The Heat is On
How hot is it? Not to be outdone by record-breaking heat across the globe, several California regions shattered long-standing all-time high temperature records during this July, 2024. Many inland...
Climate
Celebrating the Summer Solstice California Style
Let’s explore two dissimilar celebrations during just one weekend after the summer solstice in two very different Californias that are only 100 miles apart. We often refer to the...
Twisters Versus Marine Layers
When spring progresses toward summer, we can count on two highly disparate yet occasionally connected weather patterns to develop: severe weather with violent tornadoes in the Great Plains and...
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wind is all around us, constantly playing an essential role in life across California and on Earth. But what is wind and what forces are responsible for moving the...
Atmospheric Rivers Keep on Flowing
Atmospheric River (AR) has become so popularized in the media, it is now a household term that is sometimes misused and misunderstood. This story tracks the historic atmospheric river...
Making More Waves, 2023-2024
Several of our previous website stories (such as Surfing CalifornIA and Natural History of a Grain of Sand) illustrated how ocean waves have impacted and shaped our Golden State’s...
Cars: Driving and Dividing California
Whether Californians have learned to love or hate them, embrace, or reject them, cars have dominated California lives and livelihoods for more than a century. They’ve shaped our state’s...
Offshore Autumn: From Diablos to Santa Anas
Autumn usually blows into California bringing dramatic pressure, wind, and geographic role reversals. Prevailing sea (onshore) breezes that dominated through summer are interrupted by land (offshore) breezes that occasionally...
Navigating El Niño, 2023-2024
You’ve probably heard that strong and potentially historic El Niño conditions have developed in the Pacific as we enter our 2023-2024 winter storm season. But will nature perform as...
Zion vs Yosemite: the Science behind the Splendor
Spectacular Sierra Nevada canyons, such as Yosemite and Kings, and the magnificent high desert canyons sliced found found in Zion national Park motivate and challenge us to learn more about the natural history of our dynamic planet.
