Greetings to all and thanks so much for visiting. Though it’s been a quiet week across much of the USA, May is here and it’s the month for the peak of tornado activity. Your tornado safety information will be posted again this week along with a reminder on lightning and flash flood safety. I’m resumed posting on the Tornado Quest Threads account, so visit our social media page to check it out along with other Tornado Quest social media platforms. We’ve several thought provoking science reads, the updated weekly US Drought Monitor, and a reminder to check your NOAA weather radio. Let’s get started.
- The sixth National Climate Assessment for the USA is in peril due to actions taken by the Trump administration that prohibits any further research into this valuable scientific endeavor. The outcome will be the USA’s lack of ability to prepare for climate related extreme events in the future.
- The clean energy revolution will continue in many countries, but the United States will no longer be a world leader in this critical endeavor.
- Most Americans don’t realize or appreciate just how much they rely on federal science information for a wide variety of purposes including weather forecasting, food safety, and much more. As we have seen in recent weeks, those agencies are now under threat.
- It would be nice to think this is just a joke, but it’s not. Apparently, for some who will believe just about anything as long as it fits in their conspiracy theory bubble, the National Weather Service radars need to be destroyed in a most violent way. In an unfortunate turn of events, now National Weather Service employees are told to be on guard for their personal safety whether at work, or out on their own as NWS offices are now potential targets from extremist groups.
- As the Atlantic hurricane season approaches and we continue well into the peak season for tornado activity, many National Weather Service offices are vastly understaffed as the chainsaw taken to the federal government continues to wreck havoc.
- Wildfire smoke and extreme heat can occur simultaneously. For many of us, we’d better get prepared for the possibility of having to encounter both…and the resulting health problems.
- If you live in a region prone to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, you need to watch this excellent video presentation from the National Weather Service in Norman, OK on seasonal readiness for severe weather and tornadoes. It goes into extensive detail on many facets of severe weather forecasting that will help many folks increase their appreciation of just how hard the task of a meteorologist is and the lengths they go to in order to make their forecasts easy for the general public to understand.
- Are you interested in weather and would you like to take part in contributing to weather and climate data archives as a citizen scientist? Check out the CoCoRaHS project! Your daily precipitation reports, even when no precipitation has occurred, are part of very important weather data forecasting models and data archives! Every single daily report, even if you get no precipitation, counts and is important!
- Another way you can help with weather reports as a citizen scientist is with the free mPING app! Your reports go directly to the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK! Even just a few reports help meteorologists with research…and your one report does count!
- Here’s your weekly reminder to check your NOAA weather radio’s operation and its batteries. NOAA has a comprehensive page on NOAA weather radio…a feature of the National weather Service in the USA that has saved countless lives.
- Here’s the latest update on the US Drought Monitor. Across much of the contiguous USA, drought conditions have improved across the Ohio valley and mid to lower Mississippi valley regions. Many states west of the Mississippi River have seen some relief as well as small parts of the east coast. Extreme to exceptional drought conditions continue to persist from Texas west to to southern California. The latest fire weather outlooks can be found at the Storm Prediction Center website where they are updated daily.
SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY
Please note; Much of the preceding information may not be available/updated in the future due to unnecessary firings en masse at NOAA and the National Weather Service.
THUNDERSTORMS, TORNADOES, AND LIGHTNING…NATURES MOST VIOLENT STORMS
TORNADO SAFETY FROM NOAA’S STORM PREDICTION CENTER
THE MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TORNADOES FROM NOAA’S STORM PREDICTION CENTER
HOW TO BUILD AN EMERGENCY KIT – INFORMATION COURTESY READY.GOV
That’s a wrap for this week! Thanks for stopping by! See you next Saturday!
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