How well do you know your natural phenomena and weather lingo? You’re probably more familiar with these occurrences than you think. You might’ve witnessed a moonbow or two, or been paid a visit by the Pineapple Express — and you’ve almost certainly been struck by a cloudburst. Have you experienced any of these other weird weather wonders?
Cloudburst
This term is exactly as described: a sudden, heavy rainfall, akin to a cloud bursting open with water. The word came into American English in the early 19th century, and it parallels the German word for a cloudburst, Wolkenbruch.
Crepuscular Rays
This is a fancy term for sunbeams or sun rays, but it’s actually derived from the Latin word for twilight, crepusculum. In particular, crepuscular rays are sunbeams that appear just after the sun sets in the western sky. They can only take shape if the sun sets behind a cloud or a mountain, which allows the rays of light to shine around the obstruction in glowing, heavenly bands.
Deluge
A deluge is similar to a cloudburst but usually involves some flooding — this drenching rain seems to be a buzzword on the Weather Channel every spring. “Deluge” came into Middle English as an Old French loanword, which was an adaptation of the Latin word “diluere,” meaning “to wash away.”
Derecho
Derecho (dah-RAY-cho) means “straight ahead” in Spanish, which is exactly where these storms are heading. A derecho is a band of rapidly moving rain showers or thunderstorms that can produce destruction similar to that caused by a tornado. This damage typically occurs in a straight line, which is how these storms earned their name. Derechos are most common in the Ohio Valley during the summer as hot and humid conditions intensify. The term was adopted from American Spanish and turned into a weather term in the late 19th century.
Haboob
A haboob is a violent dust storm or sandstorm, often associated with Sudan and the Middle East, where the word originated. The term likely came from the Arabic word for a violent storm, habūb, or habb for “wind.” These sandstorms, sometimes accompanied by thunderstorms, often begin in the Sahara desert, where dense walls of sand or dust can reach over 3,000 feet high and impact vast surrounding areas. Parts of North America can also experience haboobs, especially the arid states of Arizona and Texas.
Monsoon
A monsoon is both a season and a type of heavy rainfall (typically occurring during the summer months) associated with India and nearby countries. It is caused by a shift in winds as the seasons change, resulting in very dry or very wet conditions, depending on their direction. The word “monsoon” was derived from the Arabic word for “season,” mausim. Monsoon rains are not limited to Asia — they can occur in other subtropical or tropical regions, including in the United States.
Moonbows
A moonbow, or lunar rainbow, forms when moonlight reflects on water droplets to form an arc in the sky. Just as with a regular rainbow, when this light bends, it breaks into individual wavelengths of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, although the colors are less vivid in a moonbow than in a rainbow. The word “rainbow” has been around for hundreds of years, first seen in Old English as renboga (“rain” and “bow”). The timeline of “moonbow” isn’t as clear, but “moon” itself came from the Greek word for moon, “mēnē.”
Moonquakes and Marsquakes
In the 1970s, the NASA Apollo missions led to the discovery of seismic events on the moon. The term “moonquakes” (adapted from the 14th-century word “earthquakes”) describes this phenomenon. Moonquakes can occur for various reasons, including the moon's interior squeezing and stretching due to Earth’s gravitational pull. Meteorites hitting the moon's surface can also cause seismic activity, as can the cooling of the lunar interior. Mars has “marsquakes” for a similar reason. As the planet cools, it contracts, causing deep fractures on its surface. Marsquakes were only recently proven to exist in 2019.
Pineapple Express
Not to be confused with the 2008 Seth Rogen film of the same name, the Pineapple Express is an atmospheric river (a narrow region) that builds up over the tropical Pacific and transports water vapor across the ocean to the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada, dumping lots of precipitation in its wake. Its name comes from its pineapple-loving point of origin: Hawaii.
St. Elmo’s Fire
This rare atmospheric phenomenon (also known as “corona discharge”) occurs when brushlike discharges of electricity appear on the surfaces of pointed objects such as ships’ masts, aircraft propellers, or powerlines, resulting in faint light and crackling noises. It was first recorded centuries ago by sailors during thunderstorms and was named after St. Elmo, the patron saint of Mediterranean sailors. They regarded this light as a sign of good fortune — it was thought that St. Elmo watched over them until the storm reached its end.
Sun Dogs
This optical phenomenon has a technical term: “parhelion.” Sun dogs occur in the sky at 22 degrees on either side of the sun (or sometimes both sides) at the same elevation. They look like bright, concentrated patches of sunlight, almost as if they are mini suns. They are caused by the sun (or the moon) shining through cirrus clouds, a type of high-altitude cloud made of ice crystals, which reflect the light in such a way that this rare phenomenon occurs. “Parhelion” has been around since the 16th century, but the origin of “sun dogs” isn’t as clear. It might be rooted in Greek mythology, in reference to Zeus and his dogs walking across the sky, where the dogs are the “false suns.”
Whirlwind
“Whirlwind” is a generic term that can describe any vortex of swirling air, from tornadoes and waterspouts to fire storms and dust devils (small, tornado-like whirlwinds made of dust or sand). The term “whirlwind” comes from the Old Norse hvirfilvindr — hvirfla (“to go round, spin”) and vindr (“wind”).
Zephyr
A zephyr is quite simply a summer breeze. This underrated word has been used in relation to the weather since the 17th century, but it ultimately comes from the Greek word “Zephyros,” the god of the west wind. He was one of the four seasonal wind gods, called Anemoi, and was also considered the god of spring.
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