Why Your Neighbor Got Hail and You Didn’t: The Science of Localized Storm Weather
The Same Storm, Completely Different Experiences It happens every spring storm season: a severe thunderstorm warning covers your entire county, but the storm produces dramatic hail three miles away while your yard stays completely dry. Or a tornado warning is issued, the storm passes two miles north, and the neighborhood it hits looks like a […]
Drinks and Bites for Warm May Evenings
The Porch Season Has Officially Started There’s a specific kind of May evening that’s been earning its place all spring: warm enough to sit outside comfortably after dinner, cool enough that you don’t want ice water and a fan, light enough that the day’s last hour still glows at 8 p.m. These are the evenings […]
The Storm That Darkened the East Coast: The Great Dust Storm of May 1934
When the Plains Came to Washington On the morning of May 11, 1934, residents of New York City, Washington D.C., and Boston looked out their windows and found a strange, brownish haze obscuring the skyline. Ships 300 miles off the Atlantic coast reported dust settling on their decks. The sun appeared red through the murk. […]
Beyond Rainbows: The Surprising Optical Phenomena Spring Skies Produce
The Atmosphere Is Full of Light Shows Most People Never Learn to See A rainbow after a spring shower is the most familiar atmospheric optical phenomenon — so familiar that most people stop looking once they’ve spotted one. But the spring and early summer atmosphere produces a remarkable range of light effects that are less […]
Shedding Season: Why Your Pet Is Losing So Much Fur Right Now
The Fur Is Everywhere. Here’s Why — and What to Do About It. May is peak shedding season for dogs and cats across most of the country, and if you share your home with a double-coated breed, you already know what that means: fur on the furniture, fur on your clothes, fur in your food, […]
Storm-Proofing Your Home for Peak Severe Weather Season
May Is When It Matters Most Severe thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes are more frequent in May than any other month across most of the United States. The storms that develop during peak season can produce wind gusts exceeding 70 miles per hour, hailstones larger than golf balls, and torrential […]
The Truth About UV: What SPF Numbers Mean and Why May Sun Is Deceptively Dangerous
The Sun in May Is Not the Same as the Sun in December The UV radiation reaching Earth’s surface in mid-May is dramatically more intense than it was in December — not because the sun itself has changed, but because Earth’s orientation to it has. The sun is high enough in the sky in May […]
Heat Lightning Isn’t Real—But What You’re Seeing Is Fascinating
The Phenomenon Has a Name. The Name Is Wrong. Sit on a porch on a warm May or June evening and you’ll often see it: flashes of light on the horizon, illuminating distant clouds from within or silhouetting them against a briefly brightened sky. No thunder follows. The air is calm. The sky overhead is […]
The Super Outbreak of 1974: The Day That Redefined What Tornadoes Could Do
148 Tornadoes in 18 Hours On April 3 and 4, 1974, a tornado outbreak of unprecedented scale swept across the eastern United States. In 18 hours, 148 tornadoes touched down across 13 states — from Alabama to Ontario, Canada — killing 330 people, injuring more than 5,000, and leaving a trail of destruction that defied […]
Hail Myths Debunked: What You Think You Know About Nature’s Frozen Projectiles
Peak Hail Season Is Here. Get the Facts Right. Hail causes more property damage in the United States each year than any other thunderstorm hazard — more than tornadoes, more than lightning, more than straight-line winds. Insurance industry data consistently puts annual hail damage in the billions of dollars, and the peak of the hail […]