Earlier this week very strong winds blowing dust across a south central Illinois highway suddenly reduced visibility to just a few feet and resulted in a tragic fatal multi-car...
While I was home from college one summer, an early morning thunderstorm passed over our farmhouse. I was in my room, trying to sleep through the storm, while my parents were in the living room. At the peak of the storm, a tremendous boom rattled the house. I then heard my parents frantically moving...
As I reflect, it was Severe Weather Preparedness Week— March 6-10, 2023. We have already had severe weather this year, but it will become more frequent now that spring is around the corner. Sometimes when thunderstorms are forecast, you will hear weathercasters talking about the atmosphere being...
We are bound to have fog from time to time. I still remember when I was in my late teens and insisted on going to see some friends when I could barely see the edge of the road. My parents were not happy. Some areas, such as San Francisco or London, have fog more often. The cause of fog can depend...
California has recently been slammed with extreme rainfall and snow in the high elevations, along with high winds. Media have attributed these events to an atmospheric river, but what does that mean?
What is an atmospheric river?
The ones that affect California occur when the polar jet stream...
You may have heard weathercasters saying that December 1 is the beginning of meteorological winter. However, the calendar says winter starts on December 21. Why are there two dates?
Meteorogical vs Astronomical winter
December 1 is called the beginning of meteorological winter because we often...
Winter precipitation is on its way. Rain, snow, sleet, and freezing rain are all potential types of precipitation. Rain is liquid water, while the other three are frozen at the end of their atmospheric journey.
So, if snow, sleet, and freezing rain are all frozen water, what’s the difference?...
We all have been hearing about the mega-drought occurring in the west. California has been hard hit, with many of its lakes at record lows. Water managers in that area always hope for a good winter precipitation season to replenish some of the water that is sorely needed. While most of the moisture...
Forecasting day-to-day weather and predicting what climate will be five years or 50 years from now have very different outcomes. Both processes use most of the same land, water, and sea parameters, but the range for climate forecasts can also vary due to human activity. For climate forecasts,...
As we move through August, some folks will reference it as being the “dog days.” What are they talking about?
We associate these “dog days” with hot weather. But it does not refer to living dogs being uncomfortable in the heat. Instead, the term is associated with a bright star called Sirius (not...
