WFY24 - Accurate weather forecasts for any city worldwide
Urban Heat Islands — Why Cities Are Hotter and What We Can Do About It
If you've ever driven from the countryside into a city center on a summer day and felt the temperature jump noticeably, you've experienced the urban heat island effect firsthand. Cities can be 3–8°C warmer than surrounding rural areas, and during heatwaves, this difference can mean the difference between discomfort and danger. With over 55% of the world's population living in urban areas — a figure expected to reach 68% by 2050 — understanding and mitigating urban heat is one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
The Jet Stream Explained — The Invisible River That Controls Our Weather
Approximately 10 kilometers above your head, an invisible river of air races eastward at speeds that would put a Formula 1 car to shame — sometimes exceeding 400 km/h. This is the jet stream, and despite being invisible and intangible, it is arguably the single most important factor in determining what weather you experience day to day. It steers storms, separates warm and cold air masses, and when it weakens or wanders, the results can be devastating. Understanding the jet stream is the key to understanding why weather happens the way it does.
The New Era of Weather Satellites — Seeing the Earth Like Never Before
The first weather satellite — TIROS-1 — launched in 1960 and transmitted grainy black-and-white images of cloud patterns that looked more like abstract art than meteorology. Today, a constellation of satellites orbiting Earth provides real-time, high-resolution imagery that would have seemed like science fiction just a generation ago. New instruments can peer inside hurricanes, measure atmospheric composition molecule by molecule, and detect lightning flashes from 36,000 kilometers away. We are entering a golden age of Earth observation that is transforming weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and our understanding of the planet.