Stuff to Blow Your Mind Podcast Episode Reviews
Rampaging tornadoes, snowstorms in Texas and hailstones about a foot broad — it'southward not just the stuff of sci-fi films. Before anybody had a prison cell phone camera to record freak environmental meltdowns on film, information technology was common to believe really outrageous stuff only happened in fiction or in the Bible, but that'due south non exactly true.
Whether yous blame these baroque scenarios on angry gods, demonic spirits or the elementary ability of science, you can now use mod technology to watch Mother Nature shake things up with your own eyes. Check out some crazy atmospheric condition phenomena that will accident your mind!
Somewhere Over the Tornado
Tornadoes tin can exist fearsome and ferocious, while rainbows are the opposite, bringing hope and happiness. If in that location wasn't photographic prove, it would exist pretty unbelievable to see two at the same time, wouldn't information technology? In March 2017 in Frankfurt, these ii extreme weather phenomena — with two very dissimilar connotations — occurred simultaneously.
Equally awe-inspiring as this sight is, the blend of disturbed light waves and wind direction make this combination quite common. So, adjacent time a tornado approaches, maybe you will too catch a glimpse of a hopeful rainbow to alleviate some of the fear. Hope the pot of gold doesn't get sucked up!
The Year the Pyramids Froze Over
Egypt conjures up images of relentless sun beating downwardly on vast deserts, but it was a dissimilar story in 2013. On Friday, December thirteen — no, we didn't make that up — Cairo got hit with some snow for the first time in 112 years, according to reports.
The ancient Egyptians would have taken information technology equally a sign from the gods, only a winter tempest named Alexa caused by an anticyclone inside a large northward meander was to blame. The Sinai mountains and famous monuments, including the pyramids, were lightly coated by the wintry downfall. Nearby Turkey, Syria and Lebanese republic were besides afflicted.
Huge Hail in Hawaii
Thunderstorms are a pretty rare occurrence in Hawaii, but non as rare every bit hailstones the size of softballs! Even so, giant chunks of ice fell from the sky during a supercell thunderstorm on the isle of Oahu, Hawaii, in March 2012.
The previous state record for hailstones was a mere i inch, simply the hailstones on this day had average diameters of ii-3 inches, with at least one particularly big, spiky specimen measuring an intimidating 4.25 inches long. That's half the size of the largest ever recorded hailstone, which was found in S Dakota.
Tornadoes Strike Twice
On May 8, 2003, an F4 tornado in Oklahoma rampaged beyond Moore and Oklahoma City. The next evening, three more tornadoes tore through the Oklahoma Metropolis metro area, including a massive F3, which tracked from south of Edmond to Luther.
The tornadoes made history as the first recorded incident of multiple F3 or stronger tornadoes hitting the Oklahoma City metro area on consecutive days. Of course, records are e'er made to be broken. On May 19-20, 2013, two F3+ tornadoes tracked the path of the 2013 tornadoes from the Edmond expanse to Luther every bit well as from Moore to Norman.
Red Ruddy Rain
When information technology comes to fantastical weather, zero sounds more epic than blood-colored pelting. Understandably, villagers from Zamora, Spain, were spooked when they saw rusty red rain fall from the skies in the autumn of 2014. Interestingly, the incident wasn't the beginning of its kind. In 2001, residents of Kerala in India were startled by "claret rain," which stained streets and habiliment, and a lake in Texas turned eerie blood-red in 2011.
So, what did all these places have in common? When scientists took samples, they plant a particular kind of algae, Haematococcus pluvialis, which produces a ruby-red pigment when stressed. Mystery solved.
South Florida Snowballs
Snow in the Sunshine Land? Surely not! In January 1977, the unbelievable happened. While Florida, particularly Tampa and Miami, is a popular warm atmospheric condition escape for those who live in cold, northern states, visitors that particular twelvemonth should take packed scarves instead of sunshades!
It remains a considerable freak occurrence, considering that no snowfall had ever been reported in southeastern Florida before that date, and none has been reported since. It may not sound like much, merely Plant Urban center, Florida, located east of Tampa, was covered in an unprecedented ii inches of snow.
Tape Breaking Pelting
Next time yous become annoyed at persistent rain, spare a thought for the residents of La Reunion Island in January 1980. The lilliputian isle about 500 miles east of Madagascar is used to heavy rainstorms, only Tropical Cyclone Hyacinthe actually delivered a battering.
The devastating storm loitered over the isle for a little more two weeks, resulting in rainfall of almost 240 inches, or near twenty feet. To put it into perspective, that's around four times the average yearly rainfall in Miami. The resulting flooding from Hyacinthe's mortiferous visit killed 25 residents and left 7,000 homeless.
Beware the Bugnado
Every bit probably the closest modern-mean solar day version of a plague of locusts, swirls of bugs can really exist caught in cyclones. Although "'bugnados" may not exist dangerous — depending on the bugs — they are certainly freaky to see. Simply put, if a cyclone sweeps through a dry area with a big insect population, those insects get caught up in the vortex, and the wind tunnel is filled with bugs.
It's usually smaller insects that go defenseless upwardly in the whirl of a cyclone, but in March 2014, a swarm of red locusts in Portugal formed a creepy bugnado. Yous know that looked like some Biblical stuff.
It's Raining Gloop
When rain was forecast in Oakville, Washington, in 1994, information technology wasn't unusual news. However, what the locals were not expecting on that August morning time was a coating of jelly-similar blobs roofing a 20-foursquare-mile surface area in the wake of the rain. Even weirder, the blob rain fell half-dozen more times over a period of three weeks.
As well equally feeling scared and confused, Oakville residents started to become ill with nausea and dizziness. The mystery of the hulk rain was never solved, but a popular theory is that a nearby naval bombing practice at sea accidentally blitzed a school of jellyfish and sent the gelatinous debris into the atmosphere'south clouds. Ew.
Ball Lightning: Very Very Frightening
There have been numerous accounts of ball lightning strikes dating back to the early on 17th Century — sometimes resulting in gruesome deaths. Earlier studies suggested the phenomenon was merely an illusion caused past the storm's magnetic fields, but the balls take now been captured on photographic camera several times.
Likewise known as globe lightening, it usually occurs during thunderstorms and presents as a fast floating sphere that can be either white blueish, orange or yellow, sometimes accompanied by a scary hissing racket and an acrid smell. It usually disappears within a few seconds, leaving witnesses more than than a footling shaken.
Spectacular Ocean Vortex
Waterspouts are fairly common sights, but they still inspire awe in witnesses. Although they look like water tornados emanating from the bounding main, waterspouts aren't fabricated of seawater but actually consist of cloud water spray. Occurring most usually in warm waters, they happen when the clouds gather and water condenses, leading to a swirling mass of water droplets.
Although they look cool, waterspouts tin be unpredictable, with air current velocities within reaching as high as 150 miles an 60 minutes. The largest waterspouts tin can calibration up to 100 meters in diameter and occasionally move over land, resulting in a full-scale tornado.
Twin Tornado Trouble
Warnings of incoming tornadoes easily strike fear into residents, but folks in Pilger, Nebraska, weren't expecting double the problem in June 2014. The two Pilger tornadoes formed part of a particularly violent issue culminating in 76 tornadoes, four of which were consecutive F4 tornadoes. They tore across the Bang-up Plains killing 2 people, injuring many others and causing mass destruction.
Twin tornadoes are rare, occurring mayhap every x-15 years due to supercell thunderstorms. Supercells are large, vertical columns of rotating air that pb to tornadoes in about a 3rd of cases, specially in significantly big storms.
The Magical Moonbow
Unremarkably, we acquaintance rainbows with emerging sunshine, just these multicolored arcs can besides exist caused by the calorie-free of the moon. This beautiful phenomenon is quite rare because information technology requires a specific combination of a bright moon that is lighting up pelting in a dark sky at less than 42 degrees above the horizon.
The most spectacular moonbows — besides called lunar rainbows — are captured about waterfalls, such every bit the one at Cumberland Falls in southern Kentucky (pictured). To the human eye, they often appear white. Nonetheless, when snapped with long-exposure photography, yous can see the total range of cute colors.
The Cinema-Worthy Storm Surge
Call back the movie The Day After Tomorrow, which featured apocalyptic-style storms? It wouldn't exist surprising if the writers took inspiration from the epic storms of March 1993, when a storm surge caused rampaging atmospheric condition weather condition throughout the country.
Hurricane-like conditions battered Florida'due south Gulf Declension and tore through the S, creating 6-foot snowdrifts in Alabama and shocking 14-foot drifts in Virginia. All major East Declension airports were closed, three million people were left without ability and the extreme weather caused an estimated $5.v billion in damages. Sadly, it also resulted in the deaths of 270 people beyond 13 states.
Mighty Mud Storms
When a huge hurricane comes ashore and moves over dry land, it's frightening stuff. A hurricane's rapidly rotating storm system ordinarily occurs far out at sea, but if it moves inland, moist soil can accept the place of warm ocean water, creating what's chosen the "chocolate-brown body of water effect."
This is what happened in Texas in August 2007, when a mud-laden Tropical Storm Erin rampaged inland, beating Oklahoma with gusts of more than 80 mph. One theory nearly this newly emerging storm category ties information technology to climate modify, causing dry out areas to become drier and wet areas to get wetter.
The Plains: Peak Oestrus to Plummet
On February 11, 2017, temperatures reached a tape high of 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Magnum, Oklahoma, beating a tape that had stood for almost 100 years (February 24, 1918). A fire alarm was issued due to low humidity and windy atmospheric condition, only to the astonishment of locals and scientists akin, the temperature of a sudden plunged 60 degrees. By Valentine's Twenty-four hours, snow was falling on the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.
This wasn't the start time the Plains experienced unusual atmospheric condition. In 1911, Oklahoma City experienced a record high of 83 degrees Fahrenheit and a tape low of 17 degrees on a single day in Nov.
Flight into the Eye
While most people want to run away from hurricanes, Hurricane Hunters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Assistants (NOAA) travel correct into the eye of the tempest to moving picture the conditions. Their specialist planes — Kermit and Miss Piggy — are equipped with impressive four-engine turboprops that make them specifically capable of surviving and studying big storms.
This image was captured on September 10, 2018, by the airplane pilot of Kermit (airplane pictured inset), who flew through the category four Hurricane Florence. The plane recorded that the huge hurricane, which was over the Carolinas, had air current speeds of around 130 mph.
Gigantic Glaciers
Once again, a supercell storm is responsible for the side by side crazy weather phenomenon. On April xi, 2012, a thunderstorm acquired torrential rain and hail virtually Dumas, Texas. The sheer volume swamped a shallow gully and turned into an ice mass that piled upwards into huge drifts of up to 10 feet loftier.
People couldn't travel, and the road was closed for 12 hours. Named "hail glaciers," the frozen water formed walls — not for the first time. In August 2004, there were sixteen-human foot hail glaciers in Clayton, and a route by Dalhart, Texas, was airtight for almost a calendar month due to 3-human foot drifts.
White Christmas in Texas
Texans may not call back there's much indicate in dreaming of a white Christmas, but in 2004 the dream came true in the farthest southern parts of the state. Arctic air fabricated its way due south and resulted in a covering of snowfall. It was the first time there was measurable snowfall since 1895 in Brownsville, Texas.
It was also the heaviest 24-60 minutes snow on record in nearby Victoria, at 12.5 inches, and the tempest dropped a record 4.4 inches in Corpus Christi. Further inland, stretching from Duval County northeast into Victoria and Calhoun Counties, they experienced heavier amounts of snow from 6 to 12 inches.
The Night of the Twisters
Remember the frightening sight of ii large tornadoes at one time? Imagine how scary it must exist to experience an astounding 7 tornadoes in less than three hours. In and effectually One thousand Isle, Nebraska, on June 1980, ane of those infamous supercell thunderstorms struck again.
The strongest tornado in the storm was rated an F4, and it meandered destructively from east to westward and then to the south side of One thousand Island. Its comrades in the area took similarly erratic paths over the superlative of the already damaged areas. Five people lost their lives, and the damage was estimated at around $300 meg.
Spare a Thought for Socotra
When it comes to unfortunate weather, the picayune isle of Socotra in the Arabian Body of water gets it all. In one peculiarly eventful season in 2015, Cyclone Chapala battered the isle in early on November. It made the record books every bit the farthest south category 4 cyclone to occur in the Arabian Sea.
The cyclone made a huge hurricane-force landfall on the Gulf of Aden coast of Yemen, which led to flooding in the city of Al Mukalla and the areas surrounding information technology. A calendar week subsequently, the island was smashed by the category 3 Cyclone Megh.
The Smashing American Freeze
Snow in northern parts of the U.Southward. isn't an unusual forecast, simply in the winter of 2014-2015, all previous records were smashed in Boston and surrounding New England cities. In about 30 days, about 95 inches of snow — merely under 8 anxiety — fell in Boston, far exceeding the previous tape of around five feet, set in 1978.
Several records were broken during this period of below-average temperatures. An early on trace of snow was recorded in Arkansas, and parts of Oklahoma had scatterings besides. Even Florida felt the chill that winter, with a low of -ii degrees Celsius recorded in Pensacola.
A Tape-Breaking Ball
If the news of the Hawaii hailstorm didn't strike you as remarkable, and then possibly you'll be astonished by the size of the hailstones that cruel on Les Scott'southward lawn during a supercell thunderstorm in July 2010 in Vivian, South Dakota. Amazed, Scott stored some of the colossal ice blocks in his freezer.
He contacted NOAA's Climate Extremes Committee then they could bank check them out. Despite having thawed a little due to a power outage, the largest stone however measured in at viii inches and weighed almost 2 pounds. The huge size was due to stiff updraft speeds of 160-180 mph, which helped mold and solidify the hailstones.
Dangerous Dust Storms
When thunderstorms course, winds move effectually from all directions. When a storm collapses, the wind directions reverse, resulting in a downburst of cold air. This tin lead to an astonishing and terrifying sight: a dust storm or haboob.
Silt, clay dust and other sediments are swirled up into a wall that precedes the storm cloud, sometimes reaching 62 miles wide and several miles high. The winds in a haboob oftentimes travel between 22-62 mph and tin can pick up speed unexpectedly. They are common in Africa, the Middle Eastward and Australia and tin also be seen in Arizona, New Mexico and eastern California.
Nature'due south Decorative Discs
Perchance one of the more cute weather condition phenomena on this listing, ice circles — also known equally ice pans or ice crepes — are naturally occurring discs of water ice that rotate on the surface of the water. They appear on the outer bends of rivers when the accelerating water creates what'due south called a "rotational shear."
The shear breaks a chunk of the water ice off and twists it around, where it grinds against surrounding ice to become smoothed into a circular shape. They vary in size, and the largest reported ice circle was 91 meters in Westbrook, Maine, in January 2019.
A Mortiferous Downpour
The Atacama Desert in Republic of chile is one of the driest places in the earth, with the master metropolis of Antofagasta receiving merely 0.07 inches of rain a year, at all-time. So, imagine the chaos that ensued when the urban center experienced almost an inch of rain in 24 hours in March 2015.
Because the barren environment couldn't absorb that much rainfall at once, it just ran off the land in torrents of water — with catastrophic consequences. The Copiapo River burst its banks, claiming at least ix lives. Chile'south Deputy Interior Government minister called the incident "the worst rain disaster to fall on the north in 80 years."
Terrifying Twisters
Fire whirls look similar something fresh out of hell and occur when wildfires or firestorms generate their ain wind. The burning updraft results in tornado-like whirls that can exist betwixt 10-50 meters tall.
Additionally, the estrus within can reach up to one,090 degrees Celsius. The really scary ones have been reported to reach heights of more than half a mile, with air current speeds of 120 mph and the ability to burn for twenty minutes or more. One of the about contempo fire whirls in the U.South. was recorded in Sacramento, California, in August 2018. It had wind speeds exceeding 143 mph.
The Sun and then Some
The phenomenon of "'mock suns" was recorded as early as Ancient Greek and Roman times, with Aristotle noting that the "ii mock suns rose with the sun and followed information technology all through the day until sunset."
Besides known equally sun dogs or parhelions, this atmospheric optical phenomenon is essentially brilliant spots beside the lord's day that create a 22-degree halo. It'due south most mutual to see them when the sun is near the horizon. They occur during any flavour and in whatsoever part of the world, as long as in that location are ice crystals in the temper to refract the sunlight.
A Burst of Tempest
Although they might sound harmless plenty, microbursts are intense weather phenomena that can crusade significant impairment, particularly to shipping. They occur during thunderstorms or rain showers in three distinct stages: the downburst, the outburst and the cushion.
If an aircraft is landing when ane occurs, the wind shear of the microburst's gust can cause astringent turbulence. Fortunately, the phenomenon is well known in the industry, and flying crews are well versed in identifying and recovering from these events. Microbursts take also been known to crusade damage past knocking down trees, buildings and powerlines.
Terrifying Icy Tsunamis
Tsunamis are well known for their sheer destructiveness, and so residents in Manitoba, Canada, were justifiably terrified by an icy tsunami approaching in May 2013. Locals described the 9-pes-alpine ice wave as pouring over the shore of Lake Dauphin at a rapid pace, where it went on to engulf lakefront homes, damaging 27 in total merely thankfully leaving residents unharmed.
In February 2019, furious gusts on Lake Erie were so strong that blocks of ice surged over the shore to create an ice seismic sea wave that was xxx feet high! Much of it was caught on camera, and the footage looks like something straight out of a thriller motion picture.
Source: https://www.ask.com/culture/crazy-weather-phenomena-blow-mind?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex