Peering Into the Storm
How do we collect data inside the tempests of the sea?
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Weather
Sprites, Elves, Trolls, Pixies, Ghosts, Gnomes, and Blue Jets
Sprites, Elves, Trolls, Pixies, Ghosts, Gnomes, and Blue Jets No, we’re not traveling today to Middle-earth or into the belly of a dungeon crawler. Instead, we’ll take to the skies. All the fantastical characters of today’s title are real phenomena in the upper atmosphere! Lightning strikes – photo by Mircea Madau Most of us
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Thundersnow
Thundersnow The other day I watched Thunderball, the fourth James Bond film, which released in 1965 and stars the recently-departed Sean Connery as 007. In the film, Thunderball is a code name; sadly, the flick really has no elements of thunder (or, for that matter, balls). If you’re a fan of the series, youtube currently offers 22
Frankenstein’s Monster Volcano
Frankenstein’s Monster Volcano Mary Shelley might not be the first name encountered when considering women in science and nature, but she led an extraordinary life and has an intriguing connection to one of the largest events in geologic history. Additionally, many literary critics dubbed one of her novels as the first science-fiction piece ever written. Her
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Setting Records at Furnace Creek
Setting Records at Furnace Creek With a 2010 tally of 20 people, Furnace Creek, California, is so sparsely populated that it is not a town, or village, or hamlet, but, instead, it’s called a “census-designated place.” The lack of home dwellers here might seem a bit anomalous, as it contains the headquarters, visitor center, and
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Derechos
Derechos I think most people are familiar with tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards, all storms associated with ferocious winds. But there is another menacing monster out there in the clouds, beyond these familiar storms, called a derecho. The term comes from the Spanish word for “straight” or “direct.” Unlike the swirling winds of a tornado, a derecho
Intro to Clouds
Intro to Clouds Clouds, how do they work? They’re all around us, a daily companion, perhaps relegated to the background. As the National Weather Service states, “They can weigh tens of millions of tons yet float in the atmosphere.” Do you make time for miracles? If, as I do, you make time for miracles, let’s discern
Ice Balls & Ice Volcanoes
Ice Balls & Ice Volcanoes Here in the northern hemisphere, we are in the last weeks of Meteorological Winter (Astronomical Winter still has exactly one full month until the Vernal Equinox pulls us into spring). When big cold and big lakes combine sometimes unusual phenomena arise. The Great Lakes of the United States and Canada are
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