Richard Swerdlow: Weather Words

Richard Swerdlow remembers the rainy days of his childhood. These days, he’s got to dissect the scientific weather jargon before stepping outside. 

Spring is finally here after a rainy winter in the Bay Area, with even snow in some areas. All that rain is good news following our prolonged drought, as we know from years of dire weather forecasts.

The weather outside, frightful or delightful, may be the most obvious example of how we experience physical science in our day-to-day lives. And recent years have brought a, well, flurry of science terms to the weather forecast. These days you practically need a Ph.D. to watch the weather channel.

When I was a kid, we called it a rainy day. Now, it’s an “atmospheric river” – a stream of moisture vapor in the atmosphere causing heavy rain. You know, a rainy day.

And then there’s the dramatic “bomb cyclone.” Don’t worry – no actual explosives are involved. This means a windy, rainy day since a bomb cyclone forms rapidly as the result of an atmospheric river.

And how should you dress when the weatherman predicts a “polar vortex?” A polar vortex sounds like a frozen dessert, but it’s a layer in the upper atmosphere creating cold winter storms. It mostly affects the east coast. So, polar vortex or no polar vortex, here in the Bay Area, you can put away that Antarctic sub-zero parka.

Experts say with climate change affecting weather patterns, technical terms have moved from scientific journals to everyday use. The climate may be changing, but complaining about the weather is nothing new, so cry me an atmospheric river, but make sure you use correct meteorological vocabulary. Polar vortex, El Niño, bomb cyclone, heat dome, inversion layer. With severe weather causing severe language, my forecast is science terminology is here to stay.

Because those atmospheric rivers, they just keep rolling along.

With a Perspective, I’m Richard Swerdlow.

Richard Swerdlow is a retired San Francisco teacher.