Extreme Summer Weather ⚡
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Episode 94 Description
Is the weather getting stormy where you live? 😱 Correspondent Kenny Curtis catches us up on the wackiest summer weather. ☔ Learn about what causes hail and lightning when it gets hot and humid. 🌩️From the headlines: 👶 A new royal baby and a pricey chicken nugget. ✅ And test your planet knowledge in today’s Trivia on the Ten! 🧐
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Sources for this episode:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/05/24/biden-hurricanes-fema/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/06/europe/meghan-harry-baby-girl-news-intl-scli/index.html
https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2021/6/4/22504587/among-us-mcdonalds-chicken-nugget-ebay-auction-bts
https://www.denofgeek.com/games/e3-2021-conference-schedule-dates-games-news/
https://www.polygon.com/22465072/e3-2021-schedule-dates-games-nintendo-xbox-bethesda-ubisoft
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/05/21/hurricane-tropical-storm-name-list-2021-season/5203060001/
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/jupiters-great-red-spot-getting-taller-as-it-shrinks
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/jupiters-great-red-spot-seemed-to-be-unraveling/595756/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/science/jupiter-great-red-spot.html
TRANSCRIPT:
Various Voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:06
I'm Bethany Van Delft and this is The Ten News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. It's Thursday, June 10th. With a change in the seasons come some wild weather. So grab your umbrella and let's get into The Ten.
Depending on where you live, the summer months may be full of stormy weather, sometimes reputation for bringing on whipping winds, thrilling thunder clouds and brilliant bolts of electricity. But why is summer so stormy? Storms need heat and moisture to form, so it makes sense that storms happen more often in the warmer months of the year. Weather experts are predicting a particularly harsh year for extreme weather.
A Kid 0:59
Okay, that's bad.
Bethany Van Delft 1:01
Last year, there are more named storms, those storms that are named by the US National Hurricane Center, than any other year on record. In response, the Biden administration decided to double the amount of money for communities to use to get ready for extreme weather this year. Excellent. No matter what your forecast looks like this summer, one thing is for sure. Summer is one of the most amazing times to witness the power of nature. Are you mad about meteorology? So is our correspondent Kenny Curtis. He's here to talk more about summer weather in the extreme storms that can come along with it.
Kenny Curtis 1:49
Hi there everybody, Kenny Curtis here with another reminder that wherever you are, there's weather. Right? And sometimes it's stormy weather, especially in the summer months when storms can pop up suddenly, without warning. Here's what kind of weather to be on the lookout for this summer. First of all, thunderstorms are the big ones. There's flashing lightning and thundering thunder. And there are about 16 million thunderstorms that happen every year. In fact, all over the world, there are more than 1800 of them happening right now. But what makes a thunderstorm and why do they happen more in the summertime? Well, thunderstorms need high levels of humidity and lots of rising warm air in order to form. So that's why they're more common in the spring and summertime. But everyone knows that the best part of any storm is the lightning. But it can also be the most dangerous. Lightning is a spark of electricity. It's created inside storm clouds when the warmer air rising from the ground combines with the very cold air in the upper atmosphere. These two groups of air have different kinds of molecules that can get out of balance and generate electricity. To be honest, there's a much longer and more complicated explanation, but I'm gonna skip over that part right now so we can get to the thunder and the lightning. Now the spark of lightning in a storm is so powerful that it actually makes the loud noise we call thunder. It's true. The energy from a lightning bolt heats the air so quickly and so strongly that the air explodes out, creating the sound of thunder. That's how it normally works anyway, but lightning and thunder around the world can get really extreme. Have you ever heard the old saying lightning never strikes in the same place twice? Well, there's one spot on earth that proves that old wives tale very wrong. It's called Catatumbo lightning, which happens only in Venezuela, where the Catatumbo River meets a lake and it's a lightning storm that happens more than 260 days a year and can go on for up to 10 hours at a time. This spot is known as one of the most electric places on earth. During the most active part of the season. You can see lightning flashes up to 28 times every minute.
A Kid 4:15
What?
Kenny Curtis 4:16
And if you think that's wild, imagine catching a glimpse of ball lightning, or as some people call it Great Balls of Fire. Ball lightning is just what it sounds like free floating orbs of electricity. Supposedly they also hiss. The phenomenon is very rare and there is no consensus as to what causes it but people have been spotting ball lightning for centuries. Some people have reported it breaking windows, entering buildings and even exploding. Some even say it leaves behind a stinky rotten egg smell of sulfur when it leaves. Some storms bring more than just rain and lightning. You might also experience a hailstorm this summer. Now during a hailstorm, small chunks of ice rain down from the sky. These are called hailstones and like lightning, they're formed when the hot and cold air, hot summer air rises from the ground and pushes drops of rain in a storm cloud up into the really cold part of the upper atmosphere. It's so cold up there that these raindrops freeze into ice balls, even in the summertime. And then because basically they're now just heavy round ice cubes. They fall straight through the warmer part of the cloud and onto the ground below. Depending upon the severity, hailstorms can injure people and cause damage to buildings and aircrafts. Some hailstones can get as big as six inches around. That's a lot of ice. In America, the largest hailstone ever recorded was found in Vivian, South Dakota, it was eight inches across and 18 and a half inches round. That's basically the size of a volleyball.
A Kid 5:58
That's incredible.
Kenny Curtis 6:00
Tornadoes are another serious weather phenomenon that can happen any time of year but they peak in certain places during the summer months. Scientists don't know exactly how tornadoes are created, but they form inside severe thunderstorms called Supercell Storms. Tornadoes are extremely dangerous. Some can have wind speeds of up to 300 miles an hour, they can send cars and debris flying everywhere.
And like lightning, there are many types of tornadoes, including the dangerous fire tornado.
A Kid 6:35
Are you kidding me?
Kenny Curtis 6:36
Yeah, this is the thing. Fire tornadoes are made up of flames and can reach up to a thousand degrees inside. Now keep in mind that while these strange weather phenomena can be fun to learn about, they can still be very, very dangerous. Summer storms can be destructive. That's why it's always important to seek shelter from the storm and follow any safety precautions carefully. But it's also good to remember that most storms don't last too long, especially in the summertime. And now when a storm does blow through, you might have a better idea of what's going on out there. Because whether you know it or not, the weather is always there. See what I did there? Weather and then whether. Okay.
Bethany Van Delft 7:22
One thing is for sure when those storm clouds roll in, I'll be heading inside. Thanks for the wacky weather report, Kenny. It's a pride party all month long here at The Ten and we're excited to celebrate with LGBTQ listeners, fans and family. Pride means something different to everyone. So we're looking to share stories from all our listeners right here on The Ten News. Whether you are part of the LGBT community, an activist or an ally, we want you to tell us what pride means to you. Grab your adult and give us a call on our new phone line 877-Ten-News and leave us a message. That's 8-7-7-t-e-n-n-e-w-s or of course you can email us at hello@thetennews.com. And to learn more about Pride Month, tune into our episode from June 1. Now let's check in on some headlines.
Meghan the Duchess of Sussex and her husband Prince Harry have welcomed a new baby girl to their family. Elizabeth Diana Mountbatten Windsor or Lily for short is a name that honors both Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and his mother, Princess Diana. A certain chicken nugget must have looked really sus to one online buyer. Allegedly shaped like a character from the game among us, the chicken nuggets sold for nearly $100,000 last week. That doesn't sound like a happy meal. And that's not all, gamers get ready because one of the biggest events in the video game world starts on Saturday. It's a gaming convention called E3 where tons of gaming companies from Xbox to Nintendo, showcase all the cool new games they've been working on. This year, the event is all virtual and will be streamed online for free. And back to some weather news. The World Meteorological Organization has announced the tropical storm and hurricane names for 2021. Starting with Anna, the list goes through 21 names alphabetically ending with Wanda. If there are more storms the names your organization has an additional 21 names lined up just in case. Lucky you. It's...
Sound Bit 10:04
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 10:07
Trivia on The Ten? You don't have to stay on earth to find crazy clouds and souped up storms. What planet is home to a storm known as the Great Red Spot? Is it A) Jupiter? B) Saturn or C) Mercury?
Did you guess it? The answer is A, Jupiter. Astronomers have been studying Jupiter's Great Red Spot since the 1800s. The spot is a storm called an anti-cyclone because of its location on the planet and the direction it rotates. This storm has super speedy winds that top out at 400 miles an hour. Too fast, too furious! But the Great Red Spot is actually changing. Powerful telescopes show that the spot is now a deeper red and getting smaller. But no worries, it isn't disappearing. Scientists say it's just changing as it runs into other storms on the planet. They think the Great Red Spot is here to stay for another few centuries or so.
Time's up, but before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting thetenenews.com. The Ten News is a co production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News' creative team are all wondering if their names made the hurricane list, and includes Kate Hale, Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Jenner Pascua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olender. Kenny Curtis contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle. And our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News. $100,000 huh. You really got to make a chicken nugget last for that price.
