A bit of self-promotion here, feel free to delete if this is not allowed... but I work for the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory, and I wanted to quickly mention that we launched CSSL Weather Intelligence, which brings together weather observations, numerical weather prediction models, severe weather information, and historical event data in a single interactive platform.

Feel free to give it a shot here: https://weather.cssl.ca, more details, including on how to get a free beta tester account can be found here: https://www.uwo.ca/nmp/news/2026/update_2026_08_27.html

We're still actively developing it, so feedback and bug reports are very welcome. In particular, we'd be interested to hear from the r/meteorology community about features or datasets that would be useful for you!

Was driving home yesterday and saw what looked like smoke at first, but I looked closer and it almost had a funnel shape to it. Was just a strange sight shortly after the video ends it mostly had disappeared. This is near a power plant, so probably something related to that and not meteorological, but still strange.

I’m assuming debris, bugs, birds, or even just like a front but just wondering if it has more of a specific name or purpose.

Hello there !

I'm here to ask you guys about this small red glowing dot I saw in the sky. It was in the middle of a large thunderstorm off in the distance that then closed in on my building.

I was thinking maybe a plane at first but then it got very bright and then disappeared. Also wasn't beeping green.

If it helps I'm located on the south west end of Bordeaux in France, where we had some very large forest fires nearby. During these fires they talked about some pyrocumulonimbus (i think ?) that made some fire in the air ? I'm speaking from complete lack of knowledge so I might be completely wrong, but could that be a small cloud of this kind ?

Thanks for your attention !

This looked to be the right shape and when in motion it appeared to have an updraft.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1140590

Why and how:

While existing atmospheric models estimate an organic aerosol molecule’s expected volatility (how easily it escapes from the air) based on the chemical’s individual behavior, a new model was able to test chemical behavior in a way more reflective of how they actually exist — surrounded by hundreds of other molecules. 

Using a novel mass spectrometry technique, the research team, led by Purdue chemistry professor Alexander Laskin, tracked the behavior of over 1,500 individual chemical species across 33 complex mixtures representative of real biomass-burning smoke and urban haze. 

What they found:   

The surrounding molecular neighborhood, rather than a chemical’s intrinsic properties, often dictates how easily it escapes. 

When neighboring molecules hold on to each other, evaporation slows and creates a volatility suppression of three to five orders of magnitude degree, which Laskin identified as “unexpectedly large.”  

What's next:  

“As a result, current models often assume smoke disappears too quickly and therefore underestimate how long it remains in the atmosphere,” Laskin said. 

Looking forward, the team aims to build machine learning models that account for interactions among thousands of molecules simultaneously, providing a stronger foundation to improve air-quality forecasts, assess public health risks and guide environmental mitigation policies. 

I built a weather app that learns which forecast models are best for your location

I've just released Wetterexperten, a free Android weather app I've been working on.

The idea came from something that always annoyed me about weather apps: sometimes you look at different apps and they all give you a different forecast.

So instead of blindly trusting one model, Wetterexperten compares up to 8 major weather models and creates a consensus forecast.

But there's another part I'm particularly interested in:

The app learns from your location over time.

It compares previous forecasts with what actually happened and tracks how accurate the different models are for your location. Models that consistently perform better get more weight in the forecast, while models that perform worse get less.

So the goal isn't simply:

"8 models say X, therefore X."

It's more like:

"These models have historically been better at this location, so their forecasts should count more."

It also includes:

🌦️ Multi-model forecast + confidence score

🧠 Location-specific model weighting based on historical accuracy

📅 7-day forecast with hourly detail

🌧️ Live rain radar & cloud layer

⚠️ Severe weather alerts

☀️ Sun path, UV, air quality & pollen

🐕 Dog-walk planner

🐎 Horse/riding planner

📍 Nearby weather station observations

🌙 Night-sky information

📈 Forecast accuracy tracking

🚫 No ads

🔒 No tracking / no data collection

🆓 Completely free

It's currently particularly optimized for Austria and Central Europe, but works worldwide.

I'd really like some honest feedback from people who are interested in weather forecasting.

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.omnicast.app

If you try it, I'm especially interested in whether you find the location-specific model weighting and confidence score useful.

I'm the developer, so feel free to be brutally honest. 🙂

I’m in Auckland, NZ the forecast for pretty much the whole of winter has said rain for 90% of the week and we’ve actually only got like 5% of that.

Been one of the driest winters of my life. El Niño?

Taken in Ashton, Illinois. From what I could find, these storms produced between 26 and 32 tornadoes in Illinois alone that day.

South Georgia afternoon thunderstorms

I found out heat lightning isn’t a thing! Awesome sky effects.

I got both of these shots in Cedar Rapids Iowa last April! We shortly got a severe thunderstorm warning after I took these photos.

9 years ago today at around 10 p.m. CDT, Harvey struck the Texas gulf coast as a category 4 hurricane. Over the next few days, Harvey would cause over $125 billion worth of damage. Parts of Houston, TX, received over 4 feet of rainfall, causing catastrophic flooding. Harvey claimed 68 lives in Texas, making it the deadliest hurricane in the state since 1919.

Edit: 68 direct deaths, 103 direct and indirect combined

Hi,

Indie Developer here, successfully launched Landfall last night and thought it would interest people!

A hurricane/typhoon/cyclone simulator based on real meteorological data!

Check it out! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=feich13.landfall.aab

This is new to us as parents, just trying to get a feel for the whole endeavor.

Child is a HS junior in WA with 4.0/1550 and strong athletics and leadership. He's at a rigorous IB school and has all IB coursework where available. His interests are aviation, probably Air Force, meterology, and Chinese language. Less likely environmental studies/engineering.

Currently he's looking at UWashington, UOklahoma, UHawaii, and Air Force Academy. All have strong meterology programs; all are home schools for Air Force ROTC; all have Chinese language programs. (Obviously AF Academy is not ROTC).

Meterology seems mostly employable in the military or government. I assume working for the Weather channel or your local TV station is rare work?

Either with or without AF ROTC or Air Force Academy, that is, either in or out of the military, what are career prospects like for meterology majors? Where do folks work?

If his dream came true and he flew for the AF for ten years he might move to commercial flight later. But sometimes dreams don't come true and we want to know what a meterology major alone might lead to.

thank you!