To accompany feature “Wacky winter dumps snow on every single U.S. state”

SCIENCE 

Before Reading: 

1.  How might snowfall cause problems in regions where such weather is not typical?

2.  What kinds of weather patterns do you associate with climate change?

During Reading: 

1.  What is the jet stream, and how does it affect the weather?     

2.  How did the jet stream affect weather in the southern United States in December 2017 and January 2018?   

3.   What is thundersnow? Where did it (surprisingly) occur in December 2017?  

4.   What is a weather “bomb”? 

5.  What was inconvenient about the snow that fell on Central Florida in 2010?  

6.  What does the amplitude of the jet stream refer to?   

7.  How could climate change affect the jet stream?   

8.  Why might a slowing jet stream lead to more frigid blasts in the southern United States?   

9.  What change in jet-stream patterns have researchers observed in recent decades, compared with the average before 1979?   

10.  What effect will warming oceans likely have on snowfall in the United States?

After Reading: 

1.  Sometimes people mistakenly think that increased snow in normally warmer regions means that global warming must not be happening. Explain why that’s not the case. Use information gleaned from the story to support your answer.

2.  Meteorology and climate science are important areas of research. Do some research and find out how these two fields differ and what kinds of career opportunities each one offers.