Weather Facts for Kids
Wild facts about weather
Lightning strikes somewhere on Earth about 100 times every second, adding up to roughly 8 million bolts a day. Despite this, the chance of being struck by lightning in any one year is very low.
A blizzard is officially defined as a storm with winds of at least 56 kilometres per hour, heavy snowfall or blowing snow, and visibility reduced to less than 400 metres for at least three hours. Not all heavy snowstorms qualify as blizzards.
The pleasant earthy smell that rises when rain falls on dry soil is called petrichor. It comes from a compound called geosmin released by soil bacteria, combined with plant oils that build up in the ground during dry spells.
The ozone layer, which sits in the stratosphere about 15–35 kilometres above Earth, absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. Without it, sunburn would happen almost instantly and life on land as we know it could not exist.
Wind chill is the effect of wind making cold temperatures feel even colder by stripping heat away from the body more quickly than still air. A temperature of −5°C with a strong wind can feel as cold as −15°C.
The word 'monsoon' comes from the Arabic word 'mausim' meaning season. Monsoons are seasonal shifts in wind direction that bring heavy rainfall to South and South-East Asia each summer, and billions of people depend on this rain to grow their food.
The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with gases in Earth's atmosphere near the poles. Oxygen produces green and red colours, while nitrogen creates blue and purple hues.
The USA experiences more tornadoes than any other country, with around 1,000 per year — many occurring in a region of the Great Plains called 'Tornado Alley'. This area is prone to twisters because cold, dry air from Canada clashes with warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico.
An ice storm happens when rain falls through a thin layer of freezing air just above the surface, turning to ice on contact with anything it touches. A heavy ice storm can coat tree branches and power lines with several centimetres of ice, making them collapse.
There are ten main types of cloud, classified by height and shape. Cirrus clouds are wispy and high, cumulus clouds are fluffy and mid-level, and stratus clouds form flat grey sheets close to the ground, often bringing drizzle.