Longer Nights Means Winter is Almost Here

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

According to the heavens–more specifically, the Sun–astronomical winter is about to get underway in the Northern Hemisphere. Also known as the Winter Solstice, the new season will begin at 4:49 Universal Coordinated Time on December 22nd, which is Monday night, December 21st in North America, and Tuesday morning, December 22nd in Europe. That is when the sun will be at its southernmost point in relation to the equator. The first day of astronomical winter is also the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Deadly Walls of Water: Storm Surges, Seiches, and Tsunamis

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

People who live in such different locales as New Orleans, Louisiana, Chicago, Illinois, and Banda Aceh, Indonesia have at some point faced massive, deadly swells of water. In a crisis mode they may not have known or cared to know about the technical term or cause of their imminent destruction. However, the three superficially similar phenomena that devastated those communities originated from completely different causes with different implications for predictability.


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Oncoming Winter Storm Season Brings Icy Threat

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

Transitioning out of Fall and into the Winter months brings an increasing threat for wintry precipitation, exciting for some but a headache for many others. While some imagine winter as picturesque landscapes with lightly falling snow quietly painting the evergreens, others see traffic nightmares and a paralyzing coating of ice that leaves millions without power.


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Cautiously Celebrating a Ten-Year Hurricane Drought

Written by Meteo Expert Josef Lukas

In October of 2005, Hurricane Wilma – at one point the strongest cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin (see image below) – barreled across southern Florida with winds of 120 mph. Wilma sounded the last roar of one of the most active Atlantic hurricane seasons ever, one that included Hurricanes Rita and Katrina devastating the Central Gulf Coast within weeks of each other.  Overall the 2005 season saw hurricanes amass a record $159 billion worth of damage, not to mention cost almost 4,000 lives.  But we haven’t witnessed a storm as strong as Wilma make landfall in the US since.


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