From the Blog

Notes, thoughts, and stories. The older posts are preserved here as an archive, with room for new writing whenever inspiration strikes.

Building an Interactive Drought Relief Map

Quick Links: Project Website Source Code on Github I recently published an interactive map that shows the current US Drought Monitor levels and the 5-day National Weather Service Q

developmentweather

Welcome to the new thecloudonline.net!

As seems to always be the case when it comes to my personal website, it was a bit of a journey to get to this newly-relaunched site. Real life gets complicated - there are certainl

Site Updates

May 31: Pennsylvania's Worst Historic Weather Day

This post was originally published on psuchase.org. Generally, severe weather season in Pennsylvania occurs later in the year than it does out in the Plains and other parts of the

weathermeteorologytornadoes

Basic Skew-T Analysis: Snow Or No Snow?

It’s been a long time since we’ve posted some new content to the site, but in honor of Leap Day, let’s leap across the country to do some real basic Skew-T analysis in central Cali

meteorology

Damaging Tornado Strikes Westmoreland County, PA

For the first time since December 2006, a tornado has touched down in Westmoreland County, PA. This was a very impressive storm which, unfortunately, caused significant damage in H

tornadoesweatherWestmoreland County

Anatomy of a "Surprise" Thunderstorm

The past few days have been very interesting in terms of weather. A massive storm has moved across the country, bringing anything from blizzard conditions to severe ice accumulatio

weatherWestmoreland County

Will Pittsburgh See a White Christmas this year?

Merry Christmas to all, first off! Hope everyone enjoys a great day spent with family and friends while remembering the real reason for the season! One important question on everyo

weatherPittsburgh

Musicians and Today's Internet

Who doesn’t love the band OK Go? Even if you aren’t the biggest fan of their music, their always-unique music videos are always worth watching. I think more people know the song “H

musictechnology

On Lake Effect Snow Longevity

Someone recently asked me “Can you explain to me how it is that we can get snow for 10 days straight, yet we never seem to get rain for 10 days straight?” Simply put, I can blame i

meteorologysnow

Snow or Lack Thereof?

While much of the state (namely, the western half) has been pummeled by lake-effect snow over the weekend, there appears to be one exception to notable snowfall accumulation, at le

snowweather

Weather Update: December 1, 2010

Ah, the changing of the months; the changing of the seasons. It’s official – December is here! (And in case you were wondering, I say the “changing of the seasons” because meteorol

weather

Does it really rain every Thursday?

It’s another rainy day across the Commonwealth [of Pennsylvania]. It’s also Thursday. A friend asked me this morning, “is there some sort of meteorological reason why it always rai

weather