On March 7, 2009, TornadoVideos.net (TVN) launched the beta version of their Live Streaming system. It's an interactive map that tracks each member of the TVN team as they criss-cross the country chasing storms, complete with live video. You can sign up (main page, top left: "Chase notifications") to be alerted when a chase is in progress. [more inside]
posted by nitsuj on Mar 25, 2009 - 8 comments

Derechos are big, nasty storms you've probably never heard of. Join two swearing guys watching a derecho in Illinois(youtube warning). [more inside]
posted by QIbHom on Sep 8, 2008 - 29 comments

The Weather World 2010 project at UIUC began as a comprehensive meteorology tutorial designed for a high school/undergraduate level. It has since expanded to include guides to remote sensing and reading weather maps. (Some highlights include optical effects, severe storms, and the basics of weather forecasting.) For folks in the US, it also has current surface and satellite imagery for a number of different atmospheric properties.
posted by Upton O'Good on Jul 13, 2008 - 6 comments

It was called the Great Hurricane of 1938. The tradition of naming Cyclones had yet not begun, and not since 1869 had a storm of such ferocity hit the US mainland. What had made it unusally unique was the speed with which it had hit landfall, and the damage that it caused in its wake. (60 years on, and people can still recall the frightening grip that it had on their lives for those few days.)
posted by hadjiboy on Jul 12, 2008 - 20 comments

"The storm carried twice as much dirt as was dug out of the earth to create the Panama Canal. The canal took seven years to dig; the storm lasted a single afternoon. More than 300,000 tons of Great Plains topsoil was airborne on that day."
Black Sunday. April 14, 1935. Timeline, Oral Histories (Kansas, Nebraska), Dust Bowl Movie (part I, part II), Black Sunday photos (1, 2, 3, 4). [previous dust on mefi: iraq, texas, africa, china]
posted by jessamyn on Aug 26, 2007 - 17 comments

ExtremeInstability.com discovers YouTube A taste of what you'll find on his awesome (one case where awesome is not a hyperbole) DVDs. Living on the Plains is anything but boring "come spring". Other fun tornado videos: Just about as close as you want to get to a tornado touchdown, DEFINITELY as close as you want to get to a tornado touchdown (wmv), and others: 1, 2 (language warning), 3 (language warning). It is funny to hear the calmer voices of the experienced chaser contrasting with the newbies. Even funnier when the calm chaser gets excited. Season begins in a little over 2 months!
posted by spock on Jan 26, 2007 - 12 comments

African dust storms [pic] have been suspected of causing fish-killing red tide in the Caribbean, but also of mitigating the effect of hurricanes. Now analysis of images from NASA's MODIS satellite have revealed the Bodélé, a region of the Sahara not far from Lake Chad, as the source of more than half the material that fertilises the Amazon rainforest.
posted by ernie on Nov 1, 2006 - 10 comments

Amazing photoseries of 70 foot storm waves crushing the surface of a large tanker in the North Pacific. More on the post-storm damage here.
posted by jonson on Aug 28, 2006 - 36 comments

Bored by the relative dearth of tornadoes this year the chasers over at the Stormtrack forums have started a (GREAT) diversionary thread asking for chaser's photos of "scariest storms". See the menacing crocodile, the human skull, and the twin twisters. Lots of old historical tornado photos here. AnyMeFites have any scary storm photos to share?
posted by spock on Jul 6, 2005 - 17 comments

Being caught between a tornado and softball sized hail is probably not something you should try at home, but it does make for some rather incredible video, as this storm chaser's video from May 12 in Texas demonstrates. A lot of really good chasers and even storm tour companies were caught completely off guard by this storm. I'm sure the auto glass companies near the caprock in Texas were thrilled. WARNING: Perhaps understandably, this clip contains some very strong language.
posted by chakalakasp on May 16, 2005 - 26 comments

Hurricane Charley bearing down on the Southwest Florida coast right now. Maybe you'll find the next Dan Rather on WBBH or WTSP., with live streaming video. myweatherguide.com is blogging the hurricane, as are the Weatherbug people. And official information from the National Weather Service here.
posted by calwatch on Aug 13, 2004 - 35 comments

Extreme Instability is a site by Mike Hollingshead, a weather buff from Nebraska who likes chasing storms. On his good days, he gets some spectacular photos of tornados and supercells, but, heck, even his 'crap chasing' days aren't too bad. More of Mike's photos at photoSig.
posted by madamjujujive on Aug 8, 2004 - 9 comments

Storm Chaser Blogs - it's prime time for tornado hunting.
posted by Ufez Jones on May 27, 2004 - 3 comments

Twenty-nine years ago today, a single storm spawned 148 tornadoes across the American Midwest, including twenty-three F4 and six F5 tornadoes. Here are a couple of sites about this incredible storm. If you're feeling a little uneasy after seeing some of these images, maybe you can assuage your fear by boning up on your tornado safety tips; and, as an added bonus, learn how to detect tornadoes using your television.
posted by Johnny Assay on Apr 3, 2003 - 23 comments

One of Our Inflatable Tanks is Missing. The UK has been returning to normal operation today after our latest storm (apart from the power, oh, and the trains but a state of disruption is 'normal' for the trains). The saddest story is of Christopher Vince, who died saving his brother. The silliest is that of the army and their lost inflatable tank.
posted by anyanka on Oct 28, 2002 - 12 comments