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Extraordinary weather is more and more in the news these days. We’re accustomed to hearing about unusually sturdy hurricanes, tornadoes and even the polar vortex, but atmospheric activities can get a whole lot weirder—as can the names we give them. Check out out these bizarre weather phenomena and their intriguing monikers.
Atmospheric River/Pineapple Categorical

A “river” of drinking water vapor in the sky that can improve to 2,000 miles lengthy, 500 miles wide and two miles deep. Solid winds from time to time thrust these sequence of connected rainstorms from midocean regions toward the western coasts of continents. The heaviest atmospheric rivers strike the U.S. and Canada—where they can carry vapor equivalent to 25 occasions the move of the Mississippi River and can deliver the biggest floods in a century. In 1861 one particular turned California’s Central Valley into an inland sea 300 miles extensive and 20 miles wide. Some forecasters phone an atmospheric river a pineapple categorical if it rolls in from the area of Hawaii.
Bomb Cyclone/Bombogenesis

A bomb cyclone is a rotating, fast intensifying storm that provides weighty rain or snow. It is generated by bombogenesis—when a storm’s barometric strain plummets by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours, leading to the system to “blow up” in power. The nastiest nor’easters (storms that spin up together the U.S. East Coast and normally end result in potent winds above the Northeast) are often brought about by bombogenesis.
Derecho

A prevalent, serious and lengthy-lived windstorm that moves rapidly in a straight line, ordinarily pushed by thunderstorms. The expression derecho—a Spanish phrase meaning “straight”—designates a storm with gusts of at least 58 miles for each hour and “straight-line wind” injury that extends additional than 240 miles [see “Straight-Line Wind/Downburst/Microburst” at bottom]. An August 2020 derecho that raced across Iowa reportedly harmed hundreds of houses and thousands and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, representing a significant portion of the state’s cropland.
Firenado/Fire Whirl

Spinning vortex of very hot air, gases and embers that rises rapidly from an rigorous wildfire and can carry smoke, particles and flames hundreds of feet into the ambiance. These whirls range from a several ft to 500 feet in diameter, and the largest kinds can have embers lengthy distances.
Flash Drought

The rapid onset of drought, brought on by lower precipitation, abnormally higher temperature, potent winds and searing sunshine. Flash droughts accelerate evapotranspiration—soil and vegetation offering up extreme moisture—which can damage crops.
Graupel
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There are gentle snowflakes and tricky hail pellets. In in between, there’s graupel—a type of soft hail. In uncommon atmospheric situation, quite cold water droplets aloft freeze onto snowflakes and drop with them, hitting the floor with a squishy plop.
Haboob

In Arabic this term implies “blasting” and it describes a thick, violent dust storm or sandstorm. The phrase caught on as additional powerful haboobs have minimize throughout the Center East, northern Africa and India, grabbing media coverage. Winds can drive dust at up to 60 mph, crippling transportation and infiltrating people’s lungs, even however these situations normally move in significantly less than an hour.
Pogonip/Ice Fog

Fog is created of drinking water vapor, nonetheless occasionally ice particles can create the ephemeral mistWhen the air temperature is down below freezing and relative humidity is larger than 100 percent—an rare combination—these ice crystals can sort and hover to form a “pogonip,” or ice fog. Pogonips normally transpire in deep mountain valleys. The phrase is normally credited to the Shoshone peoples: it is mentioned to be derived from the Shoshone phrase payinappih, which indicates “cloud.”
Saskatchewan Screamer/Alberta Clipper

A rapidly-transferring, reduced-strain weather conditions technique that types when frigid Arctic air drops into Canada’s province of Saskatchewan as moist Pacific Ocean air simultaneously comes from the west. The ensuing collision sets off howling winds that blow southeast toward the U.S. Wonderful Lakes area, whipping up local blizzards and whiteouts even when snowfall totals are modest. When a equivalent method begins farther west in the province of Alberta, it is recognized as an Alberta clipper.
Siberian Specific

A surge of very chilly air created by a superior-strain procedure that develops more than Siberia, travels across the North Pole and drops down into Canada or the U.S., producing temperatures there to plunge. Sometimes these methods move straight eastward instead and grip Japan.
Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse/Snowzilla

The phrase “snowmageddon” and its colorful synonyms may possibly be a lot more hype than meteorology. Common media hasembraced the conditions, employing them when a snowstorm clobbers an area that commonly will get small snow. One particular famed case was the January 2016 blizzard that struck Washington, D.C., shutting down the metropolis and the federal governing administration for a number of times. An additional “snowpocalypse” befell the town all over again in February 2010.
Stormquake

Some storms that rage over the ocean, notably hurricanes, can build really significant waves that often crash downward into the seafloor. This from time to time sets off vibrations in Earth’s surface very similar to those people from an earthquake. Although scientists only found out the phenomenon a handful of years back, by studying seismic data and storm tracks again in time, they identified that thousands of stormquakes experienced happened from 2006 to 2019 around the U.S. and Canadian coasts. Some were as strong as a magnitude 3.5 earthquake.
Straight-Line Wind/Downburst/Microburst

Potent thunderstorms can build tornadoes, but also highly effective winds that have no rotation. The latter are identified as “straight-line wind.” In these situations, the storm draws significant-altitude air straight downward. When it hits the ground, this “downburst” admirers out in a straight line, with wind that can exceed 100 mph, causing hazardous situations and assets harm. A “microburst” is a really localized downburst.
Thundersnow

This word is really self-explanatory: it describes a thunder and lightning storm that spews snow rather of rain. But presented how strongly people associate thunderstorms with rain, standing in a snowy thunderstorm storm can look odd.
Williwaw

A unexpected, violent gust of cold, dense air that dives down from mountaintops along a coastline. This downward blast can roil coastal waters, wreaking havoc with ships. Williwaws occur most often at pretty superior latitudes, this sort of as the Aleutian Islands off Alaska and the Strait of Magellan at Chile’s southern idea. Gore Vidal’s 1st novel was Williwaw, which he wrote though stationed on a U.S. Military supply ship in the Aleutian Islands.
