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

How lightning on exoplanets could make it harder to find alien life
Science

How lightning on exoplanets could make it harder to find alien life

By Briley Lewis

Why is it so warm right now?
Environment

Why is it so warm right now?

By Richard B. (Ricky) Rood / The Conversation

A satellite image of two cyclones over the ocean with land nearby.
Environment

Stronger hurricanes may call for a ‘Category 6’

By Laura Baisas

A blizzard with brutally cold temperatures hit Iowa and neighboring states on Jan. 12, 2024.
Environment

Extreme cold still happens in a warming world

By Mathew Barlow/The Conversation

A Jackery solar generator on a plain background arranged in a brick pattern
Gear

Prepare for any storm ahead with 37% off this Jackery solar generator

By Amanda Reed

In Alaska, preparing for tsunamis is no small feat
Environment

In Alaska, preparing for tsunamis is no small feat

By Christian Elliott / Undark

Black and white photo of merchant ship encountering rogue wave
Technology

An equation co-written with AI reveals monster rogue waves form ‘all the time’

By Andrew Paul

Storm coming in over farm field
Environment

Google DeepMind’s AI forecasting is outperforming the ‘gold standard’ model

By Andrew Paul

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

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
Environment

This climate crisis map shows how vulnerable your neighborhood is

By Kate Yoder/Grist

Pacific Ocean storm seen from a research vessel's stern
Environment

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.
Environment

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
Environment

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

By Robin Buller/High Country News

drought in Yemen, august 2023
Environment

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.
Environment

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

By Laura Baisas

Doctor and patient in office
Health

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
Technology

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.
Environment

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
Science

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
Environment

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

By Michael Childress/The Conversation

Metal mesh with water droplets
Technology

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.
Environment

Canadian territory capital ordered to evacuate due to approaching wildfire

By Laura Baisas

pregnancy test in hands
Health

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.
Environment

The health hazards from wildfires will linger in Maui for years

By Andrew J. Whelton/The Conversation

Wildfire smoke in New York City
Environment

Combining AI and traditional methods can help us predict air quality

By Joshua S. Fu/The Conversation

airplane flying in clouds
Technology

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

Antarctica is in the climate change crosshairs

By Laura Baisas

Sprinklers on a golf course in Utah.
Environment

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

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
Technology

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.
Science

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.”
Environment

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

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.
Environment

July 3 may have marked the hottest day ever recorded

By Laura Baisas

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

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

By Sara Kiley Watson

A summer sunrise over a grassy meadow.
Environment

‘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
Environment

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

By Erica Gies

Rear side of sweating robot
Technology

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.
Environment

Wildfire smoke is choking the eastern United States

By Laura Baisas

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

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
Environment

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
Environment

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
Environment

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.
Environment

Guam hit by strongest ‘Super Typhoon’ in decades

By Laura Baisas

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

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
Environment

El Niño is back—here’s what that means

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Sun setting behind an high voltage power line transformer
Technology

This summer could push US energy grids to their limits

By Andrew Paul

illustration of scientist with 3D models
Technology

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
Environment

What California’s weird winter means for its water problems

By Zayna Syed

Volcanoes can be a fiery death sentence for fish
Environment

Volcanoes can be a fiery death sentence for fish

By Chris Baraniuk / Hakai Magazine

tsunami warning sign in Israel
Technology

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
Environment

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