PMEL in the News
World's Deepest Volcanic Eruption Creates Nightmare Garden of Glass
In December 2015, deep-sea researchers discovered a garden of glass on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Like a nightmarish Dale Chihuly exhibit, black tendrils of rapidly cooled lava poured out of an undersea volcano and hung frozen in the dark gallery of the Pacific, unable to fully crystallize in the cold water. The pillowy lava formations stretched out for 4.5 miles (7.3 kilometers), carpeting the floor of a trench nearly 3 miles (4.5 km) below the water's surface. Bill Chadwick is quoted.
What's behind Seattle's fog? It isn't clear
A long stretch of foggy days has canceled flights at SeaTac and driven gray-jaded Seattleites to search Google, Twitter, Instagram and beyond for explanations. Let's clear things up. Nick Bond is quoted.
Yes, the 'Blob' Is Back. No, It Won't Wreak Havoc on East Coast Weather.
A returning patch of warm water in the Northern Pacific Ocean called "the blob" could spell wonky weather for the U.S. this winter. Or, that's what recent news reports suggest. Nick Bond is quoted.
Long-range forecast predicts mild winter for Pacific Northwest
If the long-range forecast from the National Weather Service is right, we have a mild winter ahead of us. The primary driver for the winter outlook is the emergence of El Nino. That's a warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that tends to bring mild winters to the Pacific Northwest. Nick Bond is featured.
Ocean temperatures rise, boosting odds of El Nino ahead
Pacific Ocean temperatures are rising along the equator, a signal that winter likely will be warmer than normal in the Northwest. Federal climatologists peg the odds that an El Nino will form in the next couple of months at 70 to 75 percent, a 5 percent increase since mid-September. The warm ocean should influence late winter weather, but El Ninos historically have had little effect on snow accumulation in Washington before Jan. 1, State Climatologist Nick Bond said Monday. Nick Bond is quoted.