I have some pet peeves about weather casts. Temperature is one of them. During the summer when it gets hot and muggy, we start seeing weathercasters talk about “feels-like” temperatures. Media folks assume we know how they got those temperatures, which are always higher in summer than what the temperature actually is. It’s confusing to a lot of people. 

Game shows are on the rebound. Shows that were around in the 1960s and '70s like "To Tell the Truth" and "Match Game" are back on air, along with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" from the ’90s and the solid, never-went-away "Jeopardy." 

Since there seems to be a renewed interest in trivia, this post is a game that anyone can play!

Below are 10 questions. Some will be pretty easy, but a few will test your true weather knowledge. Each is worth 100,000 points - go big or go home!

We watch the news, search the web, or go to the weather app to see what the great outdoors is like at the moment and what it will be for the next few days. You may go ahead and look at the weather map. It typically has many lines, symbols and colors. Any idea what it all means?

People always are asking how much rain or snow you got at your

If you’ve been outside and experienced those first drops of rain, especially after a dry spell, you know that smell. You might even be able to sense the smell a little before it starts to rain, a signal that rain is coming. Even after a rain, a sweet musty odor will linger for some time.

There are several types of thunderstorms, from the single cell “pop-up’ thunderstorms t

Have you ever noticed grass looking greener after a spring rain? 

Hold that thought.

As you look into how nature works, you see a lot of plant nutrient cycling taking place. Makes sense since the earth isn’t getting any deliveries from Mars. Nitrogen is an essential component of proteins, which all living creatures contain.

Early spring in Illinois can be a battle between the last of cold winter weather and the mild air of spring. On relatively rare occasions in March, we can experience warm, muggy air that normally doesn’t reach us until April or May. When this occurs early in spring, it’s best to be on guard for severe weather. 

I’m now at the point in my life where I know others look at me and think I’m old. For truth in advertising, I’m currently 61; actually 61 ½, but the pleasure in saying the ½ left many decades ago.

I can talk about my weather experiences with a sense of sage nostalgia. Case in point, I lived through the winters of the late 1970s in Central Illinois. The last three winters of that decade are remembered, though likely not fondly, by anyone who was around.

Many people have heard of Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel. He is even more of a weather geek than I am. In February 2011, the Midwest was hit with a very strong winter storm, and Cantore was in in Chicago reporting on its effects there. During one of his broadcasts, when it was snowing like crazy, there was a flash of light followed by thunder. Cantore was jumping around like a kid in a candy store and earned made him the title King of Thundersnow.

You’re watching a local weather forecast or checking it online when you notice it says temperatures will be 'above normal or below normal.' But what does this actually mean?

In most cases, the word 'normal' is used in place of 'average.'

Two words people have learned to dread in the past few years is "polar vortex."  People may not know a lot about what that is, other than it usually means we may be in for some bitterly cold temperatures. 

The worst outbreak in my experience was December 23, 1983. I had just finished my graduate work and was beginning to look for weather-related jobs. So, I was living back at home on the farm. The farmhouse was uninsulated, and my bedroom was upstairs with no heat.