With the strong hurricane season pummeling the southern U.S. this year, you may have heard comments about how warm oceans are intensifying hurricanes. Let’s take a look at how this Keep reading
Tag: weather
The Real Butterfly Effect
The butterfly effect — that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas — expresses the sensitivity of a chaotic system to initial conditions. Keep reading
Light Pillars
These lovely pillars of light over the Mongolian grasslands are the result of tiny, suspended ice crystals. With the right weather conditions, ice crystals can align so that their largest Keep reading
Cloud Streets
Parallel lines of cumulus clouds stream over the Labrador Sea in this satellite image. These cloud streets are formed when cold, dry winds blow across comparatively warm waters. As the Keep reading
Asperitas Formation
In 2017, the World Meteorological Organization named a new cloud type: the wave-like asperitas cloud. How these rare and distinctive clouds form is still a matter of debate, but this Keep reading
“Haboob: A Decade of Dust”
From the right vantage point, an approaching dust storm — known as a haboob — can look downright apocalyptic. In this compilation of clips a decade in the making, photographer Keep reading
December’s Derecho
I confess I’d never heard the term derecho before moving to Colorado, but I’ve experienced a few of these wind storms now. They’re intense! Last December’s derecho formed when a Keep reading
Chasing Tornadoes
Tornadoes are some of the most powerful storms on Earth. Their difficult-to-predict nature means that we still have a relatively scant understanding of exactly how they form. We know the Keep reading
The Great Haboob Chase
Few sights look as apocalyptic as the leading edge of an incoming dust storm. Known as a haboob, these storms form when a downdraft spreads along the ground, picking up Keep reading
“Vorticity 3”
Mike Olbinski’s “Vorticity 3” is a stunning view of storm chasing in the American West. I’ve learned after years in Colorado to always look up because dramatic skies are common Keep reading