Privacy Policy

In an effort to create as much transparency between the viewer and the publisher as possible, this privacy policy will explain in detail what information is collected about your computer when you visit, and what use it serves on this blog.

(Most recently updated: September 21st, 2014)

What information is collected
When accessing The Weather Centre, Blogger collects information in order to provide the publisher with an idea of what content is most popular to the viewer, where the content is most popular, among other items. Explicitly, information collected includes:
- What website "referred" you to The Weather Centre (i.e. what website you were at when you clicked a link to visit The Weather Centre),
- Keywords used (if using the Google search engine) when searching online that then directed you to The Weather Centre,
- Your geographical location by country. Please note your specific location (i.e. city, county, state, etc.) is not recorded outside of the country you accessed the website in,
- What web browser you used when accessing The Weather Centre,
- What operating system you used when accessing The Weather Centre.
Extent of data collection: The Weather Centre publisher does not utilize third-party data collection methods, and does not store your data.

Information is also collected through a third-party source ("SuperCounters") to provide the publisher with additional views of what content is most popular with viewers, and where this content is most popular. Explicitly, informatio collected includes:
- The number of visitors that are currently on The Weather Centre.
- The number of visitors that have visited The Weather Centre on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, and total basis.
- What web browser you used when accessing The Weather Centre.
- What operating system you used when accessing The Weather Centre.
- What country you accessed The Weather Centre from.
- Screen resolution your device possesses from which you accessed The Weather Centre.
- What website "referred" you to The Weather Centre.
- What web page the visitor is currently viewing when on The Weather Centre.
Through another third-party source, IP addresses are tracked when the visitor is on The Weather Centre. Please note that The Weather Centre publisher does not employ third-party methods of data collection relating to IP addresses, or any other form of information that may be collected.

You may contact The Weather Centre with questions, concerns and/or comments relating to what information is collected at theweathercentre2 (at) gmail (dot) com

What information is used for
The Weather Centre utilizes the aforementioned data for the following reasons:
- To analyze the popularity of content from individual post to post.
- To analyze the region where the content is most popular, in order to determine a "target audience".

The Weather Centre does not use data in malicious ways or with any intent other than the methods described above. The Weather Centre does not store this data, and will not store this data at any time.

How your Privacy is protected
In order to ensure your privacy while visiting The Weather Centre is protected, several measures have been taken.
- The Weather Centre remains under the (dot)blogspot URL to ensure that all Google-produced privacy measures are also employed when you visit the website.
- All Google-based information is visible solely to the publisher of this blog. To maximize privacy, only one person (Andrew) has the administrative authority to see these statistics. As mentioned earlier, The Weather Centre does not store these statistics.
- Special attention is paid to technology-related information; in the event of a data breach at Google or a company with relations to The Weather Centre, anti-virus software is in place at The Weather Centre to deter infiltration of viruses, and notices are issued through social media platforms to advise that the visitor perform a personal anti-virus scan of their device.
- Comments on content posted on The Weather Centre are moderated by a human being before publication, to ensure that no personal data, or other harmful mechanisms can be released to the public through such a manner.

If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns about the way your privacy is protected, please contact The Weather Centre at theweathercentre2 (at) gmail (dot) com

If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns about our Privacy Policy, or other privacy & security questions, please contact The Weather Centre using our email address above, so we may answer your question, or refer you to a trusted source who may be better able to field your problem.

Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO)

The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) is an oscillation measured by the direction and intensity of winds in the middle of the stratosphere, usually around the 30 millibar level. When the QBO is in its positive phase, winds are called 'westerly', as they flow from west to east at an anomalously high speed. The positive QBO typically strengthens the polar vortex, thus resulting in a warmer than normal winter for lower latitudes. The negative QBO is when winds at the 30mb level are 'easterly', or going from east to west. Since this is the opposite direction as typical low pressure circulation in the Northern Hemisphere, the polar vortex is weakened, and cold weather tends to permeate the lower latitudes more frequently in the winter.

East Asia/Typhoon Rule

There is a rule, well explained by Joe Renken, that states a weather phenomenon in East Asia will be reciprocated in the United States 6-10 days later. This means that if there is a storm system in Japan on a certain day, we can expect a storm in the US 6-10 days after that. The same goes for high pressure and warm weather.

Example: A storm system strikes Japan on December 5th.
Result: A storm system can be expected in the United States sometime between December 11-15.

Example: High pressure and warm weather dominate East Asia from March 3rd to 10th.
Result: Warm weather can be expected in the United States sometime between March 9-20.

Lezak Recurring Cycle (LRC)

The Lezak Recurring Cycle, or LRC, is a tool developed by meteorologist Gary Lezak that, in essence, can enable forecasters to predict the overall weather pattern months in advance. The gist of the LRC involves a cycling weather pattern that develops in October and November of each year; no pattern is the same from year to year. Around mid November, the LRC begins to repeat, meaning we start to see a similar weather pattern in mid November that we saw in early October. This means that the cycling pattern has begun, and it will continue to cycle on a regular, unchanging 40-60 day interval for the next ~10 months before it dissipates over the following summer.

North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is an index that can help us calculate the risk of wintry weather impacting the United States. When there is strong high pressure over Greenland, the NAO is said to be negative, and the jet stream buckles south to send cold air into the East US. The jet stream also bends north along the East Coast to help out the prospects for coastal storms. In positive NAO scenarios, strong low pressure dominates Greenland, leading to a mainly west-to-east jet stream, not too wavy, lowering the risk of significant cold or warm weather intrusions.

Example of positive NAO and negative NAO.

Pacific-North American Index (PNA)

This is the definition for the Pacific North American (PNA) index.

The Pacific North American index deals with 500mb height anomalies in the West US and into the Northeast Pacific. When we see high pressure dominating this area, we deem it to be a positive PNA. When we see storminess over the aforementioned regions, a negative PNA is in place. The positive PNA tends to lead to cold and stormy weather in the Central and East US, while the negative PNA provokes high pressure and warm weather across the same areas.

Typical Positive PNA jet stream, and high/low pressure locations.

Typical Negative PNA jet stream, and high/low pressure locations.

Weather Explained: Negative Tilt Storm Systems

A negative tilt storm system indicates that the storm is at maturity and is at its peak strength. Negative tilt storms are often associated with severe weather, as cold air overruns the storm system and adds to instability, where warm air rises through cold air.

Weather Explained: Jet Streak

A jet streak is a 'streak' in the jet stream that has higher wind speeds than that of the rest of the jet stream. Jet streaks can be better conductors for tornadic activity.

Weather Explained: Hodographs

What is a hodograph?
A hodograph is an instrument that monitors the distance and track the radiosonde (the things that go up in weather balloons) goes as it ascends into the atmosphere.

How is a hodograph used?
It is helpful in determining tornado potential, as if a circular formation is present on a hodograph, it means that the atmospheric winds have rotation present, and that rotation moved the radiosonde in a corkscrew motion as it ascended.

So it can predict tornadoes?
Not exactly, but it can determine the track of winds in the atmosphere and give meteorologists insight into if wind directions are conductive for some spinning motions in the atmosphere.