Weather Watching

[Chacmool]

:) You should be in durban from that temp? Or is it just a nice day in joburg today? Down here on the tip of africa i'm shivering in 16 degree weather - and very overcast... Beautiful clouds though (Turtle you really should come down and see the weather down here in storm season, its so dramatic)

It's a really nice day in Jo'burg, Jules. And Pretoria is even better. :D

 

Oh yes, Turtle - we have the most awesome thunderstorms down here, with frightening lightning! :hihi:

[Jules Grimm]

It's a really nice day in Jo'burg, Jules. And Pretoria is even better. :D

 

Oh yes, Turtle - we have the most awesome thunderstorms down here, with frightening lightning! :hihi:

 

My apologies chacmool :) - from the weather i thought it was joburg since that coincides with the forecast i heard this morning. Glad to hear pretoria is doing well though. :D

[Turtle]

I'm glad you decided to rather not play with the lightning - we don't want a toasted Turtle! :eek2:

Agreed; a turtle is a terrible thing to waste.:hyper:

I just reviewed my tape from last night's lightning storm & I grabbed a dozen or so stills. Here they come::eek2: :eek:

Lightning photos

[Boerseun]

...with frightening lightning! :eek:

My! You're poet, an' nobody told you! :D

[Boerseun]

Awesome pics, Turtle! What sorta camera did you use?

[Turtle]

Awesome pics, Turtle! What sorta camera did you use?

Thanks Boerseun! I set a sony handy-cam digital video camera to record on a tripod and then stepped frame by frame in playback to find & grab the stills. Count yourselves lucky I haven't started posting cloud photos:hihi:

Today is overcast & cool. Quite the oddball weather for us here having in the last week reached 100 year record temps as well as the 'freak' lightning show & now unseasonably cool. (I called the lightning "freak" only because none of the forecasters forecast it.:cup: ) Whatever the weather, I'll keep watching.:)

[Turtle]

Researchers have photographed nacreous clouds in Antarctica, a rare type of cloud that only forms at the poles in temperatures of at least -108°F to -126°F.

http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=23042

 

Fascinating!:hihi:

[Michaelangelica]

There is a very long Rabbit Fence across Western Australia.

 

On the rabbit side of the fence rainfall is significantly lower than on the "un-rabbity" bushier side.(where rainfall is higher)

 

Anyone want to propose a hypothesis on that?

[Boerseun]

On the rabbit side of the fence rainfall is significantly lower than on the "un-rabbity" bushier side.(where rainfall is higher)

 

Anyone want to propose a hypothesis on that?

If there are significantly more plant growth where the rabbits have been exterminated, I suppose on such a big scale the plants will give off significantly more moisture to the atmosphere than the section with less plants. Plants can tap into underground water sources, making it available to the atmosphere. But I suppose this will only be the case if there's a considerable difference in plant growth on the two sides of the fence...

[Michaelangelica]

But I suppose this will only be the case if there's a considerable difference in plant growth on the two sides of the fence...

Yes there is.

 

So how do plants produce their own rain?

[Boerseun]

Yes there is.

 

So how do plants produce their own rain?

If you take plant material and put it in a sealed container in the sun, you'd soon see condensation forming on the inside of the container. This moisture comes from the plant material, as it 'breathes' through the stoma on its leaves. Plants absorb moisture from the ground that might be deeper than the surface layer which would give it off to the atmosphere by simply heating up. So, given two pieces of equally wet land, one with plants the other without, the one with plants will give off more moisture to the atmosphere than the one without. Trees such as bluegums in Australia have immensely long taproots, and can even bring the atmosphere into direct contact with deep aquifers that would have otherwise be inaccessable.

[Turtle]

There is a very long Rabbit Fence across Western Australia.

 

On the rabbit side of the fence rainfall is significantly lower than on the "un-rabbity" bushier side.(where rainfall is higher)

 

Anyone want to propose a hypothesis on that?

I was gonna say what Boerseun said about plant respiration. :hyper: :eek: But, since that's taken here's another hypothesis. The rainy/dry line is a natural geographical feature along which people erected a bunny fence. :)

[Michaelangelica]

I was gonna say what Boerseun said about plant respiration. :doh: :hyper: But, since that's taken here's another hypothesis. The rainy/dry line is a natural geographical feature along which people erected a bunny fence. :eek2:

How about:- the plants excrete "X" which floats up into the clouds in the sky

"X" then makes the rainclouds produce rain so the plants get a drink.

Clever plants,eh, producing their own rain

 

and from my limited reading, it seems that this is actually the case!!:rain::rainbow:

 

So of course if rabbits or farmers take away the vegetation

then it don't rain anymore!!:hihi:

[LJP07]

How about:- the plants excrete "X" which floats up into the clouds in the sky

"X" then makes the rainclouds produce rain so the plants get a drink.

Clever plants,eh, producing their own rain

 

and from my limited reading, it seems that this is actually the case!!:ip::)

 

 

False. Obviously plants excrete oxygen and CO2 and that's it. Unless theres something I'm missing.

[Michaelangelica]

False.

Your reasons?

 

Mine:-

http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/WWSM/images/0003/GlobalImages/30730.pdf#search=%22rainfall%20rabbit%20fence%22

(Which unfortunately dosn't prove my point- But I am sure I read it somewhere!)

I think the same thing happens in the Amazon.

I read that scientists could tell where the rainclouds have formed by analysing the plant chemicals in fallen rain!

 

So the more trees we chop down the less rain we get..

 

So if every high-rise city had roof gardens and a jungle of indoor plants on every floor we could change a cities climate.

[Boerseun]

False. Obviously plants excrete oxygen and CO2 and that's it. Unless theres something I'm missing.

Plants respire, and cannot avoid losing moisture through the process. Basically, through the same principle in which your own breath would cause a mirror to mist up.

Plants like cacti and aloes have developed a waxy covering to minimize this moisture loss through 'breathing', and are subsequently the dominant plants in desert areas - normal plants would have died.

If plants did not lose water through respiration, where do you suppose the water it sucks up from the ground goes? You also wouldn't ever need to water a fully grown plant! :hihi:

[SolarFreak]

I saw waterspouts yesterday here in Okinawa Japan

 

http://www.heliospheric-labs.com/post/index/60/Tatsumaki--waterspouts--in-Henoko-Okinawa-Japan.html