Weather, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 16, 2023

A strong El Niño is coming this winter. What does that mean?

Winter is still weeks away, but meteorologists are already talking about a snowy winter ahead in the southern Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. They anticipate more storms in the U.S. South and Northeast, and warmer, drier conditions across the already dry Pacific Northwest and the upper Midwest. One phrase comes...

Oct 23, 2023

Amazon's 'flying rivers' of vapor are drying up in an unprecedented drought. Here's how to save them.

The drought plaguing the Amazon is a worrying portrait of the climate challenges facing the world. The combination of the El Niño phenomenon and anthropogenic climate change has played a significant role in accentuating this extreme weather event. The Amazon region, known for its lush rainforest and flowing rivers, is...

Nov 27, 2023

How big can snowflakes get?

In 1887, a rancher named Matt Coleman spotted huge snowflakes that had fallen onto one of his cattle pastures in western Montana during a snowstorm and declared them as larger than milk pans. With a width of 15 inches (38 centimeters) and a thickness of nearly 8 inches (20 cm),...

Nov 27, 2023

Big blob of hot water in Pacific may be making El Niño act weirdly

A weird blob of warm water that has appeared in the western Pacific seems to be making this year's strong El Niño behave unexpectedly, reports The Washington Post. The blob is located in the west-central Pacific, near the International Dateline — a north-south boundary that separates two consecutive calendar dates...

Nov 30, 2023

Controversial study suggesting ozone hole isn't recovering is skewed by bad data, experts say

A controversial new study has sparked concerns that the ozone hole above Antarctica is not recovering as fast as we thought it was, and may even be getting bigger. However, many experts who were not involved in the study have rejected those claims, criticizing the quality of the research. The...

Dec 21, 2023

Extremely rare 'rainbow clouds' light up Arctic skies for 3 days in a row

Spectacular rainbow-colored clouds have been shimmering in the skies over and around the Arctic for more than three days thanks to an unusual cold snap in the upper atmosphere. And even more of these technicolor treats could appear during the next few months, experts say. The colorful clouds, known as...

Feb 2, 2024

How accurate are Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day forecasts?

Celebrity groundhog Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow on Friday (Feb. 2, 2024) as a crowd in his home town in Pennsylvania waited with bated breath, wondering if the rodent would see his shadow. He didn't. According to legend, this means spring will come early this year. If the groundhog...

Feb 29, 2024

Satellite snaps eerily circular holes in the clouds above Florida. What caused them?

A cluster of eerily circular holes recently appeared in the clouds above Florida, a stunning new NASA image shows. The rare occurrence, which has previously (and incorrectly) been linked to UFOs, has a surprisingly simple explanation — but it took scientists more than 60 years to figure it out. NASA's...

Sep 21, 2012

Can a Wildfire Ever Put Itself Out?

In theory it could, but it's pretty unlikely. To stamp out its own flames, a wildfire would have to generate what are called pyrocumulus clouds. Obviously fires release a lot of heat, and hot air has a tendency to rise. When hot air rises into cooler air above, water vapor...

Oct 2, 2012

Fire Risk Remains Elevated Across West, Plains

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com. The combination of dry air and gusty winds will enhance the risk for fires across a large part of the West and northern Plains today. Coming off a record fire season, this is the last thing that exhausted firefighters want to hear. Parts of...

Oct 24, 2012

2012 Wildfire Season Hits 2nd-Largest Area Since 1960s

Although there are still wildfires going strong in several states, wildfire season is almost over for most of the country. And this fire season has been a bad one. Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned through 14,065 square miles (36,430 square kilometers) — an area the size...

Dec 7, 2012

Arctic Wildfire Soot Darkening Greenland Ice Sheet

The glittering, icy landscape of Greenland is being marred by soot that falls from the smoke plumes of Arctic wildfires, new satellite-based research shows. That soot darkens the surface of the ice and makes it absorb more sunlight, hastening its melt. Researchers caught what they say are the first direct...

Jan 23, 2013

Sky High Fire Danger Lurks in Denver Foothills

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com. Snow eater wind. Chinook wind. Whichever you choose to call it, there have been plenty of wildfire worries over the past several days due to erratic, gusty and bone dry breezes blowing over the foothills west of Denver, Colo. On Tuesday, relative humidity values...

Apr 4, 2013

Brush Fire Season Begins in the East

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com. Most people don't think of spring as being a high-risk time of the year for brush fires, but April and May sometimes bring the perfect conditions. The early spring offers plenty of fuel for brush fires: dormant grass, fallen leaves and dry brush. The...

Apr 22, 2013

Charcoal from Wildfires Found in Oceans

A survey of water samples from around the world has revealed that large amounts of charcoal from wildfires seep from soil into the planet's waterways, eventually reaching the oceans. Each year, wildfires leave behind scorched remains, turning millions of acres of vegetation into charcoal. But, rather than remain in soil,...