Back around the beginning of April, we checked in here on what had proven to be an unusually quiet severe weather season to that point.

There were fairly frequent episodes in which an upper trough set in across the eastern United States, keeping temperatures, especially maximum temperatures, on the short side of normal. Along with that, the portions of those troughs that would be most favorable for possible severe storms were often east of the U.S.

The relatively cool temperatures associated with the troughs also held down instability, so that many areas saw little thunderstorm activity, and where it did form it was most often routine in nature.

Taking another look now that we're a month and a half farther along in the year shows that the overall trend has held up for the most part through April and the first part of May. While there has been some variability about the weather over the central and eastern U.S., we've continued to see a frequent lack of heat, humidity...

International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield shared a photo this week of a small hole in one of the solar arrays providing power to the station. The hole was created by what NASA calls Micrometeoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD). The more lyrical Hadfield called it "a small stone from the universe."

Those of you who use the iControl radar feature on our web site may have noticed a different look recently as we've implemented a new version of the display, powered by HTML5 rather than Flash. In general, the same features are available in the display as you were used to in the past, with a couple of small changes or additions that will hopefully add to its utility, in addition to making it available in similar form on many different platforms and devices.

Taking the screen shot above as a starting point, there are several features to note about the display. The main window, of course, overlays a variety of information types on a map background. The map view can be moved by clicking and dragging it around, and you can zoom in or out by either clicking the + or - buttons in the top left corner of the map, or by clicking briefly on the map and then using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

When you arrive at the iControl page, the display defaults to show a radar reflectivity...

This week is shaping up to be a good one for spotting the International Space Station (ISS) as it passes over North Carolina.