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Top Ask Steve Story

Ask Steve

Welcome to our "Ask Steve" column. These are questions we've answered from our daily column in the Seattle P-I, as well as KOMO Weather viewers. The column is on hiatus for now, but you can search the archives below. And we still welcome your questions, which we will try to answer individually. If you have a question to ask Steve, e-mail it to asksteve@komo4news.com Read more »

Ask Steve Headlines

Ask Steve
What Is The Difference Between 'Rain' And 'Showers'?
Why Does The Sky Turn Colors During Sunset?
What Is The Puget Sound Convergence Zone?
What Does 'Freezing Level' Mean?
Why Are Tornadoes So Rare Around Here?
What Does A 'Pineapple Express' Mean?
Is Seattle Really The Rain Capital Of The U.S.?
When's The Safest Day To Plan An Outdoor Picnic?
What Makes A Lunar Eclipse?
Is Red Sky At Night Really A Sailor's Delight?
Whats Seattles Longest Streak Of Rainy Days?
What Makes Fog?
What Makes Frigid Winds Blow Out Of The Fraser Valley?
What Makes A Temperature Inversion?
Why Is Sequim So Dry?
What Is The Jet Stream?
Is That A Flying Saucer On Top Of Mt. Rainier?
What Is That Really Bright Star In The Morning Sky?
What's The Longest Dry Streak During The Rainy Season?
Does Lightning Travel Up? Or Down?
What Makes Wind?
How Does Freezing Rain Form?
What Causes Tides?
The Dish On Dual Freezing Levels
Why Only 2 Wind Directions In Seattle?
Air Traffic And Weather
What Makes It Windy In The Foothills?
What is a Deformation Band?
What Are The Odds Of A White Christmas?
What Makes The Northern Lights?
Why Do The Seasons Lag Behind The Calendar?
What Is The U.S. Record For Snow In A Year?
Why Is This The Shortest Day Of The Year?
Why Do Birds Congregate Right Before Storms?
What Keeps Santa In The Dark?
When Was Our Last White Christmas?
Why Does The Moon Look Different Further South?
What Was Fahrenheit Thinking?
Who Names Hurricanes?
What To Do With That New Barometer?
Barometers and Sea Level Pressure
What Makes Hail?
What is Black Ice?
What's The Difference Between A ''Watch'' And A ''Warning''?
Why Does It Get Colder On Clear Nights?
Why Is It Warmer At Night In Seattle?
How Do I Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit?
How Many Sunny Days Do We Get Each Year?
What Makes A Meteor Shower?
When Is The Perseid Meteor Shower?
Just How Wet Can It Get?
What Is A Solar Flare?
What's The Long-Range Forecast For This Summer And Winter?
When Is The Driest Day To Plan An Outdoor Activity?
What's The Hottest It's Ever Been?
What Is A Blue Moon?
What's Up With That Pesky Afternoon Wind Shift?
What Is A Haboob?
Has It Ever Rained While Over 80 Degrees In Seattle?
Just How Far North Is The Sun Setting?
Was Last Week's Storm Heat Lightning?
What Caused The Big Thunderstorms Last Week?
How Hot Has It Been?
When Does Summer Begin?
How Sunny Has It Been This Year?
How Often Does It Hit 90 Around Here?
What's The Deal With That Meteor?
What's Causing Our Low Tides?
What Is An Ocean Swell?
Last Time We Had A Sunny Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day?
What's The Long-Range Forecast For This Summer?
How Do Tornadoes Form?
What Is The Fujita Scale?
How Often Do We Get Tornadoes Around Here?
How Did April Finish Up?
What Is A Marine Push?
When Is The Driest Day To Plan An Outdoor Activity?
How Often Does It Get Over 80 In April?
What's That Really Bright 'Star' In The Morning Sky?
What Is Zonal Flow?
How Did Our Rainy Season Shape Up?
When Was The Latest Snow Ever?
When Does Spring Begin?
Where Is That Pot Of Gold At The End Of The Rainbow?
Why Can You Never See A Rainbow At Noon In The Summer?
How Do Rainbows Form?
Why Do We Have A Leap Day?
How Is The Winter Shaping Up?
Why Does The Temperature Drop Sometimes Right After Sunrise?
Does The Convergence Zone Mean It Rains More In Lynnwood?
Why Does It Get Colder In Olympia At Night?
What Are The Different Full Moon Names?
Just How Wet Can It Get?
How Is Our Mountain Snowpack Doing Now?
Is It Possible To Rain Frogs?
How Often Does It Freeze In Seattle?
What's That Really Bright 'Star' In The Morning Sky?
How Crazy Was The Winter Of 1950?
How Much Sunshine And Rainy Days Did We Get In 2003?
Can It Be Too Cold To Snow?
Why Have The Cascade Foothills Been Picked On Lately?
What Is A 'Strait-Effect' Snow?
How Can Dry Air Help It Snow?
What Caused Our Big Snowfall On Jan. 4?
How Much Rain Did We Get Last Year?
What's Up With The Moon And Venus?
How Is Our Mountain Snowpack Doing?
When Does Winter Begin?
How Can Raindrops Be Different Sizes?
Why Do The Waves Only Churn On The South Side Of 520?
What Is Alpenglow?
What Is A Mountain Wave?
What Does A 'Neutral Winter' Mean?
How Did Weather Affect The Original Pilgrims' Landing?
What Is The U.S. Record For Snow In A Year?
Does It Always Rain On The Weekends?
How Sunny Has It Been This Year?
How Can A Heavy Downpour Make It Snow?
When's The Most Likely Day To Get Wet?
Which Month Is The Cloudiest In Seattle?
What's The Longest Dry Streak During The Rainy Season?
A Potpourri Of Questions
What's Our Longest Streak Of Chilly Nights?
When Is The Coldest Time Of The Day?
When Was The Earliest Snow Ever?
How Can Dry Air Make It Easier To Snow?
Why Don't Clouds Fall?
What Makes A Meteor Shower?
What Is A Solar Flare?
What Causes the Santa Ana Winds?
What's The Winter Outlook?
Just How Wet Was It On Oct. 20?
Why Is Eastside Usually Warmer Than Seattle?
What Is Wind Shear?
What Is A Microburst?
What's A Pineapple Express?
Why Does It Snow More In The Mountains?
What Is A Fog Bow?
How Does A Rainbow Form?
How Much Rain Did We Get In Our 2002 Water Year?
What Is A Blue Moon?
What Is A Harvest Moon?
How Often Does It Get Foggy Around Here?
When Was Our Longest Heat Spell?
What Is A Black Hole?
How Did The Seasons Get Their Names?
What Is An 'Indian Summer'?
Just How Dry Was The Summer?
Is Red Sky At Night Really A Sailor's Delight?
Can You Stand Up An Egg On The Equinox?
What Do Barometric Pressure Numbers Mean?
Why Do Atlantic Coast Places Get Snowstorms?
What Is A Sucker Hole?
Have We Ever Had A Hurricane?
What Does A 'Category 5' Hurricane Mean?
Why Does A Cold Glass Of Water 'Sweat' On A Hot Day?
How Do The Seasons Differ Near The Equator?
How Has This Summer Shaped Up?
What Was The Winter Like In 1958?
When Was The Hottest Summer Ever?
How Do You Measure Rain?
Does It Really Rain 'All The Time' In Seattle?
How Do You Measure A Sunny Day?
How Many Sunny Days Do We Get Each Year?
How Many Days Has It Been Over 80?
Last Time We Had A Sunny Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day?
What Is Global Warming?
Why Doesn't California Get Hurricanes?
Just How Close Is Mars?
Did We Set The Record For Consecutive Days Over 70?
Can Smoke Or Pollution Affect Sunsets?
What Is The Current Long Range Forecast For This Winter?
How Is Our Summer Shaping Up So Far?
How Many Days Has It Been Over 70?
Do Tides Ever Happen At The Same Time On The Same Day?
Are Earthquakes Weather-Related?
Just When Is That Full Moon?
What Makes A Meteor Shower?
When Is The Big Perseid Meteor Shower?
What Are Some Of The Highest Wind Speeds Ever Recorded?
Why Is Eastern Washington Hotter Than Western Washington?
Are We Set For A Close Encounter With Mars?
What Does This Dry Summer Mean For This Winter?
Why Is It So Hazy In The Morning?
What Is The Heat Index?
What Is A Thermal Trough?
Why Has It Been So Hot Lately?
Can You Really Fry An Egg On The Sidewalk?
What Is Our Longest Summer Dry Streak?
Does 100% Humidity Mean It'll Rain?
When Is The Driest Day To Plan An Outdoor Activity?
Why Is Spokane Wetter Than Wenatchee?
What's The Hottest It's Ever Been?
Why Are Tornadoes Most Common In The Midwest?
When Was Our Driest Summer?
Does The Temperature Drop As You Increase Altitude?
What's The Difference Between A Tropical Storm And Hurricane?
Does It ALWAYS Rain On The Fourth Of July?
Does The Sun Look Smaller in the summer?
Why Is The Coast Always Socked In With Fog?
Why A North Wind on Sunny Days?
What Is The Current Summer Outlook?
How Often Do We Have Earthquakes?
What's The Largest Quake Ever In Washington?
Why Is June 21 The Longest Day Of The Year?
Why Isn't The Latest Sunset On June 21?
Which Is Warmer? June Or September?
What Is A Frost Pocket?
How Often Does It Hit 90 Around Here?
Why Isn't It Hot AND Humid Here?
What Are The 'Dog Days Of Summer?'
Why Does It Always Seem To Drizzle In The Morning?
When Does Hurricane Season Begin?
What Are The 'White Nights'?
Why Don't We Get Pineapple Expresses In Summer?
Why Does Weather Move West-To-East?
What Makes Wind Gust?
Can Hurricanes Cross The Equator?
Which Way To Hurricanes Spin?
What Is Virga?
What Is A Waterspout?
What Is La Nina?
What Is A Dust Devil?
What Is The Most Humid City In The U.S.?
Where Is The Safest Place To Not Have A Parade Rained On?
When Was Our Longest Heat Spell?
What Was The Craziest Weather Day Ever?
What Weather Is Worst For Allergies?
How Does Weather Affect Pitchers?
How Does Temperature Affect Home Runs?
What Makes Stars Twinkle?
When Are The Worst Days To Plan A Picnic In Spring?
Where Are Thunderstorms Most Common?
What's the Origin of ''It's Raining Cats and Dogs''?
When Was The Hottest Summer In Seattle?
When Is The Official Sunset?
How Much Snow Do We Normally Get A Year?
So Many Rain Terms, What Do They All Mean?
What's The Story Behind Daylight Saving Time?
What Is A Cold Core Funnel?
What Are The Record Barometric Readings in Seattle?
What's The Difference Between Partly Sunny & Mostly Cloudy?
How Did Our El Nino Winter Fare?
What Makes A Rain Forest?
What Is A Gust Front?
How Can I Find The North Star?
What Is The Green Flash?
What's The Origin Of April Fool's Day?
What Makes Air Unstable?
How Do High Pressure and Low Pressure Affect Our Weather?
How Often Does It Get Hot Around Here?
Just How Wet Is This March?
What Is St. Elmo's Fire?
What Makes Subtle Differences In Our Summer Weather?
Why Aren't The Sunrise And Sunset Equal On The Equinox?
When Does Spring Begin?
What's the Coldest It's Ever Been In Seattle?
What is an Alberta Clipper?
What's The Difference Between A Hurricane And Typhoon?
What Is Ball Lightning?
Which is Wetter: Seattle or Dublin, Ireland?
What Is Heat Lightning?
What's The Long-Range Outlook For Seattle?
What Is Relative Humidity?
What Is A Warm Front?
What Is A Cold Front?
Has Seattle Ever Had A Snow-less Winter?
What Is A Tsunami?
What Are The Largest Temperature Drops?
What is a Chinook?
What Causes the Santa Ana Winds?
What Makes Your Ears Pop?
How Can I Be A Weatherman?
How Do You Give A Weathercast?
How Does Doppler Radar Work?
How Do Satellite Photos Work?
What Makes Your Ears Pop?
What Is The ''Lake Effect''?
What Cloud Does Cupid Sit On?
Can Lightning Strike The Same Place Twice?
What Makes Morning Dew?
What Causes Lightning?
Some Popular Weather Conversions
What Weather Is Worst For Allergies?
What's A Gale Warning Mean?
Have We Ever Had A Hurricane?
What Causes "Heat Shimmers" Off Of Hot Pavement?
How Can It Be Windy At The Top Of Trees, But Not At The Bottom?
What Is The History Behind Groundhog's Day?
Does Rain Have Dirt In It?
What Makes Thunder So Loud?
How Fast Does Lightning Go?
Why Is Snow White, But Ice Clear?
How Much Rain Do The Olympic Rain Forests Get?
How Can You Estimate The Wind?
What Is A Nor'Easter?
Why Does Whatcom County Get More Snow?
What Is Wind Chill?
Why Are Clouds White?
Why Do Forecasts Vary Between Sources?
When Good Forecasting Computer Models Go Bad
How Do Computer Forecast Models Work?
Why Can You Hear Better On Foggy Days?
What's The Difference Between Snow Showers And Flurries?
Are No Two Snowflakes Exactly Alike?
What Makes A Sea Breeze?
Why Isn't The Earliest Sunset On Dec. 21?
What Makes A Rainbow Around The Sun?
When Is Seattle's Typical First And Last Frost?
What Is The Dew Point?
What Is ''El Nino''?

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