Author Archives: acrawford

About acrawford

Alex Crawford is a climate scientist whose specialties include the development of Arctic storm systems, the seasonality of Arctic sea ice, and the interactions between sea ice, storm systems, and the Arctic Ocean. He primarily works with observational data (e.g., from satellites, weather stations, and compilations like atmospheric reanalyses) but also works with output from climate models.

Climate Monday: Putting Recent Weather in Context

acrawford April 9, 2018 7:30 pm

It snowed in Wooster today. It also snowed in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, and several other states. Across the Northeast and Midwest, baseball broadcasters, news anchors, my coworkers, and even random people on the street are remarking on how “It … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Climate Change Hot Spots

acrawford April 2, 2018 7:32 pm

It’s no secret that global warming does not simply mean more warm days and fewer cold ones. Warming is uneven, with some regions (like the Arctic) warming faster than others. Additionally, warming of the atmosphere and oceans has a cascading … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Weather Forecast Maps

acrawford March 26, 2018 2:02 pm

The College of Wooster is now back in session for six more weeks, which means we have six more climate visualizations to share this semester. Today is bright, sunny, and quickly approaching 50°F in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, but we’re … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Visualizing the South Asian Monsoon

acrawford March 5, 2018 9:05 pm

Last Monday I posted some diagrams, animations, and predictions for El Niño and La Niña. So this week we’ll shift from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean and check in on the South Asian monsoon.  “Monsoon” is really just … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Visualizing El Niño and La Niña

acrawford February 26, 2018 1:20 pm

Continuing our survey of climate and weather visualizations, this week we have a few ways of visualizing El Niño and La Niña, which are two flavors of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (or ENSO).  This is a relevant topic for this … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: NASA Animations of Ice Sheet Loss

acrawford February 19, 2018 9:57 pm

Two weeks ago on Climate Monday, I highlighted some different visualizations of sea ice loss in the Arctic. Monitoring the sea ice regime is important for knowing the limits of human navigation, resource extraction, and other activities in the Arctic, … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: NERSC Surface Pressure Observations

acrawford February 12, 2018 11:12 pm

Although we often care more about the temperature and precipitation when we talk about weather, the most basic weather observation we can make is atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure is really a measure of how much air is above you. That … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Four Ways to Visualize Arctic Sea Ice Decline

acrawford February 5, 2018 7:51 pm

During the Spring 2018 semester, Monday is Climate Day.  To make it even more thematic, I’m focusing on various ways of visualizing climate and weather data.  Today’s topic: the long-term decline of Arctic sea ice since 1979. Scientists have long … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Keeling Curve Animation from NOAA

acrawford January 29, 2018 6:28 pm

While Dr. Wilson is away on leave this semester, I am going through 15 weeks of “Climate Monday”, in which every week I get the opportunity to highlight one graphic or animation or data tool that shows something interesting about … Continue reading →

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Climate Monday: Weather Animations by Cameron Beccario

acrawford January 22, 2018 12:39 pm

While Dr. Wilson is on leave and taking a hiatus from his acclaimed “Fossil of the Week” series, the Department of Geology decided to fill the void with something completely different: Climate Monday. For 15 weeks in the Spring 2018 … Continue reading →

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