cirrus
Cotton candy wisps. They remind me of a summer day. They sit high in the atmosphere. You'd never know, but these clouds do drop rain and ice crystals. They just evaporate before they can reach you.
clouds
types of clouds
Clouds can be indictative of the weather than is to come. Sometimes, they're a result of the weather that has already passed. They're all beautiful, and I love them.
cirrostratus
In my head, I associate these clouds with the bitterly cold days where the sun doesn't even bring you warmth. The snow squeaks under your feet like styrofoam, and the sun mocks you. The sky is beautiful, but the wind bites you.
cirrocumulus
I always see these on the morning of a day I expect intense storms. They are indictative of colder weather or changes in weather coming, so it makes sense.
altocumulus
These always looked scarier than they actually were. Similar to the previous clouds, I used to see them before a stormy day.
nimbostratus
A dark, rainy cloud. They will always produce rain, and they will do so for long periods of time.
cumulus
Easily the best to watch. They're puffy, lightweight, and look edible. My favorite thing is when there is just a single one in the sky.
stratus
Maybe most people don't like a cloudy day where the sky is grey with no end, but I love me a cloudy day especially when it's cold. When it's a hot and cloudy day, I am quite miserable. Fall and early spring can get away with this sort of weather.
cumulonimbus
The storm clouds. They grow in one rigid tower with the most unruly forces kept in the basement. Tornadoes, lightning, hail, everything. They are absolutely magnificent to watch at a distance.
stratocumulus
Poofy and dense. I really wish they came with more rain.
mammatus
I call these "popcorn clouds." As a child, I saw them after a storm around sunset. Supposedly, these are rare, but I see them all the time these days. Is it my location?
orographic
One of few clouds that I have yet to spot. They form over mountains and follow the curve of the summit.
lenticular
These also form around mountains. The air rapidly cools and forms waves from turbulence that create these clouds. They're quite funky lookin.
space weather
basically space physics and how they affect earth
What affects space weather is solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. Solar winds and geomagnetic storms cause aurora borealis (northern hemisphere) and aurora australis (southern hemisphere).
Space weather affects many communication and scientific instruments. Satellites, GPS, radio and more. The historical Carrington Event in 1859 was strong enough to be able to cause widespread blackouts and damage power grids if it were to happen today.
meteors, meteroids, meteorites, asteroids, + comets
Asteroids are rocky objects in space. Comets are icy objects that orbit the sun. Meteroids are small pieces that break off of either asteroids or comets. Once it hits the atmosphere, it is a meteor. If it doesn't completely burn up and make it to the earth's surface, it is a meteorite.
Space agencies keep track of each known space object and their projected paths. The ice and gas giants save us from most of them.
There are consistent annual meteor showers that come off of comets. You may have seen shooting stars. Those are meteors!
ocean weather
el niño/la niña
The warming (el niño) or cooling (la niña) of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. This affects the world's climate by affecting the Southern Oscillation which is the most prominent climate oscillation.
waterspout
Fair weather waterspouts form in light wind and travel up from the water towards the cloud. Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form on water or move from land to water. They are dangerous.
tsunami
Massive waves caused by a sudden displacement of water. They are caused by earthquakes, eruption, or underwater explosions. They look like large tidal waves instead of tidal waves because of their size. They are extremely dangerous and damaging.
maelstrom/whirlpool
When opposing currents meet, they can form a whirlpool. Strong ocean whirlpools are called maelstroms.
geological events
Is this weather?
earthquake
The sudden shaking of the Earth's surface due to shifting tetonic plates. They occur anywhere along a fault line which is where two plates meet. Built up pressure and strain will result in the eventual release. 80% of earthquakes occur along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
volcanic eruptions
The bursting of lava from underneath the earth's crust. These can be somewhat predicted by an increase in seismic activity near the active volcano.
Eruptions can be slow flows or sudden explosions like Mount St. Helens.
landslide
These can be caused by earthquakes, rain, slope cuts, etc. They cannot be predicted, but they can be prevented.
precipitation
rain
We all know about rain. It's great.
snow
Snow is so beautiful. It's amongst the most beautiful things in my eyes. I adore how it muffles all of the sounds of the city. Nighttime snowstorms are so hauntingly beautiful. I have lived in a snowy region for 22 years now, and I haven't gotten sick of the snow.
Each snowflake being different from one another is gives me strange existential feelings. I cannot physically fathom that amount of variety.
hail
Hail is rare where I am. I think I can count the times I have seen hail on my hands. It's a big deal when it happens here in Minnesota.
Hail is responsible for the color of clouds during storms. The sky will turn blue or green, and that is the sunlight refracting through the rain and hail in that cloud. People usually equate the green sky to tornadoes, but it's the hail!
sleet
Sleet is the worst. It melts. It can freeze again and make the roads icy. When sleet happens, I just wish it was either rain or snow. Not both.
Sleet to the face hurts a lot. Sleet to an eyeball is even worse.
lightning
Lightning might seem like something that only has little variety to it, but it does all sorts of different things. Lightning is "lazy," so it will go wherever it is easiest. That's why you have to be careful because if you are the tallest thing or near the tallest things in a storm, you may see some lightning really close up.
intra-cloud
These stay in the clouds, and it makes the cloud seem like it's flashing and rumbling. This is the most common type of lightning. It jumps from different regions in the cloud. Also called "sheet lightning."
cloud-to-cloud
This type of lightning happens when the lightning reaches towards a different cloud with a different charge. It appears as if it's "crawling" across the sky.
cloud-to-ground
When you think of lightning, this is probably how you envision it. This is the lightning that is dangerous for you.
Naturally, CG (cloud-to-ground) strikes start in the cloud and travel to the ground. They can be artificially created by structures and tall objects. In those cases, they will travel from the ground and reach up to the cloud. Occasionally, these strikes will travel outward before they strike the ground making them seem like they came out of nowhere. This makes storms dangerous outside of the actual area where the cloud is visible. Once you're about six miles away from the storm, it is considered safe from the risk of these "bolts from the blue."
heat lightning
This gif shows heat lightning to the right, and the aurora in the sky.
You can only hear thunder about 10 miles away from the storm, and heat lightning is visible lightning with no sound. It is just distant storms. Sometimes, the distance makes it appear orange. People incorrectly think that it is caused by the heat, but it is truly just a far away storm where the lightning reflects in the clouds.
transient luminous events (TLEs)
The lightning in storms can sometimes ignite the atoms in the atmosphere. The same atoms that are responsible for the aurora. This results in the following phenomena.
sprites
Triggered by intense CG lightning. They appear reddish in the initial flash. As they fade, they leave behind a green glow. This was first noted by storm chasers, Pecos Hank (Hank Schyma) and Paul M. Smith in 2019. That green glow is called a "ghost."
jets
These near-ultraviolet lights shoot out from the top of storms that contain a lot of negative cloud-to-ground lightning. These occur lower in the atmosphere than sprites. There are blue jets, blue starters, and gigantic jets. Gigantic jets occasionally have a "sprite-like" formation on the tops of them pictured on the right.
other
There are other phenomena such as the previously mentioned ghosts, ELVES, pixies, and TROLLs.
ELVES appear as red donut-like structures that are created by an intense electromagnetic pulse. They are very short lived.
TROLLs are red spots that appear after strong sprites.
Pixies (and Gnomes) are hard for me to describe, but they are near-white spots that appear unrelated to lightning, but still near storms.
storms
thunderstorms
Storms that make thunder and lightning and all sorts of stuff!
derecho
Derechos are storms where the biggest danger is the straight-line winds. These winds are extremely destructive and the storm moves incredibly fast through an area. Not all storms that form a line are derechos. The definition of derecho has been changing within the NWS for the past couple of years.
squall
A squall is a sudden onset of high winds within a storm. "Squall lines" are a line of storms that form along or ahead of a cold front.
microburst
A short-lived wind storm within a thunderstorm.
supercell
This is a type of thunderstorm that are the least common and most dangerous. These produce tornadoes because of the updraft (mesocyclone) within the storm structure. Not all supercells have tornadoes, but all tornadoes come from supercells.
tornados
Tornadoes are violent whirlwinds that are extremely destructive. They occur most in America’s “Tornado Alley” and “Dixie Alley.” As mentioned in the supercell section, all tornadoes come from supercells, but not all supercells have tornadoes.
Tornado watch vs tornado warning is often misunderstood by many people. A tornado watch means that the “ingredients” needed for powerful tornado-producing supercells are in the atmosphere. A tornado warning means that the ingredients came together to make that tornado and that it has been spotted touching the ground by a skywarn spotter.
Tornadoes are measured after the damage it done to an area. The Enhanced Fujita scale is the scale used to rate the tornadoes. It ranges from EF0 to EF5. Many annoying people on the internet debate about the existences of an EF6 category, but that is simply impossible. The damage done by an EF5 completely levels a town trees and all. It is also impossible to know the EF rating of a tornado while the tornado is on the ground. Not only is it unproductive to rate a tornado while it occurs, but it is also stupid. Any tornado warning must be treated with the same level of seriousness even if you suspect it to be small. All tornadoes are damaging.
hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones
These are rapidly rotating, massive storms that live for days. They happen all over the world and are called different things based on the ocean they form in. Hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific. Typhoons are in the northwestern Pacific. Tropical cyclones are in the Indian Ocean and southern Pacific.
These storms cause intense flooding in coastal towns, and evacuation notices are typically issued days ahead of landfall. Occasionally, they may go through “rapid intensification.” For this to happen, the water must be extremely warn, the wind shear low, minimal waves, and the air in the eye must be rising rapidly.
The different regions have different intensity scales. There’s discussion within American weather nerds about a Category 6 hurricane, and just like the EF6 tornado, it is stupid.
sand/dust storms
These occur when a front moves in with strong gusts that kick up the surface sand/dirt. These are a major health hazard.
winter storms
Winter storms are just storms that drop snow in… well…. the winter. They can be windy (blizzards) or just drop lots of heavy snow. Rarely, the snow within the clouds can cause “thunder snow.”
gale
Strong wind in nautical contexts.
ice storm
An extremely dangerous winter storm. Rain falls and quickly freezes. The ice gathers on any surface which can bring down trees and power lines causing power outages.