Category: Weather Myths & Facts

How exactly lightning forms is still open for debate. However, meteorologists are certain there are two types of lightning: positive and negative. The most commonly accepted theory for lightning genesis is that ice crystals lose and electron when they collide in the upper part of the cloud. Once the ice…

The idea of harnessing lightning and using the static electricity to supplement our power grid is nothing new. The difficulty has always been knowing when and where lightning will strike, capturing it, then releasing the electricity onto the electrical grid. Even if all these issues were addressed, would it still…

A lot of weather folk lore over the years has made claim that insects can predict the weather and that by observing the insects, we humans can make better decisions on how to dress, what crops to plant or whether to water the lawn or not. I have yet to…

Many joke how mobile homes and trailer parks always seem to get hit by tornadoes. Some truly believe mobile homes attract tornadoes. The fact is, nothing attracts tornadoes. They form and move based on wind and other meteorological variables, not the type of home on the ground. The reason people…

Thunder is caused by the rapid expansion and contraction of the air surrounding a lighting bolt. On average, a lightning bolt is about 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun, or about 50,000°F! This causes the air to become super-heated and as a result, the air rapidly expands…

A long standing tornado myth states that if you open windows during  a tornado, it will prevent the roof from being blown off. There’s another myth that says you should only open north facing windows. I’m not sure where these myths originated, but they are both pretty silly. It’s really…

Rain drops are often drawn in books or shown on TV as being tear drop shaped. This isn’t true at all. In reality, the shape of a rain drop changes as its size gets bigger, and they are never shaped like a tear drop at any point during their life-cycle….