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EartherEarth ScienceHurricane Bud Could Dump Some Serious Rain on the Drought-Stricken Southwest
Weather whiplash is the perfect descriptor for what’s on tap for the Southwest. Things have been hot and dry since this winter, but they could get wet and wild this weekend as the remnants of Hurricane Bud drench Arizona and parts of New Mexico. Bud is currently churning over the eastern Pacific and is expected … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
The First Eastern Pacific Hurricane of 2018 Is Now a Category 4 Beast
Well that escalated quickly. Hurricane Aletta became the first tropical storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season on Thursday, and by Friday morning it had spun up into a Category 4 monster. The storm might not be done ramping up, either. The meteorological marvel is thankfully not forecast to make landfall (though rip currents and … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
Lake Michigan May Get Its First-Ever Tropical Cyclone Tonight
The early start to hurricane season continues with what could be the first landfalling tropical cyclone to make it to Lake Michigan on record. Tropical Depression Alberto has been the weird storm that could, improbably moving from the Gulf of Mexico to Indiana. The last advisory the National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued for the storm, … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
What’s This Subtropical Storm Thing Headed Toward the Gulf Coast?
It’s six days from the official start of hurricane season, but we already have our first named storm. The National Hurricane Center has started issuing advisories on Subtropical Storm Alberto, which…wait, what in tarnation is a subtropical storm? During hurricane season, your tropical weather usually comes in three flavors: tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane. … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
Hurricane Season May Start Early to Ruin Your Memorial Day Weekend
Hurricane season begins June 1, but the tropics are coming alive a week ahead of schedule. A disturbance near the Yucatan Peninsula is starting to get organized, and there’s a high chance it could be a tropical depression by this weekend. Even if it doesn’t build into a tropical system, the storm will still bring … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
There’s Another Weird Tropical Cyclone Headed to the Middle East
Another rare tropical cyclone situation is unfolding in the Middle East. Cyclone Mekunu spun up on Tuesday and is now heading toward Salalah, the capital of Oman. It should make landfall somewhere in the region on Friday with 104 mph sustained winds, making it the equivalent of a robust Category 2 storm. Some areas could … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
A Rare Cyclone Is About to Hit Somalia
On Wednesday, Cyclone Sagar formed deep in the Gulf of Aden, which separates the Middle East and East Africa. The basically unprecedented storm is taking aim at Somalia and Djibouti—a country where tropical weather just doesn’t happen—this weekend. It could bring torrential rain and flash flooding to the area that’s already fairly saturated after a … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth ScienceDid New York Just Get Hit By a Derecho?
Your humble Earther weather correspondent went the roof of Gizmodo Media’s offices to capture the above picture. By the time he descended to the ground floor, all hell had broken loose. Powerful winds made umbrellas abstract sculptures of plastic, metal, and fabric. And that’s too bad for their owners, as torrential rains turned city streets … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEnvironmental JusticeDeadly Dust Storms Are Smothering India
Intense weather has battered South Asia this week. After what was likely the hottest April temperature recorded in the world struck Pakistan at the start of the week, violent dust storms swept across Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, states in northwest India, on Wednesday. The storms left at least 100 dead and toppled 8,000 electricity poles. … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth ScienceWe Finally Know What ‘Hot As Balls’ Really Means
Tired: the age old fight of Fahrenheit vs. Celsius. Wired: a new scale of temperature ranging from ‘colder than Mars’ to ‘hot as dick’. Just in time for summer, computer scientist Jim Webb has blessed us with a curse word-based temperature scale using science. From here on out, 84 degrees Fahrenheit will be known as … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth SciencePakistan May Have Just Set a World Heat Record
High temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-80s this week in New York, and I’m dreading it. But I have a plan to stay cool: just thinking of how much hotter it is in Pakistan, which is in the middle of a blistering heat wave. Temperatures reported to have cracked 50.2 degrees Celsius (122.3 degrees … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
It Could Snow Again This Weekend
The eastern U.S. is now living in a state of permanent Smarch while the West has fast-forwarded through spring. Temperatures are expected to plunge on Friday to well below normal, and cold weather records could fall in the Midwest. The cold air will also reach the East Coast, trailing a storm, which could create the … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
People Are Already Evacuating as California’s Storm of the Year Approaches
Turns out the East Coast doesn’t have a lock on butt weather. A Pineapple Express storm will mainline tropical moisture into Southern California starting on Tuesday. Up to ten inches of rain could fall this week, but this is no regular March Miracle. The deluge could trigger mudslides on the parched and charred slopes left … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
There’s Another Nor’easter Coming Because This Is Our Life Now
I want to be writing this as little as you want to be reading it: We’re in for another nor’easter this week. If you live in the Northeast, you’re surely sick of the snow. If live anywhere else, you’re surely sick of hearing about it. And yet here we are, with a fourth nor’easter lining … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
Australia Had Itself a Weekend of Wild Weather
The Land Down Under was just a plague of locusts short of going full biblical this weekend. Unusual heat, destructive fires, a raging tropical cyclone, and powerful winds all swept across Australia in the span of 48 hours. Oh, and it snowed in Tasmania. The weird weather was the result of an active trough of … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
It’s Thundersnowing
Thundersnow, folks. It’s happening. As Wednesday’s nor’easter cranked up and pushed into the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, rumbles of thunder rang out as flakes flew. It’s one of the most wonderful meteorological phenomena out there, and you should count yourself lucky if you got to experience it Wednesday afternoon (I know I did). Meteorologists have … Continued
By Brian Kahn -
EartherEarth Science
Cool, Cool; Another Nor’easter Is Going to Hit the East Coast This Week
Coastal communities in Massachusetts are still cleaning up from last week’s potent nor’easter. They may want to put those efforts on hold, though. Another storm is set to impact the region by midweek. The coastal flooding won’t be nearly as bad, but colder air means snow is expected to pile up across the Mid-Atlantic and … Continued
By Brian Kahn
