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Ask Dr. Universe WeatherNet
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What makes fluffy snow turn into crunchy, slippery, icy snow? — Penelope, 11, New York state

Dear Penelope,

I love the feel of freshly fallen, fluffy snow. But then it turns crunchy and wet. That feels yucky under my paws.

I asked my friend Jaitun Patel why that happens. She’s a data scientist at Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet. She makes sure weather stations put out reliable data.

She told me that fluffy snow turns crunchy because of how falling snowflakes land then melt and refreeze.

Snow forms when water vapor freezes way up in the clouds. That makes ice crystals called snowflakes.

Snowflakes look different depending on the conditions when they form. Some look star-shaped. They have lacy or … » More …

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What safety measures can we take during extreme weather conditions? – Zadok, 8, Kenya

Dear Zadok,

When I was a kitten, a tornado tore through the neighborhood I was visiting. It got eerily quiet outside. Then the sky turned green. My littermates and I climbed into an empty bathtub to stay safe. After that, it got super loud.

I talked about extreme weather with Nathan Santo Domingo. He’s a weather scientist at Washington State University.

He told me that how to prepare depends on where you live. Different places have different kinds of extreme weather.

“Keep an eye on the forecast and know what's coming your way,” Santo Domingo said. “Be smart about what happens in your area.”

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How does it rain? — Gabby, 10, Ohio

Like most cats, I don’t love wet fur. I check a weather app every morning to see if I need an umbrella. But how rain happens was a mystery to me.

So, I talked about rain with my friend Nathan Santo Domingo. He’s a field meteorologist with AgWeatherNet of Washington State University. That’s a weather tool for farmers, gardeners and other people in Washington.

“The first thing to remember is that Earth's surface is 71% water,” Santo Domingo said. “We also have a giant orb in the sky—the sun—that’s feeding energy into the atmosphere and reaching down to Earth's surface.”

The sun’s energy changes the water in the oceans, rivers and lakes. The water changes from a liquid to a gas called water vapor. That water vapor floats up into the bubble of gas that surrounds Earth—called the atmosphere.

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What is a tornado made of? - Alice, 6, Ames, Iowa

Dear Alice,

Have you ever felt a warm wind blow by you, followed by a cold gust of air? You can’t see it, but you can sense it on your skin. Invisible to you, winds mix together.

Usually, these winds are harmless. But under the right conditions, they can also be the main ingredients for a tornado.

To learn more, I chatted with Jon Contezac, Craig Oswald, and Joe Zagrodnik, a team of Washington State University scientists who are very curious about the weather.

To make a tornado, they explained, you need two big things: rising air and rotating air.

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