Killer weather on Mount Everest

From Montreal, at a joint meeting of the American and Canadian Geophysical Unions

In May 1996, eight climbers attempting to reach the peak of Mount Everest died. An analysis of weather patterns at the time suggests that a sudden drop in barometric pressure may have played a significant role in the tragedy.

During the first week of that month, Mount Everest lay beneath a zone of abnormally high atmospheric pressure, says Kent Moore, a physicist at the University of Toronto.