Storms and Fishes

Dust storms and ephemeral lakes

In drylands, both dust storms and ephemeral salt lakes (playas) are common. Observations using remote sensing and ground studies have shown that these playas can be major sources of saline dust storms. Some basins have recently become desiccated as a result of water abstraction by humans, and these have become significant sources of dust. The timing and amounts of dust emissions depends on such...

Of Streams and Storms

Ice storms and forest impacts.

Ice storms, or icing events, are important meteorological disturbances affecting forests over a surprisingly large portion of the USA. A broad belt extending from east Texas to New England experiences major ice storms at least once a decade; and truly major events occur in the heart of this belt once or twice a century. In the areas most affected, icing events are a factor that shapes stand com...

Severe Local Storms

Knowledge of severe local storms has been increasing rapidly in recent years as a result of both observational studies and numerical modeling experiments. This paper reviews that knowledge as it relates to development of new applications for forecasting of severe local storms. Many of these new applications are based on physical understanding of processes taking place on the storm scale and thu...

Dust Storms: Schwartz's Response

Coarse Particles and Dust Storm Mortality In a paper titled "Episodes of High Coarse Partide Concentrations Are Not Associated with Increased Mortality," Schwartz et al. (1) concluded that "coarse particles from windblown dust are not associated with mortality risk." The authors seem to have overlooked the medical literature on the health effects of the historic U.S. dust storms of the dust bow...