ o f the cou ntr y i s
mountains so mo st o f u s ca n s a y that! I’ve a lwa ys do ne a lot o f m ou nta i ne e ri ng a nd
climbing, and ha ve been a mo u nta in g uide fo r 2 0 yea rs. I o rig ina lly stu di e d
geography and gla cio lo g y.

Q :You’ve been at S L F for 2 3 years. W hat was that like whe n you star te d ?

A: When we started, th ere were no sma rt pho nes o r internet . Ou r w h ole network of
information was dif feren t . In 2 00 0 , we sta rted to use mo bile phone s to m ea s u re
automatic weather statio n s . With the a dva nce in techno lo g y o f weath e r stati ons ,
nowadays, we can pla ce weath er statio ns in remote a rea s where nobody li ve s a nd
can measure e ver y 3 0 min u tes . It’s ver y usef ul. In the ea rly da ys , we cou ld only
measure once a da y.

Q :Where do you eve n b egin to fore cast an avalanche? W hat measure m e n ts go in to
it? What is the pe r fe ct stor m that create s an avalanche?

A:First you have to u n dersta n d snowpa ck . A s it g rows, yo u mo n i tor th e w h ole
e volution of the s n owpa ck . At th e sa me time yo u a lwa ys ha ve to be a wa re of weath e r
changes.

The perfect storm to create a n ava la nche - if yo u a re ta lking a bou t dr y a va la nch e s ,
you need atypica l la yerin g - a wea k la yer with a sla b la yer o n top of i t . A s la b i s a
snow layer which h a s been depo sited by snow a nd wind. If there i s a bi g s la b la ye r i n
the snow , it’s a qu ite o bv io u s predictio n. It’s mo re how the avalanche will h a ppen
than if it will happen. We th in k in terms o f typica l a va la nche situatio ns —ne w
snowfall, a lot of n e w s n ow. A n d typica lly a va la nches a re mo re proba ble i n a strong
wind situation. A dvers e s n ow gets suppo rted by wind a nd create s ve r y good s la bs .

Q :What data do you u s e? H ow d o you measure snowfall with a weathe r station?

A:It’s not possible to mea s u re n e w snow. We ca n o nly mea sure th e di ffe re nce i n s now
height , then we h a ve to mo del the ne w snow. We co llect a ll the data i n-h ou s e a nd
maintain 200 weath er statio n s that co ntribute plus we hire a noth e r 1 0 0 obs e r ve rs
who take manua l mea s u remen ts e ver y da y. These peo ple a re tra i ne d a nd e du cate d
on how to measure s n ow a n d o bser ve a va la nches so the y know w h at k i nd th e y s e e
and what size.

Q :Tell me more ab ou t the ap p and we bsite . H ow d id you com e up with the id ea of
White Risk? It’s ve r y comp re hensive .

A:We are a team o f co u rs e, a n d quite invo lved in a va la nche educati on wa rni ng s a s
well. So, we had a pro j ect in 2 0 0 6 —we created a CD ROM. On th i s CD ROM, you cou ld
learn all sorts of stu f f a bo u t a vala nches. We noticed that if yo u rea d th e i nform ati on
in a book , it was dif f icu lt to describe a va la nches. The CD Ro m wa s m u ch bette r to
explain topics u s in g a n imatio n . It wa s ver y po pula r a nd tra nslate d i nto m a ny
different langua ges . Wh en CD ROM’s died o ut a nd the f irst iP hone a ppea re d, we we re
ver y excited by a ll th is n e w tech a nd the ne w o ptio ns the y provi de d.

In 2009 we made th e f irst Wh ite Risk a pp. We were ver y ea rly. Not only we re we ea rly
hav ing an app prov idin g a va la n che a nd weather info rmatio n, bu t we we re a ls o ea rli e r
than the weather fo reca sts f ro m the government .

Somehow we were a ble to brin g a ll this info rmatio n to gether to create a tri p
planning tool. It wa s ea s y to provide ma ps o n sma rtpho nes a nd prov i de a
continuation of th e co n ten t we pre vio usly provided via CD Ro m . On th e a pp you ca n
plan routes and s y n ch ro n ize a ll the data a nd info rmatio n f ro m th e bu lleti ns to a
smartphone that yo u ca n u s e when skiing , to see what yo u pla n ne d a nd w h e re you
are.

Q :Who uses the ap p and the information that you d istrib ute in your 2x a d ay n ews
bulletins?

A:We have the best a va la n ch e data fo r Austria a nd Switzerla nd be ca u s e we h a ve
dense networks . Both a re s ma ll co untries with ma ny specif ic
avalanche problems . In th e A lps , fo r exa mple, peo ple live clo se r to th e a va la nch e s
than in the US a n d Ca n a da . Wh ere in the US o r Ca na da yo u mig h t s e e h i g h wa y s
threatened by ava la n ch es , in th e Alps, villa ges a re ver y clo se to s k i s lope s s o
protection measu res a re mu ch mo re impo rta nt . We spend a lot of m one y to prote ct
these places.

Other wise, our a u dien ce is ba ckco untr y skiers a nd snowsho ers . We h a ve a bou t 1 2 0 -
150k users using th e a pp, wh ich is f ree. If yo u wa nt to use speci a l tools for tri p

planning, then a s u bs criptio n is $ 2 5 per yea r a nd a llows f ull a cce s s to th e k now le dge
and e -learning les s o n s . Th at is actua lly a pro duct o f o ur institute - we s e e re s ea rch
has practical us e. We pu blis h an a va la nche fo reca st e ver yda y, w h i ch i s u s e d by th e
media and some govern men t a gencies to a id decisio n ma king .

Q : Any last advice for s ome one head ing out to ski in the se m oun tain region s?

A: You cannot bu y expen s ive equ ipment a nd co nsider yo urself sa fe . You h a ve to be
educated and know h ow a va la n ches ha ppen, what trig gers them, a nd h ow to tra ve l
safely through a va la n ch e terra in. It’s ver y impo rta nt peo ple learn a bou t th at . We
know many sad exa mples o f peo ple killed e ven when equipped w i th a i r ba g s a nd
tran sceivers. It’s mo re impo rta nt to understa nd how to tra vel s o you ca n re cog ni ze
potential danger a n d a vo id it .

Inter vie w by Ann Ma rie G a rdn er. Find her o n Insta g ra m. @thenewweath e r

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