Week's Weather/Understanding Earthquakes/Saving the World from Terrorists

WEATHER
As I write this post, there has been one tornado in northern Tennessee. And, there have been several high wind measurements. Much of the southeast is under a tornado watch this evening. There are also winter weather type advisories in parts of the Sierra Nevada, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota and parts of New England. There is a red flag warning due to high wind and dry conditions in parts of Texas.

On Monday, highs will be in the teens and 20s for the northern Rockies and northern Plains. Then there will be a swatch of 30s from the Intermountain Region through the central plains and Midwest and into the northeast. Boston, NY and DC will enjoy 40s and 50s and about 60 respectively before colder air arrives midweek. The west coast and southern states will be mainly in the 40s, 50s and 60s (Miami and the riog Grande Valley of TX will reach the mid to upper 70s). There will be some snow showers for the Great Lakes states, Ohio Valley and some thunderstorms for the eastern seaboard and southern Florida as well as the west coast. The Pacific Northwest and Intermountain Region will also have some showers and snow.

Houston will be pleasant with a morning start around 40 and highs in the 60s. It won't be so windy. Temperatures climb each day into midweek. Windy picks up again as the next storm system approaches on Wednesday. Thunderstorms and then cold front arrive Thursday. Lows will be in the 30s and highs will be in the 40s on Friday. There will be a light freeze for outlying areas Saturday morning with highs in the 50s on Saturday and slightly warmer for Sunday.



SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY
Let's do recover or recuperar, pronounced ray-coo-purr-ARRRRRRRRR. Did you know that there are radioactive sources in dozens of countries that we need to recuperar to keep them out of the hands of terrorists? Find out about the U.S. team (including my own sister) that is working on doing just that.

Most of the folks doing the important work of radioactive source recovery are scientists. Did you know that children who learn more than one language are more apt to score higher on standardized math and science tests than children who only learn one language? And I have a way for you to help your children embrace Spanish while being entertained. Order my award winning DVD, Let's Learn Spanish with Frank & Paco. And, you'll feel good about purchasing it, knowing that it has won awards from Dr. Toy and homeschool.com as a best educational product. You can find Volumes 1 or 2 at http://www.frankandpaco.com
, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.bn.com, http://www.bestbuy.com, or http://www.ebay.com/. Our ESL (English as a Second Language) version can be found at http://www.frankypaco.com.

AND MORE
What a beautiful day!!! Okay...it was a bit on the windy side. But, we took advantage of it and headed to the wide open spaces at Lost Creek Park in Sugar Land. Sarah and Lexi had a great time flying our kite. We saw several other kite flying enthusiasts out there. And, there were a few casualties in the trees.

Our church gave a report on how much was collected last week for the victims of the Haiti earthquake on January 12th. That earthquake was a 7 on the Richter scale. I got to thinking back on the old logarithmic scale for determining how each magnitude of earthquake compares to the magnitude below it. I remembered a multiplier of 10. So, I went to the United States Geological Survey site to learn more. This site has a wealth of information. For example, the strongest earthquake in the 1900s was a 9.5 in Chile in 1960. The deadliest was an 8 magnitude in 1556 in Shaanxi (Shensi) China which killed 830,000 (possibly more). Frequency-wise, in the world, there is 1 earthquake of magnitude 8 or higher each year, 17 of magnitude 7 to 7.9 and 134 of magnitude 6 to 6.9. Getting back to the multiplier of 10 for each level of magnitude, that has to do with the amplitude of the earthquake's waves measured on a seismograph. But what is even more important is the amount of energy that is released. Let me explain it this way. A magnitude 7 earthquake is 10 times stronger (amplitude-wise) than a magnitude 6 earthquake. But, it releases 32 times more energy. A magnitude 8 earthquake is 100 times stronger (amplitude-wise) than a magnitude 6 earthquake. But it releases 1000 times the energy! A magniture 9 earthquake is 1000 times stronger than a magnitude 6 earthquake and releases 31,623 times the energy!!! So, the energy release is very important for understanding the amount of destruction. To learn more about earthquakes, go to the USGS site:
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/

Here is the perfect way to exercise and benefit a charity you like. It is the 3rd Annual Charity of Your Choice Walk on Saturday, April 10, 2010 in Telfair Community in Sugar Land. You choices for beneficiaries are Second Mile Mission Cneter, Fort Bend Family Promise, Pregnancy Resource Center, Fort Bend Educatino Foundation (the Arc of Fort Bend County), child Advocates of Fort Bend, Shape Up Sugar Land, Brazos Bend Guardianship Services, Asians Against Domestic Abuse, East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry, Fort Bend Habitat for Humanity, Fort Bend Community Partners Rainbow Room, Fort Bend Regional Council on Substance Abuse, and NAMI Fort Bend. Here is the link for more information and registration:
http://charityofyourchoicewalk.com/

My sister Julie is a modern day superhero...her work is to recover radioactive sources from overseas locations--at risk of acquisition by terrorist threats. She has had to testify before the Department of Homeland Security several times. Her husband Alex is a genius master of safe methodology for recovery. Together they make and unbeatable team. The following article explains the work of these people who are trying very hard to make our world a safer place:
http://www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?075+article+News+20100121140629075075004

Have a great week everyone!
Cecilia Sinclair
Wonder Weather Woman