Tornadoes are one of the most feared weather events on Earth. These quick-forming and normally short-lived cyclones tend to emerge from strongly rotating thunderstorms known as supercells. Driven by a long-lasting tower of rising air, these storms can unleash some of the fastest surface winds on Earth. Rising as much as 16.1 kilometers (10 miles)…
Stormy Saturday night in KMAland
Strong thunderstorms and at least one tornado interrupted the Easter weekend in KMAland. A classic supercell touched off severe weather throughout most of southwest Iowa, southeast Nebraska and northwest Missouri Saturday afternoon and evening. Activities began at around 5 p.m., when spotters reported a tornado one mile north of Dunbar in Otoe County. “From that…
Severe storms in Texas and Oklahoma unleash damaging tornadoes, flooding and baseball-sized hail
An outbreak of severe weather unfolded across the south-central United States on Tuesday and continued to impact parts of Oklahoma and Texas into Wednesday morning. The powerful thunderstorms left behind damage across North Texas and caused power outages to more than 200,000 in the state. Thousands were also without power in Oklahoma early Wednesday. There…
Lightning sensor launch Saturday brings decades of work to fruition
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Feb. 15, 2017) — In the mid 1990s, when NASA built two identical Lightning Imaging Sensors (just in case), Hugh Christian planned all along to send the flight spare into space. He just didn’t expect it to take almost 20 years for that to happen. Christian’s two decade wait is scheduled to end…
What is Tornado Alley?
Spawned by the raging interactions of powerful thunderstorms, tornadoes are some of the most awe-inspiring and destructive natural forces seen in the United States each year. The most frequent and devastating tornado events tend to occur in the region of the U.S. colloquially referred to as Tornado Alley. “Tornado Alley is an area of the…
Satellites suffer mystery blackouts: Thunderstorms on the edge of space may be causing loss of GPS signals
They were sent into orbit to measure the Earth’s invisible magnetic field. But a cluster of scientific satellites have been suffering mysterious blackouts as they circle the planet. Scientists were left puzzled about why the three satellites launched by the European Space Agency have regularly lost their navigation signal when passing over the equator above…
