Weather, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2007

Study: Cities Make Storms More Fierce

Cities make summer thunderstorms more intense than they would be in the countryside, a new study suggests. Scientists have noted before that urban environments seem to alter the behavior of storms, but had not made observations of specific storms. Researchers at Princeton University consulted models and observations of an extreme...

Jul 31, 2007

Warmer Ocean Fuels Hurricane Dean

A new NASA animation shows the rise in sea surface temperatures that helped to spawn Hurricane Dean in the central Atlantic and Tropical Storm Erin in the Gulf of Mexico this week. Sea surface temperatures are a key ingredient for hurricane and tropical storm formation and they were warming up...

Jul 31, 2007

Autumn Snow Predicts Winter Weather

A new weather-forecasting model based on autumn snowfall in Siberia could help meteorologists predict winter temperatures and snowfall in the United States and Europe. The model results, reported this week in the Journal of Climate, could help make climate prediction more accurate and reliable for fields such as agriculture, water...

Jun 30, 2007

More Hurricanes Forming Today than Century Ago

More hurricanes are forming in the Atlantic now than a century ago, most likely because of warmer ocean temperatures and changing wind patterns associated with global warming, a new study finds. Previous research has indicated storms are stronger nowadays, but this is the first study to show a long-term increase...

Mar 31, 2007

Image Gallery: Curious Clouds

Lenticular Clouds (Image credit: Richard H. Hahn) This spectacular, multi-hued formation of so-called lenticular clouds was observed over Rocky Mountain National Park, near Estes Park, Colo. Professional photographer Richard H. Hahn snapped the magnificent view soon after sunset at 5:02 p.m. MST (7:02 EST) on Jan. 5. Lenticular clouds form...

Mar 31, 2007

Fishy Rain to Fire Whirlwinds: The World's Weirdest Weather

When Mother Nature Throws a Curve Ball Aurora borealis in vicinity of Anchorage. (Image credit: Collection of Dr. Herbert Kroehl, NGDC. Available in the NOAA Photo Library.)As if tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards weren't enough to keep us on our toes, Mother Nature occasionally surprises us with some truly odd weather...

Feb 28, 2007

Rain and Snow: Scientists Don't Know How Much Falls

With constant weather forecasts on TV and the Internet and all the precise storm totals that are reported, you might think scientists had a firm grasp of how much rain and snow falls around the planet. And you'd be wrong. It's amazing how much we don't know about global patterns...

Dec 31, 2006

Electric Earth: Stunning Images of Lightning

Lightning seen from space (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)This image of lightning over Kuwait was taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 12, 2013. Bolivia lightning (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)The glow of this lightning strike was captured by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station...

Dec 31, 2006

Severe Weather Warnings to be More Precise

Anyone who lives in tornado country would agree a twister knows no politics. Like any storm, a tornado follows its own course rather than county lines or any other geopolitical boundaries. So beginning Oct. 1, the National Weather Service will recognize this whim of Nature and begin issuing severe-weather warnings...

Oct 31, 2008

Should Wildfires Be Fought So Aggressively?

Anyone watching from afar as fires rage in Southern California may wonder why people live in fire-prone areas. Another question that's starting to spread like wildfire: Should such fires be fought so aggressively, often at great financial expense and at the risk of firefighters lives? Now there are even questions...

Sep 30, 2008

Typhoons Bury Carbon in Oceans

The torrential rains of a single typhoon can bury tons of carbon in the ocean, two new studies suggest. It's Nature's way of healing itself. The findings help determine how much carbon that big storms have historically taken from the atmosphere and buried for thousands of years beneath the sea....

Aug 31, 2008

Strongest Hurricanes Getting Stronger

This story was updated Sept. 7, 2008. Strong hurricanes are getting stronger, likely thanks to global warming, a new study finds. Scientists have previously predicted that as global warming further heats up the ocean, hurricanes could become more frequent, more intense or both. The new work is in line with...

Aug 31, 2008

Ike Underscores Foolishness of Building on Barrier Islands

Update: The Latest News of Ike's ImpactImage Gallery: Ike's FuryAs Hurricane Ike pummels the Texas coast, the only thing standing in the way is a thin stretch of land called Galveston. Galveston is a barrier island, a narrow landmass made mostly of sand that extends along a coastline parallel to...

Jul 31, 2008

Hurricane Evacuations: A Better Way

Hurricane evacuations have long vexed emergency officials. Figuring out where a storm will hit is a sketchy bet 24 hours or more in advance, and many locations require at least that long to complete an evacuation. A new approach could save lives by getting certain groups of people, such as...

Jun 30, 2008

The U.S. Monsoon Gets New Respect

The monsoon is one of the least understood weather phenomena in the United States. Meteorologists have long argued over what to call this weeks-long outbreak of thunderstorms in the Southwest, often settling on the monsoon, which caused confusion because many people don't understand that a single summer thunderstorm is not...