The climate of New Orleans can be characterized as Humid
Sub-tropical. The extremely high
levels of humidity, rainfall, and hot, wet summers are all evidence of
this.
Because of New Orleans unique climate, location, and
physical geography (New Orleans has is surround by water on three sides, making
it basically a peninsula), it is a common target for hurricanes. When you also take into account New
Orleans’ elevation, which ranges from five feet below sea level to a high of
only about fifteen feet above sea level, you can easily come to the conclusion
that New Orleans is extremely susceptible to flooding and all of the things
that come with flooding. The
negative effects include quick spreading disease, landslides and mudslides, as
well as human effects and reactions such as displacement and of course
looting. One positive effect
however is extremely rich soil made up of sediment and run-off, which support
the rich ecosystem of New Orleans wetlands.
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| Looting in New Orleans, Post Katrina (http://www.georgehernandez.com/h/aablog/2005/09.asp) |
One interesting, but not completely uncommon natural
occurrence in New Orleans is Waterspouts.
Waterspouts are small tornadoes that form over bodies of water and are
connected to cumulus clouds. These
occurrences are often caused by hurricanes. Waterspouts initially appear as a dark spiral on the surface
of the water, and then become more visible as a cylindrical funnel of
condensation forms between the water and the clouds above.
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| Waterspout over New Orleans (http://blog.nola.com/times-picayune/2007/07/waterspout_over_lake_pontchart.html) |
Often times the New Orleans sky will have amazing formations
of Cirrus clouds, leading up to a large storm or hurricane. Many conspiracy theorists have claimed
that the large brushstroke looking formations are not clouds at all, but are in
fact “chem. trails”, being used by the government to change the weather. The
cirrus clouds however are not causing hurricanes, but are predicting them. The
clouds do almost look too bizarre to be natural though.
Resources:
http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/New-Orleans-Geography-and-Climate.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humid_subtropical_climate
http://www.nola.com/weather/index.ssf/2012/08/water_spout_spotted_by_radar_n.html
