Articles tagged as Weather | Smithsonian Magazine

The storm battering the northeastern U.S. is expected to undergo “bombogenesis.” Just what does that mean?

March 14, 2017

The limestone arch on the island of Gozo was expected to stand several more decades, but a vicious storm Wednesday took out the natural wonder

March 9, 2017

First image from NASA's Geostationary Lightning Tracker

Part of the GOES-16 weather satellite, the geosynchronous imager promises to improve storm detection and reveal the secrets of thunderbolts

March 8, 2017

Sea surface temperatures are abnormally warm in the Pacific Ocean. Will that drive an El Niño event later this year?

Trending Today

Another El Niño Could Be On Its Way

There’s a 40 percent chance of the pattern later this year

February 17, 2017

Here's what Earth looked like on January 15.

Check Out Breathtaking Images From NOAA’s Newest Satellite

In a word: wow

January 26, 2017

Watercolor painting of the Battle of Texel by painter Léon Morel-Fatio.

The Only Time in History When Men on Horseback Captured a Fleet of Ships

A Dutch fleet stuck in the ice. A group of French soldiers sent to capture it. What could go wrong?

January 23, 2017

2016 broke temperature records on land and sea, report both NOAA and NASA.

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2016 Was the Hottest Year Ever Recorded

Never in modern memory has the Earth’s surface and sea temperature been so high

January 19, 2017

The impacts from the Nimbus satellites (Nimbus-1 pictured here) made a lasting mark on meteorology and climate science that can still be felt today.

The Day the Nimbus Weather Satellite Exploded

The writer’s grandfather recalls a seminal moment in the Space Race

January 9, 2017

Cool Finds

Tens of Thousands of Plastic Eggs Washed Up on a German Beach

It was an eggstravaganza

January 6, 2017

The Louisiana wetlands are at an even greater risk today than they were when Isle Derniere was destroyed

A Hurricane Destroyed This Louisiana Resort Town, Never to Be Inhabited Again

The destruction of Isle Derniere resonates as history’s warning for our era of rising seas

January 4, 2017

Record storms flooded roads and swelled rivers near the park’s iconic natural feature

December 29, 2016

This image from the Landsat 7 satellite depicts snow near the border of Morocco and Algeria, south of the city of Bouarfa and southwest of Ain Sefra.

A cold snap in the Algerian city of Ain Sefra led to a snowfall that covered the area’s distinctive orange dunes

December 22, 2016

Lillian Randolph in It's A Wonderful Life, with a dusting of fake snow made from foamite, sugar, water and soap.

The Crazy Tricks Early Filmmakers Used To Fake Snow

Cornflakes, flour and, uh, asbestos were all used in early movies

December 21, 2016

Cool Finds

Sixty-Two-Foot Wave Sets New Record

A sensor in the North Atlantic detected a set of waves averaging over six stories tall, setting a new record for a buoy-measured wave

December 15, 2016

A view of Chicago during the last polar vortex, which plunged the Midwest into winter misery in 2014.

The atmospheric phenomenon will pack a chilly one-two punch this week

December 14, 2016

Grab your coats—this was the scene on Mauna Kea this morning.

And more of the white stuff is on its way to the Big Island’s tallest peaks

December 5, 2016

Emissions from cars and other forms of transportation is one of the many sources of greenhouse gasses.

New Research

Global Emissions Plateaued for Three Consecutive Years. That Doesn’t Mean We Can Relax.

Several recent studies provided a glimmer of hope, but these developments alone won’t halt climate change

November 16, 2016

A NOAA illustration shows how La Niña usually affects winter weather.

Trending Today

It’s Back: La Niña Has Returned

What the phenomenon may mean for winter weather

November 11, 2016

Cool Finds

Naturally Formed Snowballs Cover Beaches in Siberia

Thousands have washed up on an 11-mile stretch of shore of the Gulf of Ob

November 9, 2016

Griffon Vultures Depend on the Sun to Fly. Why?

The Griffon vulture is one of the largest vulture species. Because of its giant stature, it uses an immense amount of energy to take off

November 2, 2016