71 F. maximum temperature yesterday in the Twin Cities.
72 F. average high on May 25.
76 F. high on May 25, 2016.
May 26, 1929: A tornado rakes Freeborn County and causes 10,000 dollars of damage to farms.
This Is Why Homeowners Insurance Rates Have Risen
I
should have gone into sump pump repair. Or invented a hail-proof film
for vehicles and rooftop shingles. We will have to bake resilience into
everything we do, as super-sized storms become more frequent.
Rain
is falling harder during the spring months, but only 10,700 of
Minnesota's 1 million homes have purchased flood insurance. Large hail
appears to be on the increase, based on data from Dr. Mark Seeley.
At
a recent talk Mark Kulda, VP of Insurance Federation of Minnesota,
reported that average homeowner premiums in Minnesota rose from $368 in
1998 to $1140 in 2012; a 310% spike in just 14 years. Some
of that increase is the result of more frequent hail and flash flood
events.
Minnesota isn't alone: 8 of America's 10 costliest hailstorms
have occurred since 2000. Fluke or trend?
The holiday
weekend may feel more like late September than May. A growl of thunder
is possible later today. Saturday looks like the best day for the lake,
with sun and low 70s. A nagging storm aloft sparks showers both Sunday
and Monday; the coolest day of the holiday.
Weekend weather? A solid B- or C+ taking into account a cooler breeze and more numerous showers Sunday and Memorial Day. We've seen worse.
Minnesota Storm Trends.
The PPT slides above are from a recent presentation in Plymouth,
courtesy of Mark Kulda, VP of Insurance Federation of Minnesota.
Damaging Hail Trends.
Now this is for baseball size hail in Minnesota (2.75" in diameter).
Nature never moves in a straight line but the frequency of baseball size
hail has increases from 3-5/year to closer to 10-15/year. Data: Dr.
Mark Seeley, Minnesota Climate Office.
May 8 Denver Hailstorm Was Colorado's Costliest On Record. The Denver Post has details on the very costly hailstorm earlier this month: "...At
$1.4 billion, the storm will surpass the $1.1 billion in damage claims,
adjusted for inflation, that a storm on July 11, 1990, generated and
the $845.5 million in claims tied to a storm on July 20, 2009. It will
also be three times more expensive than the state’s most damaging
wildfire, which destroyed 346 homes in the Waldo Canyon area of Colorado
Springs in June 2012 and generated $453.7 million in payouts at the
time. “The enormous size of the hail hitting densely populated areas of
the Denver metro (area) during rush hour has contributed to the
magnitude of damage caused by this storm,” Walker said..."
Above-Normal Hurricane Season Is Most Likely This Year. A weak or non-existent El Nino is a big factor in the prediction of a busier-than-average hurricane season, according to
NOAA: "
For
the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through
November 30, forecasters predict a 45 percent chance of an above-normal
season, a 35 percent chance of a near-normal season, and only a 20
percent chance of a below-normal season. "As a Florida resident, I am
particularly proud of the important work NOAA does in weather
forecasting and hurricane prediction," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Wilbur Ross. "These forecasts are important for both public safety and
business planning, and are a crucial function of the federal
government." Forecasters predict a 70 percent likelihood of 11 to 17
named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 5 to 9 could become
hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 2 to 4 major
hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher). An average
season produces 12 named storms of which six become hurricanes,
including three major hurricanes..."
NOAA's Newest Geostationary Satellite Will Be Positioned as GOES-East This Fall. Details via
NOAA: "
GOES-16,
the most advanced weather satellite NOAA has ever developed, will be
moved to the GOES-East position at 75 degrees west longitude, once it is
declared operational in November. Top officials from NOAA announced the
long-awaited decision at today’s 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook
news conference in College Park, Maryland..."
Memorial Weekend Weather.
The best weather this weekend? Western USA and the Gulf Coast. A few
showers and T-storms push across the Upper Midwest into the Ohio Valley
by Sunday; a push of cooler air whipping up showers on Memorial Day from
the Dakotas into Minnesota and Wisconsin. 84-Hour NAM guidance: NOAA
and Tropicaltidbits.com.
Looks Like a Holiday.
After 70s today and Saturday a northwest wind kicks in, a storm in the
upper atmosphere increasing the risk of (mainly PM) showers Sunday and
Memorial Day. Monday will be the coolest day of the holiday weekend.
Twin Cities ECMWF outlook: WeatherBell.
Summer In No Great Hurry for Northern USA.
June kicks off on a warm note over the western USA and much of the
south, but a droopy jet stream brings frequent pulses of cooler air into
the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, meaning showery rains and
temperatures trending a few degrees cooler than average.
73% of Sunscreens Don't Actually Work. A story at
Newsweek made me do a double-take: "...
This week, the Environmental Working Group released its 11th annual sunscreen guide
to make selecting protection far less stressful. The EWG, a Washington,
D.C.-based research organization that monitors the safety of consumer
products and lobbies for stricter regulations, reviewed formulations of
more than 880 beach and sport sunscreens, 480 moisturizers and 120 lip
products with sun protection factor, or SPF. And they made a surprising
and disappointing discovery. Based on a review of disclosed ingredients
on product labels, they found that 73 percent of sunscreens don’t
actually work..."
May 16 Wisconsin Tornado Upgraded to EF-3, On Ground for 83 Miles. This was a Kansas-size tornado in the North Woods of Wisconsin; details via
NOAA: "
A
powerful thunderstorm tracked across northwest Wisconsin during the
early evening of 5/16/2017. The storm produced a strong, 83 mile long
track tornado which affected 4 counties. The tornado first developed
over southeastern Polk County, east of Clear Lake, then tracked mostly
eastward across southern Barron and southern Rusk counties, to the
southwest part of Price County. One hard hit area occurred just north
of Chetek, WI where high-end EF2 damage was found. The greatest damage
that was observed occurred north of the Village of Conrath, Rusk County.
A family home was completely collapsed down to the foundation and was
rated EF-3 (145 mph). The remainder of the tornadoes path ranged from
EF0 to EF1 with mainly tree damage, and mostly minor structural damage.
This is one of the longest track tornadoes ever to have occurred in
Wisconsin since official National Weather Service records which began in
1950."
Climatological Risk of Wildfires.
Some may be surprised to hear that NOAA SPC does more than track severe
weather and issue storm watches. They also outline areas of the USA
susceptible to wildfires.
Here's a link to historical wildfire data, by date.
Huge Landslide Buries More of Scenic California Highway.
Huffington Post as the details: "
A
massive landslide covered a section of California’s famous Highway 1
last weekend that’s been beset by falling rocks and debris this year.
Video footage released by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department on
Monday shows a 35-40 layer of dirt and rock atop a 1/3-mile stretch of
the roadway in Big Sur. “Mother nature hard at work,” said a tweet from Caltrans,
the state’s transportation department. Images recorded from the
sheriff’s department’s plane shows that the debris reshaped the shore
beneath the highway..."
A Chinese Company Is Offering Free Training for US Coal Miners to Become Wind Farmers. Innovate, reinvent, or fade away.
Quartz has the encouraging story: "
If
you want to truly understand what’s happening in the energy industry,
the best thing to do is to travel deep into the heart of American coal
country, to Carbon County, Wyoming (yes, that’s a real place). The state
produces most coal in the US, and Carbon County has long been known
(and was named) for its extensive coal deposits. But the state’s mines
have been shuttering over the past few years, causing hundreds of people
to lose their jobs in 2016 alone. Now, these coal miners are finding
hope, offered from an unlikely place: a Chinese wind-turbine maker wants
to retrain these American workers to become wind-farm technicians. It’s
the perfect metaphor for the massive shift happening in the global
energy markets..."
Photo credit: "
Mix and match."
(EPA/Julian Stratenschulte).
Hit Hard by Coal's Decline, Eastern Kentucky Turns to Drones, Tomatoes, Solar Energy. Here's a clip from
The Wall Street Journal: "
With
coal production on the decline, one energy company is pursuing a
project that might seem heretical in this eastern Kentucky mining
region: a solar-energy farm. Berkeley Energy Group and a subsidiary of
the French renewable-energy company EDF Energies Nouvelles aim to begin
building a $100 million facility on a reclaimed strip mine next year. As
the state’s largest solar complex, it would produce as much as 100
megawatts of electricity. To fill an estimated 100 jobs that would be
created, the partners would give priority to unemployed coal miners. The
project would “put miners back to work and diversify our holdings and
diversify the region,” said Ryan Johns, project development executive at
Berkeley Energy. “It’s kind of a new frontier for our area...”
Photo credit: "
Hazard,
one of eastern Kentucky's principal coal towns, is now home to a
program in the local community college that trains laid-off miners to
work as linemen in the electric industry." Andrew Spear for The Wall Street Journal.
Climate-Friendly Car Guide. Interested in lowering your CO2 emissions and saving money, but debating between electric or a hybrid? Climate Central has a
unique guide that walks you through the process of deciding which option makes the best sense on a state by state basis: "
How
climate friendly electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars are depends
on where you charge them. In states where electricity generation relies
heavily on fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, powering electric
cars can be more emissions intensive than conventional gas-powered cars.
On the other hand, states with large proportions of hydropower,
renewables and nuclear power provide a low-emissions power grid for
electric cars. The Climate-Friendly Car Guide allows you to compare
specific 2017 model-year cars effectively by using your state’s most
recent electricity grid..."
Forget Plastics - Think Asteroids.
A new report from Goldman Sachs suggests mining of metals on asteroids
may be a trillion-dollar industry. Quartz has details in an
infographic.
Singapore "Vending Machine" Dispenses Ferraris, Lamborghinis. Taking wretched excess to a whole new level, here's a report from
Reuters: "
Forget
about soft drinks and potato chips - a "vending machine" in Singapore
is offering up luxury vehicles, including Bentleys, Ferraris and
Lamborghinis. Used car seller Autobahn Motors opened a futuristic
15-story showroom in December, with vehicles on display in 60 slots,
billing it as the "world's largest luxury car vending machine".
Customers on the ground floor choose from a touchscreen display which
car they wish to see. The car arrives within one to two minutes thanks
to an advanced system that manages vehicle retrieval, the company says..."
Photo credit: "
An
exotic used car dealership designed to resemble a vending machine in
Singapore May 15, 2017. The dealership houses up to 60 exotic cars in a
15 story building which uses a fish-bone type lift system to deliver
cars to clients within minutes." Reuters/Thomas White.
Take a Load Off. The Robots That Fold Laundry Are Coming. Well that's a relief. Here's a clip from The New York Times: "Cars
can now drive themselves. Cellphones talk to us. How long will it be
until the dreams of every college student and overworked parent come
true - and laundry can fold itself? At least two companies are
promising to bring laundry-folding robots for the home to market by the
end of 2017. Known as Laundroid and FoldiMate, both machines work by
analyzing each garment they take in, figuring out its ideal folding
shape and delivering a drawer-ready stack of smoothly folded clothes..."
Photo credit: "
Shin Sakane standing next to a mock-up of the Laundroid, his laundry-folding robot, it Tokyo." Ko Sasaki for The New York Times.
Fireplace of States. How cool is this?
Atlas Obscura tells us about a fireplace like no other in Bemidji, Minnesota: "
It
was the 1920s, the heyday of lake-side dance pavilions, when Harry E.
Roese–resort owner and manager of the Bemidji District State Employment
office–decided to build a one-of-a-kind fireplace for his hometown. It
started with him collecting rocks in the area of Lake Bemidji, but his
idea soon expanded: what if he could get donations from every county in
the state? And every state in the union? And every province in Canada? The result was the ambitious Fireplace of States, built with a collection of rocks and stones from all over Minnesota, the United States, and most of the provinces of the neighbor to the north..."
Photo credit: "
The Fireplace of States now at the Bemidji Tourist Information Center." Courtesy of Bemidji Pioneer.
TODAY: Mild sun, late thunder possible. Winds: S 5-10. High: 75
FRIDAY NIGHT: Spotty shower or two. Low: 54
SATURDAY: Mix of clouds and sun, best day of the holiday weekend? Winds: W 7-12. High: 72
SUNDAY: More clouds. Better chance of pop-up PM showers. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 55. High: 69
MEMORIAL DAY: Cooler, cloudier. Showery rain likely. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 50. High: 61 (50s most of the day).
TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy, PM sprinkle. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 49. High: near 60
WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny, more promising. Winds: W 7-12. Wake-up: 48. High: near 70
THURSDAY: Plenty of sun, feels more like June. Winds: SW 7-12. Wake-up: 52. High: 78
Climate Stories...
"Put Up or Shut Up". WRAL's Greg Fishel Goes Off on Climate Change Deniers. Greg
is Chief Meteorologist at WRAL, and my oldest friend (we were resident
weather-nerds in our high school and went on to attend Penn State at
roughly the same time). Greg is brilliant and a terrific communicator,
and he doesn't suffer fools gladly. Here's an excerpt from
News & Observer: "
Popular local weatherman Greg Fishel had strong words for climate change deniers on his Facebook page
on Sunday. Fishel, chief meteorologist at WRAL, went off on people who
question the science behind climate change, telling them to “put up or
shut up.” The post had earned more than 3,500 reactions by Monday
afternoon. “You know everybody reaches their breaking point and quite
frankly I have reached mine with the folks who post all over the
internet about the scientific fallacies of man induced climate change,”
Fishel wrote. “All of them are guest bloggers or essayists. None of this
stuff has ever been published in a peer reviewed atmospheric science or
climate journal. But we live in an age today where higher education and
research are no longer respected. Heck, think of all the money my
parents wasted on my education when I could have waited for the age of
twitter and Facebook and declared myself as an expert in the field of my
choice...”
Climate Change May Force Millions of Americans to Move Inland.
We already have climate refugees in coastal Louisiana and Alaska - this
may be the tip of the (melting) iceberg, according to research
highlighted at
HuffPost: "...
Using
migration data from the Internal Revenue Service and climate migration
models, Hauer concluded that a 6-foot increase in sea levels would cause
every U.S. state to experience climate-related migration by 2100. Scientists are predicting a 6-foot global sea-level rise by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions are left unchecked. In a study last year, Hauer had estimated that a 6-foot rise in regional sea levels would put 13 million people in more than 300 U.S. coastal counties at risk. The new report, published in the journal Nature, finds that nine
states could see population declines as rising waters force people to
flee. Florida would be worst off with millions of people leaving the
state. Other states would be taking in climate migrants. Texas could absorb as many as 2.5 million internal migrants..."
Photo credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters. "Rising
sea levels could threaten the homes of millions of people in coastal
states around the nation by 2100. Remember how neighborhoods were still
flooded two weeks after Hurricane Katrina went though New Orleans?"
Infectious Disease Collides With Changing Climate. Keep an eye on the yellow fever outbreak in Brazil and a possible link with "weather whiplash".
Milwaukee's Journal-Sentinel reports: "...
The
current outbreak is the nation’s worst on record; yellow fever deaths
in the first four months of 2017 already exceeded all those from 1989
through 2008. At the epicenter of this epidemic is a group of states
that had just recovered from their worst droughts in 80 years. This
intersection of drought and disease raises a complex and troubling
question for scientists: Is our changing climate contributing to
flare-ups of infectious diseases? “Yes, this is a factor that is present
in our modeling,” says Márcia Chame, a researcher who has been
examining the outbreak for the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de
Janeiro. But climate alone cannot account for Brazil’s latest bout with
yellow fever, according to Chame, coordinator of the foundation’s
biodiversity research unit..."
Photo credit: Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Scientists Really Aren't the Best Champions of Climate Science. Food for thought from
Vox: "..
.The
repeated failures of the scientific community to get the world to act
on climate change are often chalked up to framing problems: If only the
data were presented in a way that people understood, people would feel a
sense of urgency and demand action. But reframing the argument isn’t a magic fix:
Regardless of the topic, people actively seek out ways to reinforce
what they already believe. The message matters, but it’s often the
messenger that matters more..."
Why Science Denial Isn't Necessarily Ideological. Annie Murphy Paul has an intriguing article at
The Washington Post: "...
The
problem is that our intuitive theories are, scientifically speaking,
often wrong. We suspect that we came down with the sniffles because we
were drenched by a cold rain. We surmise that the weather is hotter in
the summer because the Earth is closer to the sun. We embrace intuitive
theories because, in Shtulman’s words, “we are built to perceive the
environment in ways that are useful for daily living, but these ways do
not map onto the true workings of nature.” Many of our intuitive
theories are formed early in life, before formal science instruction
takes place. And because all children encounter the same physical world,
interpreted through the use of the same limited biological equipment,
they tend to formulate similar ideas about how that world works
(creating a shared social reality that further entrenches intuitive
theories)..."
Scientists Just Published an Entire Study Refuting Scott Pruitt on Climate Change.
The Washington Post reports: "
In a sign of growing tensions between scientists and the Trump administration, researchers published a scientific paper
Wednesday that was conceived and written as an explicit refutation to
an assertion by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott
Pruitt about climate change. The study, in the journal Nature Scientific
Reports, sets up a direct test of a claim by Pruitt, made in written Senate comments
following his confirmation hearing, that “over the past two decades
satellite data indicates there has been a leveling off of warming.”
After reviewing temperature trends contained in three satellite data
sets going back to 1979, the paper concludes that the data sets show a
global warming trend — and that Pruitt was incorrect..."
Image credit:
Nature.com.
Trump Administration Sued Over Climate Change "Censorship".
Climate Home reports: "
The
Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday
against four US federal agencies over what it called “censorship” of
climate change information. Filed at a district court in Washington DC,
the legal challenge targets the Environmental Protection Agency and
Departments of Interior, State and Energy. It concerns the removal of
information on climate science and policy from government websites and public communications since the advent of Donald Trump’s presidency..."
Image credit: "
A search for climate change information on the EPA website redirects to this holding page."
Pope Lends Weight to G-7 Push to Bind Trump to Climate Deal. Bloomberg reports: "
Pope
Francis joined an international chorus urging Donald Trump to meet U.S.
commitments on climate change in talks at the Vatican Wednesday.
Francis gave the U.S. president a copy of his 2015 encyclical calling
for urgent, drastic cuts in fossil-fuel emissions after a half-hour
meeting in his private study. Francis’s choice of gift suggests he is
adding his voice to those pressing Trump not to renege on the Paris
accord, which is the cornerstone of global efforts to limit climate
change. The Vatican said in a statement that the talks focused on
international affairs and the promotion of peace, with particular
emphasis on health care, education and immigration..."
Mapping 50 Years of Melting Ice in Glacier National Park.
The New York Times tackles the trends and uses infographics to tell the story: "
Glacier
National Park is losing its glaciers. The flowing sheets of ice
scattered throughout the Montana park shrank by more than a third
between 1966 and 2015, according to new data
from the United States Geological Survey and Portland State University.
Using aerial and satellite imagery, researchers traced the footprints
of 39 named glaciers in the park and surrounding national forest. They
found that 10 had lost more than half their area over 50 years..."
Warming Has Increased U.S. Growing Season by 13 Frost-Free Days.
The Independent has details: "
The
number of frost-free days in the northern United States has increased
by more than 13 days in the past 100 years, according to new research.
The other main areas of the mainland US also saw significant increases
in the number of days without frost, essentially the growing season –
10.7 days in the west, 8.6 in a central region and 7.7 days in the
south. Global warming was one of the reasons for the trend, but the
researchers also found changes to local cloud cover and atmospheric
circulation patterns played a part..."
File photo: iStock.
Why Some Republicans Are Warming to Climate Action. If markets can provide solutions, not government, then (many) in the GOP may be onboard, according to
Christian Science Monitor: "...
Having
those costs reflected in the price of gas and electricity would hold
fossil fuel companies accountable for their environmental impact, the
theory goes. The higher price, in turn, would incentivize innovation in
renewables and encourage consumers to power their lives in
climate-friendly ways – all while keeping government intervention at a
minimum. “We’re already paying the full cost of coal-fire electricity,”
Inglis says. “It’s in the healthcare system. It’s in the climate damages
[they cause]. So go ahead and put that on your meter and let’s see how
wind and solar do then.” More than pushing a particular solution,
however, Inglis aims to mobilize conservatives into joining the
discourse instead of just going on the defensive against what he calls
the environmental left – thus helping to sever the ties between climate
action and political identity..."
Eating on the Brink: How Food Could Prevent a Climate Disaster. Civil Eats helps us connect the dots between diet, agriculture and AGW: "...
What we eat is responsible for a whopping one-third of all atmospheric warming today. Global meat and dairy production together accounts for roughly 15 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions,
making the livestock industry worse for the climate than every one of
the world’s planes, trains, and cars combined. At the meetings,
Christine Figueres, who led the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, reminded us that climate stability requires limiting
warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius. To do that, we need to start
reversing current emissions trajectory, start a downward turn, by 2020.
Yes, 2020. That means engaging every sector, food included..."
Half the Global Population Could Face 'Unknown' Climates by Mid-Century. Here's a clip from
EcoWatch: "
Billions of people across the world could see climates they've never experienced before by the middle of the century, a new study
said. Using a measure of climate "familiarity," the researchers showed
that the tropics in particular are likely to experience conditions that
are virtually unheard of for the region in the present climate. But
keeping global temperatures rise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
could help keep the climate "familiar" within this century, the
researchers said. That means people alive today could see the benefits
of mitigation within their lifetimes..."
Photo credit: "Hurricane Sandy floods a street in Lindenhurst, Long Isoland." Jason DeCrow/CC by SA/2.5"
Scientists Planting 400 Acres of Minnesota Pines to Survive Climate Change. Will
our grandchildren and great grandchildren have the same up north
experience with pine trees, loons and eagles? The jury is still out, but
I wouldn't take anything for granted.
Star Tribune reports: "...
This
summer they’re embarking on a project to plant 400 acres with
cold-loving evergreens like jack pine and tamarack in carefully selected
“conifer strongholds” — places that they predict will stay cooler or
wetter or have better soil, increasing the chances that a few of each
species will survive for the next generation as Minnesota grows warmer.
“We are trying to get us in better shape for the centuries to come,”
said Meredith Cornett, a forest scientist with the Nature Conservancy in
Minnesota who is heading up the project. The aim is to preserve
northern forest species — not just the trees but also the mosaic of
plants and animals that rely on them — to maintain biodiversity. Both
will be exceedingly difficult thanks to a double whammy of the region’s
past and it’s future..."
Photo credit: Brian Peterson, Star Tribune. "
The forest north of Park Rapids, Minnesota, is a mix of aspen, birch and conifers."
Significant Global Climate Events in April. Here's an excerpt from
NOAA: "
For
the third consecutive month, the monthly temperature and year to date
ranked second warmest in the 138-year record. At the poles, sea ice
extents were at or near record low levels. The average global
temperature for April 2017 was 1.62 degrees F above the 20th-century
average of 56.7 degrees, according to the analysis by scientists from
NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. This was the
second highest for April in the 1880-2017 record, behind last year by
0.31 degrees..."
See the Fortune 500 Companies Doing the Most to Stop Climate Change. An article at
Fortune caught my eye: "
President Trump has made it clear that boosting business is his priority, not combating climate change. In March Trump signed an executive order to undo Obama’s Clean Power Plan, and he’s vowed to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.
But the biggest companies in the U.S. continue to embrace clean energy
policies. So says a new report by Calvert Research, CDP, Ceres, and
World Wildlife Fund called “Power Forward 3.0.” The study found that 240
companies in the 2016 Fortune 500 had climate-related goals, up from 215 a few years ago. Here, the 2015 CO2-equivalent savings of the 56 companies in the Fortune 100 that reported results in 2016..."
Graphic credit: Nicolas Rapp.
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