Greetings to everyone! I hope this week’s post finds you happy and healthy. Across much of the western contiguous USA, drought conditions persist. Meanwhile, the climatological peak of the severe weather and tornado season has arrived across the North American great plains. If you’d like a detailed review of tornado and severe weather safety, please review posts from March and April as these have a plethora of severe weather, tornado, and flooding safety information. There are several other good science reads to review this week, so let’s get started.

• Here’s some good news for a change. “NASA’s Mars Helicopter Flies Again and Gets a New Mission.”
• Misinformation, disinformation, and blatant lies run amok. “How to spot the difference between a real climate policy and greenwashing guff.”
• There’s a very large methane reservoir beneath the Laptev Sea that is, for the time being, held in check by the permafrost seabed. If released, it would send very large amounts of a potent greenhouse gas free.
• Ocean heatwaves are as devastating as those on land. “Fevers are plaguing the oceans & climate change is making them worse.”
• In case you missed it, here’s an excellent climate change primer for kids! “Bad Future, Better Future.“
• Knowing when the last snow took place at your location in the USA isn’t only helpful in a myriad of ways, but when presented in an interactive map like this, it can be fascinating.
• Here is the latest US Drought Monitor. As expected, the drought conditions over the western contiguous USA have worsened.

• According to a new NOAA report, hotter is the new normal in the USA. This report comes out every 10 years & charts 30-year averages of weather for places around the USA.

PREPARING A SEVERE WEATHER EMERGENCY KIT FOR HOME, VEHICLE, AND WORK

This handy checklist from the American Red Cross will help you put together an emergency kit for a variety of weather scenarios. A kit like this is very helpful in a variety of other difficult scenarios from wildfires to blizzards to tornadoes and hurricanes.

Where you get your weather forecasts, warnings, and other important information is as important as being informed. Discretion is of the upmost importance when you’re trying to stay weather aware. As of late, it’s been brought to my attention that there have been amateur ‘forecasters’ using graphics with the intention of appearing as professional and official sources of information on Twitter, Facebook, et al. They should NOT be taken as official sources of potentially life-saving warnings and weather forecasts and updates.

Social media is a very useful tool that can be misused for misinformation, disinformation, and hype. While this infographic is geared towards, winter weather, it certainly applies to ALL types of weather year round.

That’s a wrap for this post! As I mentioned in the introduction, if you’d like a detailed review of tornado and severe weather safety, please review the previous posts for further details. I’d like to extend a big ‘Thank You’ to my followers in social media. I’m glad you’re along for the fun! If you’re on Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram, let’s connect! As for the COVID-19 pandemic, sport a spiffy mask, practice good hand-washing hygiene, mind your social distancing, stay safe, and stay healthy!

See you next Saturday!

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