As kids run through their summer sprinklers in an effort to defeat the heat of the dog days of summer, parents sometimes see a rainbow of color as they watch the children play. Rainbows come in all sorts of shapes and can be seen in the smallest sprinkles of water. Rainbows can even be seen and photographed from space. If you know how to position yourself, the sun, and some water, you can create lots of rainbows in the backyard. Read more on how to create backyard rainbows by learning how rainbows form.

As the name suggests, climate studies are a specialty area in meteorology. A climatologist will focus on mesoscale or synoptic scale meteorology gathering data and analyzing long-term weather patterns. Learn more about climatology and climatologists.

The 2008 hurricane season is over, but not forgotten. The intense storms and record-breaking events of the 2008 season were unique. In contrast, the 2009 season has been fairly quiet. Why the difference? In 2008, lingering La Nina effects were in place as well as abnormally high ocean temperatures which are required for hurricane formation.

To summarize the 2008 hurricane season, NASA has produced a video in cooperation with NOAA to show satellite imagery of all the tropical storms from Arthur to Paloma. You may also want to check out the 2008 hurricane tracking chart. Or start tracking the 2009 season yourself with a blank hurricane tracking chart. All the resources are below.

• NASA hurricane video
• Blank hurricane tracking charts
• Possible 2009 hurricane names
• Online tropical cyclone tracker
• 2008 hurricane tracking chart

This stunning image is of the launch of the GOES weather satellite aboard a Delta IV rocket. The new satellite, temporarily called GOES-O, lifted off at 6:51 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday night from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The initial target date for the launch was on Friday, but a threat of a thunderstorm enacted the NASA thunderstorm rule for the launch. NASA contracted Boeing to build the satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Each of the GOES satellites continuously provides observations of 60 percent of the Earth. The wealth of data available from the GOES satellites proves technology has come a long way since the grainy images of the world's first weather satellite, TIROS. NOAA has two operational GOES satellites hovering 22,300 miles above the equator – GOES-12, in the east, and GOES-11, in the west – each provide continuous observations of environmental conditions of North, Central and South America and surrounding oceans. While these two are operational, another GOES satellite, GOES-13, is in orbital storage and can be activated if one of the other satellites experiences trouble.

With the launch of the latest GOES satellite, NOAA will have another backup. Approximately 24 days after launch, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn engineering control over to NASA. About five months later, NASA will transfer operational control of GOES-14 to NOAA. The satellite will be checked out, stored in orbit and available for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust its fuel.

Photo Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller