Belfort Instrument, Weather Monitoring System

Author: Keith Guyton
Yes, it’s that time of year again. A time those of us living in the ‘Snow Belt’ dread—getting up early to scrape snow and ice, letting our cars warm up a little bit longer to compensate for the change in temperature. But, truth be told, there are quite a few ways to better prepare your car to battle the elements.

1) Check your coolant: Always read antifreeze labels closely to be sure you have the antifreeze-to-water mix correct. The antifreeze stops your radiator from cracking and freezing, and water will prevent overheating, even in winter temperatures.

2) Battery maintenance: You’ll need 3-4 more times the starting power in colder weather. Have a draw and load test performed by a mechanic. Should your battery fail that test, then a recharge may prolong its’ life for an additional year. Barring that, investing in a new battery is equally wise.

3) Washer fluid: Frozen fluid lurking in your windshield washer tank is extremely dangerous. It’s wise to use a commercial fluid that’s been premixed. Check your hoses thoroughly, and and if necessary, use a thin piece of wire to clean your washer nozzles out.

4) Electrical system: Make sure to examine your distributor cap, points, plugs, ignition coil, spark plug cables, and condenser. These checks are vitally important, for if these items were functioning at borderline capacity during the summer, then chances are they’ll fail completely in winter.

5) Hoses and belts: Short and to the point—if they’re cracked and/or fraying, replace them as soon as possible!

6) Tire wear: With all-season tires, ensure the tread will still give traction on slippery roads. If not, then snow tires become your best choice. For front wheel drive vehicles, your ’snows’ should be on the front. And always store your ’summer’ tires on their sides as opposed to on their tread, which can cause flat spots and cause them to become unbalanced. Inflate stored tires to just about half their normal pressure.

7) Windshield: Your best defense here is to apply an anti-fogging compound to the inside surface of the glass.

Cleaning hints: Remove dead bugs from your radiator by hosing it from inside your engine compartment. Also, ensure all leaves and other such debris are cleared from the fresh-air intake port on your car’s ventilation system.

9) Stock up on cold weather items: Get more flares, as well as an aerosol drying agent for wet wires. A scraper/brush combo is a good bet, along with a military-type collapsible shovel for those emergency dig-outs. Lock de-icers for your car as well as your home are excellent choices, too.

There’s an old saying that applies here—’proper planning prevents poor performance’. This is so true when it applies to winterizing your car. If you plan ahead, and plan properly, you’ll avoid costly breakdowns and their accompanying mechanical issues when cold weather hits.

Author: Ken C. Morris
Among the most impressive of climate changes experienced around the world are the monsoon winds that occur in several locations. Most scientists and weather observers agree that the strongest monsoon winds occur in India. This weather phenomenon is created in winter when a high-pressure area forms far to the north, over Siberia. The strength of this young storm lies in the sinking of a very cold air mass. When such significant air movement occurs, the outflow pushes strong winds to the southeast, where they pass over India and move out into the ocean. In most cases, the clouds and rain that might be present are dissipated by such strong air movement.

Weather prediction techniques developed over the past few decades have allowed meteorologists and others to more accurately pinpoint when the monsoon season begins and ends. For example, in summer the high-pressure area over Siberia is much weaker, with an accompanying low-pressure zone over the northern half of India. The low pressure allows moist, warm air to move in from the Indian Ocean. Heavy rains generally result from this seasonal shift.

Those who make their living from the land in India and surrounding areas depend heavily on this cycle of monsoon wind and the rainy season that follows. If the cycle is interrupted by unusual conditions, as it is sometimes, agriculture suffers, prices for commodities rise and many of the poorer citizens go hungry.

This is just one of the more extreme examples of how the sun’s heat, the makeup of the Earth’s atmosphere and the rotation of the planet all combine to form a complex weather system. The movement of air masses, upward, downward and across the landscape, have much to do with what plants and animals experience on the ground.

But not all air mass movement and wind is so extreme or has so strong an impact on life. There are small-scale winds that have some impact on climate conditions, often without disrupting life so significantly.

Sea breezes occur along the coast, as the name implies. As with most changes in weather conditions, this breeze has its beginnings in the way water and land heat up and cool down. The ground heats up more quickly, causing warm air over the land to rise. Cooler air above the ocean moves in to replace this rising warm air and those along the coast enjoy a sea breeze. The process reverses itself at night, when warmer air above the ocean is rising. The cooler air mass from the shore moves out to sea, providing a land breeze.

Another unique wind is created in the mountainous regions of the world, when wind crossing the mountain sinks rapidly on the opposite side. The warmth of this wind can melt snow quite rapidly. A number of other local and regional climate conditions are linked to the movement of air masses, the change in temperature and the resulting winds. Each results from a unique combination of changes as the Earth goes through its natural cycles.