NASA launched a tiny CubeSat in mid-2018 as a proof of concept to study weather on Earth. The aim was to see if compact satellites could return “science-quality data” with a much lower cost than weather satellites that are much larger. The satellite not only outlived its original three-month lifespan, but it returned a wealth …
Today is Groundhog Day, which means that select groundhogs across North America have been asked to predict the weather for the next month and a half. The tradition stretches back well over a hundred years, but its accuracy is highly questionable. This year, some of the more famous groundhogs disagreed with each other, with some …
The International Space Station is in a unique position to help scientists on Earth understand some of the more mysterious aspects of thunderstorms. An observatory on the ISS is providing researchers with insights into curious storm phenomenon only seen from space. Bizarre features that have names like “blue jets” and “elves” are being studied using …
China dreams of one day having robust weather-modification systems that it can use at will, and it’s ramping up its development of those technologies. In a new statement, the Chinese government announced an expansion of its weather control program, covering an area of over 2.1 million square miles. The country believes it will have the …
NASA wants to better understand the weather of Mars and its new Perseverance rover should help with that. Scientists are eager to learn about the role that dust plays in Martian weather, and how huge dust storms can seemingly pop up out of nowhere. Perseverance should arrive on Mars within 100 days. I don’t know …
A time-lapse video captured a stunning weather phenomenon playing out over a lake in Austria. The wet microburst, which is a column of rapidly descending air that carries a ton of water down with it, is incredibly intense. A phenomenon like this can produce damage similar to that of a tornado, though in this case, …
A team of scientists, including those at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has developed an artificial intelligence algorithm to predict the rapid intensification of tropical storms and hurricanes. The system is far more accurate than the current model and has a low rate of false positives. If used in the future, it could save lives by …
NASA’s Curiosity rover managed to capture images showing a dust devil cruising along the dry landscape. Dust devils occur when temperature irregularities create vortexes, much like on Earth. Mars and Earth are shockingly similar in many ways, in this is a handy reminder of that fact. We know a lot about Mars thanks to NASA’s …
NASA’s Mars InSight lander had been providing weather updates from the surface of the Red Planet, but that has abruptly stopped. An unspecified glitch has caused the lander’s weather sensor system to go into safe mode, and NASA is still trying to figure out why. The system may spring back to life with a reboot, …
Hurricane Laura is preparing to slam into the Southern United States just as Tropical Storm Marco is leaving the same area soaked. Evacuations have already begun in parts of Louisana, which looks like it might be the hardest hit of any area. Tropical Storm Laura could reach the US as early as late Wednesday. We …
