The oceans are boiling. The NE Pacific stands out from an anomaly standpoint, with a marine heat wave extending from CA past the international dateline. Global sea surface temperatures are flirting with all-time records and warmer-than-normal water has emerged where El Niño is observed.

News: a leading NSF supported University of Oklahoma atmospheric science summer undergraduate research program that has mentored hundreds of top atmospheric scientists over two decades has been canceled for 2026 due to funding loss. (repost w/correct link) More: tinyurl.com/3zjzf7vu

It continues to be shocking how few of the top leadership positions at FEMA are filled right now. According to their website (which says it was last updated yesterday, despite the bizarre shutdown situation) FEMA does not have an administrator, deputy administrator or a deputy chief of staff.

Crucial to note: these drought indices key on soil moisture—which is being hammered not only by lack of rain/snow but also by hot temps (on our warming planet), as @weatherprof.bsky.social points out. There's hope for widespread moisture if El Niño kicks in later this year as expected. Temps? :-O

If you are a snow weenie™, there's nothing worse than a cold rain. "33 and rain" is even a cruel joke meme. So who gets a very cold rain the most? Looking at 35 years of hourly climate observations from automated stations, this map shows the overall frequency of these conditions.

Severe and tornadic storms erupt across Iowa and Wisconsin.

Tornadoes surprised areas near KC Mon, raising questions again about NWS upper air obs. I discuss the ongoing issues (thanks to @alaskawx.bsky.social for info from there) and why NWS needs to formally study how the state of their upper air program is affecting forecast services. tinyurl.com/7np9f3fc

#Sinlaku is also the earliest Cat-4-or-stronger storm on record for any U.S. territory in any calendar year.

Violent Typhoon #Sinlaku has recently made a direct hit on the Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian, with a gust of 130mph observed before the eye made landfall 👇

Superb post by @andrewdessler.com on the sometimes-confusing world of heat mortality stats, including what counts as a heat-related death and how researchers deduce the influence of climate change on heat mortality.

Here's more from @drjeffmasters.bsky.social on the explosive development of Super Typhoon #Sinlaku, one of the earliest-in-the-year Cat 5 storms ever recorded. @climateconnections.bsky.social yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/04/cat-...

Very few tropical cyclones in the entire N Hemisphere database have hit Cat 5 strength so early in the year. Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicts #Sinlaku will pass over or near Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory) as a Cat 4 on Tues PM local time. www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/product...

The latest installment in my 10-part series on climate change and hurricanes: 4 recent post-hurricane heatwaves have had massive post-storm power outages responsible for multiple heat-related deaths: Beryl (2024), Irma (2017), Laura (2020), and Ida (2021). yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/04/the-...

A milestone in March: for the first time ever, renewables provided more power on the US grid than natural gas.

After dealing with some shear, #Sinlaku is continuing to intensify. Its eye is trying to clear in the middle of the very deep convection wrapping around it, supporting a strength of ~95kt, supporting JTWC. Dangerous storm for the southern Marianas Islands early this week

The ECMWF folks have written a very lengthy blog post about how to interpret their ENSO (El Nino) forecast graphics and the associated uncertainties that go along with them. A good read.

This is the set-up to the best Central Valley storm I have ever witnessed. Timelapse covers a few minutes, near sunset looking north from the 3rd story walkway directly outside my geosci lab room at MJC. I then recorded a 12min video that I have yet to process. 150+ lightning flashes in storm. #cawx

I supplied the “Climate change is kicking our butts” quote for this AP story. There’s going to be a lot more butt-kicking…

A true cultural juggernaut, this song was! #AT40

“You Are Everything”: ahhh, pure Philly pop perfection. And the Stylistics were on their way. #AT40

From the Extended Metaphor Dept, my fave Honey Cone song! #AT40

David Cassidy *dropped the crucial modulation* in “Cherish”! That explains everything. #AT40

Sincerely… NASA couldn’t have chosen a better team of people for this mission. They have been a bright light in the shadowy time here. It’s been a joy to watch. #nasa #artemisii

CSU and TSR calling for a below-average Atlantic hurricane season. Analog years: 2006 (no landfalling Atlantic hurricanes); 2009: 1 landfall (Cat 1 Ida in Nicaragua); 2015, 1 landfall, (Cat 4 Joaquin in the Bahamas); and 2023, 2 landfalls: Cat 3 Idalia (Florida Big Bend) and Cat 1 Tammy (Barbuda).

Great visualization of the equatorial westerly wind burst that will kick off the rapid transition to El Niño from @cyclonicwx.bsky.social, in between Maila and the newly designated TD 04W. JTWC forecasts 04W to be near cat 4 intensity just south of Guam early next week.

Remarkable interview. To young scientists: "There is no one proper course of action here. It’s chaos. We all have to navigate these turbulencies as well as possible. If you found a lifeboat, take it. If you’re trying to rebuild the ship, great. Let’s all help each other to the extent that we can."

Amazing fact from today's post from @bhensonweather.bsky.social: the contiguous U.S. was hottest on record for March, and for all intervals (2-month, 3-month, etc.) going all the way back to the 12-month period from April 2025 through March 2026. Also true for the past 18-, 24-, 36-, and 48-months.

Drought a huge concern this summer. Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) by state for March 2026 had 6 states with their worst drought on record, with 22 others experiencing a top-10 worst drought. Only Michigan had an above-average lack of drought. From: www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monit...

Kahului, Maui, may end up having achieved its wettest year this century before the year is even 1/3 over.

If you like your Easter eggs dyed all red, you'll like this departure of temperature from average map for the past 30 days from drought.gov:

Signs of a high-end El Niño in the making are piling up fast. The picture includes an unusual set of tropical cyclones over the western Pacific. More here from me and @drjeffmasters.bsky.social: @climateconnections.bsky.social yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/04/a-po...

Appears the Chautauqua Park fire is fully or mostly put out, firefighters on mop up duty.

Great perspective of what we can see in this image. Thank you, Dr. Shepherd!

ERA-5 data is in. March was indeed the warmest on record in the US. What’s even more astonishing is the trend. Since 1940 March in the US has warmed 7.2°F (~9° per century & accelerating). The pace is remarkable. Imagine if it continues. Thanks @climatologist49.bsky.social for the great tool!

#Maila predicted by JTWC to be the first hurricane-strength cyclone on record so close to the equator (north of 10S) in central Solomon Sea. It could strengthen to Cat 3 equiv. Steering currents are weak, so colossal rainfall amounts possible over the remote E islands & atolls of Papua New Guinea.

Once again proposing to Zero out NOAA OAR and more than halve NSF. Science funding is a huge reason why the U.S. is where it is. The announcement that the U.S. isn’t the leading scientific superpower is in every budget request. www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

The crazy heat wave that gripped the southwest half of the U.S. in late March 2026 joins our semi-subjective top-six list of the meteorologically stunning extreme events this century that have most astonished myself and @bhensonweather.bsky.social : yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/04/the-...

I love their Thom Bell era, but this is my fave Soinners song and vocal by far. #AT40

Last month's heat was the weather equivalent of a major leaguer hitting 79 home runs, or an NFL quarterback throwing 60 touchdowns in a season.

Urgh. Measurements at Phillips station started in 1942. The only year with less snow than this on April 1 was 2015 (no snow at all). Statewide snowpack estimate is 18% of average for the date, second lowest on record. Many areas had substantial rain but little snow. water.ca.gov/News/News-Re...

About 1/2 of the country had a top 5 warmest cold season. About 1/3 had its warmest

March is the most extreme-prone month in USA March 2012 was the previous most anomalous month with the current baseline March 1910 was the previous most anomalous month in relative term for each baseline March 1907 was the Most States records breaker March 2026 beat' em all

Colorado's statewide snow water equivalent is 3.3". That's our average snowpack level on...May 30th. In other words: Colorado is currently on pace to melt off its snowpack (or just about) in mid-late April, roughly two *months* earlier than average. #COwx

Colorado mountain snow: average year vs. this year. Record low snowpack by a HUGE margin.

Urghhhh.

March 27: Here are three graphics that highlight why there is rising concern regarding the prospect of difficult wildfire activity in the months to come. - Widespread drought - Very dry soils - Well below normal Western US snowpack (water equivalent) This is on top of continued anomalous heat.

What Guy says. The last few days have simply been mind-boggling in North America.

The written word abides! Now's the time to nominate writers for the @ametsoc.org Award for Distinguished Science Journalism and for the Battan Awards for best atmos-related books for adult and K-12 audiences. See links below, after a word from our president. 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKWn...

As @drkatemarvel.bsky.social explains here, when the US admin ended the NASA climate modeling group's office lease, they were kicked out of their building -- and "have been kind of couch surfing at various NYC universities and libraries" since then. Unbelievable. Read more here:

This is completely outside of the realm of anything remotely normal for abnormal weather.