September 28, 2011 - JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Morgan asked:  Where does lightning start - from the sky or the ground?
Jerry's answer:  Both! Lightning starts from the cloud down, but the part we see moves from the ground up (the return stroke).  The whole process happens in about 1/1,000,000 of a second so the human eye can not tell the different phases of the lightning flash.

October 5, 2011 - ASBURY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Alexander asked:  What causes a wall cloud?
Jerry's answer:  A wall cloud is formed when powerful rotating t-storms begin lowering toward the round.  Often times the entire wall cloud is rotating and if a tornado is going to form, it usually forms from the base of the wall cloud.

October 12, 2011 - COLUMBUS PREP & FITNESS ACADEMY
Aaliyah asked:  How many cloud droplets are in one raindrop?
Jerry's answer:  Depending on the size of the raindrop, there can be between 1 and 15 MILLION cloud droplets in a single raindrop!

October 20, 2011 - WINDSOR STEM ACADEMY
C. Victoria asked:  How cold does it have to be to snow?
Jerry's answer: Usually, the colder the better, but snow can fall when temperatures are well above freezing. As a general rule, snow will not fall if the temperature is above 41°!

October 26, 2011 - FOUSE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tessa asked:  How long does it take for a cumulonimbus cloud to form into a thunderstorm?
Jerry's answer:  Under ideal conditions, the weather can go from blue skies to thunderstorm clouds in less than an hour!

November 2, 2011 - CEDARWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Zakeah asked:  Does an eclipse affect the weather?
Jerry's answer:  If conditions are right, during a solar eclipse the temperature can drop 5 - 10 degrees!

November 9, 2011 - ROBERT FROST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Jeff asked:  Do tornadoes ever come in November?
Jerry's answer: Yes!  Although the number of tornadoes in the U.S. peaks around May, there is a secondary peak season in late October and November.

November 16, 2011 - MADISON CHRISTIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Kennedy asked:  Why is it colder the higher you go up in the atmosphere?
Jerry's answer: The suns energy warms the atmosphere indirectly - by heating the land and oceans first, which then heat the atmosphere from the bottom up!

November 30, 2011 -DARBY CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Madison asked:  What makes a blizzard?
Jerry's answer: Snow does NOT actually have to be falling for a blizzard to occur! By definition, blizzard conditions require sustained winds over 35 mph and visibility reduced to less than 1/4 mile.

December 5, 2011 -WALNUT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Ryan asked:  How does a satellite stay in one place in space?
Jerry's answer: Once a satellite reaches altitude of 22,236 miles above the Earth, it must then be propelled at 6,887 mph to maintain an orbit over the same point on the Earths surface!

December 14, 2011 - GEORGIAN HEIGHTS ALTERNATIVE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
John asked:  What is lightning made out of?
Jerry's answer:  Lightning is essentially made of electrons and neutrons.  When they are energized, a flash of lightning is the result!

January 4, 2012 - MONROE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Grace asked:  What side of a house should you go to during a tornado?
Jerry's answer:  Your best bet is to get to the lowest floor possible toward the center of the house, preferably under a table or workbench.

January 11, 2012 - LAURELVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Josie asked:  How high can clouds get?
Jerry's answer:  Usually clouds are limited in height by the top of the atmosphere.  In the tropics, that means that cirrus clouds can reach over 50,000 feet!  However, there is a special kind of cloud that appears at extremely high altitudes near the north and south pole.  These 'stratospheric noctilucent' clouds exist at altitudes over 250,000 feet!

January 18, 2012 - LIBERTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Dylan asked:  Why do we have hail (or 'ice balls') in the summer time?
Jerry's answer:  Thunderstorms that form in the hot summer months are usually very tall - reaching well over 35,000 ft.  And in the tops of the clouds (where the hail forms), clouds are very cold - lower than -50F!

January 25, 2012 - BUCKEYE VALLEY EAST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Logan asked: Can clouds make saltwater into freshwater?
Jerry's answer:  That actually happens more than you think!  Even in a hurricane, the water that evaporates from the ocean to make the clouds and rain is 'pure' water, not salt water.  So, even the rain from a hurricane is considered fresh water!

February 8, 2012 - MANSION DAY SCHOOL
Yoshi asked:  Can clouds help predict the weather?
Jerry's answer:  Absolutely!  By carefully watching the types of clouds and their direction, you can make a fairly accurate weather prediction for the next 12 to 24 hours!

February 15, 2012 - GLACIER RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Emily asked: Why is snow white?
Jerry's answer:  The structure of ice crystals (especially when there are millions and millions of them together!) makes snow very efficient at reflecting light.  So, the snow is essentially the color of the sunlight reflecting off it - white!

February 22, 2012 - SCIOTO RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Luke asked:  Does the time of day have anything to do with the chance of severe weather?
Jerry's answer:  Most severe thunderstorms  (including those that produce tornadoes and large hail) occur during the warmest part of the day, usually between 3 pm and 7 pm.

March 1, 2012 - CENTRAL COLLEGE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Ben asked:  What is the longest lasting hurricane ever recorded?
Jerry's answer:  Most hurricanes last for several days or even a week, but in August 1899, Hurricane San Ciriaco lasted for 28 days!

March 7, 2012 - SOUTHWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Noah asked: How does a weather balloon work?
Jerry's answer:  Weather balloons have a small instrument pack attached, and as the balloons rise, the instruments measure many different weather variables and send the data back to the surface.

March 14, 2012 - NORTH UNION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Katlyn asked:  What is the worst winter (by temperature) on record:
Jerry's answer:  The coldest winter ever recorded in Ohio was 1976-1977.  And during January 1977, the statewide average temperature was only 11.9 degrees!

March 28, 2012 - FREEDOM TRAIL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Ethan asked:  What is the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded in the U.S.?
Jerry's answer:  During the Labor Day hurricane near Key West, FL in 1935, the pressure reached a record low of 26.35 inches of mercury!

April 4, 2012 - RIDGEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Teraun asked:  How many times does the lightning strike the Earth in a single day?
Jerry's answer:  At any moment, there are 1000's of thunderstorms occurring on Earth and they produce an average of 3 to 4 million flashes each day!

April 11, 2012 - ST. MARY'S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Anthony asked:  Why do tornadoes have seasons?
Jerry's answer:  The jet stream is strongest from April thru July and that's when the majority of tornadoes occur.

April 18, 2012 - HORIZON SCIENCE ACADEMY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Amiri asked:  How does radar detect weather?
Jerry's answer:  Radar continually sends out tiny, fast moving beams of energy.  The energy is bounced back to the radar site after it hits precipitation and tells us where it's raining, how hard it's raining and the direction & speed of the rain.