The Water Cycle at Full Speed: How Summer Drives the Planet’s Most Important System
Every drop of rain that falls in a summer thunderstorm began its journey as liquid water somewhere on the Earth’s surface — an ocean, a lake, a soil pore, a leaf. It evaporated into invisible water vapor, rose into the atmosphere, traveled with the wind, condensed into a cloud, and eventually fell back to the […]
Fourth of July Cookout: Classic Dishes Worth Making from Scratch
One Week Out Is the Right Time to Plan The Fourth of July is next Friday, and a cookout menu worth having requires a little advance thought — not because the food is complicated, but because the best versions of classic American cookout dishes benefit from a day or two of prep, and because shopping […]
How Wildfires Create Their Own Weather: The Science of Pyroconvection
The Fire That Makes Its Own Storms A wildfire large enough and hot enough doesn’t just burn through weather — it creates weather. The same convective physics that produces summer thunderstorms can be driven by the intense heat of a major wildfire, generating towering smoke columns that reach the stratosphere, producing lightning that starts new […]
Fireworks and Pets: Preparing for the Most Stressful Night of the Year
Ten Days Out Is the Right Time to Prepare The Fourth of July is the single worst night of the year for most pets. Animal shelters across the country report that July 5th is their busiest intake day — the day after the holiday, when frightened animals that bolted during fireworks displays are brought in […]
The Gulf Stream: How a River in the Ocean Shapes the Weather on Two Continents
The Ocean Current That Keeps Europe Warm and Fuels Atlantic Hurricanes Beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, an enormous river of warm water flows northward along the eastern coast of North America and then eastward across the Atlantic toward Europe. This current — the Gulf Stream — carries more water than all the world’s […]
Sun, Skin, and Vitamin D: The Science of Summer’s Most Counterintuitive Health Benefit
The Sun Does Something Useful, Too The Weather Daily pieces on UV radiation (5/11) and sun protection clothing (6/1) made the case for aggressive sun protection in summer — SPF 30 or higher, broad-spectrum coverage, UPF-rated clothing, wide-brimmed hats. That case is scientifically sound and the recommendations are correct. But there is a parallel truth […]
Swimming Safety Myths That Cost Lives Every Summer
Peak Swimming Season Has Arrived. The Myths Are Dangerous. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States for children ages 1 to 14, and it kills approximately 4,000 Americans of all ages each year. The majority of these deaths occur in the summer months, when swimming in natural bodies […]
How Ancient Humans Tracked the Solstice—and Why They Cared So Much
Today is the summer solstice — the moment when the sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky and the Northern Hemisphere experiences its longest day. People across the world have been marking this day for as long as humans have watched the sky, which turns out to be a very long time indeed. The […]
The Longest Evening: Recipes for Celebrating the Summer Solstice
Tomorrow Is the Longest Day of the Year. Tonight Is the Night to Prepare for It. The summer solstice arrives tomorrow — June 21, the longest day, the shortest night, the moment when the sun reaches its highest point in the Northern Hemisphere sky before beginning its gradual retreat. After months of lengthening evenings, tomorrow’s […]
The Long Island Express: The Hurricane That Wasn’t Supposed to Hit New England
The Storm No One Believed Was Coming On the morning of September 21, 1938, a powerful hurricane was moving up the Atlantic seaboard. The Weather Bureau knew it existed. Forecasters in Miami had been tracking it for days. And yet when it made landfall on Long Island at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon — moving at […]