A Message from a Republican on Climate Change: I'm going to tell you something that my Republican friends are loath to admit out loud: climate change is real. I'm a moderate Republican, fiscally conservative; a fan of small government, accountability, self-empowerment and sound science. I am not a climate scientist. I'm a Penn State meteorologist, and the weather maps I'm staring at are making me very uncomfortable.
posted by spacewaitress on Apr 5, 2012 - 120 comments

"From extreme drought, heat waves and floods to unprecedented tornado outbreaks, hurricanes, wildfires and winter storms, a record 12 weather and climate disasters in 2011 each caused $1 billion or more in damages". The US National Weather service has put together a great online exhibit of what was a whirlwind (*ahem*) year for extreme weather events. The exhibit has lots of videos and photographs of these events, such as satellite imagery of the Grounhog Day Blizzard from back in February and a picture of a car damaged by a tornado in Ft. Benning, GA.
posted by MattMangels on Dec 29, 2011 - 20 comments

W i l c o (MLYT +Colbertnation) frontman Jeff Tweedy does the Chicago weather report(:30, OPENS W/ AD). [more inside]
posted by obscurator on Dec 15, 2011 - 21 comments

I've been greatly enjoying the NZ MetService weather blog for a while now. There are posts about cloud formations, weather pioneers, forecasting, and all kinds of other weather geekery. It does have an NZ slant in places but everyone has weather, and the technical information included is fascinating whatever your location. [more inside]
posted by shelleycat on Mar 16, 2011 - 6 comments

The author of the "Forecast Center" column from Weatherwise magazine to place Forecast Center articles online. So if you want to sharpen your analysis skills, there's a mountain of Forecast Center installments going back to 2001 in full resolution. There is a permanent embargo on all articles newer than 12 months old, so the first issue of 2010 is as far forward as the articles go, but they go back as far as July/August 2001. For example, Hone your hand analysis skills and get your forecast on for the upcoming severe storm season on the Plains.
posted by spock on Feb 21, 2011 - 6 comments

Nathalie Miebach translates scientific data related to meteorology and ecology into woven sculptures and musical scores. She discusses her work in an interview with the Peabody Essex Museum. (via Mira y Calla)
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 5, 2010 - 4 comments

Cloud surfing the strange and marvelous looking Morning Glory. This film shows at 2:07 an animation of how the cloud is formed. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Aug 25, 2010 - 4 comments

Mount Washington gust record gone with the wind. Mount Washington had been the home of the surface wind speed record since April 12, 1934 with a 231 miles per hour wind; but during cyclone Olivia (with only 10 minor injuries) on April 10, 1996, a wind gust of 408 km/h (253 mph) in Austrailia was only just now noticed and confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The Mount Washington Observatory has accepted the record in their offical reaction but in more personal blog posts they are a bit more skeptical. The Washington Post Capital Weather Gang posted a Farewell to Mt. Washington's wind record from two former employees of the Observatory, lovingly referring to the record wind as "Gale." (And via Capital Weather Gang.)
posted by skynxnex on Jan 28, 2010 - 46 comments

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

The Digital Snow Museum has all kinds of photographs and images of snow around the world. With an assortment of forecasting tools, weather maps, travel reports, info for skiers and snowboarders, a library and art gallery. Let It Snow. For those in the northern hemisphere, December 21st is the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule, the darkest day of the year. From this day until that of Midsummer, the days grow longer. Previously. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Dec 22, 2008 - 6 comments

Weather History Offers Insight Into Global Warming. Weather History Offers Insight Into Global Warming. The problems that often haunt other weather records — the station is moved, buildings are constructed nearby or observers record data inconsistently — have not arisen here because so much of this place has been frozen in time. The weather has been taken (at Mohonk House, [map] ) in exactly the same place, in precisely the same way, by just a handful of the same dedicated people since Grover Cleveland was president... That extremely limited number of observers greatly enhances the reliability, and therefore the value, of the data. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu on Sep 16, 2008 - 11 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

Mysterious ice circles are large rotating ice disks on ice covered rivers or other bodies of water. Their origin and nature is controversial. Perhaps they are related to UFO's or something more prosaic, like pancake ice.
posted by Tube on Oct 14, 2007 - 35 comments

CycloneFilter : Super Cyclone Gonu prepares to slam into Oman. Cyclones this far north in the gulf are rare; doubly so for one so powerful. Latest readings have Gonu at Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some are worried about what this will do to oil prices.
posted by suckerpunch on Jun 4, 2007 - 25 comments

It was a cold day on Mount Washington in New Hampshire today, where the weather can really suck. With a temperature of -37F and a peak wind gust of 117mph, it was cold enough to turn boiling water to snow (youtube). Also, previously on MeFi.
posted by SteveInMaine on Mar 6, 2007 - 60 comments

accurate weather forecasts...yes... Add your own sound effects.
posted by longsleeves on Dec 22, 2005 - 6 comments

Hurricane Tracker A god-like view of current hurricane activity.
posted by Muirwylde on Oct 23, 2005 - 19 comments

The Cloud Harp. The transposition of a natural phenomenon into music. The melodies and sounds are determined by factors such as cloud height, density, structure, luminosity, and meteorological conditions.
posted by nickyskye on Jun 19, 2005 - 15 comments

RealClimate is a blog written by nine working climatologists from around the world (all experts in their field), focusing on explaining climate science, providing context to current reports in the mainstream media, and rebutting the fallacious arguments of carbon lobby hacks. (via World Changing)
posted by stbalbach on Dec 10, 2004 - 6 comments

So how cold is it on New Hampshire's Mount Washington, where hurricane force winds blow 104 days out of the year? Really freaking cold. The Observatory's website is a great resource for weather-geeks, and the interns have their own blog.
posted by PrinceValium on Jan 16, 2004 - 4 comments

China is drying up and blowing to California. Right now, tonight. Sorry, no 2008 Beijing Olympics, east Asia n'exist plus. Here's satellite pix of some of the 20 Chinese megastorms that have already occurred this baby century from NASA and NOAA and NASA again and a Google search returning zillions of other links, for fellow regressives who wouldn't ordinarily hang out at CommonDreams.org. (initial link from robotwisdom)
posted by jfuller on Jan 26, 2003 - 21 comments

It's big, it's bad, and it's coming your way. Beware Bonnie! No, no, wait. Hide from Hanna! Hmm, nope. Run from Rene! Geez, this naming thing isn't easy. How do you name a tropical storm? Should the name be masculine or feminine? Should it roll off the tongue with ease or be a mouthful? Are there some names you can't use? If a tropical storm was closing in on your neighborhood, what would you call it?
posted by debralee on Sep 12, 2002 - 10 comments

More than you ever wanted to know about snow, from the physics of formation to just priddy pictures.
[Link via CuriousLee]
posted by Su on Jan 29, 2002 - 7 comments

Weatherman faces up to six months. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Cesar Maya has asked prosecutors to seek charges against Luiz Carlos Austin, claiming his weather forecast was irresponsible. The city's acting chief prosecutor, said he would likely charge Austin with sounding a false alarm, which is punishable by up to six months in prison. Was it really irresponsible to report that the storm could hit? And who listens to weathermen anyway? I say if you want to find out what the weathers going to be like, stick your head out the window. Major storm warnings are the only things I want to hear about.
posted by mikhail on Jan 5, 2002 - 5 comments

Satellite Meteorology : lots of it.
posted by tomplus2 on May 25, 2001 - 1 comment

In looking for a Hurricane Andrew image to illustrate a point on the ham radio thread, I came across evidence that the weather geeks may be the geekiest of all. Cool pull quote inside.
posted by baylink on May 9, 2001 - 9 comments