Saturday: The item below is from Twitter/X and was published by Dr. Ryan Maue who is a meteorologist and the former chief scientist of NOAA. I share his concern. As I mention below, I would be putting proactive water conservation measures in effect now, just in case.  -- The information below was published Thursday --  We try very hard to make this a "no hype" site for weather forecasts and other information. With that said, my concern is growing by the day that we are in for serious and worsening drought in the western half of the "Lower 48." The map above is the difference from average forecast temperature for the next five days. From California to the Rockies and High Plains it is forecast to be very warm. This is an "ensemble" of forecasts from the ECMWF model system (which tends to dampen out forecast extremes as we get farther into the future) and it continues to show significantly warmer than average weather in the same area. With greater heat, high...

With the airport screening situation getting worse by the day, here is a list of airports that have private sector -- rather than TSA -- screening.  Example: Rather than dealing with the reportedly huge hassles at Philadelphia, leave from Atlantic City. Zero delay because they do not have the TSA (they use private security) and are operating normally.  Atlantic City International Airport (New Jersey) Charles M. Schulz—Sonoma County Airport (California) Dawson Community Airport (Montana) Great Falls International Airport (Montana) Glacier Park International Airport (Montana) Greater Rochester International Airport (New York) Havre City-County Airport (Montana) Kansas City International Airport (Missouri) L. M. Clayton Airport (Montana) Orlando Sanford International Airport (Florida) Portsmouth International Airport (New Hampshire) Punta Gorda Airport (Florida) Roswell International Air Center (New Mexico) San Francisco International Airport (California) Sarasota-Bradenton Inter...

He passed away on the Island of Kauai, one of the most beautiful places on earth. He was 86. 

Grok On one level, this piece by Australia's Jo Nova is hilarious . The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is joining companies like United Airlines and Wal•Mart in blaming the weather for their performance problems. Australia's Channel 7 news says: Australians are facing a new climate reality where traditional weather patterns no longer apply, with scientists warning that “climate whiplash” is making seasonal forecasts increasingly unreliable and costly. The phenomenon has left meteorologists struggling to predict what’s coming next, as one season can bring floods, fires, storms and record heat with little warning. My "favorite" comment?   But forecasters admit anything is possible in the current climate. So -- surprise -- the Aussie meteorologists want more money because it is getting harder to forecast the weather at 90 days in the future.  While I have zero experience forecasting 90 day weather Down Under, I do know that our 90-day forecasts are of poor quality no ...

This posting is primarily for people in the field of atmospheric science. A popular weather blog opened yesterday with news of a lawsuit where a taxpayer-funded organization called the "University Corporation for Atmospheric Research" (a/k/a UCAR, a Washington, DC consortium of colleges with meteorology and similar programs) is using taxpayer dollars to sue other taxpayer supported organizations because the Trump Administration wishes to close the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and distribute its programs to other research institutions. UCAR claims that defunding NCAR "violates the Constitution" and doing so will, among other things, harm the U.S. "national security." As I was writing this, a second blog weighed in making similar points .  Meteorology is tiny profession (per Grok, in 2024 there were 9,400 practicing meteorologists in the United States) which is of  far, far greater importance than its numbers would suggest . [I check...