Articles

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.

A Pilot Report over Lake Ontario near Rochester (ROC), New York showing high wind from the east which caused a mountain wave near Rochester west of the mountains.

Do you ever stop to smell flowers? Sit back and watch the clouds? I’m a huge proponent of purposefully immersing oneself in nature (or lazily basking in the sunshine). Mindfulness lets me find those little moments in nature most people miss and lets the weather come to me instead of me deliberating chasing it. Those moments are the best for any weather photography.

Matthew Brown of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma, on a typical day on the job as a postdoctoral fellow.

Join our special 90-minute webinar discussing the historic April 3-4, 1974 tornado outbreak, which devastated 13 states and Ontario with at least 148 tornadoes, including the most F5 tornadoes from a single event.

Some of AMS Maestros are getting ready to experience the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Check out what they are doing to get ready, and join AMS Weather Band before and after the eclipse for webinars and ways you can get involved!

NASA Heliophysist Dr. Lika Guhathakurta and Dave Jones of StormCenter Communications discuss all you need to know about the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse and more!

Robert L. “Bob” Russell spoke with AMS Executive Director Emeritus Keith Seitter about Russell’s book, Thor’s Apprentice, on the new AMS Author Webinar Series. Thor’s Apprentice is his thought-provoking fictional story of the potential good and evil of on-demand weather modification.

Back in 2020, when I started taking interest and practicing astrophotography, images of different optical phenomenon caught my attention. The beauty and colours of halos, rainbows, and iridescence was something that I fell for and started imaging those, whenever I had a chance.

Graeme Guy was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He had appointments as a biochemistry researcher in Australia, England and Singapore. A major interest for most of his life has been nature photography with all the natural world being potential targets. While living in Singapore Graeme founded the Nature Photographic Society of Singapore. In his scientific career, he has published over 100 scientific papers and retired in 2011.

It took quite a while for scientists to gauge the full scope of the damage produced by the 1974 Super Outbreak. One fateful step in this process was when the eminent tornado researcher Tetsuya Theodore “Ted” Fujita flew over and photographed damage tracks. What Fujita discovered in those survey flights a half-century ago ended up transforming aviation safety, and likely saving many thousands of lives.

I looked out the window and saw the clouds, illuminated by that orange color of the sun at sunset, majestic, losing all dimension and proportion, and when I made several clicks I noticed the figure that was formed in the clouds, those of an immense shark , about to devour everything in its path, the clouds, the afternoon and the unwary, like me, crouched on a plane, flying straight into its jaws

Fata Morgana is a pretty simple physics principle. When there is a large difference in temperature between a surface and the air immediately above it, this causes a thermal inversion due to the difference in density that bends the light making objects on the horizon appear lengthened or raised up.

Did you know that you can observe the wonder of the upcoming April 8 solar eclipse AND make an important contribution to science at the same time? Learn about citizen science projects taking place on eclipse day and find out how you can help to contribute potentially groundbreaking data. 

In the arctic winter, the air is cold and the water is frozen and out of circulation, therefore the atmosphere is clear. With summer warming comes cracks in the pack ice. As the dark water is warmed by the atmosphere, water droplets escape into the atmosphere forming fog and clouds. 

Join the Weather Band for an educational webinar on avalanches, featuring expert insights on identifying risk factors, weather influences, and safety measures.