Tag Archives: RGB composite

Abafado Bruma Seca

Hopefully, Google Translate didn’t steer me wrong on the meaning of “abafado”. “Bruma seca” is a term used by Portuguese and Spanish speakers that literally translates to “dry mist”. It is typically used to refer to thick haze or the … Continue reading

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Wild Week of Wildfires, Part III

The last two posts covered flooding. Now, a month later, we are back to covering last year’s most common topic: wildfires. This time, we’ll make a game out of it. Keep in mind that, for many operational fire weather forecasters, … Continue reading

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Record Russian Spring Snowmelt

It seems that last year’s posts were all about fires. Fires in Colorado (multiple fires, in fact), the Canary Islands, Siberia, Australia – there was even that 40-year-old pit of burning natural gas that has been called the “Gates of … Continue reading

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Land of Lincoln Underwater

The week beginning on 14 April 2013 was a big week for weather across the United States. There were 30 reports of tornadoes. (Make sure you click on each link, and look at the filtered reports.) And, when our home … Continue reading

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Drought in the Land of the Long, White Cloud

Science fiction fanatics know it as “Middle-earth“.  Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer who became the first European to sail there, called it “Staten Landt“, which was later changed to Nieuw Zeeland, Nova Zeelandia, and, finally, New Zealand. The native Maori … Continue reading

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Chinese Super-Smog

No, not a Super-Smörg, super smog. Smog that is so thick, you can taste it. The smog in many parts of eastern China has been so bad this winter, it is literally “off-the-charts“. Based on our Environmental Protection Agency‘s not-very-intuitive … Continue reading

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Pumice Rafts: The Floating Rocks of the Sea

Do rocks float? The answer to that is “Depends on which rocks you’re talking about.” We just looked at what happens in the atmosphere when a volcano like Copahue erupts. We also looked at the impact the 1912 eruption of … Continue reading

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Copahue, the Stinky Volcano

On the border between Chile and Argentina sits the volcano Copahue. (If you say it out loud, it is pronounced “CO-pa-hway”.) In the local Mapuche language, copahue means “sulfur water”.  This name was given to the volcano as the most … Continue reading

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End of Autumn in the Alps

Much of the United States has had a below-average amount of snow this fall (and below-average precipitation for the whole year). Look at how little snow cover there was in the month of November. Parts of Europe, however, have seen … Continue reading

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The Case of the 100-year-old Ash Cloud

Lost in all the commotion caused by Hurricane Sandy, a curious event occurred on the other side of the country on 30 October 2012. A cloud of ash obscured the skies of Kodiak Island, Alaska, diverting flights in the region … Continue reading

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