Weather, Climate, and Other Science Topics
We had the best Halloween weather in 95 years and stunning weather today, and Monday will be another beautiful day with only a few high clouds increasing late in the day. But by Tuesday morning, the first of several systems this week will bring rain to the area, and on Friday, we’ll see a shift […]
The next two weeks look unseasonably calm. We’ll see a moderate system swing through on Friday, but other than that, our weather looks warmer and drier-than-average for the next 10 days as a strong, broad ridge of high pressure builds across the Western US. Given the boring weather ahead, I thought I’d do a quick […]
FINALLY! It’s one thing to be overjoyed at the first stormy forecast of autumn, but to actually see the moderate rain, gusty winds, and even the mountain snow associated with it is nothing short of wonderful. And believe it or not, another storm is right on its heels! Let’s just cut to the chase and […]
With Southeastern Texas still reeling from Hurricane Harvey, it feels a little surreal to be talking about another major hurricane impacting the United States. But with Hurricane Irma, that may well be the case. In this blog, I’ll give an overview of Irma’s history and some background on Cape Verde cyclones, the current status of Irma, […]
By Charlie Phillips AND Mark Ingalls Tropical Storm Harvey has turned from a severe event into a catastrophic, record-breaking event that may go down as the costliest flooding disaster in the history of the United States. And yes, that includes Hurricane Katrina. Some important notes before we start: If you are in Texas and find […]
I gotta go to bed soon (gotta wake up at 4:30 tomorrow!), so this post is going to be brief. But there’s no way I could nod off to sleep without writing something about this incredibly strong storm. Hurricane Harvey made landfall at the northern tip of San Jose Island at 10 pm CDT time […]
Saturday, November 7, 2015 2:13 pm Less than a week ago, Cyclone Chapala slammed into Socotra, a small Yemeni Island some 150 miles east of the Horn of Africa, and Yemen, a small country on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula currently embroiled in a brutal civil war, becoming the first hurricane-force cyclone to hit […]
Saturday, October 24, 2015 8:09 pm Visible satellite image of Hurricane Patricia at record intensity approaching the Western Mexico Coast. Taken October 23, 2015. Credit: NASA Terra/MODIS Satellite Patricia was the deepest cyclone ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. Deeper than Wilma, deeper than Katrina, deeper than Camille, and far deeper than Sandy (all these storms […]
Saturday, October 17, 2015 4:01 pm Beach erosion by Pacifica, California due to storms during the 1997-1998 El Niño event. Credit: USGS With all of this talk about the “Godzilla” El Niño of 2015, it’s important to remember that an event of this magnitude is not unprecedented. Back during the 1997-1998 winter, we saw the largest El Niño on […]
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 3:29 pm A tower atop Campbell Hall, Western Oregon University collapsing under the 100+ mph winds of the Columbus Day Storm. Credit: Wes Luchau, Statesman Journal The Pacific Northwest has never gotten hit by a hurricane and never will. Our waters are simply too cold to sustain a tropical system. For a […]
