Scientists on a snowy mountain. (Credit: Propagation Labs)

Citizen Scientists on Snowy Mountain - Propagation Labs

No matter your geographical location, if you have snow in your area, you can contribute to snow and water research.

From Backcountry to Backyard: Community Snow Observations Wants Your Snow Depth Measurements

Scientists say that shooing geese from an area causes them to return twice as rapidly, and the reason isn't spite. (Credit: Tom Reichner/Shutterstock)


Goose Stomping

In the territorial battles between humans and geese, geese will always win. This study shows why.

Geese Are Immune to Human Harassment 

A few people walk in a snow storm that looks like a blizzard. (Credit: justkgoomm/Shutterstock)

Blizzard

Winter storms need at least 35 miles per hour winds and other intense conditions to be considered a blizzard.

How Winter Storms Become Blizzards

SciStater Blog Image

How to Play in the Snow…For Science!

Winter hiking

Three doctors share their tips for working out in cold weather, including how to dress warm and stay hydrated.

6 Ways to Exercise Outdoors in Winter

An image acquired by the Sentinel-2 satellite on Jan. 6, 2023 reveals runoff of sediment into the sea along the California coast stretching from Oxnard to Santa Barbara. See the story below for a before-and-after animation. (Credit: Modified Copernicus Sentinel data processed by Tom Yulsman)

Muddy Waters

Dramatic satellite imagery reveals giant plumes of sediment clouding coastal waters in Southern California.

The Runoff From California's Storms Has Been so Intense It's Visible From Space

A view of water vapor in the atmosphere acquired by the GOES-18 satellite, overlaid with NEXRAD weather radar data. This combination shows the impact of the atmospheric river storm that has battered California and other parts of the West Coast. See below for an animation of the same scene. (Credit: SSEC RealEarth)

California Deluge

Views from space show the Pacific bomb cyclone aiming an atmospheric river of water at North America's west coast.

Watch as California Gets Bombed

A crew member aboard the International Space Station took this photo on May 2022. (Credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

Earth's Limb and the Moon

 Compelling Images captured from orbit revealed our planet in all its beauty and fury during the year just gone by.

From Earth Art to Extreme Weather: The Home Planet as Seen From Space in 2022, Part 1

A screenshot of an animation of GOES-16 satellite imagery showing the outbreak of brutally cold Arctic air across North America on Dec. 21 and 22. See below for the animation, along with a detailed explanation of the features seen in this image. (Credit: Satellite Liaison Blog)

Arctic Outbreak Seen From Space

You've probably seen what the weather models thought it would look like. Now, here's how it has really appeared, as seen from space.

Satellite Views Reveal the Brutal Arctic Outbreak in All Its Meteorological Wildness

Although the polar vortex and polar jet stream influence each other, they are two distinct things. When the polar vortex, up in the stratosphere, is especially strong and stable (left globe), it encourages the polar jet stream, down in the troposphere, to shift northward. This bottles up cold air in the Arctic. But when the vortex weakens, shifts, or splits (right globe), the polar jet stream can in turn become very wavy, allowing warm air to flood into the Arctic and polar air to sink down into the mid-latitudes. (Credit: NOAA Climate.gov graphic, adapted from original by NOAA.gov.)

What is the Polar Vortex?

"Polar vortex" often is used to describe an extreme cold weather event like the one currently unfolding. But this perpetuates a misunderstanding about what this feature really is.

Yes, Brutal Cold Is Barreling Down From the Arctic, but No, It's Not the Polar Vortex

dsc 2022

This year, our stories covered news in science from Neanderthals to droughts to King Tut. Here are our top science stories of 2022.

Our Top 10 Science Stories of 2022

Some climate mitigation efforts, like London’s Thames Barrier for flood control, carry steep costs. Others contribute to new hazards. (Credit:  Marc Pinter/Shutterstock)