Jupiter is very bright and easy to spot in the evening sky all week. It reaches its closest point to the Earth on Friday. The evening skies of January feature an incredible array of bright stars— more so than at any other time of the year. Image Credit: @skyandtelescope.bsky.social

Who remembers how "cold" last January was in South Florida? Temperatures ran 2-3 degrees below normal. But the rest of 2025 was so scalding hot 🥵 that #Miami again managed to tally a top-10 hottest year. Records date back to 1895. West Palm Beach too.

Earth is at its closest point to the Sun, perihelion, today Saturday 3 January 2026 at 12:15 PM EST—a mere 91.4 million miles away. It will be more than 3 million miles farther away at aphelion in July. (via @rtphokie.bsky.social)

“Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about!” — Linus van Pelt More of this in 2025’s America. Please. (random house I passed during a late afternoon Xmas walk in a Pittsburgh suburb)

Later this week: Look for Saturn alongside the Moon on Boxing Day night (Friday December 26th) visible with the naked eye. Neptune forms a triangle with the pair, but will require a sizable telescope to see. (via @rtphokie.bsky.social)

Y’all realize radio stations make up the weather forecast all the time, right? Especially when it’s sponsored and a “must run.” Just heard a forecast for “thunderstorms likely” tonight when the actual NWS forecast has no mention of rain. And then people say we’re the ones always “wrong.”

And now NCAR. Science, on all fronts, is in tatters. The regression leaves the country and the world much worse off. Recovery from this damage to the United States will take decades.

This Sunday will mark the December Solstice, Latin for "sun standing still" as the Sun pauses over the Tropic of Capricorn before heading back north. The sun will be above the horizon for the shortest period of time in the northern hemisphere. (via @rtphokie.bsky.social)

Happy New 🌀 Off Season! 🥳

My biggest takeaways from the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season www.nbcmiami.com/weather/hurr...

“global reinsurance companies have had what the researchers call a ‘climate epiphany’ and have roughly doubled the rates.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

ICYMI, the @edfaction.bsky.social Extreme Weather & the Climate Crisis event which included Rep. @ericsorensen.bsky.social and me. Response was 98% positive including this: "Really liked the factual info and viewpoints. Good to know weathermen are representing..." www.youtube.com/live/_g_yu06...

It's #GiveMiamiDay ❗️ Collectively we are moving the needle for a more climate resilient future! As of 11 am ET, @cleoinstitute.bsky.social is 92% of the way to a goal of raising $50K. Every person you connect with brings us closer to closing that gap. Fired up! www.givemiamiday.org/organization...

Today at 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT. Free registration: www.mobilize.us/edfaction/ev...

"What America does is part of the story—it's not the main part of the story—it's a cute side character. #China is now the main character in the story of fighting #climatechange." — @jeremywallace.bsky.social Heard on @npr.org. Link to the report: www.npr.org/2025/11/18/n...

Surprised that The American Revolution isn’t preempted in #Florida. This is no longer the way American history is allowed to be taught in this state, including in its public universities. Congrats to PBS and Ken Burns for providing proper context. #AmericanRevolution

“Ms. Evans, like Mr. Richardson, lacks experience in emergency management, which is a legal requirement to lead FEMA.” The United States was very lucky to not have seen major disasters this year beyond Texas Hill Country and Alaska. Very very lucky 🍀 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/c...

“problems began in early 2022, when a mass of sea ice detached from the … glacier’s front and its floating ice tongue disintegrated. The removal of this stabilising ice exposed the glacier to new stresses, causing its flow and thinning rates to accelerate” Coming everywhere 🔜 x.com/newscientist...

“It's to a point of unsustainability.” www.npr.org/2025/11/13/n...

“The diminished ability to study, monitor, forecast, warn for, and recover from more intense hurricanes and other hazards like flooding, heat waves and wildfires was—and continues to be—a source of unease.” www.nbcmiami.com/weather/hurr...

“Sadly for Jamaica, I have every reason to believe that when accounting for direct and indirect fatalities as well as long-lasting morbidity and mental health impacts, the human toll reported so far from Hurricane Melissa is only the tip of the iceberg.” www.nbcmiami.com/weather/hurr...

“Extreme weather events are coming for you. They’re coming for ya!” — part of this interview

This week's full moon, known as the Beaver Moon, will be a #supermoon. It will reach full phase a few hours before perigee (its closest approach to Earth). As the closest super moon of 2025 it will be the brightest as well. (via @rtphokie.bsky.social)

"Personal experiences cut through abstract statistics and political debates. When someone has lived through a devastating flood or heat wave, the risks of climate change become much more tangible and harder to dismiss." phys.org/news/2025-10...

The first earlier standard time #sunrise over Biscayne Bay was nice. (end of #daylightsavingtime)

Thank you @cleoinstitute.bsky.social for the Circle of Change Award: “At a time when climate coverage faces unprecedented political pressure and censorship, John and the…team of @nbcmiami.com & Telemundo 51 continue to lead with science-driven facts and courage.” www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/j...

"When you think of #Melissa, think Andrew in South Florida, Maria in Puerto Rico, Ivan in Grenada, or Dorian in the Bahamas. It's a humanitarian event." — Marlon A. Hill on @wlrn.org You want to help #Jamaica and the Caribbean directly? See www.sflcaribbeanstrong.org

"I don’t need to tell you that I am quite distressed about this new era of abnormally hot Atlantic waters and the catastrophic hurricanes that come as a result. Like it or not, you should be concerned too." My reflections on Hurricane #Melissa for @nbcmiami.com. www.nbcmiami.com/weather/hurr...

Same, same. “Forty years later, when I look at satellite imagery and other data on hurricanes and extreme weather, I often cannot believe my eyes. Most of these mind-boggling events have a potential link to climate change.” 🎁🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

"Extreme weather events fueled by climate change are increasing and making me change. I’ve always been authentic [...] but I can no longer be non-alarmist. People need to realize that this is not going to stop until we cut down on greenhouse gas [emissions]." @msnbc.com www.msnbc.com/ana-cabrera-...

"I feel compelled to make people realize that this is not going away, that this is going to continue to happen over and over again, and that we need to harden ourselves in every possible way and adapt to these increasing disasters." —part of yesterday's #Melissa coverage on @nbcmiami.com

"This is going to be the worst disaster in the history of #Jamaica. And what I’m worried about is the long term, the lasting effects of the hurricane upon their region." As seen earlier on @camanpour.bsky.social @cnnipr.bsky.social and today on @pbs.org 📺 www.cnn.com/2025/10/28/t...

At NBC 6 since 4 am and until Melissa’s landfall this morning. Impacts in Jamaica are increasing as their strongest hurricane on record approaches. Winds 175 mph (280 km/hr) with gust factor of 1.5x➕ speeded up by hills & mountains. 13 ft (4 m) storm surge. 30-40 inches (1000 mm) storm total precip

At 901 millibars minimum central barometric pressure, #Melissa is the strongest hurricane ever recorded so late in a season in the Atlantic. It is also the 8th strongest Atlantic #hurricane during any part of the season. It is now sadly moving north-northeast towards #Jamaica.

During Melissa’s rapid intensification the storm drifted slowly over exceptionally warm ocean waters that were 1.4°C (2.5°F) warmer than average — these conditions were made up to 700 times more likely because of human-caused climate change. (via @climatecentral.org) 1/2

To the point where they've had to reach out to retired staff to man some flights.

Melissa, now with sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/hr) and capable of gusts to 260+ mph (425+ km/hr) on windward hilltops, 40" (1000 mm) of rain, and a 13 ft (4 m) storm surge, has started the feared turn to the northwest. First NW then north is the forecast. #Jamaica #HurricaneAlert

My thesis at @jhuartssciences.bsky.social hypothesized that bird takes during southward migration in busier hurricane seasons could mean fewer returning neotropical migrants in the spring. I feel for these little guys. See the remarks section of the ~1 pm Vortex Data Message in Melissa.

Pressure down to 908 millibars, making #Melissa already the 11th strongest #hurricane on record in the Atlantic. It is still strengthening. Next on the list are Mitch (1998) and Dean (2007) at 905 mb. Sustained winds are up to 165 mph (270 km/hr). Topography can accelerate 1.5x✚

"The NOAA aircraft left the storm early after experiencing severe turbulence in the southwestern eyewall." These men and women are not being paid due to the US government shutdown. Not to mention that according to AOML's director emeritus Robert Atlas, they are down 40-50% staff. #Melissa

🌀5️⃣‼️☹️

Doing this on a moonless night can't be fun. Pressure dropping precipitously, which will lead to continued strengthening. #Melissa is shooting for Category 5 intensity—third in Atlantic this year! It's likely to reach it. All signs point to a landfall in #Jamaica very early Tuesday. #HurricaneAlert

"Extensive infrastructural damage, long-duration power and communication outages, and isolation of communities are expected." — expected impacts from #Melissa in #Jamaica according to NHC, which adds, "Seek shelter now." At 5pm Sunday, the #hurricane is Cat 4, winds 145 mph.

Category 4 🚨 Major Hurricane Melissa 5:00 AM EDT Sun Oct 26 Location: 16.3°N 76.3°W Moving: W at 5 mph Min pressure: 944 mb Max sustained: 140 mph (image via @tropicaltidbits.bsky.social)

Over the past 21 hours Hurricane #Melissa has undergone rapid intensification (RI). Nearly 80% of major hurricanes go through RI cycles to attain their devastating intensities. In the case of this cyclone, I believe we'll see Extreme RI with a gain of 58 mph or more in 24 hours. #Jamaica

"Needless to say there is a very serious situation in terms of catastrophic rainfall wind and storm surge hazards for Jamaica and preparations should be rushed to completion in the area" NHC explicitly calling for #Melissa to be a Cat 5 #hurricane on approach to #Jamaica (img @bmcnoldy.bsky.social)

I'm awaiting the official declaration that Melissa is a hurricane. The satellite image shows an initial slow trend for a west motion. But clouds still extend across most of Hispaniola with rain (under the brightest clouds) still near the Dominican Republic. Over 20" of rain has fallen. #Melissa

Melissa suddenly has acquired that look. No sooner did the hostile wind shear relax than the first rapid intensification cycle began. I fully expect +35 mph or more in 24 hours going back to 11 am. Water temperatures are top 3 hottest ever recorded. Yet another Cat 4-5 forming. #Melissa

“It’s not out of the question that three feet of rain could accumulate before it’s all said and done.” #Melissa www.nbcmiami.com/weather/hurr...

Thu 4 pm: The first rain gauge exceeding 300 millimeters of rain caused by #Melissa (starting Tuesday) is WeatherFlow station (Tempest instrument) no. 132600 located in Santo Domingo near Avenida Independencia in Jardines del Sur. Total 305.4mm = 12.02". Excessive rain will continue.