Pulling a Voltron

"Pulling a Voltron" is the lovely turn-of-phrase used by Brian Palmer, who wrote this article in Slate about the recent rash of storms impacting parts of the southeastern U.S.

Now I don't buy multiple tornados will merge into one. As the article states, the larger storm will pull energy from the weaker when and cause the weaker to collapse completely. One storm splitting into two, now that is a different story.

5 Bizarre Ways the Weather Can Kill You Without Warning

Via Cracked.com, here are some fun things the weather might do, just to mess with your mind.

2011 Hurricane Predictions

Meteorologists at Colorado State University have released a long-term tropical forecast for the upcoming hurricane season and, if they are right, it may be a big one. They predict sixteen named storms, nine of which will be hurricanes.

How do they come up with that? Atlantic hurricanes aren't just dependent on local weather, but also what is happening in the Pacific. In this, warmer than usual waters in the Atlantic coupled with cooler waters in the eastern Pacific can mean a greater chance for more strong storms.

In other words, Atlantic hurricane frequency is tied into what is called ENSO (El Nino Souther Oscillation). El Nino events, with warm waters in the eastern Pacific, can mean fewer Atlantic storms. In the case of forecasts for this coming year, cooler waters (La Nina) are forecasted, meaning a greater number of tropical storms are expected.