Weather

From extreme weather and droughts to lightning and heat waves, this is the latest science on what's happening in the atmosphere right above your head.

Latest in Weather

Tornado science is high stakes—and increasingly high-tech
Environment

Tornado science is high stakes—and increasingly high-tech

By Carolyn Wilke/Knowable Magazine

Hurricane Ian stirred up flesh-eating bacteria in Florida
Environment

Hurricane Ian stirred up flesh-eating bacteria in Florida

By Zoya Teirstein/Grist

Ancient rock carvings that reappeared in the region of the Lajes Archaeological Site due to the severe drought affecting the region's rivers on the banks of the Negro River in Manaus, Brazil, on October 21, 2023. The carvings feature depictions of human faces.
Archaeology

Drought reveals ancient rock carvings of human faces in Brazil

By Laura Baisas

A satellite photo showing the swirling clouds of Hurricane Lee and Tropical Storm Margot in the Atlantic Ocean.
Climate Change

Atlantic hurricanes are getting stronger faster than they did 40 years ago

By Laura Baisas

This climate crisis map shows how vulnerable your neighborhood is
Climate Change

This climate crisis map shows how vulnerable your neighborhood is

By Kate Yoder/Grist

Pacific Ocean storm seen from a research vessel's stern
Climate Change

When climate change throws the Pacific off balance, the world’s weather follows

By Hannah Seo

A black and white archival photo of the USS Arizona sinking during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
Climate Change

Pearl Harbor dataset holds clues to how WWII may have shaped weather data

By Laura Baisas

Communities struggling with opioid addiction have a new complication: climate disasters
Climate Change

Communities struggling with opioid addiction have a new complication: climate disasters

By Robin Buller/High Country News

drought in Yemen, august 2023
Climate Change

Almost every place on Earth was affected by extreme temperatures this summer

By Sara Kiley Watson

Vegetation makes its way through the drought-ridden earth on the shores of the Viñuela reservoir in Spain. The reservoir feeds the tropical crops of Axarquía, such as mangoes and avocados. It is in a phase of desiccation, with no water inflow, but consumption that has led the municipalities of Málaga to impose restrictions on the consumption of drinking water.
Climate Change

A ‘season of simmering’: This summer’s 3-month streak was hottest ever recorded

By Laura Baisas

Doctor and patient in office
Climate Change

Should doctors and nurses discuss the dangers of heat?

By Martha Bebinger/KFF Health News

Why machines don’t work as well in extreme heat
Climate Change

Why machines don’t work as well in extreme heat

By Srinivas Garimella and Matthew T. Hughes/The Conversation

A truck passes through flooded streets caused by Hurricane Idalia passing offshore on August 30, 2023 in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Climate Change

Category 3 Hurricane Idalia makes landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast

By Laura Baisas

A manatee swims through blue water, surrounded by a school of fish
Animals

Florida’s aquatic animals prepare early for storms like Hurricane Idalia

By Helen Bradshaw

A vehicle drives through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Hilary moves through the area on August 20, 2023 in Cathedral City, California. A wave of water pushes onto the street and palm trees shake in the wind.
Environment

Tropical Storm Hilary soaks the Southwest

By Laura Baisas

Elkhorn coral fragments in lab
Animals

The heroic effort to save Florida’s coral reef from a historic heatwave

By Michael Childress/The Conversation

Metal mesh with water droplets
Climate Change

Titanium dioxide-coated mesh can purify contaminated fog

By Andrew Paul

Wildfire smoke drifts over western Canada, as seen from a satellite. On August 8, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of dense plumes of smoke streaming from dozens of large fires in the Northwest Territories. Several of these fires raged around Yellowknife, the province’s capital and largest city. These fires follow major outbreaks of fire in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, in May, June, and July.
Climate Change

Canadian territory capital ordered to evacuate due to approaching wildfire

By Laura Baisas

pregnancy test in hands
Climate Change

Extreme heat could be a threat to contraception

By Shefali Luthra/The 19th

A burnt out car lies in the driveway of charred apartment complex in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on August 12, 2023.
Climate Change

The health hazards from wildfires will linger in Maui for years

By Andrew J. Whelton/The Conversation

Wildfire smoke in New York City
AI

Combining AI and traditional methods can help us predict air quality

By Joshua S. Fu/The Conversation

airplane flying in clouds
Engineering

Inside Delta’s in-house meteorology wing

By Charlotte Hu

Maxar satellite imagery on August 9, 2023 showing total destruction of the Lahaina square and outlets after the Lahaina Wildfire, with one building still actively burning.
Climate Change

Hurricane-powered wildfires sweep across Maui

By Laura Baisas

Tourists visit the Solfatara crater, part of the Campi Flegrei Volcano, the biggest caldera of Italy.
Conservation

Up the coast from Pompeii, another city grows on top of an underground volcano

By Agostino Petroni/Undark

Two penguins and a seal on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Climate Change

Antarctica is in the climate change crosshairs

By Laura Baisas

Sprinklers on a golf course in Utah.
Climate Change

In water-strained Utah, can golf courses justify their giant footprint?

By Samuel Shaw/High Country News

Smoke rises as teams try to extinguish wildfires on Rhodes island, Greece on July 25, 2023. Some 19,000 people have been evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes as wildfires continued burning for a sixth day, authorities said on Sunday. As many as 266 firefighters and 49 fire engines were on the ground battling the blazes, assisted by five helicopters and 10 airplanes.
Climate Change

July 2023 was likely the hottest month in 120,000 years

By Laura Baisas

A billboard displays a temperature of 118 degrees Fahrenheit during a record heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona on July 18, 2023. Swaths of the United States home to more than 80 million people were under heat warnings or advisories, as relentless, record-breaking temperatures continued to bake western and southern states.
Climate Change

July’s extreme heat waves ‘virtually impossible’ without climate change

By Laura Baisas

Study author shows off the compressed mycelium sheets she created for the project
Biology

This fungi-based substance might protect homes from ever-worsening wildfires

By Sara Kiley Watson

Aerial view of Shishaldin Volcano with Isanotski Peaks in the background, taken from a helicopter overflight during geology field work on Unimak Island in the Aleutians. August 15, 2018.
Environment

Alaska’s Shishaldin Volcano spews 5.5-mile-high ash cloud

By Laura Baisas

A protester stands next to a digital display of an unofficial heat reading at Furnace Creek Visitor Center during a heat wave in Death Valley National Park in Death Valley, California, on July 16, 2023. The signs read “this is the climate emergency,” and “happy death day.”
Climate Change

Extreme heat warning extends to more than 100 million people in the US

By Laura Baisas

Three cows taking shelter near a house during a flash flood. A black one and a brown one are standing knee-deep in water, while a second brown one is standing on the porch.
DIY

Flash floods are rare, but deadly. Here’s how to be ready for them.

By Maria Parazo Rose

Heavy rain sends mud and debris down the Ottauquechee River in Quechee, Vermont on July 10, 2023.
Climate Change

Dangerous inland flooding will last for days in some Northeast states

By Laura Baisas

A gray storm cloud approaches green palm trees and a sandy shore.
AI

AI forecasts could help us plan for a world with more extreme weather

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Beach-goers seeking relief from the heat at Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach California, on July 1, 2023.
Climate Change

July 3 may have marked the hottest day ever recorded

By Laura Baisas

Extreme heat to blanket Texas with ‘no end in sight’
Climate Change

Extreme heat to blanket Texas with ‘no end in sight’

By Sara Kiley Watson

A summer sunrise over a grassy meadow.
Climate Change

‘Unprecedented’ ocean temperatures and extreme heat waves pop up around the globe

By Laura Baisas

Line of rocks letting water leak through to represent a different approach to water management during drought
Animals

‘Slow water’ could transform the Southwest, one little rock wall at a time

By Erica Gies

Rear side of sweating robot
Climate Change

This very sweaty robot measures how heat affects humans

By Andrew Paul

The Downtown Manhattan skyline stands shrouded in a reddish haze as a result of Canadian wildfires on June 6, 2023 in New York City. Over 100 wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia and Quebec resulting in air quality health alerts for the Adirondacks, Eastern Lake Ontario, Central New York, and Western New York.
Climate Change

Wildfire smoke is choking the eastern United States

By Laura Baisas

NASA Perseverance rover being readied indoors for launch for the Mars 2020 mission
Deep Space

A spacecraft engineer’s wisdom from Mars 2020 and a disaster-stricken island

By Elio Morillo

A satellite view of Hurricane Florence in 2018. Atlantic hurricane seasons runs from June 1 to November 30.
Environment

NOAA predicts a ‘near-normal’ Atlantic hurricane season for 2023

By Laura Baisas

Mammatus types of clouds over a lighthouse and rocky coast
DIY

A scientific guide to clouds, even the ones that look like udders

By Briley Lewis

1 in 5 people are likely to live in dangerously hot climates by 2100
Climate Change

1 in 5 people are likely to live in dangerously hot climates by 2100

By Kristoffer Tigue/Inside Climate News

Extreme weather and energy insecurity can compound health risks
Energy

Extreme weather and energy insecurity can compound health risks

By Carla Delgado

Visible satellite image of Super Typhoon Mawar on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. At the time, Mawar had sustained 1-minute winds of 155 mph.
Climate Change

Guam hit by strongest ‘Super Typhoon’ in decades

By Laura Baisas

This ancient farming practice could get a boost from the US farm bill
Agriculture

This ancient farming practice could get a boost from the US farm bill

By Ashley Stimpson/Nexus Media

El Nino 2023 signs on NASA weather satellite data on higher Pacific Ocean temperatures and water levels, marked by red around the equator
Climate Change

El Niño is back—here’s what that means

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Sun setting behind an high voltage power line transformer
Climate Change

This summer could push US energy grids to their limits

By Andrew Paul

illustration of scientist with 3D models
Energy

Inside the little-known group that knows where toxic clouds will blow

By Sarah Scoles

Yosemite National Park waterfall after California winter snow and rain
Agriculture

What California’s weird winter means for its water problems

By Zayna Syed

Volcanoes can be a fiery death sentence for fish
Animals

Volcanoes can be a fiery death sentence for fish

By Chris Baraniuk / Hakai Magazine

tsunami warning sign in Israel
AI

New AI-based tsunami warning software could help save lives

By Jamie Dickman

Three small cornstalks grows in a saturated farm field on May 29, 2019 near Emden, Illinois. Near-record rainfall in parts of Illinois caused farmers to delay their spring corn planting that year.
Environment

California and the Midwest prep for floods with record levels of snow melt

By Laura Baisas

Climate change forces cities to rethink planting trees
Climate Change

Climate change forces cities to rethink planting trees

By Kate Wheeling/Nexus Media

Dark clouds as a supercell thunderstorm develops on May 10, 2017 in Olustee, Oklahoma. Scientists and meteorologists from the Center for Severe Weather Research are getting a closer look to learn more about these destructive storms.
Environment

‘Erratic’ tornado hits Oklahoma as storms barrel east from the Great Plains

By Laura Baisas

What happens when a tree dies?
Biology

What happens when a tree dies?

By Camille Stevens-Rumann/The Conversation

Satellite image of the powerful eruption.
Engineering

How the Tonga eruption rang Earth ‘like a bell’

By Rahul Rao

Planes sit at their gates after the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport was closed due to the runways being flooded on April 13, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The heavy rain caused flooding as the region recorded rainfall totals of more than a foot.
Climate Change

Southern Florida got 26 inches of rain in 24 hours

By Laura Baisas

Tulare Lake flooding stalls a train after severe rainstorms from the atmospheric river in California Central Valley in March 2023
Agriculture

This phantom lake in California is back with a vengeance

By Jamie Dickman

Severe damage and debris of a home in Little Rock, Arkansas following a tornado.
Environment

Tornado outbreak killed dozens of people across the US this weekend

By Laura Baisas

How science has made tornado forecasting better—but not perfect
Environment

How science has made tornado forecasting better—but not perfect

By Chris Nowotarski/The Conversation

A view of the destruction in Rolling Fork, Mississippi after deadly tornadoes and severe storms tore through the state. At least 25 people were killed and dozens more injured.
Environment

Recovery begins after devastating tornadoes hit Mississippi’s Lower Delta

By Laura Baisas

Rain falling on a window and green plants.
Environment

How a wet winter and spring could help and hurt US states

By Laura Baisas

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