Weather
Barry May Hit NOLA, Poses An Unprecedented Threat

Barry May Hit NOLA, Poses An Unprecedented Threat

On Wednesday, New Orleans got a preview of coming disasters.  Severe thunderstorms that dumped between 6 and 7 inches of rain on the city in just 3 hours prompted tornado warnings and inundated the downtown area with water, causing transportation snarls and even forcing City Hall to close. Just as government forecasters announced that they expect 2019 to break annual flood records nationwide, the first real storm threat of the season “Barry” is lurking in the Gulf of Mexico setting its sights on the Louisiana coast (possibly New Orleans) but it is still not clear where it will make landfall.  

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Flash Floods Pound DC Just As Trump Denies Greatest Environmental Threat of All

Flash Floods Pound DC Just As Trump Denies Greatest Environmental Threat of All

Yesterday, nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in just one hour in the Washington D.C. metro area–making it one of the area’s top 10 wettest July days ever recorded. As the Washington Post reported, “The sheets of rain, with nowhere to run off, turned major roads into rivers while streams and creeks shot up 10 feet in […]

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Alaska Shatters High Temp Records

Alaska Shatters High Temp Records

On Independence Day, Anchorage, Alaska hit its highest temperature in recorded history — 90 degrees — by five degrees and beat the previous high for the 4th of July by more than twenty degrees, as records were broken all around the state.  However, other cities in Alaska had hit 90 degrees before, but these are rare events, but more records could fall according to Accuweather because Alaska currently sits under a “heat dome” that will last into this week.

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One “Cool” Thing: Freak Ice Storm In Mexico

One “Cool” Thing: Freak Ice Storm In Mexico

On Sunday, residents of Guadalajara, Mexico woke up to find their city under nearly 5 feet of ice that fell overnight as hail.   The region’s Governor, Enrique Alfaro told AFP, “I’ve never seen such scenes in Guadalajara. Then we ask ourselves if climate change is real. These are never-before-seen natural phenomenons,” he said. “It’s incredible.”  […]

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Man and Machine Chase Tornadoes Across the U.S.

Man and Machine Chase Tornadoes Across the U.S.

By Miro Korenha and Alexandra Patel  As tornadoes increase in range and frequency across the United States, a group of scientists has been using drones to better understand tornadoes and forecast them in an effort to save lives. Project TORUS has mobilized over 50 researchers and students to follow severe thunderstorms and collect enough data […]

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One Cool Thing: Summer Snow in Colorado Mountains

One Cool Thing: Summer Snow in Colorado Mountains

Summer snow is rare but that is just what happened in the mountains west of Denver on Friday, where nearly two feet fell on the first official day of summer.  According to CNN, Steamboat Springs, Colorado averages 0.1 inches of snow in June, with May 6 being the average last day of snowfall during a […]

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2.3 Million Unanswered Calls To FEMA

2.3 Million Unanswered Calls To FEMA

Just as Congress finally passed a $19B disaster relief law last week, then this news from Congress’ investigatory arm — The General Accounting Office — which issued a report stating, according to E&E News,that the Federal Emergency Management Agency “failed to answer 2.3 million phone calls to its disaster assistance helpline during an eight-week period […]

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Acting on Climate (Literally) Will Save Lives, It’s Science!

Acting on Climate (Literally) Will Save Lives, It’s Science!

  According to a new study in the journal Science Advances, meeting the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals of keeping the rise of global average temperatures to 1.5° C could substantially mitigate heat-related mortality in U.S. cities. This new study is one of the first to investigate how future climate scenarios might impact heat-related fatalities in […]

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Hurricane Season Begins With Disturbance In Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Season Begins With Disturbance In Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Season in the Atlantic officially began last Saturday, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting a “near normal” year with nine to fifteen named storms, of which four to eight may strengthen to become hurricanes. Of those, two to four could be major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.  The Pacific hurricane forecast is calling for an above-normal season for both the eastern and central Pacific regions. 

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Panama City Prepares for the Worst

Panama City Prepares for the Worst

June 1st marked the beginning of hurricane season, which for many Florida residents has returned far too quickly as they’re still struggling to recover from last season. In Panama City, FL residents are preparing for the worst, as last year brought Hurricane Michael and the near destruction of their town. After the disastrous impact of […]

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U.S. Midsection Stuck in “Spin” Cycle

U.S. Midsection Stuck in “Spin” Cycle

The Midwest and Great Plains have battled historic storms and flooding over the last few weeks seemingly “stuck” in a dangerous weather pattern — more than 250 tornadoes have struck since May 17, according to the Omaha World-Herald’s reporting from the National Weather Service, most happening in “swarms” of 25 or more at a time, including the latest deadly round in Dayton, Ohio yesterday.

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PDS Tornados in the Plains, Flood Waters Rise in Midwest

PDS Tornados in the Plains, Flood Waters Rise in Midwest

The weather forecasts in the southern Plain states on Sunday into Monday were ominous and the storm cells spawned approximately twenty tornados that damaged buildings and produced heavy rain, but there were no reported injuries, prompting some people to declare the storms a “bust.”

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