Dear Tom,
I’m a dispatcher at United Airlines and I see all kinds of weather across the country. In Phoenix they have dust storms called haboobs. What other interesting terms can you share with us?
— Matt Duxbury
Dear Matt,
How about sastrugi, sharp ridges on snow drifts? And then there’s aftersummer, a period of unusually warm, quiet weather in the autumn; and foreshore, the part of a lake shore that lies between the low and high water marks. Psithurism is the sound of wind in trees and frazil is slushy ice crystals that form in supercooled water that is too turbulent, as in gushing streams, to permit the formation of an ice sheet. In Australia, there’s Fremantle Doctor, a strong sea breeze (like our lake breeze, but stronger) and cockeyed bob, a typhoon. In Britain, they call squally and tempestuous weather a blunk.
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Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or: asktomwhy@wgntv.com
Weather Report is prepared by the WGN-TV Weather Center, where Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN News at 11:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.
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