Category Archives: Seasons

Are we near the end of hurricane season?

It has been a particularly impactful hurricane season in the Atlantic thus far. As of Sunday, there have been 12 named storms — Larry being the current storm of interest.

Hurricane Ida was a very impactful storm, and tens of thousands remain without power in the metro New Orleans area. The so-called remnants of Ida also walloped the northeastern U.S. on Wednesday and Thursday, resulting in dozens of deaths and widespread flooding in many states not usually so affected. Continue reading

Category: Climate, Seasons, Tropical

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Are there clothes that can cool us down?

There are clothes that have been developed that can keep us warmer. That type of clothing has been around for many years.

We have been less successful at developing clothes that can keep us cool on hot days. The solution has generally been to wear less clothing. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Seasons

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Is the air really “heavy” on a humid summer day?

As the baseball season reaches its annual All-Star break, perhaps you have noticed (as we have) that baseball broadcasters are beginning to refer to “heavy” air as the summer reaches its peak.

This “heaviness” is sometimes offered as a warning to fans that they should not expect a lot of home runs on a given night. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Seasons

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Are heat waves and droughts related?

The ongoing heat wave in the western states is shattering hundreds of high temperature records.

The extreme heat has now moved into the Pacific Northwest and threatens some all-time records in Seattle and Portland. Seattle has only ever recorded three days over 100 degrees in the last 76 years, but stood a decent chance of seeing three in a row over the weekend. Continue reading

Category: Climate, Seasons, Severe Weather

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What is the summer solstice?

The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year.

It is an astronomical event caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis and its orbit around the sun.

Monuments such as Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, demonstrate that ancient cultures knew the path the sun traveled through our sky changed in a routine way throughout the year. They undoubtedly observed that how high the sun appears in the sky varied throughout the year and that the higher the sun gets in the sky, the longer the length of daylight. Continue reading

Category: Meteorology, Seasons

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