The Floods of 2008: When the Midwest’s Rivers Refused to Stay in Their Banks
The Flood That Followed a Wet Spring In June 2008, the rivers of the Midwest rose to levels that hadn’t been seen since the catastrophic floods of 1993 — and in some locations, to levels that exceeded even that benchmark. Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s second-largest city, was inundated under water that covered nearly a third of […]
Cooking for the Hottest Week of the Year: Cold Meals That Actually Satisfy
When the Kitchen Is the Last Place You Want to Be Mid-July delivers the peak of summer heat across most of the country — the week when the idea of turning on the oven feels genuinely unreasonable, when even the grill seems like too much effort in the afternoon sun, and when the refrigerator door […]
Heat Safety for Outdoor Workers: The Rules, the Risks, and What Employers Must Provide
The Workers Most Exposed to Summer Heat When heat waves make headlines and public health agencies issue warnings, the focus is typically on vulnerable populations at home — the elderly, the very young, people without air conditioning. What receives less public attention is the population that faces sustained, unavoidable heat exposure as a condition of […]
What the Air Quality Index Actually Measures—and Why Summer Is the Worst Season for Your Lungs
The Number in Your Weather App That Most People Don’t Understand Air quality information has become standard in weather apps alongside temperature, humidity, and UV index — but unlike those metrics, most people have only a vague sense of what the Air Quality Index number actually represents, what it measures, and why it matters for […]
The Drought of 2012: When Half of America Ran Dry
The Worst Drought Since the 1950s By July 2012, the United States Drought Monitor — the weekly map of drought conditions across the country covered in the drought science piece — showed something that hadn’t been seen in more than half a century: more than 60 percent of the contiguous United States in drought conditions […]
What Summer Heat Does to Your Medications: Storage, Effectiveness, and What Your Pharmacist Wants You to Know
The Medicine Cabinet Warning Most People Ignore Every medication label includes storage instructions — “store at room temperature,” “store below 77°F,” “protect from heat and light.” Most people read these instructions once and then store their medications wherever is convenient: the bathroom medicine cabinet (warm and humid), the kitchen counter near the stove (warm), the […]
After the Fourth: Helping Your Pet Recover From Fireworks Season
The Holiday Is Over. Your Pet May Not Know That Yet. The Fourth of July fireworks displays are finished, but for many pets — particularly those that experienced significant anxiety — the recovery from the holiday isn’t instantaneous. Animals that spent Friday night in acute stress may show behavioral changes in the days that follow: […]
How Hurricanes Are Named, Tracked, and Forecast: Inside the National Hurricane Center
The System Behind the Storm Coverage When a tropical storm forms in the Atlantic and receives a name, a specific set of institutional processes activates: the National Hurricane Center begins issuing advisories every six hours, forecast track and intensity models run continuously, and the progression of the storm from tropical depression through potential hurricane is […]
What the Weather Was Like on the Fourth of July, 1776—and Other American Moments the Weather Shaped
The Atmosphere Has Always Been Part of the Story History is usually told without weather. The battles, the speeches, the founding documents — they exist in a kind of eternal present tense in historical memory, divorced from the specific atmospheric conditions under which they unfolded. But weather was always there, shaping events in ways that […]
Celebrating the Fourth During a Heat Wave: How to Keep It Safe and Still Have Fun
The Holiday Arrived With Some Unwelcome Weather The Fourth of July weekend is here, and so is a significant heat wave across the East Coast. The combination of a major American holiday — with its cookouts, parades, outdoor gatherings, and late-evening fireworks — and heat index values reaching 105°F to 115°F in parts of the […]