September 30, 2009 - SLATE HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Jaleah asked: What makes different kinds of snowflakes?
Jerrys answer: The temperature in the clouds dictate what kinds of snowflakes will form. Around 14and 22°, icy needles form. From -4 to 14°, the crystals look like plates. And from -12 to -4°, the classic dendrites (six-sided flakes) form.

October 7, 2009 - MADISON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Sydney asked: How does lightning form?
Jerrys answer: The air inside a t-storm is very violent, with large amounts of air rapidly moving up and down within the storms. This produces a large amout of static electricity, which in turn produces lightning.

October 14, 2009 - ST. MARY MAGDALENE SCHOOL
Samantha asked: How hard can rain fall?
Jerrys answer: During the heaviest rainstorms, rates of 2-3" per hour are not uncommon. However, the heaviest rain recorded in Ohio was in Cambridge - 7.0" fell in just 30 minutes!

October 21, 2009 - TIFFIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Can it thunder during a snow storm?
Jerrys answer: Yes, but it's pretty rare. When 'thundersnow' occurs, it is usually accompanied by extremely heavy bursts of snow, along with vividly colored lightning.

October 29, 2009 - BARRINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Brianna asked: Where did the word 'weather' come from?
Jerrys answer:  'Weather' comes from the German word 'weder', which means 'to blow'.

November 4, 2009 - ST. ANDREW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tanner asked: How many gallons of water are in an average cloud?
Jerrys answer:  An average cumulus cloud weighs over 500 tons - that's over 120,00 gallons of water!

November 11, 2009 - TOLL GATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Norma asked:  How much snow falls during a blizzard?
Jerrys answer:  None!  By definition, blizzard conditions require sustained winds over 35 mph and visibility reduced to less than 1/4 mile.  Snow does NOT actually have to be falling for a blizzard to occur!

November 18, 2009 - PRAIRIE NORTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
How warm can it be and still snow?
Jerrys answer:  If conditions are just right, snow can fall when temperatures are well above freezing. As a general rule, snow will not fall if the temperature is above 41 F.

December 2, 2009 - MARBURN ACADEMY
Do you ever mess up?
Jerrys answer:  I do mess up once in awhile, since we do live TV for several hours each day.  Hopefully, it's not enough for you to notice at home!

December 16, 2009 - WINCHESTER TRAIL ELEMENTARY
Claudia asked:  How often does lightning strike the Earth each year?
Jerrys answer:  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are over 8.6 MILLION strikes per day...and that comes out to over a TRILLION strikes per year!

January 13, 2010 - HANNAH CRAWFORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Allison asked:  Can it be too cold to snow?
Jerrys answer:  Technically, it can snow at any temperature.  But the lower the temperature drops, the drier the air becomes.  So that by the time the temperature drops below -20F, snow is virtually impossible.

January 21, 2010 - UNIOTO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Jenna asked: What is an anti-cyclone?
Jerrys answer:   A cyclone is an area of low pressure...normally associated with clouds, wind and precipitation.  The opposite is an anti-cyclone - an area of high pressure.  So while the name might not sound so nice, high pressure usually gives us dry, pleasant weather.

January 27, 2010 - RIDGEWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Tara asked: What is the hottest color of lightning?
Jerry's answer: Lightning of different colors isn't due to temperature - all lightning is as hot as the surface of the sun! It's what the lightning is travelling through that makes the color (thick clouds, thin clouds, air, different gases in atmosphere, etc.)

February 3, 2010 - NORWICH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Alex asked:  Why do we name hurricanes?
Jerry's answer:  This started in the 1950's to avoid confusion when more than one storm is occuring.  And in 1979, make and female names were alternated and French & Spanish names started to be used.

February 24, 2010 - CEDAR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Hannah asked:  Is it true that it takes a million drizzles to make 1 raindrop?
Jerry's answer:  No.  The average raindrop is 10 to 20 times bigger than a drop of drizzle.  So it would take about 10-20 drops of drizzle to make one raindrop.  One million drizzle drops would make one BIG raindrop!

February 26, 2010 - ST. JAMES THE LESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Jordan asked:  How do clouds stay in the air?
Jerry's answer:  Even though clouds weigh many tons, they are made up of very small water droplets and ice crystals.  Clouds are also spread out over a large area.  Therefore, slightly warmer air from the Earth is enough to keep clouds afloat!

March 3, 2010 - VALLEYVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Alex asked:  How many water droplets does it take to form a snowflake?
Jerry's answer:  Snowflakes are not just frozen raindrops.  Freezing water vapor makes ice crystals.  It takes over 100 billion molecules of water to form a single snowflake!

March 10, 2010 - NEW HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Derrick asked:  Aside from the size, what is the difference between a tornado and a dust devil?
Jerry's answer:  The big difference is the speed.  Tornadoes form from violent thunderstorms and can cause a great deal of damage, occasionally with winds over 200 mph! Dust devils are not produced by thunderstorms and rarely spin faster than 50 mph.

March 17, 2010 - GRAHAM ROAD ELEMENTARY
DeAira asked:  What was the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth?
Jerry's answer:  Vostok, Antarctica frequently has winter temperatures well below 0F.  But the record was -129F set on July 21, 1983!  That doesn't make our winter feel quite so bad, now does it?

March 31, 2010 - HERITAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Cameron asked:  What are the highest clouds ever recorded?
Jerry's answer:  Noctilucent clouds, which mean 'night shining', are found at altitudes over 250,000 feet!  At these altitudes, temperatures are about -190 F!

April 14, 2010 - ST. MATTHEWS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Jacob asked:  Can you tell how strong a tornado will be before it forms?
Jerry's answer:  We can estimate strong a tornadoes winds will be based on Doppler radar, but we can't get an exact number.  Therefore, all tornadoes are to be treated as potentially dangerous...when a tornado warning is issued for your area, TAKE COVER!

April 28, 2010 - NAVIN EMENTARY SCHOOL
Ayallah asked:  Why does it colder the higher up you go?  Shouldn't being closer to the sun make it hotter?
Jerry's answer:  Our atmosphere is actually heated from the ground up.  The sun produces A LOT of energy, and some of that energy makes its way to the surface of the Earth where it is absorbed.  And once the surface of the Earth is warmed, it gives off heat to the atmosphere above.  The further away you get from the surface (the source of the heat), the colder it gets.

May 5, 2010 - BEECHWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Celina asked:  Why is there no weather in outer space?
Jerry's answer:  The higher you go up, the thinner the air gets.  Above about 12 miles, the atmosphere (nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, water vapor, etc) begins to fade and above 60 miles, there is very little of our atmosphere left.  So, in space, there essentially is no atmosphere and therefore, no weather.

May 12, 2010 - ELI PINNEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Camille asked: Why do you name hurricanes but not tornadoes?
Answer:  The US sees about 12 named tropical storms each year, but over 1000 tornadoes!  It's simply too overwhelming to try and come up with than many different names each year.

May 19, 2010 - PLAIN CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Joey asked:  If the Earth is spinning, why can't we feel it?
Jerry's answer:  The Earth is spinning at varying speeds across the planet.  Remember, it spins around once every 24 hours.  In Ohio, we are racing eastward at about 800 mph, but don't worry.  The gravitational pull of the Earth keeps us from flying off into space!

May 26, 2010 - LIBERTY CHRISTIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Bailey asked:  Why does our weather come from the west?
Jerry's answer:  In the mid-latitudes (where Ohio is located), the jet stream steers storms across the country and most of the time, it blows from west to east.

June 2, 2010 - DARBY CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Saahit asked: Who made the first weather tool?
Jerry's answer:  While the majority of weather instruments that we use today (thermometer, hygrometer, barometer) were invented beginning in the 15th century, there is evidence that the wind vane appeared in ancient Mesopotamia 3500 to 4000 years ago!