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 […]
Heat Wave on the East Coast: What’s Driving It and What to Expect
This Is Not Ordinary Summer Heat A significant heat wave is settling over the East Coast this week, and it deserves more than passing attention. Heat is the deadliest weather hazard in the United States — more lethal annually than tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods combined — and the specific conditions driving this event are producing […]
Why Some Fireworks Displays Are Spectacular and Others Disappoint: The Weather Behind the Show
The Forecast Matters More Than You Think You’ve been to fireworks displays where the shells burst in brilliant, perfectly defined starbursts against a deep black sky, each explosion distinct and vivid before fading cleanly. You’ve also been to displays where the shells disappear into a low gray haze, where the smoke from each burst hangs […]
Before You Leave for Vacation: Preparing Your Home for Summer Weather
An Empty House Is a Vulnerable House Summer vacation season is underway, and millions of households will leave their homes unoccupied for days or weeks between now and Labor Day. An empty house faces summer weather without anyone inside to notice a roof leak developing after a storm, respond to a sump pump failure during […]
The Summer of 1988: The Heat Wave That Put Climate Change on the Map
The Summer That Changed the Conversation The summer of 1988 was, by most measures, the hottest and driest in the United States since the Dust Bowl. A severe drought gripped the central and eastern United States from late spring through summer, devastating the corn and soybean harvest across the Midwest and Great Plains. Wildfires burned […]
The June 2012 Derecho: The Night the Lights Went Out from Chicago to Washington
Fourteen Years Ago Tonight On the evening of June 29, 2012, a line of severe thunderstorms that had been building since afternoon over Iowa and Illinois accelerated dramatically as it moved east, eventually racing across Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. at speeds approaching 80 miles per hour. In less than 12 […]
Staying Safe at Summer Outdoor Events: Heat, Crowds, and the Fourth of July
The Week Ahead Has Outdoor Events Written All Over It The Fourth of July week produces more extended outdoor gatherings than almost any other time of year: afternoon cookouts that run into evening, parades in full summer heat, fireworks displays that require arriving hours early to secure a spot, and festivals that combine direct sun, […]
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 […]