One of the personal pet peeves I have is how uneducated people are when it comes to the weather and weather forecasting. TV meteorologists in many markets are simply on for ratings, their skill as forecasters often leave a lot to be desired, that’s why you sometimes see a big difference in the forecast from the 6pm to 11pm news.
Now the National Weather Service, has issued a new on-line interactive glossary called Jetstream. This resource I have found to be excellent especially for the the weather novice.
Of interest to bird watchers, is how Doppler Radar works. Many people like to tout the power of weather radar during migration and birds certainly do show up on radar in certain modes, but so do insects, planes, smoke, hill-tops, really anything. Just because you see a great big green blob on a clear night, doesn’t mean its all birds.
So check out Jetstream and let me know what you think in the comments section!
The Nightjar 
I have been watching the weather radar for possible bird migration for several years now. One thing I have noticed is that the center of each image – corresponding with the radar station – always has a lot of noise around it. I assume this means that random flying objects (smoke, insects, dirt, air pollution) immediately around the station are more likely to reflect the radar waves than those farther away.