Weather

This Is a Room Where It’s Always Raining But You Never Get Wet

Getting caught in the rain is always a drag. You wind up dashing from awning to awning (or tree to tree) trying desperately to keep yourself—and your expensive gadgets—dry. In this art installation it’s always raining, but you never have to worry about getting wet. Using a system of 3D cameras, the Rain Room by…

Tech News Eric Limer Oct 6

All Hail Xerxes: The Weather Channel Will Name This Year’s Winter Storms

Do you remember the Blizzard of ’96? Actually, okay, if you didn’t live on the Eastern seaboard probably not. But! For a thrilling snowpocalypse it sure had one boring ass name. Well, the Weather Channel wants to fix that problem by giving winter storms wonderfully geeky names. Starting with this winter, the Weather Channel will…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Oct 2

Siri Is Serving Up Wacky Weather Results for Many Locations

Today is a breezy, beautiful fall day in New York City. But if you ask Siri about the weather here, she’ll tell you it’s 90 degrees. This is not the weather in New York City, but rather the weather in New York, Texas. Something’s up with Siri again. We’ve known for some time that Siri…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Sep 24

This School-Bus-Sized Satellite Will Deliver Insanely Accurate Weather Reports

Europe will receive nearly infallible weather data thanks to this trio of school bus-sized spacecraft, and the EU saves £4.5 billion in weather-related damage annually. This is what the atmosphere will look like in HD. The satellite MetOp-B, which launched yesterday, is part of a 3.2 billion Euro joint venture between the European Space Agency…

Space & Spaceflight Andrew Tarantola Sep 19

Dry soil’s penchant for causing rain shows where our climate models can go wrong

A large, multi-continent study published in this week’s Nature has exposed a significant flaw in how climate models have been predicting droughts. Dr Chris Taylor from NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology was studying storm formations in Africa, when he realized that rainfall was most likely in places where the soil was dried out. In…

io9 Tim Barribeau Sep 15

The bizarre jellyfish made of electricity that hover over thunderstorms

Lightning storms are pretty impressive on the ground, but up in the air, they can be even more astonishing. In 1989, people noticed that sudden blue lines erupted from the top of thunderstorms. They would also see what looked like bright red jellyfish hanging over the clouds. These two optical phenomena were called red sprites…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Sep 14

The Scientist Who Almost Died While Debunking “The Hottest Day on Earth”

The world record for the hottest recorded temperature of 58°C (136.4°F) was set at Al Azizia, Libya, in 1922. This year, a team of researchers — including one who was almost killed in Libya’s 2011 revolution — invalidated that record. Here’s the harrowing story of how they did it. It’s incredibly rare for such an…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 14

The President Will Be Able to Order Drone Strikes Against Hurricanes One Day

We are in the middle of hurricane season. Isaac hit the south of the United States last week, inundating acres of land, wreaking homes and disrupting oil and gas production—a stark reminder of the Katrina disaster and yet another warning of catastrophes to come. Now, imagine if the President of the United States had the…

Tech News Jesus Diaz Sep 4

Netatmo Urban Weather Station Review: What the Hell Is the Point of This Thing?

A personal weather station that beams environmental data up to the cloud then down to a colorful smartphone app sounds like an awesome uber gadget. Exciting! But in the end the Netatmo Urban Weather Station just left us confused. What Is It? A $180 “weather station” that records seemingly random metrics about indoor and outdoor…

Reviews Mario Aguilar Aug 28

What Happens When You Get Struck By Lightning

The human body simply isn’t built to conduct 300kV of electricity. So when things backfire while you’re fishing in a thunderstorm, and you find yourself doing an impromptu rendition of Powder, here’s what you can expect. While there is still debate within the scientific community as to the exact nature of the process, most believe…

Reviews Andrew Tarantola Aug 28

Kinetic tornado-proof houses could duck underground

In certain parts of the world, there are few natural threats quite as frightening as a tornado. A single storm can still level an entire town, scattering homes, businesses, and schools across the plains. But what if your house could protect itself from a tornado by retreating underground? That’s a concept being considered by the…

io9 Lauren Davis Aug 11

Japan’s Cockroach Forecasts Will Make You Feel Better About the Heat

Here’s a neat/gross piece of trivia that should make waking up to a stiflingly hot forecast a little easier to deal with. In Japan, a website called Gokiten—aka Cockroach Weather—takes the current conditions into account to determine how likely it is you’ll run across a cockroach as you go about your day. In fact, the…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jul 31

Scientists Plan to Block the Sun Using Man-Made Clouds

The planet is hot and getting hotter. But while most plans to use geoengineering to alter the weather have been rather hypothetical, now a pair of Harvard engineers have announced that they intend to spray thousands of tons of particles into the sky to block the sun’s rays—within the coming year. https://gizmodo.com/extreme-weather-linked-to-man-made-climate-change-clai-5925038 The pair plan…

Climate Change Jamie Condliffe Jul 17

Extreme Weather Linked to Man-Made Climate Change, Claim Scientists

The increasing frequency of extreme weather events has had meteorologists scratching their heads for a long time, unsure whether they could be firmly attributed to man-made climate change or not. Now, a study by a global team of scientists suggests that we can be squarely blamed in many cases. The study, which is to be…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jul 11

Map pinpoints the 2,284 US temperature records broken in June

Yes, June was a hot a month for folks in the US, but just how hot? According to the National Climactic Data Center, US states and territories saw 2,284 temperature records broken in June and 998 records tied. The center has conveniently mapped out all 3,282 of those record temperatures. The National Climatic Data Center…

io9 Lauren Davis Jul 8

The Weather Channel Buys Up the Crowdsourced Weather Underground

After 17 years on its own, the crowdsourced, user-favorite Weather Underground will become a member of the Weather Channel family. But what forecast lies ahead? Both The Weather Channel and Weather Underground say we’ve got nothing to worry about—the acquisition won’t affect the services offered at Wunderground.com. The deal will actually afford the independently-minded WU…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Jul 2

Look Cool and Keep Dry in This Wind-Proof, Water-Proof Shirt

When it’s hot as hell outside (as it is right now, everywhere), a little sun shower is literally a gift from the heavens above. But a soaking wet shirt, when you’re out and about and not in the habit of carrying around a spare just in case, is less than ideal. The Supermarine Rain Shirt,…

Tech News Molly Oswaks Jun 20

iPhone Wind Meter Lets You Make Your Own Surf Forecasts

Your local forecaster’s weather predictions are a good start if you’re a surfer—or really any athlete who relies on the wind—waiting for the perfect conditions. But for more precise on-the-spot forecasts, Shaka’s anemometer accessory turns your iPhone into a handheld weather station. When available, the $60 wind meter will simply attach to your phone’s headphone…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jun 20

Road Trip Planner Lets You Choose a Route With the Best Weather

Google Maps has made speculative road trips easier than ever before. But when you actually make up your mind and decide to head out on one, wouldn’t it be great if you could choose the route which had the best weather? Fortunately, Stamen Design, which is responsible for some pretty cool alternative map skins, has…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jun 19

Six decades of U.S. tornadoes visualized in one stunning map

Using almost sixty years’ worth of data from NOAA, designer John Nelson has produced a mesmerizing visualization of tornado activity in the United States. Ever wondered where “Tornado Alley” got its name? Wonder no more. Writes Nelson: Got this data from NOAA via the spectacular Data.gov. It tracks 56 years of tornado paths along with…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jun 8

This Is a Room Where It’s Always Raining But You Never Get Wet

All Hail Xerxes: The Weather Channel Will Name This Year’s Winter Storms

Siri Is Serving Up Wacky Weather Results for Many Locations

This School-Bus-Sized Satellite Will Deliver Insanely Accurate Weather Reports

Dry soil’s penchant for causing rain shows where our climate models can go wrong

The bizarre jellyfish made of electricity that hover over thunderstorms

The Scientist Who Almost Died While Debunking “The Hottest Day on Earth”

The President Will Be Able to Order Drone Strikes Against Hurricanes One Day

Netatmo Urban Weather Station Review: What the Hell Is the Point of This Thing?

What Happens When You Get Struck By Lightning

Kinetic tornado-proof houses could duck underground

Japan’s Cockroach Forecasts Will Make You Feel Better About the Heat

Scientists Plan to Block the Sun Using Man-Made Clouds

Extreme Weather Linked to Man-Made Climate Change, Claim Scientists

Map pinpoints the 2,284 US temperature records broken in June

The Weather Channel Buys Up the Crowdsourced Weather Underground

Look Cool and Keep Dry in This Wind-Proof, Water-Proof Shirt

iPhone Wind Meter Lets You Make Your Own Surf Forecasts

Road Trip Planner Lets You Choose a Route With the Best Weather

Six decades of U.S. tornadoes visualized in one stunning map

‘Marvel Rivals’ Wants to Start Being More Than Just a Hero Shooter

‘How Do We Make Sure That Claude Behaves Itself?’: Anthropic Invited 15 Christians for a Summit

See the Next ‘Hunger Games’ in This Trip Down Memory Lane

Indie Animation Is Having a Moment on YouTube

Trump’s World Liberty Financial Makes FTX-esque Move, Borrows Against Its Own Crypto Token

Steven Soderbergh Wanted to Take ‘Bond’ Back to the ’60s

If You Make Fart Music, ChatGPT Will Be the Most Supportive Girlfriend You Could Ask For

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

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