Post analysis? By whom?! The United States, unlike many other nations, does not have an organization to do post-disaster analysis. Hawaii looked around for someone to do a post-examination of the Maui Fire and finally settled on the state's attorney general when no one suitable came forward. Andy Revkin, former head of the environmental reporting group at the New York Times  posted an insightful essay at his Substack regarding the Los Angeles area fires in comparison to the Maui and Marshall (Boulder, CO) fires. I wrote the following comment (my words in red) Wednesday evening that were appended to Andy's piece: ---- Andy @Revkin 1d Edited Mike Smith, a longtime severe-weather meteorolgist who's been on Sustain What, sent this note by email: Thank you for writing your substack piece today.  I wish to make several points which are predicated on accurate news reports. You noted the similarities of the Palisades Fire to the Maui Fire and to the Superior/Boulder Fire. Please co...

Joplin, after the tornado We all remember the 2011 catastrophic Joplin Tornado and the loss of 161 lives — by far the worst single tornado disaster since the civilian tornado warning program began 1957. From 2000 to 2011, the National Weather Service (NWS) was making tremendous progress in warning of tornadoes. Tragically, the NWS and local emergency management during the hour before the tornado arrived did just about everything wrong .  Prior to Joplin, the NWS, on average, provided 13.3 minutes of advance notice and correctly warned of tornadoes 73.3% of the time. In 2007, they reached a superb 78% of the time.  For reasons that are not entirely clear,  the tornado warning program has suffered serious deterioration since 2011.  The NWS’s most recent figures reveal they correctly warn of tornadoes just 57% of the time (a 27% reduction) and, when a warning has been provided, it has dropped to 8 minutes of advance notice (a 40% reduction). NOAA has set a target of 72%...