Weather, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 21, 2020

Climate fires and hurricanes collide in this shocking NASA satellite image

Smoke meets cyclones in a jarring new series of satellite images posted to NASA's Earth Observatory website. In the images, which combine recent observations of the United States taken by several different NASA satellites from Sept. 14 to 16, orange-tinted smoke from an immense series of wildfires on the West...

Sep 21, 2020

Hurricane season is so active in 2020, we ran out of names

Hurricane season has been so active this year that the number of named storms has already exceeded the number of official names. The season officially begins on June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30; but this year, it was off to an early start with tropical storms Arthur and Bertha,...

Sep 25, 2020

Zombie storms are rising from the dead thanks to climate change

Wildfires are burning the West Coast, hurricanes are flooding the Southeast — and some of those storms are rising from the dead. Zombie storms, which regain strength after initially petering out, are the newest addition to the year 2020. And these undead weather anomalies are becoming more common thanks to...

Oct 1, 2020

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones: Earth's tropical windstorms

If you live or like to vacation along the world's coastlines, chances are good you've been affected by a tropical storm or hurricane. Hurricanes, which are more broadly called tropical cyclones because they originate over Earth's tropical oceans, are some of nature's largest and fiercest storms. They get their name...

Oct 6, 2020

Louisiana braces for its 3rd dangerous hurricane in only 6 weeks

Hurricane Delta is whirling toward the Gulf Coast and is forecast to approach Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula tonight (Oct. 6) as a Category 4 storm before threatening Louisiana and Mississippi Friday (Oct. 9). This 25th-named storm is yet one more sign that climate change is brewing more active hurricane seasons. Delta...

Oct 8, 2020

Major Hurricane Delta set to batter Louisiana, where many are still homeless after Laura

Hurricane Delta is on pace to make landfall in western Louisiana Friday evening (Oct. 9), not far from the still-devastated area where Hurricane Laura made landfall in late August. Delta is a major, Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and still strengthening and growing...

Oct 28, 2020

How Hurricane Zeta rapidly strengthened before slamming New Orleans

Hurricane Zeta wasn't supposed to be this bad. On Saturday (Oct. 24), National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasters looking at the weather system — called Tropical Depression Twenty Eight — wrote that it would likely become a tropical storm, but that cool waters in the Gulf of Mexico made further strengthening...

Nov 10, 2020

2020 Atlantic hurricane season shatters record

With the formation of tropical storm Theta, 2020 has now logged more tropical cyclones than ever recorded. Theta is 2020's 29th named storm in the Atlantic Ocean. Theta, which doesn't pose a danger to land, formed a few hundred miles off the coast of Liberia Monday (Nov. 9), shattering the...

Nov 16, 2020

Hurricane Iota will slam into Nicaragua as a 'catastrophic' Category 5

Hurricane Iota, the 30th named storm this season, is expected to barrel into the Nicaraguan coast as a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane. As of 10 a.m. Eastern time on Monday (Nov. 16), the center of the swirling storm sustained maximum winds of 160 mph (257 km/h), The Washington Post reported....

May 20, 2021

Brace yourself for an 'above normal' hurricane season in 2021, NOAA predicts

Prepare for some dark and stormy nights (and days). This year's Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30, will bring another wave of higher- than-average storm formation, following in the footsteps of 2020's record-shattering season, according to the latest forecast by the National Oceanic and...

Jun 1, 2021

Hurricane season kicks off. Expect higher-than-normal storm activity.

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season has officially begun, and it's expected to bring a higher-than-average number of storms in the months ahead. There is a 60% chance that the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from Tuesday (June 1) to Nov. 30, will be an above-normal season, the National Oceanic and...

Jul 2, 2021

Hurricane Elsa, 1st of season, could hit Florida next week

The first hurricane of the 2021 season, named Elsa, formed Friday morning (July 2), and is on track to impact islands in the Caribbean Sea and possibly Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Elsa — currently a Category 1 hurricane, with wind speeds between 74 and 95 mph...

Jul 7, 2021

Tropical Storm Elsa churns toward Florida's Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Elsa is approaching north Florida's Gulf Coast, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h). The swirling storm is expected to drop up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain, cause storm surge-related flooding and even trigger isolated tornadoes, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasted. The storm...

Aug 4, 2021

This hurricane season will be even more active than previously predicted, NOAA says

It's been just over two months since the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season kicked off on June 1, and we can expect to see even more hurricanes and named storms than experts previously predicted, before the season winds down on Nov. 30. On Wednesday (Aug. 4), scientists with the National Oceanic...

Aug 22, 2021

Astronauts and satellites watch Hurricane Henri from space as US Northeast braces for storm

As parts of the U.S. northeast brace for Hurricane Henri to make landfall in New York today (Aug. 22), astronauts and satellites are tracking the historic storm from space. Henri, which reached category 1 hurricane status on Saturday, is forecast to make landfall on Long Island, New York by midday...