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Monthly Archives: June 2012
What is a flash flood?
A flood occurs when water flows into a region faster than it can be absorbed into the soil, stored in a lake or reservoir or removed in runoff or a waterway into a drainage basin.
A flash flood is a sudden local flood characterized by a great volume of water and a short duration. It occurs within minutes or hours of heavy rainfall or because of a sudden release of water from the breakup of an ice dam or constructed dam. Continue reading
What is the summer solstice?
The summer solstice (in Latin, sol, “sun,” and stice, “come to a stop”) is the day of the year with the most daylight. The first day of the astronomical Northern Hemisphere summer is the day of the year when the sun is farthest north (on June 20 or 21). In 2012, this occurs on June 20 at 6:09 pm CDT. Continue reading
What are pyrocumulus clouds?
A pyrocumulus cloud forms from rising air that results from intense heating of the surface by phenomena such as wildfires or volcanic eruptions. The fires that generate these clouds can be man-made or natural. A big fire produces strong upward moving air currents that carry water vapor and ash upward. The water vapor can condense on the ash forming cloud drops. The vigorous upward motions produce these pyrocumulus clouds that look similar to thunderstorm clouds, which also form due to strong upward moving air. Continue reading
When does Hurricane Season begin?
The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Friday, although there already has been some tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic this season.
Throughout much of last week, the Southeast dealt with Tropical Storm Beryl. Typical for early season storms, Beryl was not very well organized and did not pose the kind of threat storms can later in the season. Continue reading
