Learn · Free Weather Course

Weather School, Minus the Pop Quizzes

Okay, there are quizzes. They’re optional, and nobody grades you but you. This is the whole LightningWX Education Center on the web: 16 units, 61 lessons and 492 glossary terms of college-level meteorology in plain English. Start at Unit 1, or jump straight to the storm you’re curious about.

Start Unit 1 Glossary A–Z

Your Path Through The Course

Mark a lesson done at the bottom of its page and your progress shows up here. It’s saved in this browser only; the app tracks it properly, with quiz scores.

The 16 Units

Unit 1 · 4 lessons

The Atmosphere

What air is made of, how it is layered, and the basic measurements: pressure, temperature, humidity and dew point.

Thick cloud tops, seen here from a weather satellite, reflect a large share of incoming sunlight — Photo: NOAA/NASA (NOAA Satellites), public domain (source)

Unit 2 · 3 lessons

Energy And The Sun

How sunlight heats the Earth unevenly and drives all weather, from seasons to the greenhouse effect.

Lenticular clouds mark the crests of mountain waves downwind of high terrain — Photo: NOAA Photo Library (Historic NWS Collection), public domain (source)

Unit 3 · 4 lessons

Wind And Pressure Systems

Why air moves: pressure gradients, the Coriolis effect, highs and lows, the jet stream and local winds.

A shelf cloud along the leading edge of storms often marks a strong gust front or cold front — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, public domain (source)

Unit 4 · 3 lessons

Air Masses And Fronts

Huge bodies of air and the boundaries between them, where much of our weather happens.

Altocumulus: patches and rolls of cloud in the middle levels — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / Ralph F. Kresge (Historic NWS Collection), public domain (source)

Unit 5 · 4 lessons

Clouds And Precipitation

Cloud types and how rain, snow, sleet, hail, graupel and fog form.

Maritime tropical moisture fuels towering cumulonimbus clouds — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, public domain (source)

Unit 6 · 4 lessons

Stability And Soundings

Lapse rates, rising parcels, CAPE, wind shear, and reading a Skew-T like a forecaster.

A bright, branching lightning bolt striking from a thunderstorm — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / C. Clark, NOAA NSSL, public domain (source)

Unit 7 · 6 lessons

Thunderstorms And Lightning

Single cells, multicells, squall lines, supercells, MCSs, and the physics and safety of lightning.

A tornado extending from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / Sean Waugh, NOAA NSSL, public domain (source)

Unit 8 · 4 lessons

Tornadoes

How tornadoes form, how they are rated, how radar finds them, and how to stay safe.

Hailstones collected after a severe thunderstorm — Photo: NOAA National Weather Service, Aberdeen SD, public domain (source)

Unit 9 · 2 lessons

Hail And Flooding

How hail grows and how it is measured, and why flash floods are so deadly.

Satellite view of a hurricane, the most intense type of low pressure system — Photo: NOAA, public domain (source)

Unit 10 · 3 lessons

Tropical Cyclones

Hurricanes from birth to landfall: the Saffir-Simpson scale, storm surge and inland hazards.

Winter storms feed on the strong temperature contrasts of the cold season — Photo: NOAA Photo Library, public domain (source)

Unit 11 · 3 lessons

Winter Weather

Snow, sleet, freezing rain, lake-effect snow, nor'easters and wind chill.

A NEXRAD WSR-88D radar dome — Photo: NOAA National Weather Service Eureka, public domain (source)

Unit 12 · 8 lessons

Radar Science

How Doppler radar works and how to read every radar view in LightningWX.

An infrared satellite image shows cold, high cloud tops in bright colors — Photo: NOAA, public domain (source)

Unit 13 · 3 lessons

Weather Satellites

Visible, infrared and water vapor imagery, and the GOES satellites.

Water vapor satellite image showing moist and dry swirls — Photo: NOAA Central Library, public domain (source)

Unit 14 · 4 lessons

Forecast Models

How computer models predict the weather, and how to read model maps, ensembles and meteograms.

The aurora glows in the thermosphere, roughly 100 to 300 km above the ground — Photo: NASA / ISS Expedition 23 crew, public domain (source)

Unit 15 · 2 lessons

Space Weather

Solar flares, geomagnetic storms, the Kp index and the aurora.

A lowered wall cloud beneath the rain-free base of a supercell — Photo: NOAA Photo Library / NOAA OAR/ERL National Severe Storms Laboratory, public domain (source)

Unit 16 · 4 lessons

Climate, Warnings And Safety

Weather versus climate, watches versus warnings, and building a safety plan.

The Weather Glossary, A to Z

Every term has its own page: what it means in plain English, the technical definition, related terms and the lessons that use it.

Try It In LightningWX

The App Turns Every Lesson Into Practice

Inside LightningWX each lesson opens the real radar view it’s talking about, adds a quiz, and keeps track of your progress. Simulation Mode replays famous storms so you can learn on a quiet, sunny day.

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Education Center lesson on how rain and snow form, with the unit list, glossary, quizzes and ebook tabs

Doppler velocity Wind view of the 2013 Moore tornado showing the inbound-outbound rotation couplet — A lesson on radar signatures opens the real Wind view of the Moore tornado.

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