[1]The abundance of plasma in the daytime ionosphere is often seen to grow greatly during geomagnetic storms. Recent reports suggest that the magnitude of the plasma density enhancement depends on the UT of storm onset. This possibility is investigated over a 7year period using global maps of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The analysis confir...

Although research linking cardiovascular disorders to geomagnetic activity during the past 40 years is accumulating, robust evidence for the effect of geomagnetic activity (the earth’s magnetic field) on stroke occurrence is lacking and remains a matter of controversy. This is because most studies to date are complicated by significant methodological limitations: high likelihood of stroke miscl...

S ince the early 1970s, Doppler radar has been used as the primary tool in advancing our knowledge of the kinematics and dynamics of severe convective storms. In particular, a pair of fixed-site, S-band Doppler radars in central Oklahoma was used by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman for a number of years. Based on singleand dualDoppler data collected by the serendipitous ne...

Two of the largest geomagnetic storms of the last decade were witnessed in 2015. On 17 March 2015, a coronal mass ejection-driven event occurred with a Dst (storm time ring current index) value reaching -223 nT. On 22 June 2015 another strong storm (Dst reaching -204 nT) was recorded. These two storms each produced almost total loss of radiation belt high-energy (E ≳ 1 MeV) electron fluxes. Fol...

The Aral Sea Basin is considered as a region with increased rates of atmospheric air pollution by aerosols of arid origin. It is conditioned by the aridity of the climate and the presence of a great number of natural sources of aerosols emission to the atmosphere. The average annual number of days with dust storms varies from 20 to 67, while the maximum reaches up to 108-146 days with dust stor...

Using reports of forest losses caused directly by large scale windstorms (or primary damage, PD) from the European forest institute database (comprising 276 PD reports from 1951-2010), total growing stock (TGS) statistics of European forests and the daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, we identify a statistically significant change in storm intensity in Western, Central and Northern Eu...

Three common synoptic storm tracks observed throughout the United States are the Alberta Clipper, the Colorado cyclone, and the East Coast storm. Numerous studies have been performed on individual storm tracks analyzing quasigeostrophic dynamics, stability, and moisture profiles in each. This study evaluated storms in each track to help diagnose patterns and magnitudes of the aforementioned qua...

Present-day operational tornado forecasting can be thought of in two parts: anticipation of tornadic potential in the storm environment, and recognition of tornadic storms once they develop. The former is a forecasting issue, while the latter is associated with warnings (or so-called nowcasting). This paper focuses on the forecasting aspect of tornadoes1, by dealing primarily with the relations...

[1] We report measurements of impulsive (2 ms) lightning charge moment changes in more than 1000 cloud-to-ground (CG) return strokes detected by the National Lightning Detection Network in three United States High Plains storms during the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS) field program of 2000. The positive CG strokes (+CGs) in a mesoscale convective system exh...

Foundations are important. There is a Biblical parable about two builders. One builder builds his house on a solid foundation. When storms come, the house remains standing. The other builder builds his house on the sand. When storms come, the house falls. The truth conveyed here is that those who choose to lead a life in accordance to God’s word labor not in vain; whereas, those who choose to a...