Smoky 80s Today, Then Cooling Off – While “Sally” Lashes Gulf Coast

Hurricane Sally Lashes The Gulf Coast - Fire and Smoke Grips West Coast Minnesotans enjoy their lakes yearround. We even drive on them. When it comes to the shore one word comes to mind. Rent. I wouldn't dream of buying anything right on the ocean, not with rising sea levels and increasingly supersized hurricanes. At some point the trends will make it nearly impossible to get a mortgage or insurance.

Today "Sally" roars ashore as a Category 2-3 hurricane, made worse by warmer than average water in the Gulf of Mexico. A 10 foot storm surge may inundate coastal regions near Mobile and Biloxi, with major impacts on New Orleans and as much as 20-30" of rain as the storm temporarily stalls. Not good.

The summer of 2020 was, in fact, sunnier than average, statewide. But once again, smoke from apocalyptic fires in the west will throw a dirty blanket over an otherwise blue sky. Low 80s today give way to a cooling trend the latter half of the week. A shower is possible late Thursday; again late Sunday - otherwise our weather will be dry and drama-free this week.

We now have "Vicky" in the Atlantic and quickly running out of hurricane names. We'll soon tap the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma). The symptoms of a warmer climate are - increasingly - showing up on our maps. And yes, the weather is biting back with increasing ferocity.

Monday evening visible image: NOAA and AerisWeather.

NOAA: Hottest Summer on Record for North America. These symptoms of a warming world are probably not a coincidence, according to NOAA: "...According to scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, the average global land and ocean surface temperature in August was 1.69 degrees F (0.94 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degrees F (15.6 degrees C), making it the second-hottest August in the 141-year record, behind August 2016. The Northern Hemisphere had its hottest August on record with a temperature departure from average of 2.14 degrees F (1.19 degrees C), besting the previous record set in August 2016. Globally, the 10 warmest Augusts have all occurred since 1998 -- with the five warmest occurring since 2015..."

Cooling Trend Into Friday. After peaking in the low 80s this afternoon temperatures will fall off later in the week, although not as abruptly as last week. A few showers are possible Thursday night and early Friday, with a better chance of showers and T-storms PM hours on Sunday. Map sequence: Praedictix and AerisWeather. Trending Close to Average. Take away the dips and bumps and temperatures run fairly close to average for the next 10 days, according to ECMWF, with more 70s than 60s predicted. Graphic: WeatherBell. Pulses of Cooler Air, But Still Trending Close to Average. We'll see more cool frontal passages looking out 2 weeks (a fairly safe bet at this latitude) but I don't see any sharp or extended spasms of unusually cold air through the end of September. The west and much of the south continues to bake. Praedictix Intermediate update issued Monday evening: 1). Latest on Hurricane Sally. Now a Category 1 hurricane with 90 mph sustained winds, Sally is strengthening rapidly over warm water and expected to become at least a Category 2 with sustained winds near 110 mph by Tuesday morning. It now appears the center of the hurricane will remain out over warm Gulf water through much of the day Tuesday, which will allow for more strengthening. I would not be surprised to see Sally become a Category 3 storm with sustained winds of 110-120 around landfall late Tuesday. Map credit: AerisWeather. 2). Storm Surge Risk. The threat for flooding in New Orleans is still high - with any luck the (new) levees will hold, preventing a widespread, catastrophic, Katrina-like event, but that scenario cannot be entirely ruled out. There will be widespread flooding from the surge and very heavy rains, impacting New Orleans suburbs into the day on Wednesday. The most severe surge flooding will come east of where the eye comes ashore late Tuesday, which means a high risk of severe flooding from Gulfport, MS to Mobile, AL on east to Pensacola, FL. The most severe flooding zone will extend from eastern Louisiana into coastal Mississippi and Alabama. A surge as high as 10 feet is possible just east of where Sally finally pushes ashore. Map: NHC. 3). Model Forecast for Tuesday Morning. The map above shows the predicted location of Sally around 10 am tomorrow morning. If this solution verifies (moderate chance) the greatest risk of a severe storm surge would be from Gulfport into Mobile Bay, where flooding may be extensive. There is still significant uncertainty in the final storm track - upper level steering winds are light, which means the storm may meander over the Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore. The longer Sally is over open water the stronger it can become. Accelerate preparations from Pensacola westward to New Orleans. (graphic: WeatherBell) 4). Extreme Rainfall Amounts. Due to the very slow forward speed of Sally over the next 48 hours, extreme rainfall amounts are expected from eastern Louisiana into southeastern Mississippi and central and southern Alabama. Closer to the coast some 20-25"+ amounts are possible from Sally. With a storm surge coming in from the Gulf, runoff from record rains will not be able to easily drain, enhancing urban and inland flooding, in some cases 200-300 miles inland. Don't focus just on coastal areas - severe flooding is likely well inland, as far inland as Jackson to Montgomery. (graphic credit: pivotalweather.com) 5). Key take-aways: Sally is a hurricane and now strengthening faster than earlier models were predicting. It will hit as a very dangerous Category 2 or 3 storm sometime Tuesday. Flooding will come from storm surge and excessive rainfall amounts. Wind damage is likely within 150 miles of the coast, with widespread power outages and disruptions to transportation. Although Sally is a smaller storm, and still not the scope of Katrina (2005) it will pack quite a punch over the next 48-60 hours. Paul Douglas Founder, Senior Meteorologist, Praedictix Praedictix Briefing: Issued Monday morning, September 14th, 2020:

Tropical Storm Sally

Big Headline: Sally is expected to slow down and strengthen over the next couple of days as the system approaches the central Gulf Coast, meaning this is expected to be a dangerous and slow-moving hurricane with strong winds and heavy rain (potentially up to two feet) across the region and a life-threatening storm surge along the coast.

Tropical Storm Sally. Outer bands of rain have been approaching the northern Gulf Coast this morning in association with Tropical Storm Sally. As of the 7 AM CDT update, the center of Sally was located about 115 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River or about 165 miles southeast of Biloxi, MS. Sally had winds of 65 mph, with tropical storm winds extending outward 125 miles from the center, and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph. A buoy 130 miles south-southeast of Pensacola, FL, reported a sustained wind speed of 49 mph and wind gust to 58 mph earlier this morning.

Sally Track. Sally is expected to slow down and strengthen over the next couple of days as the system approaches the central Gulf Coast, meaning this is expected to be a dangerous and slow-moving hurricane with strong winds and heavy rain across the region and a life-threatening storm surge along the coast. The center of Sally should continue in a west-northwest motion today before slowly turning northward on Tuesday. There is still some uncertainty as to when this turn will occur in the model guidance, meaning exact timing and location of any eventual landfall (or landfalls) is still questionable. However, it does appear Sally will approach southeastern Louisiana tonight into Tuesday with a potential final landfall somewhere in southeastern Louisiana or along the Mississippi coast late Tuesday into Tuesday Night. It is expected to strengthen into a hurricane later today or tonight, and potentially reach peak winds of 85 mph before landfall along the Gulf Coast.

Tropical Storm Alerts. Along the Gulf Coast, Hurricane and Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches are in place. Along the coast, they include the following areas:

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for... * Morgan City Louisiana to the Mississippi/Alabama Border * Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas including metropolitan New Orleans

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for... * Mississippi/Alabama Border to Indian Pass Florida * Intracoastal City Louisiana to west of Morgan City

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for... * Mississippi/Alabama Border to the Alabama/Florida Border

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for... * Indian Pass to Ochlockonee River Florida

Here are links to local National Weather Service information on Sally: Tallahassee, Mobile/Pensacola, New Orleans/Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Jackson

Dangerous, Life-Threatening Storm Surge Expected. A dangerous and life-threatening storm surge is expected with Sally along the northern Gulf Coast through the middle of the week with Sally slowly approaching and making landfall. The highest storm surge of 7-11 feet is expected to occur on the right side of the storm from the mouth of the Mississippi to Ocean Springs, MS, including Lake Borgne, if the peak surge occurs at high tide. Large waves and the expected heavy rain adding more water to the region could also worsen some of the storm surge impacts. The National Hurricane Center notes that: “Overtopping of local levees outside of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System is possible where local inundation values may be higher than those shown above.” This Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System that surrounds New Orleans is designed to protect against a 15-foot surge.

Storm Surge Warnings. Storm Surge Warnings have been issued due to the expected rising water rushing inland from the coast from Port Fourchon, LA, to the Alabama/Florida Border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, Lake Borgne, and Mobile Bay.

Heavy Rain Threat. With Sally expected to be a slow-moving system, very heavy rain is expected to fall across the central Gulf Coast into the Southeast through the end of the week. Along the Gulf Coast, rainfall amounts of at least 8-16” with isolated 24” amounts are expected, which will lead to widespread and life-threatening flash flooding and lead to river flooding as well. Farther inland across the Southeast, 6-12” of rain is expected across inland areas of southeast Mississippi and Alabama, also leading to flash flooding in these areas.

Flood Watches. Flood Watches extend from eastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle and northward into central Alabama. This includes areas like New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Pensacola, Panama City, and Apalachicola.

Tropical Storm Wind Arrival. Already late today into Tuesday morning, tropical storm force winds are expected to begin impacting the Gulf Coast, which will start to make any preparations difficult ahead of Sally.

Gulfport, MS, Wind Gusts. We can already see by tomorrow morning wind gusts could be approaching 50 mph in Gulfport. The strongest winds are expected in the late afternoon and evening hours as Sally continues to slowly approach, with wind gusts to at least 80 mph possible. Winds would slowly decrease through the overnight hours Tuesday Night.

Hurricane Paulette

Paulette Moves Across Bermuda. Paulette made landfall in Bermuda earlier this morning, with the island completely in the eye of the storm at one point. There was an island-wide power outage with more than 20,000 without power. There was a wind gust at one point to 117 mph on the island. As of the 9 AM AST update, the eye of Paulette was moving away from the island of Bermuda, with the center of the storm located 55 miles north-northwest of Bermuda. Paulette had winds of 100 mph and was moving north-northwest at 13 mph. It is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane on Tuesday out in the middle of the Atlantic and appears to be a fish storm (no threat to land) for the rest of the week once it pushes away from Bermuda.

Other Tropical Activity

Other Tropical Activity. We are also watching the following named systems in the Atlantic:

Tropical Depression Rene: Rene is barely hanging on as a tropical depression and is expected to become a remnant low later today, completely dissipating during the middle of the week. Tropical Storm Teddy: This system is expected to become a hurricane Tuesday and then a major hurricane (Category 3+) as we head into the late week timeframe. Over the next five days it does not appear Teddy will be a threat to land. Tropical Depression Twenty-One: Twenty-One formed this morning in the far eastern Atlantic and is expected to become a short-lived tropical storm before becoming a remnant low during the middle of the week. This system does not appear to be a threat to land. Western Wildfires

Critical Fire Danger Today. Warm, dry, and breezy weather is expected across portions of the western United States and Northern Plains today, leading to areas of critical fire danger across portions of south-central/southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, eastern Idaho, and southwestern Montana. In these areas are where some of the strongest winds are possible, with sustained winds of 20-25 mph possible with higher wind gusts along with low humidity values. These conditions would allow new or ongoing wildfires to easily spread across the region.

Air Quality Concerns And Fire Weather Warnings. Due to the wildfire threat, Fire Weather Warnings (pink) are in place across portions of the western United States and Northern Plains, stretching from North Dakota to northern California. Air Quality Alerts (gray) remain in place across the western United States due to the smoke from the wildfires reducing air quality across the region. In tan from southern Washington to the Reno area, Dense Smoke Advisories are in place.

Hazardous Air Quality This Morning. Unhealthy to hazardous air quality is occurring across the western United States this morning due to all the wildfire smoke in the air. Some areas reporting hazardous air quality include Portland, Medford, Spokane, Yakima, and around Yosemite/Mammoth Lakes.

Air Quality Forecast. Hazardous air quality will continue across the region today, especially in the Spokane, Portland, Medford, and Chico areas.

D.J. Kayser, Meteorologist, Praedictix

California's Wildfire Smoke Plumes are Unlike Anything Previously Seen. Capital Weather Gang points out some of the unique (and vaguely terrifying) meteorological observations of this new breed of wildfire: "...The Creek Fire, which has burned nearly 200,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada mountains, was only 6 percent contained on Friday. On Sept. 5, a day after it was first ignited, its smoke plume soared to 55,000 feet. That’s taller than many of the tornadic thunderstorms that roll across Oklahoma and Kansas each spring. Such clouds are both indicators of and contributors to extreme fire behavior, such as rapid fire spread and the formation of fire vortices including tornadoes, along with other dynamics that are hazardous to firefighters and can imperil communities..."

California Heat Wave Fits a Trend. NASA's Earth Observatory has a good explainer: "...These recent heatwaves are “not surprising at all” to Glynn Hulley, a climate researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Heatwaves are becoming more frequent, lasting longer, and increasing in nighttime temperature and humidity, particularly in urban regions such as the Los Angeles basin.” Hulley and colleagues published a study in July 2020 showing how heatwaves became more frequent, intense, and longer-lasting in Southern California from 1950 to 2020. Using ground-based data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the team examined temperatures over inland urban, rural, and coastal urban areas. Heatwave activity showed the largest change in inland urban areas such as Los Angeles County, which Hulley said is most likely because they are farther away from coastal breezes and because urban areas act as heat islands--consisting of less cooling vegetation and more heat-absorbing surfaces (roads, buildings) that re-radiate heat stored during the daytime..." How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled. A story at NPR caught my eye: "...NPR and PBS Frontline spent months digging into internal industry documents and interviewing top former officials. We found that the industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work -- that the majority of plastic could be, and would be, recycled -- all while making billions of dollars selling the world new plastic. The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days, we found. "There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis," one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech..." Photo credit: "Landfill workers bury all plastic except soda bottles and milk jugs at Rogue Disposal & Recycling in southern Oregon." Laura Sullivan/NPR. Remembering the Galveson Hurricane of 1900. I didn't realize there was a Minnesota angle, but Dr. Mark Seeley set me straight at Minnesota WeatherTalk: "...This past Tuesday marked the 120th anniversary of the most lethal hurricane disaster in U.S. history. Galveston, TX was hit by 120 mph winds and a 20 foot storm surge on September 8, 1900. More than 6,000 people drowned and over 3600 homes were destroyed. This hurricane tracked north over Texas and the southern plains to merge with a cold front over Iowa by September 10th. The storm then produced a period of very heavy rains over Minnesota. In fact, the record Twin Cities rainfall for today's date of 3.11 inches is a direct result of this storm. Other parts of southern Minnesota reported 4 to 6 inches of rainfall as a result of this storm..." Photo credit: "Floating wreckage near Texas City - typical scene for miles along the water front - Galveston disaster." Wikipedia. Swedish Consortium Unveils Mammoth Wind-Powered Car Carrier. Back to the future? The Driven has details: "...Heralded as a “Swedish project for truly sustainable shipping,” the wPCC is currently being developed by the consortium and is expected to be sailing by the end of 2024. The world’s largest sailing vessel, the wPCC is billed as being able to reduce emissions by 90% as compared to other ocean-going freighters. A transatlantic crossing aboard the wPCC would take twelve days, instead of the current seven days it takes a conventional freighter. The Electric Bike for Overachievers? More money than sense, perhaps? WIRED.com has details: "...Speaking of recharging, it takes about 4.5 hours to go from zero to 100 thanks to the included quick charger. And if you're wondering about range, you'll get a little less than 30 miles per charge if you ride it like a maniac, as I did. The company claims a range of 75 miles per hour, but that's only if you ride it like Grandma. The real problem here is the price. The Roadster starts at $6,999 ($7,144 with race mode, which I’d call a must-buy). It’s a bespoke bike made from ultra-premium components, but it's totally out of reach for most people. You can get a very decent, real motorcycle for that money, or spend far less on plenty of other good electric bikes..." Photo credit: Richard Le/Vintage Electric. The Social Dilemma. If the product or service is free - YOU are the product. You simply won't believe the amount of data mining going on - and how much these platforms know about all of us. Here's an excerpt of a review of a new documentary on Netflix from The New York Times: "...That social media can be addictive and creepy isn’t a revelation to anyone who uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like. But in Jeff Orlowski’s documentary “The Social Dilemma,” conscientious defectors from these companies explain that the perniciousness of social networking platforms is a feature, not a bug. They claim that the manipulation of human behavior for profit is coded into these companies with Machiavellian precision: Infinite scrolling and push notifications keep users constantly engaged; personalized recommendations use data not just to predict but also to influence our actions, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists..." America is Trapped in a Pandemic Spiral. Ed Yong has a harrowing overview at The Atlantic; here's an excerpt: "...Many Americans trusted intuition to help guide them through this disaster. They grabbed onto whatever solution was most prominent in the moment, and bounced from one (often false) hope to the next. They saw the actions that individual people were taking, and blamed and shamed their neighbors. They lapsed into magical thinking, and believed that the world would return to normal within months. Following these impulses was simpler than navigating a web of solutions, staring down broken systems, and accepting that the pandemic would rage for at least a year. These conceptual errors were not egregious lies or conspiracy theories, but they were still dangerous. They manifested again and again, distorting the debate around whether to stay at home, wear masks, or open colleges. They prevented citizens from grasping the scope of the crisis and pushed leaders toward bad policies..." Illustration credit: Aaron Marin. The Lessons Two Ancient Philosophers Have For Us During the Pandemic. Words of wisdom that still ring true, courtesy of The Washington Post (paywall): "...The happy life is not to be found in pleasures or possessions, wrote Seneca, who was soon to be stripped of both. It is a life spent in pursuit of virtue, of learning what is the right thing to do and then doing it -- no matter how many people do otherwise. We may live to old age or die young; we may be healthy or sick, rich or poor: These are matters of fortune beyond our control. We control only our own thoughts and actions, how we conduct ourselves and how we treat others..." How to Save TV Ads from Extinction. But really, do we want to save TV ads? To save "free" TV? Here's a clip from Quartz: "... Not only is viewing spread out between TV and digital, but viewing within digital is also consumed in vastly different ways. That’s before you even consider the devices on which viewers are watching: About 70% still watch on televisions, but an increasing number are viewing on phones, tablets, and computers. More options are great for the consumer. But it’s a nightmare for advertisers as they try to decide how much to spend on each medium, and how their messaging should change depending on the platform. On top of existing fragmentation, there’s a global pandemic. All evidence suggests the coronavirus is accelerating a shift to digital consumption. And while TV ad revenues have been stable for decades, despite the myriad reasons for them to fall, the pandemic may be what pushes them over the edge..." Transparent Public Toilets Unveiled in Tokyo Parks - But They Also Offer Privacy. A story at NPR caught my eye: "There are two things we worry about when entering a public restroom, especially those located at a park," according to architect Shigeru Ban's firm. "The first is cleanliness, and the second is whether anyone is inside." Transparent walls can address both of those worries, Ban says, by showing people what awaits them inside. After users enter the restroom and lock the door, the powder room's walls turn a powdery pastel shade -- and are no longer see-through. "Using a new technology, we made the outer walls with glass that becomes opaque when the lock is closed, so that a person can check inside before entering," the Nippon Foundation says..."

Photo credit: "A woman enters a public restroom with transparent walls in Tokyo's Shibuya ward. Architect Shigeru Ban designed the bathroom in a way to reassure anyone entering the toilet." Satoshi Nagare/The Nippon Foundation.

Now There's an iMask. Not available to the general public - yet. Fortune explains: "Apple has developed masks that the company is beginning to distribute to corporate and retail employees to limit the spread of Covid-19. The Apple Face Mask is the first created in-house by the Cupertino, Calif.-technology giant for its staff. The other, called ClearMask, was sourced elsewhere. Apple previously made a different face shield for medical workers and distributed millions of other masks across the health-care sector. Apple told staff that the Face Mask was developed by the Engineering and Industrial Design teams, the same groups that work on devices such as the iPhone and iPad..."

Image credit: Bloomberg. "Apple masks worn by workers at a store in Singapore." Source: instagram.com/deirdre.at.apple.

Masks, Meet Wretched Excess. Oh yes, but does it keep you safer while you're looking stylish? USA TODAY reports: "...Vanity Fair reported that the Louis Vuitton shield includes an elastic monogrammed strap that goes around the wearer's head with a movable shield attached by golden studs engraved with the LV logo. While several media outlets including Vanity Fair and the New York Post say the shields will cost $961, Business Insider reported that Louis Vuitton officials said a price has not been announced yet..."

Image credit: Louis Vuitton.

79 F. high in the Twin Cities on Monday.

73 F. average MSP high on September 14.

75 F. high on September 14, 2019.

September 15, 1939: Minneapolis experiences a daily record high of 98.

September 15, 1916: St. Paul receives their earliest recorded snowfall.

TUESDAY: Smoky sun, gusty and warm. Winds: S 15-35. High: 82 WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny and a bit cooler. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 62. High: 71 THURSDAY: Sweatshirts return. Late shower risk? Winds: SE 3-8. Wake-up: 45. High: 61 FRIDAY: More clouds than sunshine. Winds: NE 10-15. Wake-up: 54. High: 65 SATURDAY: Patchy clouds, probably dry. Winds: SE 10-20. Wake-up: 49. High: 66 SUNDAY: Milder with late-day T-showers. Winds: S 10-15. Wake-up: 56. High: 73 MONDAY: Becoming sunny and pleasant. Winds: NW 7-12. Wake-up: 57. High: 75

Climate Stories...

How Climate Change is Fueling Record-Breaking California Wildfires, Heat and Smog. Here's an excerpt from The Los Angeles Times: "...Lindsey, who acknowledges that he was a bit of a climate skeptic in the past, said seeing the increase in seawater temperatures, in particular, over many years “was a real epiphany or wake-up call.” “By now, there’s no doubt in most people’s minds that the atmosphere is warming and the ocean is warming,” he said. “With the way greenhouse gases are increasing, in my mind, there’s no doubt that we’re causing this. It’s human activity that’s causing this. So I’m concerned about the future. And that’s somebody who’s very skeptical.” Global warming has increased the odds of unprecedented heat extremes across more than 80% of the planet and “has doubled or even, in some areas, tripled the odds of record-setting hot events” in California and the Western U.S., said Stanford University climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh..."

Dismay as Huge Chunk of Greenland's Ice Cap Breaks Off. Details via Associated Press and Star Tribune: "An enormous chunk of Greenland's ice cap has broken off in the far northeastern Arctic, a development that scientists say is evidence of rapid climate change. The glacier section that broke off is 110 square kilometers (42.3 square miles). It came off of the fjord called Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden, which is roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) long and 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide, the National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland said Monday. The glacier is at the end of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream, where it flows off the land and into the ocean..."

Image credit: "This Monday, July 30, 2019 natural-color image made with the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite shows meltwater collecting on the surface of the ice sheet in northwest Greenland near the sheet's edge. A hotter world is getting closer to passing a temperature limit set by global leaders five years ago and may exceed it in the next decade or so, according to a new United Nations report released on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020."

Secret Recording Reveals Oil Executives' Private Views on Climate Change. The New York Times (paywall) reports: "...At a discussion convened last year by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a group that represents energy companies, participants worried that producers were intentionally flaring, or burning off, far too much natural gas, threatening the industry’s image, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by The New York Times. “We’re just flaring a tremendous amount of gas,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, at the June 2019 gathering, held in Colorado Springs. “This pesky natural gas,” he said. “The value of it is very minimal,” particularly to companies drilling mainly for oil. A well can produce both oil and natural gas, but oil commands far higher prices. Flaring it is an inexpensive way of getting rid of the gas..."

Charleston Sues "Big Oil" for Flooding in South Carolina Lowcountry Caused by Global Warming. Here's the intro to a story at The Post and Courier: "The city of Charleston filed a lawsuit Wednesday in state court against two dozen major oil and pipeline companies, alleging their products and the spread of misinformation about fossil fuels have caused climate change and repetitive, disastrous flooding in the city. The lawsuit demands those companies -- some of the biggest names in the industry -- pay for the cost of trying to keep the city dry. But it doesn’t specify a dollar amount. It was the second assault on the oil industry in two days. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced a moratorium on drilling off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida..."

Biden's Early Climate Focus and Hard Years in Congress Forged His $2 Trillion Clean Energy Plan. More details on how Joe Biden might address climate change from InsideClimate News: "...But Biden, keenly aware of the forces that conspired to forestall Obama's climate agenda, has made climate action integral to his plan for addressing the immediate woes he will inherit. Biden has framed climate change as one of four historic crises that the nation is confronting at once--a perfect storm that has delivered "one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced." In his pledge to "Build Back Better," Biden is seeking to propel his climate plan, rather than allowing it to be trampled by the imperative to address the pandemic, the economic collapse and racial injustice. "We can, and we will, deal with climate change," Biden said. "It's not only a crisis, it's an enormous opportunity. An opportunity for America to lead the world in clean energy and create millions of new good-paying jobs in the process..."

California's Wildfires are 500 Percent Larger Due to Climate Change. Fires are burning bigger, hotter and longer, consuming more acreage in the process. The Atlantic connects the dots to a warmer, drier climate: "...Californians may feel like they’re enduring an epidemic of fire. The past decade has seen half of the state’s 10 largest wildfires and seven of its 10 most destructive fires, including last year’s Camp Fire, the state’s deadliest wildfire ever. A new study, published this week in the journal Earth’s Future, finds that the state’s fire outbreak is real--and that it’s being driven by climate change. Since 1972, California’s annual burned area has increased more than fivefold, a trend clearly attributable to the warming climate, according to the paper. The trend is dominated by fires like the Mendocino Complex Fire--huge blazes that start in the summer and feed mostly on timberland. Over the past five decades, these summertime forest fires have increased in size by roughly 800 percent. This effect is so large that it is driving the state’s overall increase in burned area..."

California Wildfires Growing Bigger, Moving Faster Than Ever. Associated Press provides context and perspective: "...They are only the latest examples of what a half-dozen fire experts agreed is more extreme fire behavior driven by drought and warming temperatures they attribute to climate change. Among the most concerning developments is that fast-moving wildfires leave less time for warnings or evacuations. Recently “we have seen multiple fires expand by tens of thousands of acres in a matter of hours, and 30 years or more ago that just wasn’t fire behavior that we saw,” said Jacob Bendix, a professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University who studies wildfires. Hotter temperatures, longer fire seasons and an estimated 140 million dead trees from a five-year drought mean that “fires in California are moving faster and growing larger,” said University of Utah fire expert Philip Dennison..."

Wildfires and Weather Extremes: It's Not Coincidence, It's Climate Change. Since the dawn of time Earth has experienced wild swings in weather - but a warmer, wetter climate is triggering more intense weather extremes, with greater frequency. CBS News reports: "Right on the heels of arguably the West Coast's most intense heat wave in modern history comes the most ferocious flare-up of catastrophic wildfires in recent memory. Meanwhile, just a few hundred miles east, a 60-degree temperature drop over just 18 hours in Wyoming and Colorado was accompanied by an extremely rare late-summer dumping of up to 2 feet of snow. It's not coincidence, it's climate change. These kinds of dystopian weather events, happening often at the same time, are exactly what scientists have been warning about for decades. While extreme weather is a part of the natural cycle, the recent uptick in the ferocity and frequency of these extremes, scientists say, is evidence of an acceleration of climate impacts, some of which were underestimated by climate computer models..."

Americans Want Climate Change News. Media Should Give It To Them. The Boston Globe reports: "...There is a name for this relentless series of weather disasters: climate change. But you would not know this from the network news. Of the 50 segments on Hurricane Laura, for example, broadcast by ABC, CBS, and NBC, not one mentioned climate change. CNN did little better. According to research by my organization, End Climate Silence, none of the prime time CNN news shows mentioned climate change either. Perhaps television news producers fear that the American public has no appetite for climate reporting, given the onslaught of news about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, and the 2020 election. Yet new polling shows that the vast majority of Americans, including majorities of Republicans, actually want journalists to explain the connection between extreme weather and climate change..."

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