Category:
Weather
Weather
Green Thunderstorms
I can't say that I've ever seen a green thunderstorm (i.e. the sky appearing to turn green during a storm), but apparently a lot of people have. The phenomenon was the subject of a 1997 PhD dissertation written by Frank Gallagher at the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology. Gallagher wrote:Many people around the world have observed green light apparently emanating from severe thunderstorms, but until recently there has been no scientific study of the phenomenon. Green thunderstorms have been observed from time to time in association with deep convection or severe weather events. Some skeptics who have not personally observed a green thunderstorm suggest that they are some kind of illusion.
Gallagher concluded that green thunderstorms are real:
The existence of green thunderstorms has been objectively demonstrated by recording spectra of light from thunderstorms using a handheld spectrophotometer. During the spring and summer of 1995 and the spring of 1996 numerous storms were observed and spectra of the light emanating from these storms were recorded. Observations were made both at the ground and aboard research aircraft.
And why do thunderstorms sometimes turn green?
Bohren believes that reddened sunlight in combination with filtering done by naturally blue-colored water creates green light. Given our observations, this is the most likely explanation for the green light. Our observations and calculations indicate that, depending on the microphysical parameters of the cloud, sunlight transmitted by the cloud may appear green.
A famous example in art of a green sky during a severe weather event can be seen in John Steuart Curry's 1929 painting Tornado over Kansas.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 17, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Weather
Irv Teibel’s Environments
Irv Teibel pioneered recording environmental sounds (thunder storms, waterfalls, and the like). His "Environments" albums sold millions of copies.The interview below, posted on YouTube by his daughter, took place sometime in the early 1980s. In it he describes how he recorded the thunderstorm album by sticking a microphone out his bathroom window.
More info: wikipedia
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 18, 2024 -
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Category: Nature, Weather, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings
Kinematic programming for rain
July 1966: The mathematician Mervyn Stone published an article in the journal Nature that analyzed "the optimal speed and posture to adopt when caught without protection in a rain shower."The article itself is mostly gobbledygook to me, but apparently he concluded that if the rain is coming from behind you then "walk forward leaning backwards." While if you're walking into the rain then "lower the head and walk as fast as possible."
Reference: "Kinematic Programming for Rain," Nature - July 23, 1966
The Branford Expositor - Sep 19, 1966
Click to enlarge as PDF
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 16, 2024 -
Comments (8)
Category: Science, 1960s, Weather
The Chester Ice Chunk
Sep 8, 1957: A 100-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky onto an empty building in Chester, Pennsylvania.Strange falls of ice from the sky have long fascinated the Fortean crowd. See, for example, "The Ice-Fall Problem" by meteorologist (and UFO enthusiast) James E. McDonald:
It is a rather curious and apparently unexplained fact that from time to time in recent years masses of ice of the order of several tens of pounds have fallen out of the sky. This is the ice-fall problem.
Also, "Ice Falls" by Frank Edwards in Strangest of All (1962).
Shamokin News-Dispatch - Sep 9, 1957
The Ada Weekly News - July 1, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 22, 2024 -
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Category: 1950s, Weather
Hurricane Honeys
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 31, 2024 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1950s, Weather
Using frog croaks to predict the weather
In 1975, Chinese meteorologist Chang Chi-tsai came out with "Chang's law" which codified the relationship between croaking frogs and the weather:If frogs croak on a fine day it will rain in two days.
If frogs croak after rain it will be fine weather.
It will continue to rain if frogs do not croak after successive overcast days.
If frogs croak after rain it will be fine weather.
It will continue to rain if frogs do not croak after successive overcast days.
Previously we've posted about how to use gnats to predict the weather.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Jan 19, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 09, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: 1970s, Asia, Weather
Doris Munday, the woman who controlled the weather
When she was in her forties, Doris Munday realized that she had the power to control the weather. All she had to do was look at a location on a map, visualize what kind of weather it needed, and then concentrate hard. The weather would obey her command.
Shepherds Bush Gazette - Oct 7, 1971
This power came with a cost. Controlling the weather would leave her feeling fatigued, and it also seemed to cause her bad luck. After she had sent rain somewhere, her washing machine might blow up, or someone would run into her car.
She also felt that she didn't get enough credit for her powers. She complained, "Everyone always says when the rain falls, 'Oh well, it is a coincidence isn't it', and I don't even get a thank you for my time and trouble."
Hounslow Middlesex Chronicle - Jan 26, 1973
Daily Mail - Jan 24, 1973
And on occasion she made mistakes. She once wanted to send rain to South Africa, but accidentally sent it to Rhodesia instead.
Hamilton Spectator - Jan 22, 1973
She confessed that she didn't know why her powers worked, they just did. She speculated, "I think I have stumbled on some kind of electrical force which is rarely known."
The Guardian - Dec 23, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 28, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Paranormal, Weather
Rain-Making Device
Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 17, 2023 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, 1910s, Weather
Wearable Canopy
Stylish rain gear.More info: Patent No. 1,888,909
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 30, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Patents, 1930s, Weather
The Hurricane Party of 1969
Based on the press coverage from 1969, it sounds like the couples who remained in the path of Hurricane Camille to have a "hurricane party" certainly deserved to become Darwin Award winners (bestowed on them in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt in her Darwin Awards book).At least 15 persons died at Pass Christian. The victims included five couples who were having a hurricane party in a three-story apartment. Police Chief Jerry Peralta couldn't make them leave.
"The last time I went up to try to get them out, the water was just over the sea wall. They were having a good time and they wouldn't leave. That's the last anybody saw of them," he said.
"The last time I went up to try to get them out, the water was just over the sea wall. They were having a good time and they wouldn't leave. That's the last anybody saw of them," he said.
Orlando Evening Star - Aug 19, 1969
But digging deeper into the story, thirty years after the hurricane people began challenging the tale of a "hurricane party." According to the debunkers, there was no party, and the people who stayed had been told by the apartment manager that the building could withstand a hurricane because it was a designated Civil Defense shelter.
One apartment resident who survived the hurricane continued to insist that the people on the third floor had been having a party. But this woman also claimed insanity as the reason she killed her 11th husband. So not the most credible witness.
More info: Hurricane Camille party in 1969: Fact or fiction? -- Hurricane Party
image source: Acts of God: the Old farmer's almanac unpredictable guide to weather and natural disasters
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 21, 2023 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Dinners, Banquets, Parties, Tributes, Roasts and Other Celebrations, 1960s, Weather
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |