Does Weather Influence the Spread of Disease?

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

It’s well-known that certain diseases like Dengue fever or Malaria are spread more commonly in tropical regions, but this is mostly due to the fact that there is an abundance of rainfall year-round for the mosquitos (who carry the disease to proliferate).

What about something closer to home, like say influenza or the seasonal flu? Although part of its relationship with the weather remains a mystery, here’s what we think we know. Let’s talk myths and then facts:

Temperatures

• Myth: “Cold weather causes the flu”: Flu transmission is via coughing and sneezing or direct contact with a sick person. The cold weather doesn’t make it spread faster, it just makes people (aka the carriers) stay inside and congregate more –> crowds = more contact and more sickness.
• Fact: Warmer temperatures might breakdown the flu virus’s makeup, hence in summer we have lesser (not none!) cases. Also research has shown that our bodies revert to a “protection” mode in cold weather including:
  • narrowing our blood vessels, making it harder for your white blood cells to travel around (think traffic jam, but in your blood)
  • colder temperatures may also slow down your immune system in general (its hibernating? like bears?)

Humidity

• Myth: “The flu doesn’t affect warm climate areas.” OK smarty pants so you want to pack up and move to a warmer climate to be safe right? Not quite.
• Fact: Less water vapor in the air (aka during winter months) makes it easier for infection droplets to travel than in summer months when the air is more likely to be saturated.

Sunshine duration

• Myth: “You can only get the flu in the winter”: Actually you can get flu anytime during the year.
• Fact: The winter solstice signifies the shortest day of the year in daylight hours. Throughout the winter season therefore, there are lower amounts of daylight and hence less vitamin D for the humans. Vitamin D is a known crucial element for our immune system, so consider vitamins or taking walks!

Of course at the recording of this podcast, we are all experiencing an epidemic outbreak of Coronavirus-19. The question on everyone’s minds is will it behave the same as influenza and go away with warmer weather? It’s possible, but it is WAY to early to tell. The most important thing for Dengue, Malaria, Flu or COVID-19 is to take care of yourself and keep your immune system strong and listen to the medical professionals studying this.

• This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

Is there a lake effect snow “machine”?

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

Lake effect snow is a weather phenomenon that happens near the Great Lakes in the United States. Heavy snow showers appear along the downwind or leeward side of the Great Lakes. Local weather broadcasters call this the lake effect snow “machine.” So, how does this happen? Is this magic? Government weather modification? Actually, this is a natural occurring process that happens mainly in autumn and early winter. It is the result of a cold air mass (usually from Canada) passing over the relatively warmer water of the Great Lakes. Although, 34 degrees F is still super chilly water! As that continental polar air moves across open water (Great Lakes), air increases temperature slightly from the warmer water and it picks up more moisture. The air then arrives on the land to the far side of the lake, cools drastically and delivers a super order of snow! A historic lake effect snow event in December 2017 dumped over 53 inches of snow on Erie, PA in a 2 day period!

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

Chapped lips? Dry skin? What gives Winter?

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

Why is it that in the winter your lips get chapped and your skin suddenly needs lotion? So if you live in an area of the world where 1) there is winter and 2) you use an HVAC to heat your home, then you’ve probably experienced this situation. What’s going on? As the HVAC heats the air, it causes the relative humidity the moisture content of the air to plunge drastically. So unless you invest in a humidifier, it’s fairly likely you’ll need to be purchasing some lip balm and body lotion.

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

Is “freezer burn” real?

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

Although a modern convenience is the ability to store food in freezers and refrigerators for long periods of time, they can also take a turn for the worse. We’ve all experienced it, we go to make our favorite frozen veggie or snack and hello! it has frost all over it and tastes horrible!…what happened? Foods in poor storage containers in a frost-free freezers can lead to this situation. The modern refrigerator is made to remove moisture from its freezer section, leaving the air in the freezer relatively dry. So any moisture in the frozen goods sublimates meaning experiences a phase change from ice directly to water vapor (without changing into liquid first) and hence dries out the food. So it’s not a “burn” technically, just dehydration.

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

That cold floor in the morning…

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

So we’ve all wondered it, why does the bathroom floor feel so much colder than my fluffy bedroom carpet even though they are both the same temperature? They’re both in the same building right? The main difference here is the type of material and how well it retains and conducts (through physical contact) heat. Objects that are good conductors can feel cold to the touch even at room temperature. Don’t forget you’re full of heat! Remember when the doctor takes your temperature? It’s usually in the upper-90s Fahrenheit right? So in this case, the bathroom floor tile surface is a better conductor, and hence can “zap” the heat energy out of your feet faster than the carpet can. Mostly because carpet has air pockets in it, and air is a very poor conductor of heat. Tadah! Mystery solved!

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

Is Ozone Friend or Foe?

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

You may have heard of ozone, that’s three atoms of oxygen in one molecule for my chemistry people. Although it is considered a pollutant at the surface, ozone is actually super important for life to remain and thrive on Earth. Higher up in the atmosphere in a layer we call the stratosphere, ozone acts as a protective blanket to shield us surface dwellers from harmful ultraviolet radiation. However, ozone can become a problem at the surface when produced as a byproduct from some vehicular and industrial processes. At the surface then ozone is a foe because it’s harmful to human and vegetation health, but aloft? Ozone is our invisible protective friend.

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

The mystery of “biofog”

This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

Why do you see you breath on cold mornings? One of my former professors called this phenomena “biofog.” On these brisk mornings, your body is actually creating something called steam fog! There is a small amount of water vapor in your breath as you exhale, that water vapor saturates the cold air it comes into contact with, which immediately condenses into tiny “cloud” droplets or fog. Now, it disappears just as quickly as it formed because the water vapor from your breath is being mixed out into the vast majority of surrounding air which is unsaturated or dry. Tadah! Biofog!

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

Why is it called meteorology?

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This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

As you might know, a meteor is usually a piece of space debris that burns up in our atmosphere. So why is it called meteorology? Do meteorologists study meteors? This actually harkens back to Aristotle’s study of the atmosphere and astronomical phenomena around 340 BC. The Greek philosopher wrote a book titled Meteorologica, meaning anything that has to do with the sky. In modern science, we now differentiate between astronomy (space and extraterrestrial studies) and meteorology (Earth’s atmosphere). So do meteorologists study meteors? Technically, yes, as all precipitation ice or water are considered hydrometeors.

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com

What is Cloud Seeding?

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This is a Meteobite, an answer to a Meteorology question in 90 seconds or less.

What is cloud seeding? Clouds are made up of tiny little water droplets and in order for some kind of precipitation to form like snow or rain, we need tiny surfaces called condensation nuclei. And these little surfaces can be dust, or salt, or some other kind of surface and what happens is in cloud seeding I go into the cloud usually with an airplane, and I spray some kind of substance. One example being silver iodide and it acts as this surface and then the water droplets will form onto it creating my precipitation, and voila! I’ve made artificial precipitation. Now there are many companies that do this, usually for a charge, but the idea is to create precipitation in an area where it’s sorely lacking.

This has been a Meteobite, please feel free to submit your own questions to be answered here: @meteorologyirl or meteorologyirl@gmail.com