Thunderstorms

Episode notes

*Note with Alex’s audio: the show uses his Zoom backup audio until around the 22 minute mark. It’s totally listenable! And if you’d like to skip straight to the fancy mic audio, skip to 22:00.

Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writers Robert Brockway and Seanbaby (1900HOTDOG) for a look at why thunderstorms are secretly incredibly fascinating.

Visit http://sifpod.fun/ for research sources, handy links, and this week’s bonus episode.

LINKS FOR THE GUESTS:

• 1900HOTDOG
• ‘The Dogg Zzone’ podcast
• Carrier Wave by Robert Brockway
• 1900HOTDOG: “Learning Day: My Favorite Manly Hot Dog Man”

RESOURCES USED TO INFORM THE EPISODE’S LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

• native-land.ca
• U.S. Department Of Arts And Culture
• Museum of Durham History

RESEARCH SOURCES:

• Thunderstorm Basics: Severe Weather 101 (NOAA Severe Storms Laboratory)
• Does the Thunderstorm “Bubble” Really Exist? (Mental Floss)
• Once-rare Arctic lightning is now more frequent—and may reshape the region (National Geographic)
• Watch an Incredible Time-Lapse Video of Severe Thunderstorms (National Geographic)
• the Japanese Music Wiki page for “supercell”, a band that is named that
• Can Planes Fly Through Thunderstorms and Hurricanes? (ThePointsGuy.com, interviewing meteorologist/pilot James Aydelott)
• Nobody knows exactly how tornadoes form — and the mystery can be deadly (Vox.com)
• U.S. Tornado Climatology (NOAA)
• BONUS SHOW 12: “America’s Nuclear/Tornado Sirens” (Secretly Incredibly Fascinating)
• Understanding Lightning: Thunderstorm Electrification (NOAA National Weather Service)
• Photo of the Week: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Dirty Thunderstorm (Wired)
• Volcanic eruption sparked a weeklong thunderstorm, and scientists want to know why (National Geographic)
• ‘Elves’ and ‘blue jet’ lightning in Earth’s stratosphere spotted from space (Space.com)
• How to Spot Elusive ‘Jellyfish Sprites’ Dancing in the Sky During a Thunderstorm (Smithsonian Magazine)
• The Electrifying Science of Jellyfish Sprites, Explained (Atlas Obscura)
• How Much Electricity Can Thunderstorms Produce? (Smithsonian SmartNews)
• Most powerful electrical storm on record detected (National Geographic)
• A Place Where Lightning Strikes Almost 300 Days a Year (The New York Times “Trilobites” section)
• Relampago del Catatumbo, Venezuela (Atlas Obscura)
• Storm Hector: the thundercloud you can set your clock by (The Guardian)
• Meet Hector (Gizmodo)
• Meet Hector, the thunderstorm that can tell time (The University of Melbourne)