Bill Burton: It's time for us to take a look at the Science Behind the Forecast as I am joined by WAVE 3 meteorologist Tawana Andrew. Good morning, Tawana.
Tawana Andrew: Good morning. Today, we're talking about something that affects your ability to drive in the morning and also how quickly snow can melt.
BB: Yes we're talking about the angle of the sun today and how it's much lower this time of year. What do we need to know?
TA: So during the winter, the low sun angle can create significant sun glare. So for those of you driving into work in the morning or even driving home in the afternoon, you're not crazy when you think that the sun is in your eyes even more. It actually is.
BB: Good to know I'm not crazy.
TA: You never were. You never were. But yeah, with that low sun angle, what we're dealing with now in these winter months is more of a glare on our windshield, and that can be very dangerous when you're traveling, because of course, it can cause temporary blindness, and it can make it more difficult to see the vehicles ahead of you. And if we have, let's say, snow falling, or a snow pack on the ground, that can actually reflect more light and reduce visibility even more. So on those snowier mornings, that's when we tend to run into an issue, even if that snow isn't actively falling at that moment. So when you're dealing with that, especially during the next couple of weeks, it's recommended that you wear sunglasses, preferably polarized sunglasses, because that helps with the glare a little bit more. Keep your windshields clean, which I know isn't easy all the time when we have salt on the ground, but we do our best with that. Use sun visors. If you're taller than me, then most likely these will work better for you than they do for me, and also make sure you maintain a safe distance between you and the vehicles in front of you and behind you. As a precaution against the glare, we want to make sure everyone's safe.
BB: All very good advice.
TA: That's something to keep in mind, but keep in mind that this reason that we have sun glare is the same reason that we have winter in the first place. Tilt of the earth. So the Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees. We've learned this in middle school and high school, right?
BB: Right.
TA: So it's tilted just a bit. And this tilt is what influences the amount of heat energy each part of the planet receives at any given time, and the resulting differences in the heating is what's leading to temperature variations across the planet, and that affects our weather patterns. So yeah, it affects everything from the fact that we have rain to the fact that you can't really see when you're driving into work. So during the winter months, of course, we have that sun angle. We have the earth tilted away from the sun, and with the sun traveling across the sky at the lower angle, this is what leads to the shorter days and the colder temperatures in the winter months. And in contrast, during the summer, the sun moves at a much higher angle in the sky, leading to longer days and warmer temperatures because you have more solar energy. Basically at this time of the year, we see the sun angle in the afternoon around 34 degrees, and then in the summer, it's up around 75 ish degrees in over the horizon. So it is a big change as the year goes along, and that, of course, influences our temperatures and our seasons. It also affects how long snow stays on the ground. That's why these December and January snows are just irritating. They just won't go away.
BB: Yes, I've had enough. The snow doesn't need to go home, but it can't stay here. Time to go.
TA: It needs to leave. It is no longer invited in our area. But yeah, the snow falls tend to linger longer in December and January compared to March, because that higher sun angle in the early spring is much more effective at melting snow, even if the temperatures are the same, that higher sun angle will mean a big change in how quickly snow can melt. So the sun angle affects so many different parts of our weather and our day to day life.
BB: So much to take in all because of the angle of the sun, but we have a much better grasp of all of it now, thanks to this edition of Science Behind the Forecast with WAVE 3, meteorologist Tawana Andrew. Thanks for the knowledge. Tawana.
TA: Of course.
This transcript was edited for clarity
