#Local Weather Conditions Forecasts

[melancholicstation]

JOHN F. KENNEDY AND NURSE!READER HEADCANON'S!

putting this in memoriam for the jackuno instagram account... my number one boy come back home soon

tags: @obsessedwithjohnjr @candyneckl6ce @rocker-chick-7 @ultr4v1ol3nt @violetharmonsfavgf @strip-weather-forecast @darcyspirits @fortheloveofjos @h-l-v-kennedy-blog @h-l-vlovesvintage @bluelancergirl @snowsgames @salvatoresablondie @dulcegal @kennedyism @bloxholden35 @kimcrystal123 @absurdlyvintage @jackiesgirl @chemicalw0rld @remotewatch @starsprangledgirl @strryhaze @beloved-angel

you two definitely meet when jack, or rather joe senior, is trying to bribe jack's way into the naval academy despite his various medical ailments...

you're the only nurse that actually is able to convince the head doctor at the massachusetts hospital you work at to give jack the go-ahead, so naturally you and jack become fast friends... though the term in this case is used VERY fast and loose

in between feeling very sorry for himself jack would definitely beg, and be successful, in having you to sneak out with him to go to high society parties on the cape saying that they're "for the betterment of his health"

after a few times of this happening during his medical stay, you now have made it routine to always bring an overnight doctor's bag to your shift fit with: a tipping coat, oxford shirt, cummerbund, and a wool pique bow tie.

you'd also bring a change of clothes to change out of your normal nursing uniform... which in my personal mind palace looks like that one flashback scene of miss alison dilaurentis in the hospital but more elevated

think a nice candy striped dress shirt in a starched cotton with a silk vest on top or a nice white, 100% cotton midi dress

would soooo bitch and moan for you to get him real bedding instead of those nasty polyester hospital sheets

he feels at home wrapped up in baby cashmere who can blame him? not i... not i

in the early days you're not taking him, or your "relationship" seriously as it appeared that he didn't either

but... that all changes once he finally starts to open up slowly but surely, starting with his feelings around his own health, and moving onto his family and their less than psychologically beneficial dynamics...

makes you feed him pomegranate seeds like a baby deer in bed and not a twenty-something man

when his family comes to visit him (which is less often than you think he secretly would like) you indulge in his request for you to apply a bit of rouge to his cheeks just so his family doesn't worry that he's approaching death's door

you take daily walks to your local bibliothéque and browse the history sections for books to take back to the hospital, knowing that he gets through them suspiciously fast...

does he skim or is he just a very, very fast reader? the world, and you for that matter, may never know...

once he's in a more stable condition and thereby is let out for visitations on the weekend he stays with his family for the day, no doubt sailing on cape as instructed by his medical team, yet then he books a local boutique cape hotel for the two of you to stay the night.

he doesn't tell his family about whom and where he spends those weekend evenings and you definitely don't tell your boss that you just stayed at the hyannis travel inn with a certain trust fund patient of theirs

he gets sick of the hospital food real fast so you brave your way into the hospital kitchen and cook him steak and potatoes like you've got a high school crush...

how you and him are moving on days you're not working once he's out of the hospital:

these photos are very you and him coded. the first is so him carrying you bridal style to his private (cause we know that's one thing joe sr. doesn't play about) hospital room despite him being in the hospital for an AILING SPINE. the second is you two absolutely tearing it up at hyannis port, having fun meanwhile his family is confused like didn't we see this girl at hospital check-in... curious, curious indeed

[mentally-unstabler]

Cold Winter’s Night

Elliot Stabler x Reader

AN- I wrote this months ago during winter but never got around to publishing it. Smut and kinda angst + age gap (all legal and consensual). Set around season 7/8

—1.4k wc—

The blizzard had approached the state of New York faster than the weather forecast had predicted. You and your partner Elliot were halfway to Syracuse, chasing a lead on a serial assailant, when the storm hit your location.

“And there goes the car battery,” you sigh as your patrol car engine finally quits. “And our source of heat.”

You had only been stranded on the side of the highway for two hours, but it felt like an eternity when there was no rescue currently available. All the roads had shut down and although you could radio local patrol, they couldn’t reach you until the storm let up.

Your partner had been sitting in the drivers seat, silently fuming for the entire time you’d been stuck there. He didn’t want to pull over but he finally relented when the sedan started sliding on the road. Not even a snow plow could drive in these conditions.

“We have two waters, half a cold coffee, and a few granola bars from what I’ve counted,” you state. “I think we can last at least a few hours on these if we ration.”

Elliot lets out a long sigh. This was just another nail in the coffin of his messy year. Between the divorce being finalized, Olivia transferring departments, and the whole Gitano incident, this year had not been his favorite. And now he was trapped in a freezing vehicle with his new partner. At least it wasn’t Munch.

You had transferred into SVU a year ago from narcotics, initially being assigned to work with Fin. However, after Olivia left, Cragen decided to pair you with Elliot, hoping your calm demeanor would rub off on him. So far, it hadn’t.

More hours had passed in the car and as the winter sun fell bellow the horizon, so did the temperature. Even with your jacket on it wasn’t long before you were shivering.

“You cold?” Elliot asks, still annoyed at the situation.

“Yeah I mean it’s a bit chilly,” you reply somewhat sarcastically.

“It might be warmer in the back seat,” Elliot suggests. “Cause it’s away from the frozen windshield.”

“You know the car has a windshield in the back too, right?” you reply.

Elliot shrugs then proceeds to awkwardly climb over the center console and into the back of the squad car.

“Well it’s not colder than the front,” he remarks. He reaches out a hand to help you climb into the back seat next to him.

You were always a little wary of Elliot. He was really close to Olivia and since she left he seems to have latched onto you. You definitely enjoyed his company, despite the 10 year age gap and his fiery demeanor. You were so opposite that you ended up working really well together.

“Detective Stabler,” Elliot states as he answers his phone. It was a pleasant surprise to know you had cellular coverage up here.

“Tomorrow?” Elliot asks annoyed. “Could you send literally anyone earlier?”

“Fine,” Elliot grumbles. “Well hang in there.”

“That was the Captain,” he states as he hangs up his phone. “They won’t be able to send anyone to us until tomorrow.”

You groan in annoyance at your situation.

“I’m going pee,” you state, moving towards the door. “If I’m not back in 10 send a search party.”

Elliot tried to protest you going out into the storm but realized given your situation it was probably for the best you did your business outside of the car.

You reenter the car a few minutes later, unable to feel your fingers from the sub zero temperatures. Your jacket is completely soaked through as you didn’t dress for that heavy of snowfall.

Elliot immediately notices your shivering state and begins to take off your jacket.

“What are you doing?” you ask, pulling away from him.

“You can’t keep this on,” he states. “It’s wet, it will freeze and make you colder.”

You slowly let him help you out of your jacket, accepting the fact that you were in fact very cold.

Elliot pulls you close to him in an attempt to warm you up. You were not used to this weather, being from California. You had only seen snow on a handful of instances before moving to New York a few years prior.

The two of you stayed huddled together in the back seat for awhile, too cold to do anything but wait. You had dosed off for a bit in Elliot’s arms but the back seat wasn’t the most comfortable place.

“You’re still shivering,” Elliot comments as he passes you the water bottle you’re sharing.

“I’m not used to anything below 50 degrees,” you reply. Elliot looks at you for permission before he pulls you closer to him, allowing you to steal more of his body heat. The position you were in was perhaps bordering on not appropriate but given the circumstances you couldn’t care. You were so cold.

“Do you miss California?” Elliot asks, realizing he doesn’t know that much about your life before New York.

“Sometimes,” you sigh. “I miss the good parts.”

Elliot knows not to press you for details on things you don’t want to talk about. He was worried though as you appeared to be falling asleep again.

Deciding you were in fact sleeping and not passed out from the cold, he let you lay against his chest as you slept, your body on top of his in the back seat. He had told himself so many times not to get close to the people he works with, but he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. There was a calm about you he appreciated, and you were good with the victims.

It’s a little before sunrise when you both wake up, even colder than you were when you fell asleep. You both were too cold to care about the position you were in, or the fact that your faces were way too close to each other, you just wanted to be someplace warm again.

“We really shouldn’t,” you tell Elliot, noticing that he’s suspiciously been staring at your lips since you woke up.

“We don’t have to,” he says calmly.

“It’s a really bad idea,” you giggle.

“I’m not known for making the best decisions,” Elliot whispers as he moves in closer.

Fuck it, you decide. It can’t make you any colder and who knows if you’ll even live long enough to be rescued from this damned car. Plus you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about doing this before.

You sink further into his grasp as your lips connect, hands tucked under his jacket for warmth. Was this a bad idea? Very much so. But you couldn’t help yourself. You’d never needed some activity such as this more in your life.

There is no signs of stopping as the back seat heats up. You’re tugging at each other’s clothes, not wanting to take anything off but also feeling the need to be closer to the person in front of you.

Elliot finally pulls away and you instantly miss his touch.

“We don’t have to…” he says, referring to continuing your connection.

“Elliot,” you say, staring at his eyes. “I want to continue if you do.”

“I don’t have a condom,” he says worriedly.

“I’m clean,” you reply, “and I can get some plan B tomorrow. We’ll be fine.”

Assured of your consent, Elliot reconnects his lips to yours as he slips a hand under your shirt, tugging at the hem of your pants. Forgetting the cold, you quickly unbutton them and pull them off, flinging them into the front seat. Elliot senses your urgency and rids himself of his belt and trousers.

Unfortunately for your decision making, the sex was amazing. You both forgot about the cold, or the fact that you were cramped in the back of a squad car, all you could do is moan his name as he bounced you on his hard cock over and over.

Elliot hadn’t had any physical contact remotely close to this in months and he was very hungry for it. His hands grasped firmly on your sides as he moved you on top of him. His mouth nipped at your freezing neck as you moaned the most beautiful noises.

You both could’ve continued this way for hours if you weren’t starving and dehydrated. It probably wasn’t the smartest move to exert all your energy at once, or to sleep with your coworker who you spend every day with.

Two orgasms later you both were spent. Elliot used some napkins he found in the glove compartment to clean up the back seat and you both reluctantly put your close back on. You finished the last of the water and food and waited in silence for help to come.

At least you were no longer cold.

[rjzimmerman]

Where local forecast offices no longer monitor weather around-the-clock. (Washington Post)

Excerpt from this story from the Washington Post:

For at least half a century, the National Weather Service has been an around-the-clock operation. But after the U.S. DOGE Service led efforts to shrink the federal government, that is no longer possible in some parts of the country.

Ask your climate questions. With the help of generative Al, we'll try to deliver answers based on our published reporting.

In four of the agency’s 122 weather forecasting offices around the country, there aren’t enough meteorologists to staff an overnight shift, according to the National Weather Service Employees Organization, a union representing agency workers. And at least several more forecast offices are expected to stop staffing an overnight shift as early as Sunday.

Each of the offices has local knowledge about weather hazards and geographic features that helps improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and warnings and inform local officials’ decisions to close schools for wintry weather or evacuate residents ahead of hurricanes. Without a meteorologist working overnight, those offices’ duties to monitor conditions and issue forecasts and warnings will temporarily pass to neighboring offices each night, said Tom Fahy, the union’s legislative director.

At an agency whose staff have a strong commitment to their lifesaving work, he said, the circumstances have stretched employees’ resilience “to the breaking point” and “hobbled the agency’s esprit de corps.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency of the Weather Service, “remains adequately staffed to ensure that critical research continues and that actionable data continues to be released to the public as regularly scheduled,” spokeswoman Kim Doster said in an email. “NOAA anticipates no loss of critical information to the American people.”

The agency is meanwhile seeking to transfer employees to the most critically understaffed offices to fill gaps. Doster said it is also seeking hiring authority — NOAA and the Weather Service remain subject to a hiring freeze imposed in January — while also pursuing “a reevaluation of resource allocation and priorities across all line offices within the bureau.”

[mountrainiernps]

The shift from fall to winter conditions happens quickly on Mount Rainier. Paradise and other subalpine areas have already seen some snow, and more is likely this weekend. When visiting, plan ahead and remember you are responsible for your safety.

Before leaving home, check the current trail conditions and heed local weather forecasts, realizing weather can change for the worse in a very short period of time. Before starting your hike, stop by the Longmire Museum or Jackson Visitor Center in the southwest part of the park, or the Carbon River Ranger Station in the northwest, for the latest trail conditions. Note: While SR410/123 on the east side of the park are still open, all eastside visitor facilities have closed for the season.

Always carry survival gear with you in case you have to spend the night out, including the 10 Essentials: food, water, warm clothing, emergency shelter, stove/fuel, flashlight, avalanche transceiver/probe/shovel, map/compass/GPS, first aide kit, & repair kit for any equipment.

Wear footwear with good tread to minimize risks from slipping. Consider using traction devices like shoe chains or hiking poles for extra stability.

You may need a reliable map and compass skills to traverse snow-covered trails, which can be difficult to follow, particularly in backcountry areas.

Know your limits. Know your experience and ability to survive in an alpine environment and don’t exceed them. A trail that is easy in summer can be challenging in winter.

Find more safety tips at https://go.nps.gov/MORAWinterSafety

NPS Photo of snow on the Tatoosh Range, 10/23/24.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ilana Berger at MMFA:

Right-wing media are trying to delegitimize climate change as a real and growing threat to the West Coast, just as that threat becomes most evident. Several unusual January wildfires have been burning in Los Angeles County since January 7. Despite the clear connection between global warming and the increasingly dry conditions that lead to fire hazards, right-wing media are following their familiar playbook and blaming what they call California’s “failed” policies for the ongoing crisis. 

Californians are struggling to control ongoing fires, as U.S. communities are ill-prepared for year-round extreme weather

The two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, have collectively burned over 164,000 acres of Los Angeles County. Nearly 173,000 people are under evacuation warnings or orders in LA County, at least 25 people have died, and over 17,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed. The Palisades fire was 19% contained and the Eaton fire was at 45% containment as of publication. [Los Angeles Times, 1/14/25; Cal Fire, accessed 1/15/25; ktla.com, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/14/25]  

Like in many other cities, LA’s municipal water system is not designed to handle multiple massive fires at once. Reports that the hydrants being used to put out the fires were running low spurred misinformation about water shortages due to a lack of reservoirs or related to California’s water policies that divert water from Northern California to Southern California. These rumors proved to be misleading: Even though there is enough water, there isn’t enough pressure to get water to go where firefights need it most. As the LAist has noted in the past, “Fire hydrants have also run dry in the case of other wildfires that spread to urban areas, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire, 2024’s Mountain Fire and 2023’s Maui wildfires.” [Media Matters, 1/10/25; The LAist, 1/9/25, 8/15/23]  

Forecasters were predicting more of the dry and intense Santa Ana winds that were fueling the fires. The winds, which typically occur during the colder months, are severely impeding efforts to contain the fires. NBC Los Angeles reported that “planes dumping water and retardant on impacted areas have been unable to take to the sky at times since the fires began because of the dangerous conditions presented by the winds.” On January 14 and 15, Los Angeles was expecting winds of up to 65 mph. As of January 14, the National Weather Service had declared red flag warnings, signaling “an increased risk of fire danger,” as well as  a “particularly dangerous situation” for parts of the area, which National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld said is “one of the loudest ways that we can shout.” [National Weather Service, accessed 1/14/25, 1/14/25; NBC Los Angeles, 1/13/25; NPR, 1/8/25; Los Angeles Times, 1/13/25]  

U.S. communities and infrastructure are ill-prepared for the climate-fueled extreme weather events that are now happening year round. On X, CBS national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti posted, “American homes were built for an environment that no longer exists. This - like all of the disasters this century, from Florida to Hawaii - must be a call to action. This is the second time in one month Malibu was hit by fire.” Chad Hanson, a forest and fire ecologist and the president of the John Muir Project, told the Los Angeles Times, “The fact is that forest management is not stopping weather- and climate-driven fires.” Carlos Martín, an expert on housing adaptation and climate change, told Fast Company that cities are relying on the federal government because “the resources just aren’t there locally, and the damages are way more than anybody ever anticipated.” Martín said climate change mitigation and adaptation will be key in preparing for future disasters. “It’s like taking a pill to prevent the disease versus getting the disease treated afterwards. That’s the way we have to start thinking about these events: What we used to think of as individual crises [are now] chronic things,” he added. [Media Matters, 1/10/25; Twitter/X, 1/8/25; Los Angeles Times, 8/21/21; Fast Company, 1/11/25]

Right-wing media push the nonsense claim that climate change has nothing to do with the wildfires plaguing the LA area, despite ample evidence proving otherwise.

[bekolxeram]

7x03 analysis part 2 — Too many Cats

Tommy flew a helicopter into a Category 5 hurricane, at least the show told us so. Is it even possible for an aircraft to fly in those conditions? Today, we are going to figure out just how strong the storm actually is canonically, and how realistic our beloved weewoo show is.

TW: Hurricane, extreme weather, natural disaster

What is the difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane? What even is a hurricane?

Both tropical storm and hurricane are tropical cyclones, just of different strength. A tropical cyclone is a rotating storm system with a low pressure center. The center, or the eye of the storm, sucks in warm moist air from an oceanic environment and it feeds into the generation of storm clouds that organize themselves into a spiral pattern due to the Earth's rotation, aka Coriolis effect.

A tropical cyclone is classified by its maximum sustained wind.

So if it's below 62 km/h, it's a tropical Depression. if it's between 63-118 km/h, it's a Tropical Storm. A Category 5 hurricane though has a maximum sustained wind speed of over 252 km/h.

A strong enough tropical cyclone is called a hurricane in North America, a typhoon in East Asian, and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean (including Australia).

How strong is the storm in 7x03 actually?

We first see the storm at the end of 7x01, when First Mate Kenneth tells Captain Ochoa there is a strengthening tropical storm in the ship's path. Captain Ochoa decides to reverse course back to LA and instructs Kenneth to alert the Coast Guard, but they get interrupted by the cartel.

Fast forward to 7x02, the next mention of the storm comes from Karen. When Hen is sent home by Chief Simpson, she tries to call Athena, but it goes straight to voicemail. Karen tells her cell service is probably spotty out at sea because of the hurricane, which has just got upgraded.

It's recently upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane, as we can see from Karen's tablet.

Then Hen goes to Maddie to ask the Coast Guard to look for Bathena's cruise ship. When Hen shows Maddie the ship tracking app on her phone, the time is 10:28. (I'm guessing PM because it's already dark outside during the Kyle Ortiz call.)

By the time Chief Simpson comes by to reinstate Hen, she's already talking about a Cat 5 hurricane. That can't be more than an hour or two later.

So which one is it? Is it a Cat 2 or a Cat 5? Who should I trust?

Tommy. Whenever he flies, his safety depends on his understanding of the local wind condition and weather. You should listen to him:

So it's a Cat 5, at least by the time the 118 set off on their journey to save Bathena.

Can a tropical storm intensify into a Cat 5 hurricane in hours?

No, not in real life. The record for most rapid intensification of a tropical cyclone is Hurricane Patricia in 2015, but it still took 24 hours. This doesn't mean the storm in 7x03 is completely made up. I believe I might have found the real life inspiration behind it.

Hurricane Otis (2023)

An area of low pressure formed on October 15, 2023 over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico. While it was during a significant El Niño period and the ocean temperature was record-breaking-ly high, strong vertical wind shear condition near the storm was predicted to hinder its development. It was originally forecasted to make landfall as a mere tropical storm. People in Acapulco went to bed on October 23 expecting moderate wind and light rainfall, many stopped seeking out updates of the storm.

In the early hours of October 24, meteorologists at the NHC recognized from satellite images that tropical storm Otis was rapidly intensifying into a hurricane. The NHC officially upgraded the storm to a Cat 1 hurricane at 13:00 CDT and sent out a hurricane hunter aircraft to accurately measure the actual wind speed of the cyclone.

Satellite images provide a pretty good model to estimate the strength of a tropical cyclone, but the most reliable way to measure wind speed is still to fly an aircraft into it and physically measure it. When the hurricane hunter managed to fly into the eyewall of Otis, everyone realized they made a huge mistake: Otis had already become a Cat 3 hurricane, and it was expected to strengthen even more. It takes time to process data received from the hurricane hunter, so operationally the NHC still classified Otis as a Cat 1 hurricane until the next advisory was scheduled to come out, which was at 16:00 CDT, but by that time, Otis was already near Cat 4 strength. It was then officially upgraded to a Cat 5 hurricane at 22:00 CDT.

While Otis did take around 24 hours to intensify from a tropical storm to a catastrophic hurricane, if you just look at the NHC advisories, it pretty much jumped from a Cat 1 into a Cat 5 in 9 hours. It caused extensive damage to Acapulco when it made landfall because the city was severely underprepared. I suspect the cruise ship disaster arc was inspired by hurricane Otis because it happened just a month after the writer strike ended. Also, in 7x02 Maddie, a 911 dispatcher, was not aware that the tropical storm had already strengthened into a hurricane, which mirrors the unexpected development of hurricane Otis.

As the storm in universe was going back at sea and not making landfall, the authority was probably in even less of a hurry to find out what the actual strength of the cyclone was. So it could take them even longer to send in weather reconnaissance aircrafts. I can imagine the 911-verse version of the storm jumping from a Cat 2 to a Cat 5 officially in mere hours.

Can a helicopter fly in a Cat 5 hurricane?

Technically yes, but the chopper won't be doing the flying. The aforementioned NOAA Hurricane Hunter is a Lockheed P-3 Orion specifically modified and fortified for weather information collection. If this four-engined workhorse has to fight tooth and nail against crosswind and turbulence in order to fly into the eye of the storm, a small single engine helicopter definitely would not fair any better. It would end up getting tossed around, a particular strong downdraft might slam it into the ocean, or a prolong bout of severe turbulence might rip it apart. Luckily in 7x03, Tommy is not actually flying into a hurricane, he's trailing behind it.

NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion Hurricane Hunter

In a blink-and-you-miss-it exchange between Buck and Tommy, after Tommy says "a Cat 5 hurricane passed through here", Buck asks why he means by "passed through" and what they are flying in at the moment.

"iNTermITteNt sHOweRs"

When looking at the cross section of a tropical cyclone, you can see rows of rainbands around the eyewall, increasing in size the closer it is to the center of the storm. If you have ever experienced a tropical cyclone making landfall, you would know it starts with sporadic bouts of rainfall (aka intermittent showers), which then gradually increase in frequency and severity as the storm approaches. Once you are within 100-200 km of the eye, wind speed would become violent while the rainbands become so wide and close together it basically keeps raining until you are right under the eye.

These are radar images of hurricane Irma (2017) making landfall in Florida. Bands of moderate to heavy rainfall spread across the inner core region of the cyclone, with still pretty consistent light to moderate precipitation between the gaps. But in the area further away from the eye in the southwest and southeast quadrants, you can see more squall line like patterns. Precipitation would abruptly begin and stop as you fly in and out of those outer lumps of clouds.

Wind speed in that area is no where near hurricane level even for a Cat 5 cyclone, it is typically under 100 km/h. That does not mean it is a safe condition to fly in. Because the outer rainbands of a cyclone are less affected by the storm's vortex dynamics, they behave more like regular thunderstorms. As you know, thunderstorms are big no-no's for aviation safety. In fact, the outer rainbands of a typhoon once contributed to a plane crash in Taiwan.

Conclusion

The hurricane in 7x03 is likely based on reality, albeit with a bit of exaggeration and a shortened timeline for dramatic effect. It is possible to fly and control a helicopter in this specific condition, but the danger is still quite high. Flying into a thunderstorm has a whole different set of risks associated with it, which I will tell you all about next time. Yes, part 3 of this series is "how to crash a helicopter with weather", so stay tuned.

[seat-safety-switch]

Are you sick of the weather? I sure am. Whenever the weekend and its glorious expanse of free time rolls around, outdoor conditions take an instantaneous dive towards "poopy." Sure, you could point fingers in all kinds of directions about this, but I know who's to blame: the weatherman.

When I was a kid, our elementary school got to tour the local television channel. Rather than educational, to young me it was terrifying. All these fictions that were drawn by my television set were just ordinary, mortal people like myself. People with vendettas. People who made mistakes. The weatherman could mis-read a number, declare the weather fantastic, and kill fifty people on the highway in the blizzard of the century.

It was then that I decided not to trust authority. Sure, it had been brewing for awhile. My parents were still going out and leaving me behind at home for weeks on end whenever a circus was even close to our town, hoping to finally break free of their pitiful office jobs and Wall Street achievement arcs and get into what was really important: carny life. While they were gone, a family services worker or police officer would sometimes drop by to make sure that I was okay. I'd lie to them, of course. Straight As across the board, officer. They're just in the toilet. Yes, both of them. Taco night went badly wrong. Do you have a fucking warrant?

Cops were one thing, though, and learning not to believe the weatherman was another. All these profitable corporations and beloved products on the commercial breaks were vouching for him, risking their reputations in the process. A better person would have been galvanized to create their own weather-predicting operation, saving lives with up-to-the-second forecasts generated by a cobbled-together home Doppler radar setup. Me, I just got real good at driving in the snow. It helped that Mom never noticed the dents and guardrail paint transfer on her Aries until I did.

[crazilily]

big fan of weatherscan.net

i know i keep talking about this stupid old weather channel from the 2000s like its all amazing but i mean like??? kinda???? its banger ass jazz music broken up by "your current conditions" "your local forecast" "the local doppler radar" and other stuff. that would go hard in a club btw. and its all on THIS old ass UI

the cable channel got shut down in 2022 but this lives on, so go look at it!!! https://weatherscan.net/

[floridaenvironmentwatch]

WARNING:

Residents in Central Florida-including Marion, Sumter, Lake, and Volusia counties-as well as those in the Miami-Dade area, are urged to take precautions amid ongoing drought and wildfire conditions. Nearly 100 wildfires are currently burning across Florida, affecting approximately 3,832 acres as of April 25, 2025, according to the Florida Forest Service. The state is experiencing severe drought, with temperatures reaching into the upper 80s and 90s Fahrenheit, and the onset of the wet season expected to be delayed.

Authorities recommend ensuring access to safe drinking water, air conditioning, or fans, especially for those planning outdoor activities such as visits to amusement parks due to the heightened risk of heat-related illnesses which include heat stroke. The combination of high temperatures and smoke from wildfires poses additional health risks, particularly respiratory issues from prolonged exposure to smoke, which is being dispersed by strong gusts of winds.

The situation is further complicated by environmental impacts. Water levels in Lake Okeechobee continue to drop, raising concerns about the health of its ecosystem and the potential for fish mortality as shallow marsh areas become less accessible. Lower water levels can disrupt aquatic plant communities that are vital for fish habitat and water quality.

In a positive development, meteorologists report that a weak cold front is expected to move over northern parts of the region by Sunday evening, increasing the likelihood of rain, particularly north and west of the I-4 corridor. Isolated showers are possible, with a 20% chance of rain forecast. As the week progresses, sea breezes are expected to return, raising rain chances to 30–40% and potentially bringing some relief from the heat.

Residents are encouraged to stay informed through local weather updates and to follow safety recommendations from state and local agencies as conditions evolve.

[asasfsas24]

Weather Patterns, Winds, and Waves for 'Fri, 17 Jan 2025'

**January 17, 2025 (Friday)** 🌤 **Weather Overview for Today and Tomorrow** Here is the atmospheric pressure, wind, and wave information for today and tomorrow. In the Chiba area, January 18, 2025, will experience a spring tide, with high tides expected at 7:35 AM and 6:45 PM, and low tides at 12:53 AM and 1:09 PM. The weather will be influenced by a high-pressure system, but due to a trough, it may be cloudy with occasional sunny spells. The wind will be moderately strong from the north, possibly shifting to the northeast in the afternoon. Waves are expected to be between 2 to 2.5 meters, possibly accompanied by swells. On January 19, the wind direction may change from south to east, with waves continuing at 2 meters and possibly accompanied by swells. Depending on the strength and direction of the wind, the surface of the waves may be affected. Particularly strong north winds could cause the wave surface to become choppy. As it is a spring tide, the tidal movements are significant and may influence wave conditions. Let's take a closer look at the detailed situation. **Weather Overview for Chiba Area (Choshi Local Meteorological Observatory Announcement)** Japan is currently experiencing a west-high, east-low pressure pattern. Meanwhile, a trough extends near the Izu Islands. Chiba Prefecture is currently experiencing clear weather. On the 17th, the west-high, east-low pressure pattern will gradually weaken, and the area will be covered by high pressure. However, due to the influence of the trough, it is expected to be sunny with occasional clouds. On the 18th, the area will be covered by high pressure, but due to the influence of the trough, it is expected to be cloudy with occasional sunny spells. In the Pacific coastal waters of Chiba Prefecture, waves will be high with swells from the 17th to the 18th. Vessels should be cautious of high waves. 🌊 **Weather Map, Wind, and Wave Forecast for Tomorrow and the Day After** **Chiba North/Chiba South Area Wind and Wave Forecast (Japan Meteorological Agency Announcement)** **Forecast for Tomorrow** - **January 18, 2025** - **Chiba North Wind:** North wind, later shifting to northeast; moderately strong at sea - **Chiba North Waves:** 2 meters with swells - **Chiba South Wind:** Moderately strong north wind, later shifting to northeast; initially strong in Isumi and Awa - **Chiba South Waves:** 2.5 meters, later 2 meters with swells **Forecast for the Day After Tomorrow** - **January 19, 2025** - **Chiba North Wind:** South wind - **Chiba North Waves:** 2 meters with swells - **Chiba South Wind:** South wind, later shifting to east - **Chiba South Waves:** 2 meters with swells 🌊 **Tide Information for Tomorrow (Chiba/Shonan Area)** **Tide Information for Chiba (Katsuura) and Shonan (Enoshima)** **Chiba Area (Katsuura)** - **January 18, 2025** - Sunrise: 6:45 AM / Sunset: 4:52 PM - Spring Tide - High Tide: 7:35 AM (132cm) / 6:45 PM (129cm) - Low Tide: 12:53 AM (12cm) / 1:09 PM (68cm) **Shonan Area (Enoshima)** - **January 18, 2025** - Sunrise: 6:49 AM / Sunset: 4:55 PM - Spring Tide - High Tide: 7:51 AM (131cm) / 7:09 PM (130cm) - Low Tide: 1:21 AM (14cm) / 1:31 PM (65cm) That's all for today's information! #WeatherMap #PressurePattern #Tide #TideInformation #Sunrise #Sunset #Surfing #Surf #Surfer #Wave #Swell #Tide #Chiba #Shonan --- **Announcement** I would like to introduce my Kindle eBook series. **Riding the Perfect Wave (8 book series)** https://www.amazon.com/s?i=digital-text&rh=p_27%3AHARUBEE&_encoding=UTF8&ref=dbs_mng_calw_a_1 This book is the first in the "Riding the Perfect Wave" series, focusing on "Weekend Surfers." It explores various styles of weekend surfers and how to catch the best waves within limited time. It provides foundational knowledge on reading weather maps to find the best waves, making it a valuable resource for urban weekend surfers, beginners, and those new to surfing. By reading this book and the entire "Riding the Perfect Wave" series, you'll gain a general understanding of which areas have waves based on daily weather maps. It's essential reading for weekend surfers to enjoy surfing safely, and for beginners to read before heading to the beach. Through this book, I hope to convey the allure and depth of surfing, and to help readers understand the various meteorological and natural phenomena occurring on Earth. It also aims to inspire readers to think about the environment, ensuring we can continue to enjoy surfing in clean oceans.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Clouds Hover Over the Alaska Peninsula

Standing wave clouds developed along the Alaska Peninsula in spring 2025, casting striking shadows across the surfaces below. The well-defined clouds built throughout the day on April 7 as rugged terrain lofted and cooled winds blowing out of the north.

The VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-21, Suomi NPP, and NOAA-20 satellites captured this series of images between 2:40 and 3:30 p.m. local time (22:40 and 23:30 Universal Time) on April 7. The animation help illustrates how these “topographically anchored” clouds stayed relatively stable and stationary, said Scott Lindstrom, a remote sensing expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Space Science and Engineering Center. Lindstrom was alerted to these clouds by staff at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Juneau, Alaska.

Wave clouds form when prevailing winds encounter a topographic barrier, such as a mountain range. The air is forced to flow up and over the mountains, causing it to cool and any water vapor it contains to condense, forming clouds. The clouds may appear to hover in the sky even though wind is racing through them.

Atmospheric sounding data and ground observations collected that day showed strong, low-level winds blowing over the Bering Sea from the north, Lindstrom wrote in a blog post detailing the phenomenon. Around the time of the images, measurements also revealed a stable inversion layer from approximately 1,000 to 2,000 meters in altitude, above most of the peaks on the peninsula. As a result, he said, the conditions were right for standing wave clouds to form downwind of the ridge crests.

In the hours before the VIIRS sensors acquired the images above, the GOES-18 satellite, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), observed the wave cloud developing its well-defined northern edge. From a geostationary orbit, this satellite continuously monitors Earth’s Western Hemisphere.

However, because GOES orbits over the equator, it has an oblique view of higher latitudes. From its perspective, the clouds looked like they were located farther north over the Alaska Peninsula than they likely were, Lindstrom said, and their shadows were not visible. The case highlights the importance of the complementary nadir (straight-down) observations acquired by polar orbiters, he added, which include NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System and NASA’s Aqua, Terra, and PACE.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Lindsey Doermann.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

I asked chatgbt to make an image of Florida running out of homeowners insurance and flooded by a hurricane.

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 27, 2024

Heather Cox Richardson

Sep 28, 2024

Last night, at about 11:10 local time, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida, where the state’s panhandle curves down toward the peninsula. It was classified as a Category 4 storm when it hit, bringing winds of 140 miles per hour (225 km per hour). The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale, developed in 1971 by civil engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson, divides storms according to sustained wind intensity in an attempt to explain storms on a scale similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes. 

The Saffir-Simpson scale defines a Category 4 hurricane as one that brings catastrophic damage. According to the National Weather Service, which was established in 1870 to give notice of “the approach and force of storms,” and is now part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a Category 4 hurricane has winds of 134–156 miles (209–251 km) per hour. “Well-built framed homes can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and/or some exterior walls. Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.” 

Hurricane Helene hit with a 15-foot (4.6 meter) storm surge and left a path of destruction across Florida before moving up into Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky with torrential rain, flash floods, high winds, and tornadoes. A record level of more than eleven inches of rain fell in Atlanta, Georgia. At least 45 people have died in the path of the storm, and more than 4.5 million homes and businesses across ten states are without power. The roads in western North Carolina are closed. Moody’s Analytics said it expects the storm to leave $15 to $26 billion in property damage.

Officials from NOAA, the scientific and regulatory agency that forecasts weather and monitors conditions in the oceans and skies, predict that record-warm ocean temperatures this year will produce more storms than usual. NOAA hurricane scientist Jeff Masters noted that Helene’s landfall “gives the U.S. a record eight Cat 4 or Cat 5 Atlantic hurricane landfalls in the past eight years (2017–2024), seven of them being continental U.S. landfalls. That’s as many Cat 4 and 5 landfalls as occurred in the prior 57 years.”

President Joe Biden approved emergency declarations for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina before Helene made landfall. Tennessee governor Bill Lee, a Republican, did not ask for such a declaration until this evening, instead proclaiming September 27 a “voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting.” Observers pointed out that with people stuck on a hospital roof in the midst of catastrophic flooding in his state, maybe an emergency declaration would be more on point. 

After a state or a tribal government asks for federal help, an emergency declaration enables the federal government to provide funds to supplement local and state emergency efforts, as well as to deploy the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help save lives, protect property, and protect health and safety. Before Helene made landfall, the federal government placed personnel and resources across the region, ready to help with search and rescue, restore power, and provide food and water and emergency generators. 

The federal government sent 1,500 federal personnel to the region, as well as about 8,000 members of the U.S. Coast Guard and teams from the Army Corps of Engineers to provide emergency power. It provided two health and medical task forces to help local hospitals and critical care facilities, and sent in more than 2.7 million meals, 1.6 million liters of water, 50,000 tarps, 10,000 cots, 20,000 blankets, 70,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and 40,000 gallons of gasoline to provide supplies for those hit by the catastrophe. 

FEMA was created in 1979 after the National Governors Association asked President Jimmy Carter to centralize federal emergency management functions. That centralization recognized the need for coordination as people across the country responded to a disaster in any one part of it. When a devastating fire ripped through Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the day after Christmas in 1802, Congress agreed to send aid to the town, but volunteers organized by local and state governments and funded by wealthy community members provided most of the response and recovery efforts for the many disasters of the 1800s. 

When a deadly hurricane wiped out Galveston, Texas, in 1900, killing at least 6,000 residents and destroying most of the city’s buildings, the inept machine government proved unable to manage the donations pouring in from across the country to help survivors. Six years later, when an earthquake badly damaged San Francisco and ensuing fires from broken gas lines engulfed the city in flames, the interim fire chief—who took over when the fire chief was gravely injured—called in federal troops to patrol the streets and guard buildings. More than 4,000 Army troops also fed, sheltered, and clothed displaced city residents. 

When the Mississippi River flooded in 1927, sending up to 30 feet (9 meters) of  water across ten states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, killing about 500 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more, President Calvin Coolidge appointed Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover to coordinate the federal disaster response and pull together the many private-sector interests eager to help out under federal organization. This marked the first time the federal government took charge after a disaster. 

In 1950, Congress authorized federal response to disasters when it passed the Federal Disaster Assistance Program. In response to the many disasters of the 1960s—the 1964 Alaska Earthquake, Hurricane Betsy in 1965, and Hurricane Camille in 1969—the Department of Housing and Urban Development established a way to provide housing for disaster survivors. Congress provided guaranteed flood insurance to homeowners, and in 1970 it also authorized federal loans and federal funding for those affected by disasters. 

When he signed the Disaster Relief Act of 1970, Republican president Richard Nixon said: “I am pleased with this bill which responds to a vital need of the American people. The bill demonstrates that the Federal Government in cooperation with State and local authorities is capable of providing compassionate assistance to the innocent victims of natural disasters.”

Four years later, Congress established the process for a presidential disaster declaration. By then, more than 100 different federal departments and agencies had a role in responding to disasters, and the attempts of state, tribal, and local governments to interface with them created confusion. So the National Governors Association asked President Carter to streamline the process. In Executive Order 12127 he brought order to the system with the creation of FEMA.

In 2003, after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., the George W. Bush administration brought FEMA into its newly-created Department of Homeland Security, along with 21 other agencies, wrapping natural disasters together with terrorist attacks as matters of national security. After 2005’s Hurricane Katrina required the largest disaster response in U.S. history, FEMA’s inadequate response prompted a 2006 reform act that distinguished responding to natural disasters from responding to terrorist attacks. In 2018, another reform focused on funding for disaster mitigation before the crisis hits.  

The federal government’s efficient organization of responses to natural disasters illustrates that as citizens of a republic, we are part of a larger community that responds to our needs in times of crisis.

But that system is currently under attack. Project 2025, a playbook for the next Republican administration, authored by allies of the right-wing Heritage Foundation and closely associated with Republican presidential candidate Trump and vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance, calls for slashing FEMA’s budget and returning disaster responses to states and localities. 

Project 2025 also calls for dismantling the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and either eliminating its functions, sending them to other agencies, privatizing them, or putting them under the control of states and territories. It complains that NOAA, whose duties include issuing hurricane warnings, is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.” 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[glorioushimalaya]

Do I Need a Guide for Everest 3 High Passes Trek?

The Everest region of Nepal has long been a dream destination for trekkers around the world. With its towering peaks, Sherpa villages, ancient monasteries, and awe-inspiring landscapes, it offers one of the most rewarding trekking experiences on the planet. While many have heard of the famous Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek, there’s a more adventurous, demanding, and remote route in the region — the Everest High Passes Trek.

This trek is not just a walk to Everest Base Camp; it’s an epic circuit crossing three of the highest trekking passes in the Khumbu: Kongma La (5,535m), Cho La (5,420m), and Renjo La (5,360m). It demands serious physical fitness, mental toughness, and careful preparation. One of the most frequently asked questions by trekkers planning this journey is: “Do I need a guide for the Everest 3 High Passes Trek?”

In this blog, we’ll explain why hiring a guide for this trek is not just advisable but crucial for your safety, enjoyment, and success.

Everest Base Camp Trek vs. Everest 3 High Passes Trek

Before diving into whether you need a guide, it’s important to differentiate the two popular treks in the region.

The Everest Base Camp Trek follows a well-established route through bustling Sherpa villages like Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche, and Lobuche before reaching the base of the world’s highest mountain. The trail is marked, and during trekking seasons (spring and autumn), you’ll find a steady stream of trekkers along the path. Moreover, almost every village along the EBC route is connected with mobile phone signals, internet services, and emergency contact points. That makes it a relatively safe and straightforward trek for experienced hikers, even without a guide, provided they’re well-prepared.

In contrast, the Everest 3 High Passes Trek takes you off the main trail, over three challenging high-altitude passes and into remote valleys with significantly fewer trekkers. Some sections are notorious for unpredictable weather, landslides, crevasses, rockfalls, and avalanche risks. Additionally, many parts of the route, especially around the high passes, are out of phone network coverage and internet access.

And this is where having a professional, experienced guide becomes essential.

Why You Need a Guide for the 3 High Passes Trek

1. Safety in Isolated, High-Altitude Terrain

The primary reason to hire a guide for the 3 High Passes Trek is your safety. High mountain passes like Kongma La, Cho La, and Renjo La are known for rapid weather changes, difficult navigation, and physically taxing ascents and descents. In these conditions, trails can be obscured by snow, fog, or landslide debris.

Without proper guidance, there’s a real risk of getting lost, straying onto dangerous terrain, or getting caught in poor weather without shelter. A qualified guide is familiar with the terrain, knows how to identify signs of landslide-prone areas and avalanche risks, and can lead you through safe alternative routes when necessary.

2. Lack of Communication Facilities

Unlike the standard Everest Base Camp route, the 3 High Passes route lacks consistent mobile phone coverage and internet connectivity, especially on the passes themselves and in isolated sections like between Lobuche and Chukhung, Dzongla and Gokyo, and Lungden and Renjo La. In emergency situations, you won’t be able to call for help or check the weather forecast.

Guides typically carry satellite phones or radios and have contact with local rescue operators, lodges, and trekking agencies. They can quickly arrange evacuation or assistance if you face altitude sickness, injuries, or other emergencies.

A small investment in a guide could literally protect your life worth millions when things go wrong in the mountains.

3. Altitude-Related Health Management

The 3 High Passes Trek takes you above 5,300 meters multiple times, with daily sleeping altitudes often exceeding 4,500 meters. This poses a serious risk of acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), or high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE).

A trained guide is equipped to recognize early signs of altitude sickness and take appropriate measures — whether it’s suggesting an extra acclimatization day, guiding you to a lower altitude, or coordinating an emergency evacuation. This proactive management is critical because delays in treatment at high altitude can quickly turn life-threatening.

4. Challenging and Changing Trails

The trails over the high passes aren’t always well-marked, and in snow or bad weather, they can disappear altogether. Icefalls, glacial crevasses, rockfalls, and landslides frequently alter parts of the route, especially around Cho La and Kongma La.

Guides trek these trails multiple times every year and stay updated about current trail conditions, safer routes, and lodge availability. They know where to cross glaciers safely, how to navigate snow-covered passes, and which areas to avoid during heavy snowfall or after rockslides.

5. Local Knowledge and Cultural Insight

Aside from safety, having a guide also enhances your trekking experience. Everest’s Khumbu region is rich in Sherpa culture, ancient monasteries, and Buddhist traditions. Guides share local stories, explain religious practices, and introduce you to customs you might otherwise overlook.

They also assist in finding good accommodation and food options, handling permits and paperwork, and managing logistics — allowing you to focus on enjoying the trek without stress.

How Much Does a Guide Cost for the 3 High Passes Trek?

The cost of hiring a licensed, experienced guide for the Everest 3 High Passes Trek typically ranges from USD 35 to 50 per day, depending on their experience, language skills, and whether you book through an agency or independently.

When compared to the overall cost of your trekking gear, flights, permits, accommodation, and food — not to mention the priceless value of your safety — this is a modest, worthwhile investment.

Final Thoughts: Better Safe Than Sorry

While the classic Everest Base Camp Trek can often be safely done without a guide for experienced trekkers, the Everest 3 High Passes Trek is a different beast altogether. Its high-altitude passes, isolated terrain, rapidly changing weather, and lack of consistent communication facilities make it a trek where professional guidance isn’t just helpful — it’s essential.

You’re not just paying for navigation — you’re investing in your safety, peace of mind, and an enriched cultural experience. In the unforgiving environment of the high Himalayas, a small daily guide fee is a smart decision to protect your life and make your trek both safer and more rewarding.

So if you’re dreaming of crossing those three iconic passes, do yourself a favor — hire a local guide and trek responsibly.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Sunday marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, a six-month stretch in which warm ocean waters and moist atmospheric conditions create the ideal foundation for tropical cyclones to form. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts “above-average” activity, including six to 10 hurricanes. 

Each year, these climate-supercharged cyclones make headlines for causing mass levels of destruction, taking countless lives and costing billions of dollars. But it’s not just “the big ones” that are worsening as global temperatures warm. Research shows that more day-to-day weather events like thunderstorms, wildfires, droughts and hail are becoming more severe and, in some cases, more frequent.

In the insurance industry, these small- to mid-sized weather events are known as “secondary perils,” which are typically more localized and harder to predict than larger events. In recent years, these secondary perils have become a primary concern, a paradigm shift that could have broad implications for insurers and consumers alike. 

A Cumulative Problem: The threat of large natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes—primary perils—have long kept insurers awake at night. The market was fundamentally built around ensuring that insurance companies have enough capital to pay claims following a catastrophic event. That capital largely comes from the premiums that consumers pay and reinsurance plans (because even insurance companies need insurance). 

With primary perils in mind, insurance companies have developed complex risk models and cost analyses to help forecast losses they may face in one of these major events. Smaller weather events such as rainfall and hail storms also factor into companies’ equations, but have received less attention from governments, researchers and the insurance industry, according to reinsurance firm Swiss Re. 

That’s changing. Insurance and reinsurance firms have documented increasing losses coming from secondary peril events such as wildfires, thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes and moderate flooding. A recent report from financial analytics company S&P Global found that secondary perils now account for a larger share of global insured catastrophe losses than traditional peak events such as tropical cyclones and earthquakes. These findings echo reports from the world’s largest reinsurers, which have sounded the alarm about secondary perils in the face of climate change. 

“It’s the more common kind of weather patterns that we’ve had, the things we know—heavy rainstorms and things like that, but they’re becoming more severe and they’re changing,” Andrew Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan, told me. He explained that insurance and reinsurance companies are now trying to figure out how to adjust premium rates or change coverage to account for this shift. 

That can mean higher prices even in areas that may not seem as risky, which I wrote about in April. For example, the U.S. Midwest is highly vulnerable to hailstorms, and research shows that hail may be getting larger and more damaging with climate change. According to reinsurance broker Gallagher Re, convective storms, including hail, cost insurers $58 billion last year—more than Hurricanes Helene and Milton combined, estimates suggest. 

“The insurance landscape is changing as the weather landscape changes,” Hoffman said. 

[thechembow]

Monster Rainstorm a Big Start to May!

May 1, 2025

While we knew it would rain today, we could not predict the enormity of the storm which came through. The conditions could only be described as a new type of weather as a result of orgonite gifting.

The storm came in from the east, as a counterclockwise rotating system on a west to east jet stream that began rotating over Southern California.

One after another t-storm cell pummeling SoCal with heavy rain

At about 4:50pm the rain started and quickly turned to hail about a quarter to a half inch in diamter. It was almost shocking as it began. We were in our trailer by our horse's pen to hang out together and watch the rain and were not expecting the loud banging sounds on the roof that told us this was not just a normal rain storm.

Hail stones and a little resin and metal from making orgonite

The mustang wouldn't go in his shelter, just stood with the hail bouncing off his back! They don't have shelter where he comes from.

The storm dumped at least an inch of rain on us despite weather forecasts earlier in the day saying we would get a tenth of an inch to a quarter inch of rain (except for localized heavy rain, which this definitely was). A news search tonight showed silence from the media regarding this storm and its intensity.

What made this storm so different was that it had attributes of a monsoonal storm and a winter storm all in one. We had a lot of thunder and lightning and a storm coming from the east, typical of monsoonal storms, which were restored to Southern California in recent years with orgonite gifting. We also had cold temperatures and hail, which is typical of winter storms here.

This is a time of year where we typically begin the "dry season," which we may well find out was never natural in the first place. We have been working for years to bridge the gap between the winter and summer rainy seasons, and return the monsoon to Southern California as well as intensifying it in the southwest to put a stop to wildfires during the dry times (because there shouldn't be dry times or arson).

This storm was the first we've seen like it and was clearly the result of some huge energetic shift in the atmosphere. The only thing comparable was the release after gifting Las Cruces, New Mexico in October of 2023. But it was still a completely new type of storm and the length of time the rain fell was notable. We had heavy rain and hail for about three hours. It was truly an amazing storm, and deserves a little more mention in the media than it's gotten so far.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michael P. Hill at NewscastStudio:

Multiple sources have indicated to NewscastStudio that Allen Media Group will begin the process of “hubbing” weather forecasts for its local stations from the Atlanta facilities of its Weather Channel property. The group, which owns around 36 stations in mid-sized to small markets across the country, has already been quietly cutting a variety of jobs in recent days, including managers, anchors and forecasters. The next step, according to multiple insider sources who requested anonymity because the plans are not public yet, is to start producing weather segments for stations from The Weather Channel. Christina Burkhart, a forecaster at WJRT in Flint, Michigan, has also gone public with claims that her station’s parent company will cut “all local meteorologists company-wide.” She posted a message saying so as a public Facebook post.

NewscastStudio has reached out to a general information box for Allen Media Group for comment. The company does not list a public email address for media inquiries and its “press release” section of its corporate website is listed as “coming soon.” It’s not clear what the exact timeframe for these changes might be if they take place; there is an “on-camera meteorologist” listing on the Weather Channel’s careers page, but it’s not clear what specific role this might be for and it’s also possible the network might produce them using existing staffers. This isn’t the first time that a station group has attempted to “hub” its weather operations. Other groups, including Sinclair Media Group, have tried it in the past and some stations have also experimented with having a forecaster from a sister station handle forecasting segments on a day when no other local staffers are available due to illness, time off or staff shortages.

[...] Overall, cutting forecasters at every station would likely come in at about 100 jobs nationwide, assuming each property has at least two to three weather staffers.  Thanks to advances in remote production and work setups, the notion of producing local weather forecasts hundreds or thousands of miles a way is more feasible than ever. Computer systems already exist that allow anyone with a computer terminal and compatible software access near real-time maps, conditions and other data for any market in the U.S. Of course, creating a weather hub does mean that talent likely won’t be as familiar with local happenings, pronunciations, geography and weather patterns, though at least some of that knowledge could be transferred. It’s also likely that forecasters at the hub would be assigned to appear on the same group of stations as often as possible in order to build rapport with viewers.

Allen Media Group stations are eliminating weather departments by hubbing it out. This is a very bad sign, as lots of local area weather expertise has been jettisoned.