Curated category
Weather hazards
- LightningA bolt of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes the Mediterranean Sea off of Port-la-Nouvelle in southern France. This specific event illustrates one of three…
- ThunderstormA typical thunderstorm lifts approximately 500 million kilograms of water vapor into the Earth's atmosphere. This massive amount of moisture begins its…
- HailA hailstone measures at least 5 millimeters in diameter to be officially classified as such. This threshold distinguishes it from ice pellets, often called…
- BlizzardThe word blizzard first appeared in weather reports during the harsh winter of 1880, 1881. Before that date, people used terms like violent blow or blast to…
- TornadoA tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that extends vertically from the Earth's surface to the base of a cumulonimbus or cumulus cloud.
- Tropical cycloneA tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral…
- FloodWater overflows its usual boundaries to submerge land that remains dry under normal conditions. This overflow can involve water or rarely other fluids moving…
- StormA storm begins when a center of low pressure develops within the atmosphere. This system forms alongside surrounding high-pressure areas that push against it.
- DroughtA drought is simply a period of drier-than-normal conditions. This definition comes from the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report published in 2021.
- Extreme weatherA weather event becomes extreme when it falls outside the historical distribution for a specific location. Scientists use thresholds to identify these…