Cumulus Cloud
The puffy white cloud that looks like everything and weighs nothing... right?
Weather & Climate
The atmosphere's greatest hits: storms, lightning, fog, and the extreme conditions that shape life on Earth.
A Rainstorm
A moderate rainstorm and all the energy it carries
Fog Bank
A low-lying cloud that reduces visibility to near zero
Dust Devil
A small, vigorous whirlwind made visible by dust and debris
Heatwave Record (Death Valley 1913)
The highest reliably recorded air temperature on Earth
Blizzard
A severe snowstorm with sustained winds over 56 km/h
Polar Vortex
A persistent large-scale cyclone near the Earth's poles
Saharan Dust Plume (Transatlantic)
Africa fertilizes the Amazon from 5,000 km away
Ball Lightning
The rare glowing orb that science still cannot fully explain
Waterspout
A tornado's aquatic cousin, spinning over open water
Supercell Thunderstorm
The rotating monster that spawns tornadoes, hail, and chaos
Mammatus Clouds
Eerie bubble-like pouches that hang from the underside of storm clouds
Lenticular Cloud
A smooth, lens-shaped cloud often mistaken for a UFO
Rainbow
An optical arc spanning 84 degrees of sky, always centered on your shadow
Frost Crystal
A feathery ice formation that grows overnight on cold surfaces
St. Elmo's Fire
A ghostly electric glow that appears on ship masts and airplane wings during storms
Microburst
A column of sinking air that can slam into the ground at 270 km/h
Thundersnow
A rare winter thunderstorm where lightning crackles through falling snow
Haboob Dust Storm
A massive wall of dust up to 1,500 meters tall that swallows entire cities