Chasing Tornadoes

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists are on the hunt for tornadoes. Using Doppler radar, they gather data in the hopes of solving the mystery of how tornadoes form.

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Compare and Contrast Warm and Cold Fronts

This visualization from McDougal Littell/TERC visualizes the movement of warm and cold fronts and the cloud types that are generated as a result.

Earth System: El Niño's Influence on Hurricane Formation

This video segment adapted from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center explains how hurricanes develop and why there are fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean in strong El Niño years.

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The Effect of Sea Surface Temperature on Hurricanes

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists examine the link between rising sea surface temperature and more intense hurricanes.

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A Five-Day View of the Jet Stream

This animation from NOVA Online lets you examine a five-day view of the jet stream.

Global Weather Machine

In this illustrated essay from NOVA Online, explore the cyclical process of weather creation and the effects of El Niño on the global weather system.

The Great Flood of 1993

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, a meteorologist explains how an unusual weather pattern led to one of the most devastating floods of this century.

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How Do Tornadoes Form?

In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists use computer simulations to explore the question of how supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.

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Hurricane Katrina: A Scientist's Response

In this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW, local officials, including scientist Ivor Van Heerden, share their responses to Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricane Katrina: Possible Causes

This media-rich essay from NOVA scienceNow explores new research into hurricanes that may help explain Katrina's devastating impact and discusses the possibility that global warming played a role.

Hurricane Katrina: Wetland Destruction

Tour the wetlands south of New Orleans that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in this video segment from NOVA scienceNOW.

Hurricanes: New Tools for Predicting

This video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW features new advances in predicting the intensity of hurricanes.

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The Jet Stream and Horizontal Temperature Gradients

Explore and manipulate the relationship between wind speed and temperature gradients in this interactive activity adapted from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mountain Weather

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online you can move an air mass over a mountain and see how several distinct microclimates are created.

Mountain Weather: A Climber's Story

In this video segment adapted from Interactive NOVA, a mountain climber's perilous journey reveals the extreme range of microclimates on Mount Kilimanjaro.

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A New Theory of Lightning

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, follow scientists as they test a new theory suggesting that lightning here on Earth is triggered by cosmic rays from far-away dying stars.

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Rate Tornado Damage

In this interactive activity from NOVA Online, use the Fujita tornado intensity scale to assess the level of destruction left in the wake of actual tornadoes.

Storm Tracking

This video from WVIZ Cleveland helps students understand how weather experts track severe weather events.

The Warming Trend and the Greenhouse Effect

This video segment produced by ThinkTV explains the greenhouse effect and its connection to the recent rise in Earth's average temperature. Scientists explore the role of human activity in the increase of greenhouse gases and the warming trend.

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Thunderstorms Produce Antimatter

This video from NASA explains the process by which gamma-ray flashes associated with storms produce matter/antimatter particle pairs.