from Shade Tree Meteorology
Over the past few days, a powerful storm brought strong, damaging winds from the lower Midwest eastward – stretching from the southern Appalachians into the Northeast. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people have lost power across the country, numerous trees have been blown down, and many structures have been damaged. Continue reading “Wild Winds and Walls of Ice”
When most people think of maple trees in the Northeast, the image above comes to mind: a beautiful array of striking colors at their peak in September and October. But for some people, maple trees conjure up another image- the muddy, springtime season of maple sugaring. Maple sugaring season begins in the early spring, just as the trees are beginning to wake up from a long, cold winter.
Chocolates, flowers, and jewelry, oh my! While these might be a few of the most popular Valentine’s Day gifts, we wanted to gift our readers with some fun Valentine’s Day weather trivia! Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Climate Across America”
As I sit writing this post today, it is currently 52 degrees with bright, sunny skies at the Albany International Airport. Temperatures in central New York and Pennsylvania are in the low 60s, and the frigid arctic air that was making national headlines just a few days ago seem like a distant memory (at least until one remembers that it is early February and winter is far from over in the Northeast!). While the coldest of the cold air impacted the Midwest and northern Plains, those of us here in the northeast U.S. got a quick blast of the frigid air between January 30 and February 1. Continue reading “Arctic Blast and Snow Squalls: January 30, 2019”
Ellicott City, Maryland is a historic town of around 70,000 that was founded by four brothers in 1772 and is home to the Ellicott City Station – the oldest surviving train station in the United States. The landmark Ellicott City Station isn’t the only thing that Ellicott City is known for though. After enduring two historic “1-in-1,000-year” rain events in two years that garnered national headlines, the residents of Ellicott City are becoming known for their resilience, community, and dedication to preserving their home – in spite of all odds. Continue reading “Ellicott City’s Hometown Hero: A Story of Resilience in the Wake of Extreme Flash Flooding”
At the time of this writing, the northeast United States is in the grip of a frigid air mass in the wake of a winter storm which brought widespread snowfall, along with a variety of mixed precipitation, to the Eastern Seaboard. While today’s winds and associated below-zero wind chill factors are a topic for a future blog post, today we focus on the physical mechanisms which are responsible for creating various types of frozen precipitation. Continue reading “Northeast Winter Storm January 19-20, 2019”
Millions of people from the Rockies into the Mid-Atlantic felt the impacts of the most recent storm to hit the US, although those living in Missouri suffered through the biggest blow, with portions of the state receiving over Continue reading “Winter Storm January 11-13, 2019”
At the time of this writing, news outlets are reporting of the deadly tsunami, or tidal wave, that was triggered by the collapse of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia. While a tsunami is not itself a meteorological event (and can be discussed in more detail in a later post), the National Weather Service does have two branches, the National Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which are responsible for monitoring the oceans for conditions which may trigger a tsunami. Continue reading “Can volcanoes affect the weather?”
Christmas has officially come and gone, and we hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful holiday! The only thing “missing” from mine was a white Christmas. Growing up in Alabama, I had little to no chance of seeing snow on Christmas morning…although Continue reading “Dreaming of a White Christmas”
In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, many might overlook the winter solstice. And in case you didn’t know, the winter solstice is Continue reading “The 2018 Winter Solstice is (almost) Here”