77 F. high temperature in the Twin Cities Tuesday.
82 F. average high on June 28.
82 F. high on June 28, 2015.
June 29, 1969: Worthington picks up over 6 inches of rain in 24 hours.
June 29, 1930: Extreme heat develops in Minnesota. Canby got up to a sizzling 110 degrees.
September Breeze - Promising Holiday Outlook
"There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people" said Bill Bowerman.
True,
Bill wasn't around on June 28, 1876: the latest ice breakup in history
for Duluth on Lake Superior. He was a no-show in Canby, Minnesota back
on June 29, 1930, when the air temperature reached 110F.
Only
Siberia sees more wild swings in temperature and moisture than Minnesota
and the Upper Midwest. Statistics that would make the local Chamber of
Commerce proud.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the holiday weekend weather. After
Thursday showers
Friday
looks sunny and comfortable as a fair-weather bubble of high pressure
drifts over Minnesota. A return southeasterly wind on the backside of
that retreating fair-weather-maker warms us up over the weekend. Models
print out a few T-showers over the Red River Valley, but most towns (and
lakes) stay dry
Friday and
Saturday, with crisp dew points typical of mid-September. Nights will be cool - take a sweatshirt. Low 80s return
Sunday, maybe mid-80s for the
4th of July with a few atmospheric fireworks up north.
Not too shabby for summer's biggest bash!
September Breeze Into Saturday - Then Warming Up.
ECMWF guidance keeps metro highs in the mid 70s Thursday into Saturday
with wake-up temperatures in the mid 50s the next few mornings; typical
for mid-September. As winds swing around to the southeast temperatures
mellow above 80F on Sunday; mid-80s predicted for the 4th of July with
more noticeable humidity levels. Graphic: WeatherBell.
Few Showers Tonight into Thursday.
The approach of a reinforcing cool front sparks a few showers and
T-showers tonight into Thursday; a few heavy cells may sprout, but
conditions aren't ripe for significant severe weather. Future radar
product: 4 km NAM courtesy of NOAA and AerisWeather.
The Science Behind This Crazy Heat Wave. The southwest continues to sizzle; here's an excerpt from
The Los Angeles Times: "...
Things
are definitely out of whack here,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “This heat wave is not only unusual in
its intensity, it is potentially deadly.” Angelenos know that a few
days of punishing heat each year are part of the bargain of living in
this usually temperate city. But we generally expect that heat to come
in August and September, traditionally the two hottest months of the
year in the Southland..." (Image credit:
Climate Reanalyzer).
West Virginia Flood Was "One In A Thousand Year Event", According to NOAA.
Greenbrier County saw 10" of rain, 7" of that fell over a 3-hour span.
Tropical monsoon rains. Jason Samenow has more details at
Capital Weather Gang: "
The
torrential rain that inundated parts of southern and central West
Virginia on Thursday was truly an exceptional meteorological event that
has had devastating consequences. In Greenbrier County, W.Va., where
some of the worst flooding occurred, the National Weather Service
described the responsible rainfall as “historic” and “extremely rare.”
“Return period data suggest this would be nearly a one in a thousand
year event,” it said..."
Tech Savvy: Crowd-Sourcing Weather Reports.
The Brainerd Dispatch has an interesting article; here's an excerpt: "...
An
app, launched in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the University of Oklahoma, aims to help forecasters
by involving citizen weather reporters across the nation and now the
globe. A database is being created containing information from users.
People can use their smartphones to report hail, rain, snow, ice. It's
all part of the Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground
app or mPING. It's a resource that came up during the annual weather
spotter training this spring in Brainerd presented by National Weather
Service meteorologists from Duluth..."
* more details on the mPing project
here.
Why Thunder and Fireworks Make Dogs Anxious. My dog, Leo, is not a fan of thunder (or fireworks) so I found this article at
The New York Times: "...
By some estimates, at least 40 percent of dogs experience noise anxiety, which is most pronounced in the summer. Animal shelters report that their busiest day
for taking in runaway dogs is July 5. Veterinarians tell of dogs who
took refuge in hiding places so tight that they got stuck, who gnawed on
door handles, who crashed through windows or raced into traffic — all
desperate efforts to escape inexplicable collisions of noise and
flashing light. Ernie, a wired-hair pointer, was so terrified by thunderstorms that he would vault fences at his Maryland farm and run in a straight line for miles..."
Thunderstorm Phobia in Dogs.
Psychology Today has more perspective: "..
.I
do not believe that static shocks account for all the terrors of storm
phobic dogs, but they do contribute. The sound of thunder is disturbing
enough to some dogs on its own. Pure noise phobias do exist.
Interestingly, noise phobias do not track precisely with storm phobia,
though there is considerable overlap. Some dogs terrified of
thunderstorms can tolerate the booming sounds of fireworks. For others,
the sound of fireworks is their nemesis but they remain indifferent to
thunder. Treatment of thunderstorm phobia in dogs entails training them
to go to a safe place where they will be spared the full brunt of the
sight and sounds of storms..."
Heat Waves Make for Less Friendly Skies. More heat = less lift, which has implications for your next flight. Here's an excerpt of an interview at Science Friday: "Last week, a United Airlines flight to Phoenix was forced to turn back
to Houston just before landing. The culprit? Extreme heat, which
affects an airplane’s lift during takeoff and landing due to reduced air
pressure. Other factors, such as the amount of oxygen available to
engines, the altitude of the airport, and runway length also play a
role, says Marilyn Smith, an aviation expert at Georgia Tech. And as
global temperatures rise, some experts say climate change could hit the aviation industry, flooding runways, increasing turbulence, and changing trans-Atlantic flight times..."
A Stormy History of Weather Reporting. Mental Floss and Neatorama have an information-packed look back at the history of weather forecasting and presenting; here's a clip: "...By
the mid-1800s, thanks to the telegraph, the first government
meteorology chiefs could share weather information at lightning speed,
helping citizens and ship captains prepare for disasters. In Victorian
England, the idea of “forecasting” was controversial. Some considered it
akin to voodoo. But Americans had no such qualms: By 1860, 500 weather
stations were telegraphing weather reports to Washington. When that
network crumbled during the Civil War, a frustrated astronomer named
Cleveland Abbe established a private system of daily weather bulletins.
Culling reports from volunteers across the country, Abbe and a team of
telegraph clerks transferred the data onto maps. They added special
symbols, showing wind direction, areas of high and low pressure, and
marking “R” for rain. With the publication of their first bulletin on
September 1, 1869, the daily weather report was born..."
Air Pollution Seen Costing Trillions To Save Millions, IEA Says. Bloomberg has the story; here's a clip: "...Poor
air quality is affecting the entire planet, with 80 percent of cities
that monitor levels failing to meet standards set by the World Health
Organization. Public pressure is mounting in countries such as China,
prompting ambitious renewable energy agendas. The developed West also
has its fair share of smog, with London surpassing the EU’s annual
limits on air pollution just eight days into 2016.
The energy industry is the single largest man-made contributor to poor
air quality, the IEA report said. Most of it comes from unregulated and
inefficient fuels. The agency sees air pollution as the fourth-largest
threat to human health, after high blood pressure, poor diet and smoking..."
Study Links 6.5 Million Deaths Each Year to Air Pollution. The New York Times reports: "A sobering report released on Monday by the International Energy Agency
says air pollution has become a major public health crisis leading to
around 6.5 million deaths each year, with “many of its root causes and
cures” found in the energy industry. The air pollution study is the
first for the agency, an energy security group based in Paris, which is
expanding its mission under its executive director, Fatih Birol..."
We Are At Risk of Loving Our National Parks To Death. Here's an excerpt of an Op-Ed from The Seattle Times Editorial Board: "...The
parks have inspired a century of poetry and prose — including writer
Wallace Stegner’s succinct comment that national parks are “the best
idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they
reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” Amid record attendance,
the parks system is, conversely, also at peril for being taken for
granted. The challenge of underfunding threatens the parks’ present
while climate change threatens the parks’ future. Both demand attention
and collaborative action at the local and federal level to ensure the
wilderness gifts are multigenerational..."
Photo credit: "
Lenticular or cap clouds form around Mount Rainier in February 2015." (Alan Berner/The Seattle Times).
Tesla's Quiet Talks With This Company Could Help Redefine The Gas Station As We Know It. Here's more information from The Washington Post: "...Tesla declined
to comment on the negotiations with Sheetz, but acknowledged in a
statement that it is actively courting gas stations, hotels and
restaurants in its bid to install high-speed electric chargers across
the country. Lorenz declined to say how many Sheetz stations may
ultimately be outfitted with Tesla chargers. The potential partnership
between Sheetz and Tesla reflects the beginning of a wider awakening in
the gas station and convenience store industry. While EVs currently
account for less than half a percent of new car sales, that figure is expected to grow; Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that within six years electric cars will be as affordable as traditional gasoline-powered vehicles..."
Tesla and Solar City? Yes, It Makes Sense. Or At Least It Will. Here's a story excerpt from Dave Roberts at
Vox: "...
The batteries of individual EVs can also be aggregated together with thousands of others,
via software, to serve as one big virtual mega-battery, providing a
range of energy services to the grid. (The aggregator pays the owners of
the individual batteries for their participation.) Now imagine a
city-sized microgrid, connected to the larger regional grid but able to
island itself if necessary. Imagine the role a fleet of self-driving
electric vehicles could play in that grid, wirelessly
exchanging power with the grid according to its minute-by-minute or
second-by-second needs. The point of all this is, EVs will be connected
to the grid..." (Photo credit:
NY REV).
Solar Power to Grow Sixfold as Sun Becoming Cheapest Resource. Here's an excerpt from
Bloomberg Technology: "
The
amount of electricity generated using solar panels stands to expand as
much as sixfold by 2030 as the cost of production falls below competing
natural gas and coal-fired plants, according to the International
Renewable Energy Agency. Solar plants using photovoltaic technology
could account for 8 percent to 13 percent of global electricity produced
in 2030, compared with 1.2 percent at the end of last year, the Abu
Dhabi-based industry group said in a report Wednesday. The average cost
of electricity from a photovoltaic system is forecast to plunge as much
as 59 percent by 2025, making solar the cheapest form of power
generation “in an increasing number of cases,” it said.."
The World's Losers are Revolting, and Brexit Is Only The Beginning. Here's a clip from a
Washington Post story: "...
A
British exit, or Brexit, will make the country poorer in the short run,
perhaps in the long run too, and might drag the rest of Europe down
with it. That's because Britain is essentially ripping up its free trade
deal with the rest of Europe. But of far greater concern than
just dollars and cents is that this is the most significant setback in
Europe's 60-year quest for "ever closer union," and the most shocking
success for the new nationalism sweeping the Western world. Brexit, in
other words, is the end of the end of history..."
Did NASA Fake the Moon Landing?
Yes, you have the right to believe whatever nonsense you care to
believe, but that doesn't make it credible, factual or accurate. Here's
an excerpt of a gentle debunking of a favorite conspiracy theory (the
moon landings were faked!) at
Quora: "...
The
MLDs (Moon Landing Deniers) are not taking into account one very
important human tendency: the tendency to blab. The “moon landings”
happened nearly 50 years ago. Yet no one has come foward to collect a
million dollars from Oprah or whoever to blab the inside story of
Apollo. And show covert photos of Neil and Buzz sharing a laugh with
their helmets off on the “lunar surface” set. Is this conceivable? In 50
years!.."
File photo: NASA.
The Surprisingly Dark, Twisted History of Presidential Impersonators in America.
The Washington Post has the video and story: "
When
you think of presidential impersonators, you think funny, ha-ha,
frivolous. But the little-known history of presidential impersonation in
America is surprisingly dark and twisted. It’s filled with fascinating
instances in which the zany world of comedy collides in unpredictable
ways with the dead-serious power corridors of Washington. And if you
peer close enough into that past, you can see the history of us as a
country, and our complicated, often fraught relationship with the person
we choose every four years to rule over us as our leader.."
Image credit: "From
Vaughn Meader's President Kennedy to Jay Pharoah's President Obama, the
history of presidential impersonations is long and not all were success
stories." (Nicki DeMarco,William Wan/The Washington Post).
A Food Truck For Dogs? Yep, it's already happening in the hipster town of Seattle, Washington. Here's an excerpt of a story at Life With Dogs: "...The
Seattle Barkery is a new mobile café for dogs. Everything they make
and serve is aimed towards giving dogs a similar freedom of choice like
we as humans have. For their furry, four legged customers, they have
everything from bacon cupcakes and peanut butter pumpkin pretzels, to
chicken feet and duck necks..."
TODAY: Warm sun as clouds slowly increase. Winds: SE 7-12. High: 81
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Chance of a shower or T-shower. Low: 63
THURSDAY: More numerous showers, cooler. Winds: NW 8-13. High: 77
FRIDAY: Bright sun, low humidity. Spectacular! Winds: NW 3-8. Wake-up: 57. High: 75
SATURDAY: Partly sunny and breezy, still comfortable. Winds: SE 8-13. Wake-up: 58. High: 78
SUNDAY: Sticky sunshine, a bit warmer. Winds: SE 10-15. Wake-up: 62. High: 82
4TH OF JULY: Some sun, PM T-storms up north. Winds: S 8-13. Wake-up: 67. High: 86
TUESDAY: Steamy sun, pop-up T-storms. Winds: S 10-20. Wake-up: 68. High: near 90
Climate Stories...
Teen Activism Moves Minneapolis Suburb To Pass Climate Initiative. Here's the intro to a story at Midwest Energy News: "
Officials
in a Minneapolis suburb adopted an aggressive greenhouse-gas-reduction
policy last month that was brought forth by a group of local high
schoolers who are part of a national climate change movement. Drafted by
iMatter, a national youth-led group, the resolution aims for net-zero emissions by 2040 in St. Louis Park,
a suburb immediately west of Minneapolis with a population of roughly
47,000. The resolution also commits the city to working with youth
activists on its future goals and planning..."
Photo credit: "
Members of the group iMatter moved a Minneapolis suburb to adopt an aggressive climate change resolution."
Nature Ravages as Weather Warms. Here's an Op-Ed at
The Charleston Gazette Mail, following up on the recent 1-in-1,000-year floods that swamped many communities across West Virginia: "...
British
climatologist Adam Scaife said 2016 temperatures are "obliterating"
past records. "The numbers are completely unprecedented." The Guardian
added: "Another shattered record is the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, which is on course to rise by a record amount this year." It
quoted a German scientist: "We know from Antarctic ice cores that go
back almost a million years that CO2 was never even remotely as high as
this." The London paper added: "The rate at which humanity is emitting
CO2 is the fastest for 66 million years..."
File photo: "
Flooding in Richwood, in Nicholas County."
British
climatologist Adam Scaife said 2016 temperatures are “obliterating”
past records. “The numbers are completely unprecedented.”
The
Guardian added: “Another shattered record is the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, which is on course to rise by a record amount
this year.” It quoted a German scientist: “We know from Antarctic ice
cores that go back almost a million years that CO2 was never even remotely as high as this.” The London paper added: “The rate at which humanity is emitting CO2 is the fastest for 66 million years.”
-
See more at:
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/gazette-editorials/20160628/gazette-mail-editorial-nature-ravages-as-weather-warms#sthash.4BxcoiuV.dpuf
British
climatologist Adam Scaife said 2016 temperatures are “obliterating”
past records. “The numbers are completely unprecedented.”
The
Guardian added: “Another shattered record is the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere, which is on course to rise by a record amount
this year.” It quoted a German scientist: “We know from Antarctic ice
cores that go back almost a million years that CO2 was never even remotely as high as this.” The London paper added: “The rate at which humanity is emitting CO2 is the fastest for 66 million years.”
-
See more at:
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/gazette-editorials/20160628/gazette-mail-editorial-nature-ravages-as-weather-warms#sthash.4BxcoiuV.dpuf
If You're Younger Than 31, You've Never Experienced This.
Huffington Post reports: "
Still
not convinced the Earth is rapidly warming? Consider this: The last
time the global monthly temperature was below average was February 1985.
That means if you are 30 years old or younger, there has not been a
single month in your entire life that was colder than average. “It’s a
completely different world we’re already living in,” Mark Eakin, coordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch, told scientists gathered this week for the International Coral Reef Symposium in Honolulu..."
4 Infographics To Show The Climate Skeptic In Your Life. Here's an excerpt from
Co.Design: "...
As
family vacations and summer trips home loom near—and as hurricane
season and volatile summertime weather approach—you may find yourself in
the position of defending the claim you thought everyone had come
around to by now: yes, climate change does exist. It's best to be
prepared. Luckily, data scientists and designers have done half the work
for you by synthesizing overwhelming and often inaccessible data into
easy-to-understand (and hard-to-deny) visualizations of the science
behind global warming. Here are four of our favorites—keep them in your
back pocket for your next baffling exchange about whether global warming
is a hoax..."
We Can't Count on Geoengineering To Save Us From Climate Change, Scientists Warn.
Motherboard has the story; here's a clip that caught my eye: "...
Even
wilder ideas for cooling the planet down, like reflecting the sun’s
radiation back into space by seeding clouds, or even by zapping them with lasers, are waiting at the fringes of the climate debate.
“[Scientists] were scared that if you started to say you could remove
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, that was like offering liposuction
for the climate. We wouldn’t be able to help ourselves,” said Jack
Stilgoe, a lecturer in the department of Science and Technology Studies
at University College London, who has written a book about the politics of geoengineering..."
Photo credit:
Paul Pival/Flickr
Chasing Survival: Many Species Face Climate Change's Ultimate Test. Here's an excerpt from
InsideClimate News: "
Roughly
half of the world's species are currently on the move. As global
warming drives ocean and air temperatures higher, they are chasing the
habitats they are accustomed to—heading further north or to higher elevations or following the trail of their food sources. Those
that can't keep up with the pace of change face extinction, and if
warming continues at its current pace, one in six species is projected
to go extinct. That number falls to one in 20 if the rise is constrained
to 2 degrees Celsius, the global climate goal— still a catastrophic
number..."
It's Official: Humans Are Making The Earth Much Greener. Chris Mooney explains at
The Washington Post: "
Earlier this month, NASA scientists provided a visualization of
a startling climate change trend — the Earth is getting greener, as
viewed from space, especially in its rapidly warming northern regions.
And this is presumably occurring as more carbon dioxide in the air,
along with warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons, makes plants
very, very happy. Now, new research in Nature Climate Change not only reinforces the reality of this trend — which is already provoking debate about the overall climate consequences of a warming Arctic —
but statistically attributes it to human causes, which largely means
greenhouse gas emissions (albeit with a mix of other elements as well)..."
Image credit: "
Using
29 years of data from Landsat satellites, researchers at NASA have
found extensive greening in the vegetation across Alaska and Canada.
Rapidly increasing temperatures in the Arctic have led to longer growing
seasons and changing soil for plants." (Cindy Starr/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center).
Climate Change Forcing Builders to Rethink How They Design Structures, Expert Says. Resilience isn't a passing fad, it's a trend. Here's an excerpt from a story at
CBC News: "...
It's
becoming more accelerated with the extreme weather events we're
experiencing, whether it's a snow event or a fire event in Fort McMurray
or even the flooding that occurred a few years ago in Toronto,"
Schroeder says. "People are now asking questions like, 'How do I design
my building to be more resilient?' It's becoming more difficult to put
these things out of your mind when they're happening with more
frequency. It's much more forefront in people's minds..."
Photo credit: "
After
a wildfire destroyed parts of Fort McMurray, one expert says cities
should begin rejecting proposed developments located near fire-prone
forests or on flood plains in order to mitigate the damage from future
natural disasters." (Terry Reith/CBC).
U.S. States, Rockefellers Clash with U.S House Panel on Exxon Climate Probes. Here's the intro to a story at
Reuters: "
With a number of U.S. states proceeding with investigations of Exxon Mobil Corp's (XOM.N)
record on climate change, the attorney general of Massachusetts and
investment funds of the Rockefeller family on Friday told a
Congressional committee it lacked powers to oversee those probes.
The pushback is the latest chapter in a high-stakes fight between the
world's largest publicly traded oil company and a coalition of state
attorneys general who have said they would go after Exxon to try and
force action to tackle climate change..."
Photo credit: "
Storage tanks are seen inside the Exxonmobil Baton Rouge Refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, November 6, 2015." Reuters/Lee Celano.
Attorneys General Are Right to Pursue Exxon Mobil. Here's an excerpt of an Op-Ed from the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands at
The Wall Street Journal: "...
The
Virgin Islands, along with other attorneys general, is seeking
information to determine whether Exxon Mobil misrepresented what the
company privately knew and publicly said about climate change. If it
did, that could constitute fraud and violate our laws and the laws of
other jurisdictions. Exxon Mobil and CEI are attempting to argue that
the First Amendment protects them from producing the information that
can shed light on whether they broke the law—a proposition the courts
have routinely rejected..."
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