Weather Forecast — Hourly & 16-day Outlook for Any City

A heat dome is a persistent high-pressure ridge that traps heat over a region for days or weeks. In 2021 it pushed Lytton, Canada, to a record 49.6°C; attribution found that event virtually impossible without climate change. We explain the omega-block mechanism and the 2024 South Asian extremes.

Science

Lightning Superbolts: The Sky's Rarest, Most Extreme Strikes

Superbolts are the most extreme lightning strokes on Earth — up to a thousand times brighter than an average stroke. They cluster over the northeast Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Andes, and peak in winter over the open sea, the mirror image of ordinary lightning.

Science

Noctilucent Clouds: The Glowing Clouds at the Edge of Space

Noctilucent clouds form 76–85 km up, from ice crystals freezing onto meteor dust in air colder than −120°C, and glow because they are lit from below the horizon after dusk. The leading idea for why they are spreading to lower latitudes ties them to rising water vapour from methane — but the climate link is not yet settled.

Science

Cooling the Concrete: How Cities Are Fighting the Urban Heat Island

Cities run hotter than their surroundings because dark, dense, paved surfaces absorb and trap heat. Reflective materials and large-scale greenery can measurably cool them — but the honest, measured figures are around 2°C of air cooling, not the uniform numbers often quoted. A look at Los Angeles, Medellín, Singapore and more.