• Weather

Thanksgiving Travel: Weather Could Cause Problems, Meanwhile NOAA Leader Still “Acting”

• conflict of interest
• snowstorm
• Thanksgiving
• weather

Forecasters are calling for three major storms this week to snarl travel plans for much of the country — with cities from Denver to Detroit expecting snow, freezing rain and soaking rain and winds on Tuesday into Wednesday, the heaviest travel day of the year.  And in other weather news, the Trump Administration’s nominee to be the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is withdrawing his name from consideration — he was nominated but never confirmed — leaving the Acting Administrator to continue to lead the agency.

Why This Matters:  This will be the longest time NOAA has gone without a confirmed Administrator in its history.

• Weather

Venice Underwater: Massive Floods Engulf City

• Flooding
• Seal Level Rise
• venice

by Miro Korenha and Alexandra Patel Venice called a state of emergency on Wednesday morning as flooding of the city’s famous canals reached levels that haven’t been witnessed in 50 years. Heavy rains caused waters to rise over 6 feet, inundated 85% of the city (including the historic St Mark’s basilica), and caused 2 deaths. […]

• Weather

The Most Devastating Hurricanes Are Hitting the US More Often

• climate change
• extreme weather
• Hurricanes
• storms

Hurricanes are the most destructive natural disasters in the United States and the most dangerous and destructive storms are hitting the U.S. three times more frequently than they did a century ago.

Now, what are we going to do about it?

• Weather

Extreme Weather Around the Globe: U.S. Freezing, Australia on Fire, Canada Melting

• brush fires
• extreme weather
• sea level rise

Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, is being consumed by wildfires, with the city of Sydney at risk for the first time, and the government has declared a state of emergency in the region for the next week.  Meanwhile, here in the U.S., a massive arctic front has shifted south, bringing bone-chilling cold and snow to the middle of the country today, with more than 67 million Americans are under winter weather alerts and hundreds of cold temperature records could be broken.

Why This Matters:  This is more than just uncomfortable weather — it is dangerous.  This type of “catastrophic” wildfire risk has never happened before in New South Wales — and the public is being warned not to be dismissive — with officials explaining that these conditions mean that lives are at risk.  The same is true for bitter cold here — with snow from the Dakotas to New England over the course of the week, and it is not even mid-November.

• Weather

Climate Change Driving Stronger El Niño Years

• climate change
• El Nino
• extreme weather

A new study predicts that in the future, continued warming over the western Pacific as a result of climate change promises conditions that will trigger more extreme El Niño events.

Why This Matters: Wetter El Niño years and dryer and hotter La Niña years can have deadly impacts for communities across the world.

• Weather

Read This: Typhoon Hagibis’ Path of Destruction in Japan

• extreme weather
• hurricane
• Japan
• typhoon

Take a look at the Atlantic’s roundup of images from the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, the equivalent of a category 5 storm that struck Japan this past week, causing billions of dollars of wreckage in its wake and claiming 66 lives. Not only did the storm sweep away Fukushima nuclear waste bags into the river […]

• Weather

One Cold Thing: Weather Whiplash in Colorado

• Denver
• snow
• weather

Oh, what a difference a day makes!  It was 82 degrees and sunny on Wednesday afternoon in Denver, but by last night ice and snow walloped the region after a temperature drop of 64 degrees in less than 24 hours.  The Denver Airport experienced delays, and major roadways were shut down on account of a […]

• Politics
• Weather

Southern States Face Drought and Risks of Wildfires

• Drought
• extreme weather
• Georgia
• Texas
• wildfires

Although the hottest story in the media right now is impeachment it’s important not to forget that a worsening drought is affecting Southern states from Texas to Georgia. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has extended a drought disaster declaration to numerous counties in the state due to significantly low rainfall and prolonged dry conditions that continue […]

• Weather

World Meteorological Association Says 2015-19 On Track to Be Warmest Five Years Ever

• climate
• climate monitoring
• extreme weather
• World Meteorological Organization

The five years from 2015-2019 are going to be the warmest five year period on record according to the World Meteorological Association (WMO) which comes as no surprise given the “symptoms” we have experienced during this period, including sea-level rise, ice loss, and extreme weather.  This grim news that climate change is accelerating was made public […]

• Weather

Extreme Weather Displaces Millions in 2019, The Year’s Not Even Over

• climate change
• extreme weather

A new report put out by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, (IDMC) has revealed that extreme weather events have displaced a record-setting 7 million people in the first 6 months of 2019. As the New York Times reported the IDMC, “which compiles data from governments, United Nations humanitarian agencies and media reports, concluded in a […]

• Weather

New Polling Shows Americans Believe Weather Disasters Increasing, NOAA Flap Continues

• climate change
• NOAA
• severe weather

Late last week, a new AP-NORC poll of 1,058 adults, which was conducted August 15-18, found that more than 70 percent of Americans believe that weather disasters are worsening (only 4% thought it was less severe) and most of those people blame global warming for that.  Meanwhile, ICYMI, in yesterday’s episode of Sharpie-Gate, the Acting […]

• Weather

Hurricane Dorian to Impact SC, NC, and VA – President is Focused on False Alabama Track

• climate change
• Flooding
• Hurricane Dorian
• storm surge
• storm track

The latest track of Hurricane Dorian is causing more disruption and dislocation as it moves up the East Coast today and tomorrow, with South and North Carolina and even Virginia in harm’s way as the storm re-strengthened to a strong Category 3, and its storm surge, torrential rains, and wind are expected to cause flooding […]