Last week, Austin, Texas, and surrounding communities found themselves flooded after a relentless thunderstorm dropped more than a foot of rain in just a few hours. This astounding rainfall event was the result of a phenomenon known as “training,” and as Austin saw, training can lead to devastating results.
The unusual March-like temperatures bathing much of the country this week are coming with a nasty side effect: March-like thunderstorms. A small but feisty severe weather outbreak is brewing in the center of the country right now, with damaging winds, large hail, and even a few tornadoes possible.
It’s been a while since we’ve had to talk about severe weather, and today it could threaten the East Coast of all places. A decent cold front pushing toward the coast this afternoon might trigger strong thunderstorms from Nashville to Boston, and some could be severe. Even a few tornadoes are possible in the NYC and Philly areas.
One of the best ways to spend a summer evening is to stand outside and watch a distant storm, the soft rumbles of thunder distracting you from the mosquitoes eating you alive. The most well-known part of these summertime thunderstorms is a phenomenon known as “heat lightning,” which doesn’t really exist.
If it seems like that promising thunderstorm on the horizon will defy the laws of physics to avoid where you live—depriving you of needed rain and soothing thunder—you’re not alone. Even though it seems like won’t stop raining in much of the eastern U.S., many areas are slipping into drought as we head into the middle of the summer.
If you live in or around any of the counties shaded in blue on this map, odds are that your commute’s gonna suck as you head home this evening. Severe thunderstorms are firing up all over the place, and these counties are all under a severe thunderstorm watch through nightfall. Damaging winds, large hail, and some tornadoes are possible in these storms.
An intense line of thunderstorms ripped, tore, screamed, blasted, and raced through the state of Iowa this morning, producing wind gusts exceeding 90 MPH in spots. Right or wrong, the storm is being touted as a “derecho” in the media; regardless of the name, the storms were brutal.
Weather forecasts have come a long way over the past couple of decades. Meteorologists can give you a deadly accurate five-day forecast today, when forecasting the weather beyond a day was a feat 30 years ago. Forecasts today are accurate to a fault: people expect too much, and get angry and disappointed when their friendly local weatherperson can’t deliver.
As we crawl through this, our second day of True Summer (not that fake astronomical stuff), many people who haven’t had thunderstorms yet this year are in for a flashing, crashing, startling treat. What exactly is it about lightning that makes that thunderous noise, and why does it seem to crackle, boom, and roll?
Today’s the Friday before a three-day weekend, and just about everyone is checked-out until the day after Memorial Day. Since it’s just you and me around these parts, how about we get our nerd on while nobody’s looking? By popular request, here’s an explainer on how to analyze instability a SKEW-T chart by hand.
We’ve all gawked at beautiful clouds before, but we never really think about how those clouds formed. One of the most beautiful sights in nature is a huge thunderstorm bubbling up on the horizon, smacking the top of the atmosphere and spreading out like a giant umbrella. Here’s a look at how these anvils form.
It looks like nature is finally catching up with the calendar, as the southern and central portions of the United States are facing a risk for severe thunderstorms every day through Friday. Unfortunately for residents and vehicles alike, April promises to be more active than this underwhelming March.
Moore, Oklahoma, a city of more than 50,000 people that lies a few miles south of Oklahoma City, suffered a direct hit from its sixth tornado in the past fifteen years tonight. Numerous structures were significantly damaged by the tornado, including Southgate Elementary school.
We've been lucky enough to see a lull in severe thunderstorms over the past couple of months, sparing countless towns from damage or destruction. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end. Here's a primer on how to use severe weather forecasts to keep you and your loved ones safe this spring.
Even though Friday was the official start to spring, severe weather season across the U.S. typically ramps up much earlier. This year, however, has been quiet. Extremely quiet. In fact, we're on track to see the quietest start to the year we've ever recorded. That's probably going to change pretty soon.
Just in time for Christmas, a developing storm will create headaches for anyone planning to travel east of the Mississippi River later this week. The storm will drop heavy snow on the Great Lakes and bring thunderstorms, heavy rain, and gusty winds to almost the entire East Coast. Merry Christmas!
A dangerous multi-day severe weather outbreak is ramping up across the southern United States at this hour, with a powerful squall line stretching from St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico. Millions of people are at risk for widespread wind damage, large hail, and even tornadoes.
A major wind event known as a "microburst" leveled thousands of trees in Easthampton, Massachusetts this morning. Microbursts can create more damage than a weak tornado, and they're responsible for many lethal airplane crashes. What is a microburst and how do they form?
A widespread severe weather outbreak is taking shape across a large swath of the central United States this evening, stretching from Texas and Louisiana north through Illinois and Indiana. Nearly forty million people are at risk for damaging winds, large hail, and possibly a few tornadoes.
