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Most cloud observations, including those using the GLOBE Observer app and even many from satellites, focus on the surface of clouds. It’s also useful, however, to be able to look inside clouds, especially storm clouds, to be able to get a picture of what’s going on now, and what might happen next. As an example, let’s look at Hurricane Joaquin, which was over the Caribbean in late September 2015. First, some ground observations from GLOBE overlaid on satellite surface reflectance data (below). On September 29th, the closest data point to the storm (center of image) is from Ramey...

I just came across an article that discusses the impact of the 2015-2016 El Nino on landslides in California. You can read it at this link: http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/2015elnino/ncal.php. How would you think that the El Nino impacted the incidence of landslides in that region? Historically it is the large winter storms that cause the devastating landslides in the Francisco area. What do you think causes landslides to occur anyway? If you look at this website, you will learn about the different types of landslides and see records about how the El Nino conditions...

As you might know, NASA came out with a statement that July 2016 was the hottest month on record, ever! Since the 2015-2016 El Niño event began in October 2015, each month has set a new record for the hottest month on record. Even though we are currently in a period of neutrality, we are on the tails of an El Niño and quite possibly about to enter a La Niña. "Since October 2015, every month has set a new global record for hottest temperatures. It coincides with an unusually strong El Niño Pattern which caused severe heat and drought across Southeast Asia, as well as raising...

I just read a fascinating article from National Geographic that was published yesterday entitled "How La Nina Could Affect the Spread of Zika": http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/will-la-nina-affect-the-spread-of-zika-/. Before you read the article, stop and consider how the temperature and precipitation patterns in your local region changed as a result of the El Nino. In my area, the greater Wash., D.C. metropolitan area, we had warmer temperatures and more precipitation. Then consider how the change in weather patterns might impact mosquitos- which in my case would mean more...

Plants need light to grow. They also require nutrients. For tiny marine plants, called phytoplankton, those nutrients are often brought up from the ocean’s cold, deep waters to the surface by mixing. But this normal circulation gets disrupted during El Niño years, when huge masses of warm water—equivalent to about half of the volume of the Mediterranean Sea—slosh east across the Pacific Ocean towards South America. The change can have fatal consequences for phytoplankton in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Here is the full story with associated images and video!