Articles

Ginger Zee, chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent of the Climate Unit at ABC News in New York, on experiences she pursued to improve her on-air skills. For more, listen to the Clear Skies Ahead podcast (https://blubrry.com/clear_skies_ahead/), with new episodes released every month.

Lines or complexes of thunderstorms can have far greater impacts than a single storm. Hear from experts about these monster events, field campaigns to study them, and their future in a warming climate. 

If you have awakened in the middle of the night to the sound of thunder and heavy rain, chances are, you have experienced a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS), or perhaps it’s larger sibling, the Mesoscale Convective Complex (MCC.) Using modern remote sensing tools and some good old fashioned ground truth observations, we can easily form an accurate picture of these weather systems and their impacts.

A storm on top of the Mekong River, one of the biggest rivers in south Asia.

See how our 51st Conference on Broadcast Meteorology Blue IQ Event participants learned how to interpret beach forecasts and conditions to avoid dangerous situations, the challenges of water rescues, and effective communication for beach safety.

Sky on fire.

Usually I travel with my camera, but as a rule I use it only when nature or the weather is in a rare or unusual condition. As a result of that night, I took about 300 shots and only one was lucky for me - I managed to catch a very beautiful lightning bolt right over Bangkok.
 

Chasing a Kansas supercell. 

The day after my 28th wedding anniversary, the day of the photo and last day of my recovery before returning to work as a television meteorologist, I was watching radar from home as storms developed across the Panhandle of Texas. I’ve looked at hundreds of storm structure diagrams over the years so I know the mechanics, but there is nothing like seeing them at work in person.

 During World War II, sailors on U.S. Navy ships in the Pacific Ocean were required to log meteorological conditions every hour. How can this valuable data be made more easily accessible?

Superbolts are 1,000 times more energetic than the average lightning bolt. Although they comprise less than 1% of all lightning, they can wreak havoc on ships and infrastructure when they do strike.

It is important to monitor how your body feels in the heat. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), extreme heat caused more emergency department visits associated with heat-related illnesses in May – September 2023 than previous years, especially among males ages 18-64. So, what actions can you take to prepare for extreme heat this summer?

Green sky supercell in Huntersville. 

BAMS spoke with Elizabeth Rush about her new book, The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth. Rush is also the author of Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and her work has appeared in a wide range of publications from The New York Times to Orion and Guernica. 

Discover the stories and observations of the AMS Weather Band community during the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse.

Weather You Know: Severe Weather Trivia Night (May 2, 2024)

What we see represented in this photo is what some would call a rare opportunity to capture. The phenomenon is referred to as "Circumhorizontal arc" or some call it a "fire rainbow" or a "sundog". This occurrence was my first experience seeing one of these in person and it couldn't have been any better! The brightness and clearness of it lasted for about 10 minutes and was seen from people hundreds of miles away so it was definitely enjoyed by a lot of people.

On May 3, 1999, the first-ever tornado to receive the "tornado emergency" distinction tore across central Oklahoma. That tornado was so high-end, and so close to a large metropolitan area, that forecasters decided to invoke "emergency" to convey a sense of the unusually serious peril. 

I have written, recorded, and donated this song in the hopes that it is heard by many people. It was my intention to portray a positive message that may help to assuage the pervasive gloom & doom surrounding this subject. I invite you to listen, and maybe it will help move the needle. We all need to do our part!

NHC Director Dr. Mike Brennan highlights improvements to NWS products and services and discusses recent social media chatter on creating a Category 6.
 

The 2023 Weather Band Photo Contest winners, Kristy Sharkey, Elan Azriel, and Michael Seger shared the stories behind their stunning photos. Alan Sealls moderated as they discussed their winning entries and offered insights into great weather photography.

As a long-time meteorologist, I have known of and have been watching for the Green Flash whenever I ventured to the coast at sunset. Those efforts were unsuccessful until about four years ago when I moved to the central California coast and began photographing sunsets regularly with a telephoto lens.

Gardeners are well aware of the effects of weather on their plants. The timing and amount of rain, snow, heat, cold, sun, or clouds can impact the performance of their plantings. Climate plays an important role, as well, with some perennial flowers, trees, and shrubs better able to handle colder winter extremes than others. To help gardeners know what plants should be able to survive the winters in their region, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) publishes maps of Plant Hardiness Zones, and these maps were recently updated for the first time since 2012.