On land, we can usually afford to ignore the wind. Not so in a small sailboat, where the wind is your boss.
Tag: weather
Latest Stories
Is The Western Drought Finally Ending? That Depends On Where You Look
After three years of extreme drought, the Western U.S. is finally getting a break. Mountain ranges are covered in deep snow, and water reservoirs in many areas are filling up following a series of atmospheric rivers that brought record rain and snowfall to large parts of the region.
Many people are looking at the snow and water levels and asking: Is the drought finally over?
There is a lot of nuance to the answer.
Weather
A New Satellite Monitors Lightning Strikes and Fog to Map Weather Risks Faster
Nine of the 20 largest wildfires in California in the last 110 years were started by lightning strikes, including the devastating Lightning Complex fires in August 2020 that burned more than 750,000 acres in and around the Bay Area. Between … Read more
The Science Explainer
Meet the Tropical Weather Phenomenon With a Big Influence on California Rain and Snow
In a famous experiment in the early 1960s, the mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz was running computer simulations of weather patterns, trying to see how they changed when he changed variables like wind or temperature at the start. One day, … Read more
Perspective
We Can’t Rely on Drought-Busting Atmospheric Rivers Anymore
Atmospheric rivers are nothing short of a miracle for California. But climate change is altering their character.
Climate Change
Now, California Waits for the Fires
Drought returns to California, with a long fire season ahead.
Nature News
Atmospheric Rivers Like This One are Vital to Understanding California
Ten days ago the state set new heat records and brush fires broke out. Burn areas in the Santa Cruz Mountains rekindled. Then, over the last three days, a 2,000-mile-long filament of water in the sky burst over the areas that last week sat brown and smoking.
Climate Change
Add “Dry” to the List of 2020 Descriptors
Pandemic, civil rights protests, fires, election, and oh yes, possibly the second driest calendar year on record.
Weather
It’s a Dry Heat
What happens in an always warm world when it doesn’t rain for an unusual amount of time?
