Articles by Brian K. Sullivan

Real Hurricane ‘Season Within a Season’ About to Begin

Don’t be lulled by a quiet June and July, the real Atlantic hurricane season is about to kick off. The hurricane season generally runs from June 1 to the end of November. But the next six weeks — “the season …

Typhoon Lekima to Weaken Before Hitting Shanghai this Weekend

A storm swirling over the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan is threatening to become a super typhoon before weakening and dousing Shanghai this weekend with as much as 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain. Typhoon Lekima could have top winds …

Artificial Intelligence Helps to Contain Wildfires, Predict Wild Weather

On a tower in the Brazilian rainforest, a sentinel scans the horizon for the first signs of fire. Only these eyes aren’t human. They don’t blink or take breaks, and guided by artificial intelligence they can tell the difference between …

Vast Sahara Dust Cloud Hinders Formation of Tropical Storms in Atlantic

Dry air from the Sahara that’s carrying enough dust it can be seen from space is preventing thunderstorms over the Atlantic from strengthening into powerful tropical systems. The system sits hundreds of miles southeast of the Lesser Antilles, an arc …

UK Recorded Highest-Ever Temperature in Last Week’s Heatwave

The U.K. was never hotter. Last week temperatures reached 101.6 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 Celsius) at the Cambridge Botanic Garden on July 25, the highest ever recorded in the U.K., according to a statement from the Met Office. Sweltering temperatures gripped …

Now a Tropical Storm, Barry Takes Aim at Louisiana

Tropical Storm Barry formed in the Gulf of Mexico and could strike Louisiana as a hurricane Saturday, causing almost $1 billion in damage and worsening flooding in New Orleans. The system, which was about 95 miles (153 kilometers) southeast of …

As Gulf Storm Bears Down, New Orleans Faced with Threat of Two-Sided Flood

New Orleans is under the threat of floods from two fronts as the Mississippi River could jump to its highest point in at least 90 years. The city is facing flood waters coming down the Mississippi from the U.S. Midwest …

Nobody Seems to Know Why Hail Storm Losses Suddenly Began Rising in 2008

In 2008, the year the stock market crashed and Barack Obama won the presidency, the U.S. was hit with a weather phenomenon little noted by anyone beyond the insurance industry. The country’s losses from hail breached $19 billion in inflation-adjusted …

California Heat Stokes Fire Risk, Residents Asked to Curb Power Use

A second day of unrelenting heat is scorching California, sending temperatures to near record levels, raising risk of wildfires and prompting calls for energy conservation. Temperatures surged past 100 degrees Fahrenheit in parts of Northern California Tuesday, with heat advisories …

Unusual If Not Unprecedented: 500 Tornadoes in 30 Days

The U.S. has been rocked by 500 tornadoes in the past 30 days with a trapped jet stream in the atmosphere “stuck in neutral,” according to the U.S. Storm Prediction Center. In the past seven decades, only 2003, 2004, 2008 …