• Weather

Where In the U.S. Was Weather Its Most Extreme in 2019?

• coldest
• driest
• extreme weather
• hottest
• weather
• wettest

Cities in Alaska and the Southeastern U.S. saw some of the greatest extremes in weather in 2019 — with Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, coming in at 9.3 degrees warmer than average and Bozeman, Montana was 5.3 degrees colder than average, while Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas was the wettest with 25.02 inches more rain than average and of U.S. cities, Tallahassee, Florida, had a 20-inch rainfall deficit. 

Why This Matters:  There were some big extremes in 2019 — with an impressive list and geographic spread of U.S. cities seeing record-breaking weather.  Record warmth for Alaska is one of the biggest stories of the year.

• Climate Change

Climate Change Impacts Daily Weather On Global Scale

• climate change
• warming
• weather

Scientists who have studied global weather data say that beginning in 2012 “on the basis of a single day of globally observed temperature and moisture, we detect the fingerprint of externally driven climate change, and conclude that Earth as a whole is warming.”

Why This Matters:   When we talk about climate change, we can now explain it as something that is immediately apparent — not something that takes years to comprehend.  This should help in rebutting climate deniers insofar as they were resting on arguments about weather variability.

• People

Interview of the Week: Amelia Draper, Meteorologist, NBC4 Washington, D.C.

• climate change
• Meteorologists
• weather

Amelia is a meteorologist who reports daily during the afternoon newscast on climate change stories. ODP:  You have persuaded your local news producers to give you a short segment every day to discuss the issues surrounding climate change.  Were they reluctant?  Did you worry that you might not have enough stories to fill the time […]

• 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

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 […]

• Weather

Sharpie-Gate Reaches Fever Pitch – Rightfully So

• #Sharpiegate
• forecast
• Hurricane Dorian
• National Weather Service
• NOAA
• weather

The media frenzy over the doctored Hurricane Dorian map reached new highs (or lows) after NOAA put out an unsigned statement on Friday night retracting a tweet that launched the whole debacle — the Birmingham local National Weather Service forecast office clarifying that the storm track would not impact Alabama.  It led to a downward […]

• Weather

Directors of NOAA Research and National Weather Service Push Back

• hurricane
• Hurricane Dorian
• National Weather Service
• NOAA
• scientific integrity
• Secretary of Commerce
• weather

The Sharpie-Gate saga continued yesterday when The Washington Post obtained an internal email from the Chief Scientist at NOAA, Craig McLean, who wrote his colleagues that he “is investigating whether the agency’s response to President Trump’s Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics.” In addition, the head of the National Weather […]

• Weather

Alaska Shatters High Temp Records

• Alaska
• heat dome
• heat wave
• record high temperature
• weather

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.

• Climate Change

Trump Administration Continues to Undermine U.S. Climate Progress

• clean air
• Clean Car Rule
• clean water
• climate change
• Department of Agriculture
• NEPA
• weather

In a series of actions over the last two weeks, the Trump Administration continues to reverse U.S. government rules and programs that had been contributing to U.S. progress on the climate crisis.  In addition to the rule they proposed that benefits coal power plants by allowing them more flexibility with air pollution, the Agriculture Department “buried” studies by USDA scientists on the negative impacts of climate change, proposed that environmental reviews of federal projects no longer include estimates of greenhouse gas emissions caused by projects, increased categorical exclusions of environmental reviews for projects like logging on federal lands, and rebuffed all efforts by the state of California to reach an agreement on the clean car rule rollback.  

• Climate Change

Alaska Experiences Temperatures As Much As 40 Degrees Above “Normal”

• Alaska
• Arctic
• climate change
• high temperature
• record
• weather

For most people, a mild end to the long winter is a blessing, but for the people of Alaska, it may be too much of a good thing.  Temperatures in Alaska reached record highs for the month of March — with an unprecedented 70-degree day in the Southeastern town of Klawock on March 19 — the earliest any spot in the state has hit that high. — beating the previous first warm day by almost a month.   

• People

One “Hot” Take: Cold Shaming Is Not Cool

• cold
• storm
• weather
• wind chill
• zero

The Governor of Kentucky (who is up for re-election this year), found himself in hot water after a comment he made on Tuesday morning about the school closures in his state due to the extreme cold.  Speaking on WHAS-AM (840 AM) Tuesday, the host, Terry Meiners, reminded the Governor that classes had been canceled yesterday. The […]

The Essence of Our Essential Government

• Coast Guard
• emergencies
• environment
• government
• shutdown
• storm
• taxpayers
• weather

The government shutdown has been an ordeal but also instructive. It was devastating to government workers, contractors and grantees, who were directly harmed by the failures of our leaders to reach a funding agreement and pay them. But taking a step back, and trying to find any silver lining in this 36-day nightmare, we can see three.