Awesome Weather GIFS

Weather has fascinated people for ages, who isn't attracted to the beauty of a thunderstorm or peacefulness of a snowstorm? Yes these events can be dangerous but they are also nature's moving art, a canvas that is forever changing, giving a brief moment of beauty before the next one is created. 

However, with the creation of photographs, film and the Internet, these moments of natural beauty have been captured and enjoyed over and over again. 

From striking photos to front row seat videos of storms, we can also thank the Internet for capturing such beauty. This time in the form of GIFS. 

What's more beautiful (and dangerous) than the electrifying dance of lightning in a thunderstorm?

There's nothing like a winter wonderland, a landscape glowing in the snow, as peaceful flakes fall from the sky.

Lightning may need to be slowed down to see its electrifying dance but sometimes the beauty of weather is discovered over time. Like this time lapse GIF of a snow squall moving into a city. 

Finally, not all of nature's beauty can be seen from ground level. Sometimes a view from 1,000's of miles above will reveal the beauty below. 

March Weather is March Madness!

As you fill out your NCAA brackets, take a moment to laugh at this hilarious, yet perfectly accurate cartoon about March weather in the United States! 

March is considered a transition month, beginning half is winter, last half is spring. Trees and flowers begin to bloom down south while Denver, Colorado typically sees its snowiest month of the year. Temperatures can swing widely from day to day. 70's and 80's one day can easily plummet back down into the 20's just hours later. 

From monster snowstorms like the Superstorm of 1993, to mild and near ice less covered Great Lakes of March 2012. The third month of the year is appropriate named March Madness not just for basketball. 

Sea Ice in Long Island Sound During the Coldest Month on Record!

Now that it's March, we can officially declare the month of February 2015 as the coldest month on record in Bridgeport, Connecticut with an average temperature of 19.9 degrees (F)!  Records go back to 1948. 

Climatologically, January is the coldest month of the year. So it is impressive to have the coldest month on record now be in February! 

The NWS reports the highest temperature recorded at Bridgeport in the month of February 2015 was 37 degrees and the lowest was -2 degrees. The month saw 21.5 inches of snow fall with an average snow depth of 11 inches throughout the month (that's a far cry from what Boston saw!) 

I've shared some of the pictures of a frozen Long Island Sound in this post and this post but here are some more photos I haven't shared yet! 

Below is a picture of the American flag at Anchor Beach in Milford, CT. Notice all the sea ice and slush floating in front and around the rock that sticks out into the water. 

Since the cold was so prolonged, every tide cycle added more ice to the rocks along the shore. 

Frozen steps to the beach! The bottom few steps of this staircase that have weathered both Irene and Sandy have accumulated ice during high tides during the month. 

Another stair case to the beach frozen from high water at high tide. Pretty impressive that not even the sun could melt this ice! 

These rocks along the beach have been incased in sea ice, formed at different levels depending on the height of the tide. The combination of ice, tide and rocks made for some very cool patterns.