The climate of the region, or the atmosphere’s average condition
over a long period of time, is classified in the Köppen system as Cfb. The first letter "C" represents a mild mid-latitude
or Goldylocks climate. The second letter "f" is a precipitation
indicator that reflects year round wetness. The third letter "b" is a
temperature indicator that reflects warm summers. Together the Cfb categorization
of the region can be described as a Marine West Coast climate that is in line
with the region's geographic positioning.
In early August
2014 A tropical cyclone named Hurricane Bertha,or Typhoon Bertha as she would
be known in the eastern hemisphere, passed over the North Sea and battered the
Nord Pas de Calais region of France. The storm resulted in heavy rains across
the region for several days. The outer
bands of the storm helped spawn an F1 tornado in the region; meaning wind
speeds were measured between 86-110mph according to the Fujita Tornado
Classification System. This tropical
cyclone's cyclogenesis, or development of cyclonic circulation in the
atmosphere, began thousands of miles away over in the Cape Verde Islands before
moving southwest toward the Bahamas, up the U.S. eastern seaboard and back
across the Atlantic ocean before making land fall in the British Aisles and
Northern France.
Photo of the remnants of Bertha over the North Sea on Aug. 11, 2014 Photo credit:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Bertha_2014-08-11_VIIRS.jpg |
During subsequent
storms in Bertha's wake several instances of lightning, or a discharge of electricity between large
volumes of excess positive and negative charge, were reported in the region. The picture below is indicative of the
lightning strikes reported during the storm. Characteristics of this lightning
include forked lightning, where the channel splits up in mid air forming two or
more forks. We also see what may be a red sprite in the middle of the picture,
or a positively charged cloud to ground strike that glows red.
Lightning Strike off the coast of France.Photo Credit:http://afp-photo.tumblr.com/post/63158482388/france-nice-flashes-of-lightning-strike-above#.VGT4zxa4E0I |
Research Resources Include:
http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Climate/EarthTempClim/EarthTempClim.html
http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Climate/Weather/Weather.html
http://www.lille.climatemps.com/
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/lille-france-climate-weather-14029.html
http://www.weather.gov/mhx/Jul121996EventReview
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