Weather Imagery

Meteorologists are not entirely sure what causes the somewhat rare weather event called a heat burst, but anyone who has experienced one can tell you they are quite bizarre. In most cases, the air temperature can increase 20°F or more in a matter of minutes, causing ferocious and damaging winds. What’s even more bizarre is that they almost always occur late at night or in the very early morning hours, which usually catches people by surprise.

While the cause of a heat burst isn’t fully understood, it’s believed that a specific set of weather events must all be in place at the right moment. To begin with, the rain from a decaying thunderstorm must fall through a layer of very dry air. This in itself is uncommon, because in order to make thunderstorms, there needs to be moisture. Second, as the rain falls through the drier air, it evaporates and rapidly cools. This creates a pocket of very dense cool air that is much heavier than its surroundings. Because the air is heavier than it’s surroundings, it rapidly descends. As the air descends, it compresses, thus causing it to warm and at the same time gains downward momentum. This momentum causes it to overshoot its atmospheric equilibrium which further increases compression and warming. If the descending air has enough momentum, it will crash into the ground spreading out like a pancake. Those nearby will feel a substantial increase in temperature and a decrease in humidity until the atmosphere stabilizes, which can take up to an hour.

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A strange phenomenon seems to be occurring all around the world, in which large chunks of ice are falling from the clear blue sky. Certainly not a frequent event, but perplexing nonetheless. Unlike ball-lightning, the Lockness Monster and Big Foot, this phenomenon has been well documented with pictures and insurance reports time and time again. Adding to the shroud of mystery is that this appears to be happening all around the world.

Megacryometeor is a term used to describe a large block of ice that seemingly falls from the atmosphere under clear sky conditions. Just how large is large? Most have weighed between 25 to 35 pounds but one found in Brazil weighed an incredible 440 pounds! That’s big enough to leave a 10-foot hole in the ground, smash the roof of a Ford Mustang, and make whooshing noises audible enough to be heard by people hundreds of feet away.

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When it’s really cold outside, strange things start to happen. There aren’t too many eye-whiteness accounts of such conditions because it’s so cold it’s dangerous, and any exposed skin can instantly freeze resulting in frostbite. However, on one occasion at Snag airport in the Yukon of Canada, the temperature dropped to an official -81.4°F on February 3rd, 1947. There were 16 employees on duty at the time and two weather observers, Wilf Blezard and Gordon Toole, recorded the following observations:

We threw a dish of water high into the air, just to see what would happen. Before it hit the ground, it made a hissing noise, froze, and fell as tiny round pellets of ice the size of wheat kernels. Spit also froze before hitting the ground. Ice became so hard an ax rebounded from it. At such temperatures, metal snapped like ice; wood became petrified; and rubber was like cement. The dogs’ leather harness couldn’t bend or it would break … it was unique to see a vapor trail several yards long pursuing one as he moved about outside. Becoming lost was of no concern. As an observer walked along the runway, each breath remained as a tiny motionless mist behind him at head level. These patches of human breath fog remained in the still air for three or four minutes before fading away. One observer even found such a trail still marking his path when he returned along the same path 15 minutes later.

Some of the other strange things noted on that day were ice breaking sounds like shattering glass, the extremely cold air makes radio static the same way lightning does, and freezing breath makes a hissing and swishing sound as one exhales.

On a similar day in the 1970′s when the temperature plunged to -70°F; at a different location, an eyewitness described how a jetliner at 30,000 feet sounded like it was roaring right overhead. Due to the increased density of cold air, sound travels much more efficiently and doesn’t fade away as quickly.

Thunderstorms are very powerful events. They can produce grape fruit sized hail, terrifying lightning, strong winds, torrential rains and tornadoes. But another less noticed product of a thunderstorm is the updraft … unless you happen to be caught in one while flying a paraglider.

That’s exactly what happened to a German woman who was flying a paraglider in Tamworth, Australia while training for the World Championship. Caught in a powerful updraft, Ewa Wisnierska found out first hand how terrifying and painful a thunderstorm can be because for nearly 60 minutes she was unconscious and at the mercy of mother nature.

While training in her glider, two thunderstorms quickly formed and merged into one. As she was trying to avoid one storm she got caught in the updraft of the other. According to her GPS unit and tracking log, she was lifted high into the thunderstorm at a rate of about 60 feet per second to an amazing altitude of 32,634 feet which is higher than Mount Everest and where most commercial jets fly. Her wet clothes turned to ice and froze to her body. Encased in ice and without oxygen she passed out and for most of her 60 minute flight she remained unconscious and was subjected to -50°F temperatures, tennis ball sized hail and lightning.

If getting caught in the updraft wasn’t bad enough, she now faced the dangers of getting caught in a downdraft which caused her para glider to descend at a rate of 90 feet per second. As her glider spiraled out of control on her final descent, she passed through 31,069 feet where she regained consciousness. She scraped the ice from her GPS unit and tried to fly the glider, frostbitten and battered.

“When I woke up I tried to fly, I don’t even have the brakes in my hand. My clothes were frozen. The harness had ice peaks [icicles]. It was amazing because the glider was still flying. I don’t know how it’s possible because there was hail everywhere – into the glider, into my harness – and it was still flying.”

With her clothes caked in ice and frozen to her body, she managed to land the glider about 1500 feet from a farmhouse where she laid on the ground curled up in the fetal position to try and get warm. A short time later, her cell phone rang and to the amazement of her teammates she answered.

“It’s beyond the word incredible,” said Godfrey Weness, organizer of the 2007 Paragliding World Championships in the northern New South Wales town of Manilla. “It’s beyond unbelievable. Her chance of survival was a minuscule little dot in a very big ocean.”

Another man who was also caught in the storm wasn’t so lucky. His body was found about 46 miles away from where Ewa Wisnierska managed to land her glider. And just a few years back, 7 paragliders were all killed when they too were caught in a thunderstorm. The fact she survived beat all odds.

Despite the ordeal, the extent of her injuries were severe frostbite, cuts and bruises. The one thing doctors think saved her life was passing out as this caused the heart and other vital organs to slow down to conserve heat and energy.