Why Can a Lenticular Cloud Stay Still While the Wind Blows?
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.
Weather & Climate
About climate related to life
What Makes the Rings Around the Sun and Moon?
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?
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
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
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
The Ground Is Sweltering, but Ice Grows in the Sky — The Design Principle of Hail
The ground is baking in early-summer heat, yet just 5-10 km overhead the sky sits at -10 to -30°C. This piece looks at how hail… Read More »The Ground Is Sweltering, but Ice Grows in the Sky — The Design Principle of Hail