Weather & Climate

About climate related to life

Why Can Rain Fall from a Cloud without Wetting the Ground?

2026-09-262026-09-26

Explore virga: precipitation that falls from a cloud without reaching the ground. Learn how evaporation, sublimation and observation height help explain it.

Why Can a Lenticular Cloud Stay Still While the Wind Blows?

2026-09-212026-09-21

A mountain-wave lenticular cloud does not trap the air inside it. Repeated condensation and evaporation can preserve a nearly stationary outline while air flows through.

What Makes the Rings Around the Sun and Moon?

2026-09-152026-09-15

Tiny ice crystals refract light to form 22-degree solar and lunar halos. Compare real photographs to understand angular radius, rainbows, coronas and clues to changing… Read More »What Makes the Rings Around the Sun and Moon?

Why Does Thunder Keep Rumbling After a Brief Lightning Flash?

2026-09-132026-09-13

Branching lightning above trees and a road near Goldendale, Washington

Thunder does not come only from the ground strike point. Separating channel geometry from repeated strokes explains how a brief flash can be followed by… Read More »Why Does Thunder Keep Rumbling After a Brief Lightning Flash?

Does Fog Form Only at Night? Clear Nights, Cold Seas and Warm Water

2026-09-092026-09-09

Radiation, advection and steam fog can look similar but form through different processes. Read fog through air and surface temperatures and the movement of water… Read More »Does Fog Form Only at Night? Clear Nights, Cold Seas and Warm Water

The smell of rain is not one smell — three layers, arriving in turn

2026-09-022026-09-02

Raindrops falling on a shallow muddy puddle over reddish-brown soil, leaving overlapping concentric ripples

Distilled water has no smell. And yet we smell rain. What we call “the smell of rain” is not one substance but three separate signals… Read More »The smell of rain is not one smell — three layers, arriving in turn