Weather & Wild Skies
The sky is always changing because air, water and sunlight are constantly moving energy around the planet. Explore clouds, lightning, storms, snow, rainbows and the wildest weather Earth can make.
The Air Around Us
Weather begins in an invisible ocean of air wrapped around Earth.
Clouds and Rain
Clouds form when invisible water vapour becomes tiny droplets or ice crystals floating in the air.
Thunder and Lightning
Thunderstorms build towering clouds where ice, water and violent air currents separate electric charge.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes are narrow columns of violently rotating air produced by particular kinds of severe storms.
Hurricanes and Cyclones
Tropical cyclones are enormous heat engines that feed on warm ocean water.
Snow, Ice and Hail
Frozen water takes many forms depending on temperature, cloud structure and the journey it takes through the atmosphere.
Rainbows and Sky Light
Some of the sky’s brightest colours come from ordinary sunlight being bent, scattered and separated.
Auroras and Space Weather
Some of the most beautiful things in the sky begin with particles arriving from the Sun.
Extreme Weather
Heat, cold, rain and drought become extreme when ordinary atmospheric processes persist or intensify.
Reading the Sky
Forecasting means combining measurements, physics and powerful computer models to estimate what the atmosphere will do next.