Why did the summer "disappear" in 1816? Where on Earth has there been no precipitation for 8 million years? Can lightning reach 150 km in length? Where does the watermelon snow fall? Is snow able to roll on its own?
Who came up with names for hurricanes?
The first to call tropical cyclones by proper names was invented by the English meteorologist Clement Ragg, who worked in Australia. At first, he called them the names of mythological monsters and the letters of the Greek alphabet, and then began them the names of local politicians who he did not particularly like. However, the international practice of naming hurricanes did not emerge until after World War II, when the Americans decided to use female names for this purpose. But numerous protests by feminists eventually led to the fact that in 1979 the World Meteorological Organization approved a new procedure for naming tropical cyclones by both female and male names.
The sharpest temperature drop
The sharpest change in temperature was recorded on November 22, 1943 in the Black Hills, South Dakota. Within two minutes, it rose from –20 ° C to +7 ° C. A couple of hours later, it dropped from + 12 ° C to an initial –20 ° C in 27 minutes.
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False suns … are there?
On rare occasions, in the sky, along with the ordinary sun, you can see several false luminaries caused by the refraction of sunlight in ice crystals floating in the air. This phenomenon is called parhelium, and in the past it has more than once become an omen of important historical events. For example, in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign" it is described how four suns shone over the earth, which was a foreshadowing of the Polovtsian offensive and the capture of Prince Igor. Three suns before the Battle of Mortimers Cross, one of the main battles of the War of the Scarlet and White Rose, frightened the soldiers of the York army, but the future King Edward IV convinced them that this is the personification of the Holy Trinity and God is on their side.
The driest place on earth
It is located, oddly enough, in Antarctica. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest (about 8,000 km2) ice-free area in Antarctica. Katabatic winds reaching speeds of up to 320 km / h (the fastest wind speed on Earth) cause moisture to evaporate. Due to this, the valleys are practically free of ice and snow for about 8 million years, which makes geological and other research convenient. In soil samples taken from the driest and coldest place on Earth - the University Valley, scientists were unable to detect signs of life.
Snow rolls
With a certain combination of environmental parameters, a rare meteorological phenomenon occurs when the wind rolls snow into rolls. The accumulation of snow layers occurs like when sculpting a snowman, only the rolls are usually cylindrical and often hollow inside. For the snow roll to begin to form, the ground must be covered with a crust of ice, the snow must be moist and crumbly, and the wind speed high enough to lift the snow.
A year without summer
In 1816, unusually cold weather reigned in Europe and North America, and it went down in history as a “year without summer”. The reason was the eruption a year earlier of the Tambora volcano on the other side of the world - the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. It is noteworthy that, on the contrary, it was an extremely hot summer on the territory of the Russian Empire.
Where is the most fog?
The most foggy place on the planet is Newfoundland Island. It is noteworthy that the city of Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk became the most foggy cities in Russia.
Extra long zippers
Intra-cloud lightning (which never reaches the planet's surface) can be up to 150 km long! Those. three times the length of the Panama Canal. It is noteworthy that the average size of lightning in the troposphere is 3 km.
Does watermelon snow exist?
In some highlands, such as the Sierra Nevada, California, you can see watermelon snow in the summer. It is pink in color and has the smell and taste of watermelon. This phenomenon is due to the presence in the snow of the algae Chlamydomonas nivalis, which contains the red pigment astaxanthin. These algae also serve as food for some organisms, including ice worms. They can live only in glaciers at low temperatures, and when heated to at least 5 ° C they disintegrate and die.