Category:
Weather
Weather
Snowmen by David Lynch
Weirdo filmmaker David Lynch died two weeks ago, and we failed to remark upon it at the time. But in his honor, below are some of his snowmen photos put to eerie music.YouTube info:
Published in conjunction with David Lynch’s exhibition The Air is on Fire, presented at the Fondation Cartier in 2007, the book Snowmen features a series of black and white photographs of snowmen taken by the artist in Idaho in the early 1990s.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 03, 2025 -
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Category: Death, Photography and Photographers, Video, Weather
Half Umbrella
Mark Piachaud's 2011 patent, granted by the British Patent Office, is below in its entirety (link).I think someone now needs to patent a quarter umbrella (or a half-half umbrella).
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 30, 2025 -
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Category: Patents, Weather
Green Thunderstorms
I can't say that I've ever seen a green thunderstorm (i.e. the sky appearing to turn green during a storm), but apparently a lot of people have. The phenomenon was the subject of a 1997 PhD dissertation written by Frank Gallagher at the University of Oklahoma School of Meteorology. Gallagher wrote:Many people around the world have observed green light apparently emanating from severe thunderstorms, but until recently there has been no scientific study of the phenomenon. Green thunderstorms have been observed from time to time in association with deep convection or severe weather events. Some skeptics who have not personally observed a green thunderstorm suggest that they are some kind of illusion.
Gallagher concluded that green thunderstorms are real:
The existence of green thunderstorms has been objectively demonstrated by recording spectra of light from thunderstorms using a handheld spectrophotometer. During the spring and summer of 1995 and the spring of 1996 numerous storms were observed and spectra of the light emanating from these storms were recorded. Observations were made both at the ground and aboard research aircraft.
And why do thunderstorms sometimes turn green?
Bohren believes that reddened sunlight in combination with filtering done by naturally blue-colored water creates green light. Given our observations, this is the most likely explanation for the green light. Our observations and calculations indicate that, depending on the microphysical parameters of the cloud, sunlight transmitted by the cloud may appear green.
A famous example in art of a green sky during a severe weather event can be seen in John Steuart Curry's 1929 painting Tornado over Kansas.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 17, 2024 -
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Category: Weather
Irv Teibel’s Environments
Irv Teibel pioneered recording environmental sounds (thunder storms, waterfalls, and the like). His "Environments" albums sold millions of copies.The interview below, posted on YouTube by his daughter, took place sometime in the early 1980s. In it he describes how he recorded the thunderstorm album by sticking a microphone out his bathroom window.
More info: wikipedia
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 18, 2024 -
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Category: Nature, Weather, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings
Kinematic programming for rain
July 1966: The mathematician Mervyn Stone published an article in the journal Nature that analyzed "the optimal speed and posture to adopt when caught without protection in a rain shower."The article itself is mostly gobbledygook to me, but apparently he concluded that if the rain is coming from behind you then "walk forward leaning backwards." While if you're walking into the rain then "lower the head and walk as fast as possible."
Reference: "Kinematic Programming for Rain," Nature - July 23, 1966
The Branford Expositor - Sep 19, 1966
Click to enlarge as PDF
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 16, 2024 -
Comments (8)
Category: Science, 1960s, Weather
The Chester Ice Chunk
Sep 8, 1957: A 100-pound chunk of ice fell from the sky onto an empty building in Chester, Pennsylvania.Strange falls of ice from the sky have long fascinated the Fortean crowd. See, for example, "The Ice-Fall Problem" by meteorologist (and UFO enthusiast) James E. McDonald:
It is a rather curious and apparently unexplained fact that from time to time in recent years masses of ice of the order of several tens of pounds have fallen out of the sky. This is the ice-fall problem.
Also, "Ice Falls" by Frank Edwards in Strangest of All (1962).
Shamokin News-Dispatch - Sep 9, 1957
The Ada Weekly News - July 1, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 22, 2024 -
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Category: 1950s, Weather
Hurricane Honeys
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 31, 2024 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1950s, Weather
Using frog croaks to predict the weather
In 1975, Chinese meteorologist Chang Chi-tsai came out with "Chang's law" which codified the relationship between croaking frogs and the weather:If frogs croak on a fine day it will rain in two days.
If frogs croak after rain it will be fine weather.
It will continue to rain if frogs do not croak after successive overcast days.
If frogs croak after rain it will be fine weather.
It will continue to rain if frogs do not croak after successive overcast days.
Previously we've posted about how to use gnats to predict the weather.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Jan 19, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 09, 2024 -
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Category: 1970s, Asia, Weather
Doris Munday, the woman who controlled the weather
When she was in her forties, Doris Munday realized that she had the power to control the weather. All she had to do was look at a location on a map, visualize what kind of weather it needed, and then concentrate hard. The weather would obey her command.
Shepherds Bush Gazette - Oct 7, 1971
This power came with a cost. Controlling the weather would leave her feeling fatigued, and it also seemed to cause her bad luck. After she had sent rain somewhere, her washing machine might blow up, or someone would run into her car.
She also felt that she didn't get enough credit for her powers. She complained, "Everyone always says when the rain falls, 'Oh well, it is a coincidence isn't it', and I don't even get a thank you for my time and trouble."
Hounslow Middlesex Chronicle - Jan 26, 1973
Daily Mail - Jan 24, 1973
And on occasion she made mistakes. She once wanted to send rain to South Africa, but accidentally sent it to Rhodesia instead.
Hamilton Spectator - Jan 22, 1973
She confessed that she didn't know why her powers worked, they just did. She speculated, "I think I have stumbled on some kind of electrical force which is rarely known."
The Guardian - Dec 23, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 28, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Paranormal, Weather
Rain-Making Device
Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 17, 2023 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, 1910s, Weather
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |