NOAA You may have noticed several recent articles in which "science" supposedly attributed specific floods and wildfires (which were mostly started by arsonists) to climate change.  Single event attribution is meteorological voodoo . Nothing more.  If it was necessary to have climate change "boost" major storms the following could not have occurred. "Worst" was determined by the intensity of the event.  1871. Worst wildfire in the history of the United States. 1925. The worst tornado in the United States (and probably the world) in recorded history. 1927. The worst flood in the history of the United States.  1935. The worst hurricane in the history of the United States.  1930's. The worst drought and heatwave in the history of the United States.  Climate science says human-affected global warming began about 1958. All of these terrible events occurred without global warming's help.   Clarification:  1958 is intended to show the era it began, not ...

Coincidently, CBS News published a story about NWS issues today. It is here .  --- original post below --- Since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, I have advocated and worked hard for a National Disaster Review Board that would improve disaster forecasting and response in much the same way as the National Transportation Safety Board has improved transportation safety.  However, Congress has shown little interest in the concept of a Disaster Review Board. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service (NWS) becomes stunningly worse by the month. Over recent weeks, I have wondered if the NWS, in its present form, is beyond repair. To take tornado warnings as just one example, their accuracy is down  by 40% since 2005-2010. Since the early 2010's these pages have documented the long list of forecasting and warning issues of the National Weather Service. Friday evening (July 3), in southern Nebraska, was one that was so bafflingly bad it makes me wonder whether the opportunity to repair the...

The title of this essay is from a press release that indirectly "blames the victim." The author is Sedgwick County Emergency Management regarding a fatal tornado that occurred just north of Wichita at 1:14 this morning. The tornado was rated EF-2 ("strong") intensity. I believe the wording is unfortunate as discussed below.  Photo: KAKE.com. Note that with a basement, as little as seconds to dash down the stairs might have been sufficient to avoid injury.  In what has increasingly and unfortunately become the norm in tornado situations, no NWS tornado warning was issued even though: Rotation was depicted on radar Radar shows lofted debris People from outside the NWS are observing tornadoes and bringing them to NWS's and the public's attention.  I want to be clear: the tornado formed practically on top of the home and there was probably no way to have warned in time to help the man killed. But there is absolutely no reason a tornado warning could not have bee...

I wish that were true.  East Wichita suffered a tornado* in September 1992 that was accompanied by a tremendous hailstorm to the north of its path. Our home had 3" hail and needed a new roof. Hail often accompanies the stronger tornadoes.  *The tornado struck a particularly junky area and there was a joke this tornado had "the potential to cause millions of dollars of improvements." As it turned out, it didn't. They rebuilt it as junky as it was before. Sigh. 

His childhood home, in Seattle, was seriously damaged by a tornado.  Courtesy: Cliff Mass' Blog

I'm passing this severe thunderstorm watch along because of the forecast of 75 mph gusts and hail to tennis ball size. However, I do not see much of a tornado threat. Nevertheless, I could be wrong so keep an eye out if a strong thunderstorm moves into your area. 

You will find hundreds of professional, curated images in my gallery at Adobe Stock Photography .  I do not use filters -- what the images present is how it looked in real life. Adobe has high standards so I think you will find that, even if you are not in the market for stock photography, you will enjoy pursuing the images. We have images from wildfires to floods and from tornadoes (and tornado shelters) to blizzards. 

If a tornado and a solar farm combine in space and time, who wins? Yes, your guess is correct.  This was a solar farm in Indiana. AccuWeather has the video. It was truck Tuesday night and its location was (ironically) Wheatfield, Indiana. All nuclear plants are tornado-proof and many/most natural gas and coal plants are tornado-resistant. The tragedy here isn't just the damage to "green" energy -- it is the pollution from this damage leaching into the soil -- making it unsuitable for agriculture.  It is worth pointing out again that until 2023, the United States was self-sufficient in food starting in 1776. We no longer are. Which would you rather have: food or solar energy?? 

NBC Chicago Undoubtedly Wednesday morning, you will be hearing about the tornado which struck the Kankakee, Illinois, area (south of Chicago) around 6:25pm. The damage is considerable. Chicago's WGN-TV says, "Kankakee County was severely damaged." There is report of two people killed by this tornado across the border in Lake Village, Indiana.  After the poorly warned tornadoes in southwest Michigan Friday, one would think the NWS would have made it a point to have its radars operating on optimum settings and then jump on any supercell thunderstorm with tornado characteristics. It appears this did not happen in Kankakee.  Below is what I posted on Twitter/X at 6:04pm. I do not use the term "tornado warning" as I believe it should be reserved for the National Weather Service (NWS) which is the official warning source.  Unfortunately, we did not hear from the NWS regarding the tornado threat for quite a while. While a severe thunderstorm warning for "softball ...

The tornado sirens went off about 11:30 last night and you went to the basement for a good reason. An EF-0 tornado touched down near Lake Quivira and ended just barely into Missouri 1 mi. NE of Westwood Hills. A street is closed in Westwood Hills, it might have to do with picking up tornado debris. Fortunately, the tornado did not go any farther, otherwise it would have struck the Plaza. The tornado lasted 9 minutes. 

The Pending Storm in South Lake Tahoe This storm is striking the West Coast states now and will move east. A variety of meteorological ills will result. Thursday's Tornado Risk The area in brown has a significant risk of tornadoes Thursday, especially in the afternoon and evening hours. Please keep up on the local weather tomorrow.  Thursday and Friday's Snow Forecast The map shows the amount of snow forecast to fall over the next two days. The moisture is desperately needed in Colorado and Utah as well as Wyoming and Nebraska.  Fire Weather Forecast for Thursday The area in red has a critical  wildfire danger Thursday, especially from late morning through the afternoon. Please do everything possible to prevent wildfires, especially outdoor grilling or other fires, tossing cigarette butts or dragging chains. 

Issued 11:40pm Monday Red outline is a tornado watch until 7am for eastern Louisiana and much of Mississippi.  Issued 6:45pm Monday A new tornado watch has been issued for parts of southeast Texas and western Louisiana until 1am CST Tuesday.  Tornado in the Houston Metro Monday Afternoon Note the lofted debris under the funnel cloud. At one point 27,000 homes and businesses were without power. More than 100 homes were damaged. No serious injuries have been reported.  Tornado watch continues.... Tornado watch in effect until 7pm for southeast Texas, including Houston, and a small part of northwest Louisiana. The tornado threat is forecast to evolve east across Louisiana and into Mississippi into tonight.  Please monitor the weather in these areas!

Here is the forecast for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes until 3am. There is also a threat of flash flooding in a few spots.  Forecasts below are until 7am.  Kansas Threat Till 7am in Brown  Oklahoma Threat till 7am in Brown NWS Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a significant chance of a tornado or two in the brown area between now and 7 am Tuesday., Please monitor the weather the rest of the night and make sure you can quickly get the family into you storm shelter area. 

On Sunday, October 18, at 10am, the Ruskin Heights Tornado Memorial will be rededicated. Please save the date.  You may recall the original was destroyed when a car slammed into the Memorial and destroyed it (above). The Memorial commemorates the May 20, 1957, F-5 tornado that killed 44 and injured 500+ in eastern Kansas (starting near Williamsburg) and moved across the south part of the Kansas City, Missouri, area. This was the type of tornado -- a violent storm in a densely populated area -- that used to cause 100+ deaths. But this was the first time the (then) Weather Bureau issued what would be called (today) tornado warnings.  Since the 1880's, the Weather Bureau had banned itself from issuing tornado warnings because they believed more people would be killed by panic rather than the tornado. Joe Audsley and Bob Babb, who genuinely believed they would be fired the next day, disobeyed the ban and warned their fellow citizens as the tornado moved toward the area. The Weathe...

.... I learned that there is a term for an irrational fear of tornadoes and hurricanes. It is known as lilapsophobia .  There are some people who really suffer because of that fear. 

Tornado Risk There is a significant risk of tornadoes in the brown area.  Derecho Risk For Winds Up to 90 mph The area in yellow has a significant risk of wind gusts of 60 mph or stronger. The red area has an enhanced risk of wind gusts of 60 mph or stronger. The purple area has a high  risk of gusts of 60 mph or stronger. In the hatched area, derecho-generated winds of 90 mph are possible.  A  derecho  is possible. Please keep in mind that wind force is logarithmic which means that an 90 mph gust is far more damaging than a 60 mph gust.  Safety Recommendations If you live in a mobile home or need a public shelter, you will find lists and maps  here . Please check it now, before the threat of a tornado or extreme winds is imminent. If you have friends or family living in housing without an adequate tornado/extreme wind sheltering area, please give them a call and refer them to the public shelter site.  With this combination of tornado and derecho ...

NWS office in storm warning mode While flash flood warnings have -- rightly and understandably -- dominated the news the past 10 days, this does not mean the National Weather Service's (NWS) other types of storm warnings are effective and meeting their goals. They are not; a point made here for more than a decade.  I have two pieces of new information.  The first involves an independent study (by an outside contractor) of the NWS's tornado warning program that was published last week but was not noticed because of all of the news and concern pertaining to the July 4 Hill Country Flood. Below are the results of the study with my comments and more below that.                                                                                ...

  In Twister,  they refer to a tornado as a "sidewinder." That was not and is not a term of art for storm chasers.  That said, if ever there was a sidewinder , click on the link to see it! The video is a time-lapse.

The  Kansas City Star  yesterday ran a story about the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Kansas City (KC) operations. Specifically, the newspaper is concerned that, with the recent layoffs, the NWS will not be able to continue to deliver what I call “corporate welfare.” Screen captures from the story:   NASCAR’s Kansas Speedway Races National Football League Draft So, the  Star  is worried the NWS will not be able to continue to provide on-site corporate welfare.    The National Weather Service’s mission is, and has always been, to provide data, forecasts and warnings to the  public.  If a business (e.g., Kansas Speedway) can use that same data for their operations, great. But, if they need on-site meteorologists or other specialized services,  that is what private-sector commercial weather organizations are for.  The newspaper evidently believes there isn’t sufficient money in the NASCAR or NFL’s budget to hire a meteorologist for ...