Mojave Max Many Americans are familiar with Punxsutawney Phil, the prognosticating groundhog of Pennsylvania, and a slew of other weather-predicting rodents, including Buckeye Chuck, Wiarton Willie, Dunkirk Dave, and Staten Island Chuck. We rouse these groundhogs from hibernation on February 2 for the purpose of telling us the future of the struggle between winter and spring. …
The Beaufort Scale The son of a cartographer, Sir Francis Beaufort was born in Ireland, despite the French last name, in 1774. His father instilled attention to the accuracy of charts and information, but his grasp on the value of these accuracies sunk in with literal meaning when he was shipwrecked due to erroneous graphs …
Yosemitebear One of the great phenomena we have the blessing to experience as entities in a physical reality is one we tend to treat with familiarity because it is fairly common. Like the glory of a sunrise or sunset, upon which one could gaze two times every living day, rainbows are a marvel of physics …
Cat-Ice Most topics we explore in this project have a significant background of research. Some subjects have such an extensive knowledge base that distilling them into a readable chunk is a laborious exercise in curation. Periodically, an issue pops up with scant information on the internet. This occurrence is a modern rarity; at this point, …
A Stormcloud of Bees Throw out the word “electricity” today and one clear connotation rules. The juice that runs the world, coming to us through hanging power lines or buried cables. The electricity that runs computers, televisions, appliances, and, increasingly, automobiles. This type of power is current electricity, a stream of charged particles that travels …
Pileus Clouds We’re constantly amazed around here when it comes to the seemingly unending fodder that clouds provide to the project. Way back in Issue #49, we took an intro-level class on clouds. Before we even consider some of the rarer types of water vapor, the amount of variation in the everyday sky is incredible. Earlier …
+ & – Storm Surge Hurricane Ian recently ravaged the Caribbean, Florida, and South Carolina. At publication, over 100 people lost their lives to this massive storm. The number could rise significantly, as approximately 10,000 people are still missing. The tempest topped out as a Category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of 155 miles per …
Petrichor Today’s topic sits at the center of the Venn diagram comprised of “fascinating science,” “fun vocabulary,” and “fantastic aromas.” This trio might rest near the top of the rankings for possible The Mountains Are Calling Venn diagrams. Some scents occupy unique positions in our experiences and memories. We all have things we enjoy smelling, but most …
Arcus Clouds The second full week of June produced some extreme weather across the United States. Yellowstone National Park endured a 200-500 year flooding event that swept away homes in the overfull rivers and might keep the area closed to visitors for months. A heat dome covered much of the country, producing triple-digit Fahrenheit temperatures. And that heat …
The Kentucky Meat Shower 3 March 1876. Olympia Springs, Bath County, northeast Kentucky. The farm of Allen Crouch. Just before noon. The farmer’s wife sat on the front porch, making soap. The late-Reconstruction-era day veered from normal into the macabre horror of Edgar Allan Poe as it began to rain. Instead of crop-nourishing water, …