Weather, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 19, 2022

Devastating floods from Typhoon Merbok soak coastal Alaska

Coastal Alaska is recovering on Monday (Sept. 19) after a weekend of dramatic flooding caused by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok. The storm brought flooding to coastal communities, impacting 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) of coastline, Alaska governor Mike Dunleavy said at a news conference on Sunday (Sept. 18), and hundreds...

Sep 19, 2022

9 million told to evacuate after super typhoon Nanmadol slams southern Japan, heads toward Tokyo

Officials in Japan have ordered 9 million people to evacuate as the powerful super typhoon Nanmadol pummels the island nation with winds gusting up to 145 mph (234 km/h) and bears down on Tokyo, home to nearly 14 million inhabitants. Dozens of people were injured and two people have died...

Oct 21, 2022

Plant leaves spark with electricity during thunderstorms — and that could be altering our air quality in unpredictable ways

When lightning flashes above, plants on the ground may respond in kind. Scientists have long been aware that plants and trees can emit small, visible electric discharges from the tips of their leaves when the plants are trapped beneath the electrical fields generated by thunderstorms high overhead. These discharges, known...

Jan 9, 2023

Rare, 'rule-breaking' quasicrystal found in chunk of 'fossilized' lightning

A tube of fossilized lightning from Nebraska's Sandhills holds a rare type of quasicrystal that had previously only been found in meteorites and at atomic bomb test sites. Quasicrystals are materials that break the traditional rules of crystallography. Before they were first reported in 1984, scientists thought materials could either...

Jan 14, 2023

Why does lightning zigzag?

Lightning can light up the sky in a bright flash and take on a variety of shapes, but if you were to draw it, you'd almost certainly scratch out a zigzag. But what gives thunderbolts this branch-like shape? Why does lightning zigzag across the sky, instead of discharging in a...

Jun 8, 2023

NYC's air quality ranked worst of any major city on Wednesday. With climate change, will it happen again?

On Wednesday (June 7), the air quality in New York City was the worst of any major city in the world, due to smoke billowing over the northern U.S. border from wildfires in eastern Canada. With wildfires predicted to become more commonplace with climate change, the alarming pollution could be...

Jun 9, 2023

Canadian wildfire smoke detected thousands of miles away in Norway

The smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada has reached all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Norway, more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) away. Earlier this week, the haze crossed the Canadian border into the U.S., enveloping East Coast cities in smoke; New York City had the worst air...

Sep 11, 2018

A Hurricane-Hunting Plane Flies Straight Through Florence's Eye, Captures Harrowing Video

Time-lapse footage showed the aircraft surrounded by dense, gray clouds, then breaking through them into an eerily still center with a brilliant blue sky overhead. The deceptively calm eye lies at the heart of the most powerful storm to date in the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season. [Hurricane Season 2018: How...

Sep 12, 2018

Will Hurricane Florence Strengthen into a Rare Category 5 Storm?

Hurricane Florence, currently a Category 4 storm, may strengthen to a Category 5 hurricane before weakening again on its approach toward the North or South Carolina coastlines. But regardless of the wind speeds when the hurricane makes landfall — expected on Thursday (Sept. 13) — it will bring with it...

Sep 12, 2018

Hurricane Florence: Photos of a Monster Storm

Category 4 (Image credit: NOAA)Hurricane Florence strengthened into a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds reaching 140 mph (220 km/h) on Monday (Sept. 10). It continues to strengthen and is barreling toward the southeastern U.S. coast, where forecasters expect a life-threatening storm surge, major flooding and damaging winds later...

Sep 12, 2018

'Nightmare' Hurricane Florence Poses Far-Reaching Dangers

So, what's the worst that could happen? Astronaut and geophysicist Alexander Gerst called Florence a nightmare after glimpsing its eye from the International Space Station this morning, saying in a tweet: Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you. Despite the public's fascination with...

Sep 12, 2018

Hurricane Florence Shifts Course, Will Make a 'Grand Tour' of Southeastern States

After making landfall this Friday (Sept. 14), the massive storm will now wobble southward and then head west, making a big, grand tour of the southeastern United States, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) meteorologist Kevin Scasny said in a statement released today (Sept. 12). Florence, now a Category 4...

Sep 13, 2018

Watch Hurricane Florence Batter a Lighthouse 34 Miles Offshore

A torn American flag is flapping itself to shreds over the waves as Hurricane Florence batters Frying Pan Tower, a former Coast Guard lighthouse located 34 miles (55 kilometers) off the coast of North Carolina. And you can watch it on a livestream (above) posted by the livestreaming YouTube channel...

Sep 14, 2018

Center of the Eye of Hurricane Florence Makes Landfall Near Wrightsville Beach, NC

Updated at 7:35 a.m. ET, Friday (Sept. 14). The center of the eye of Hurricane Florence, packing sustained winds of up to 90 mph (150 km/h), just made landfall near Wrightsville, North Carolina, at around 7:30 a.m. ET, according to news reports and the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Life-threatening storm...

Sep 14, 2018

Hurricane Florence Makes Landfall in North Carolina, Slams US Southeast Coast with Raging Winds and Rain

The brunt of Hurricane Florence slammed North Carolina this morning with winds raging an astonishing 90 mph (150 km/h), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm made landfall at around 7:15 a.m. ET near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. More than 430,000 people in North and South Carolina...