I still can't understand why the House isn't in session trying to pass the FY26 appropriations bills that were due 10 days ago. Why is this "pass our CR or we recess"? (Answer: Johnson is OK with the shutdown). They'll need to pass approps bills eventually -- a CR just kicks that can down the road.

It should be noted that there certainly have been tornadoes in the past ~12 years (since the previous "most recent" EF5) that had 3 s, 10 m winds well in excess of 200 mph. However, there just haven't been damage indicators to capture those (largely because few DIs can 'hold out' to >200 mph).

NEW! Dept of Education workers say their OOO replies were forcibly changed to blame Democrats for shutdown. When employees changed their responses back to the more neutral language, it changed yet again to the partisan response. @wired.com @leahfeiger.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/govern...

Can someone explain why the only options right now are "pass CR" or "maintain shutdown"? Why aren't the Senate and House in session right now working on passing a budget? Some agencies' appropriations bills are ready, AFAIK, for a floor vote after passing out of appropriations committees. 1/2

The Pitt is probably my favorite TV show from the past decade. Granted, I haven't watched many of the super popular shows, but still... It has such great balance between heart and heartbreak, with characters I care about and want to see succeed. Happy to see that Wyle and LaNasa win too!

An absolutely A+ weather day here in Oklahoma! Temps near 70, dewpoints in the low 50s, light winds, under partly cloudy skies... Considering we are still in early September (!!), I don't think the weather can get much more pleasant than we are seeing today!

We asked Americans about 16 federal agencies. The National Park Service and National Weather Service were among the most favorable. www.pewresearch.org/...

Hurricane Kiko strengthens into a powerful, Category 4 storm. This view shows several swirling cirrus clouds above Kiko's eye.

Any em dash fans here? We're currently working on a Windows-wide keyboard keyboard shortcut for em dash and em dash, to make it easier to input for those that need it 😊 blogs.windows.com/windows-insi... #WindowsInsiders

Abbe Lowell and I represent CDC Director #SusanMonarez. Contrary to govt statements, Dr. Monarez has neither resigned nor yet been fired. She will not resign. We have issued the following statement:

A bumblebee kind of morning in my backyard...

Five Finger Fruit Punch Pearl Jambalaya Falling in Preserves Corn (don't think that counts)

Animation of the 34-knot (tropical storm force) and 64-knot (hurricane force) wind extent from the storm's center using each day's 15 UTC advisory from the National Hurricane Center during 14-18 August. Hurricane Erin started out rather small, and then an eyewall replacement cycle helped it expand.

A terrorist targeted federal workers last week. There wasn’t much reporting on it. But I’m not finished thinking about it! 🧵 An anti-vaxxer fired more than 500 gunshots into CDC Atlanta, shattering 150 “blast-proof” windows on 6 buildings. Employees were pinned down in terror.

Cockpit view from a hurricane hunter: www.linkedin.com/posts/carlne...

Anyone have a super-close-up animation of the eye today?

Any of my meteorology colleagues or acquaintances have these stats? Sounds like something that doesn't need to be private but may require a formal request, but I don't know how *.gov web traffic info is published.

August 16: 11:20AM AST Air Force Reserve #HurricaneHunters find #Erin is now a Category 5 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. Visit hurricanes.gov for the latest

#Hurricane #Erin has just become a Category 5 hurricane (140 kt / 917 mb). Earliest known occurrence of Cat 5 in open Atlantic (outside Caribbean & Gulf). Rapid Intensification (+75 kt in 24h!) To illustrate how remarkable this period of #RI has been check out this WV 18 hour animation below ⤵️

Erin's deepening rate is now a staggering 7.8 hPa/hour:

Erin's central pressure was in the 990s this time yesterday, and it's now in the 920's heading for the teens. This will make Erin the fastest deepening Atlantic hurricane before Sept 1st. Beating Emily 2005, by a lot.

This is a remarkable image from the NOAA-P3 #Hurricane Hunters in #Erin. You can actually see the wind speed gradient by the color of the ocean as you go from extreme #eyewall winds to the relative calm of the #eye. Incredible images & data from @noaa.gov @nws.noaa.gov

Just to give the TL;DR on this one: *The* main purpose of the EO is to move funding priorities and decisions away from experts and career professionals over to political appointees. With the ultimate power held by Vought / OMB.

New paper from me explaining "pocket rescissions," an illegal budgetary maneuver the White House is planning to do in the very near future that, ironically, misuses an aspect of the Impoundment Control Act to permanently impound funds. (Thread on the paper) www.americanprogress.org/article/what...

Federal agencies hiding out in a bunker

Updated to a M8.7

I cannot recommend this @rollingstone.com piece by @colleenhagerty.com enough. Captures our current situation and the rigors of research in our field so well. www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

NWS is hiring! The first of several top-priority, mission-critical positions posted Friday on USAJobs.gov! Others will follow soon. Visit USAJobs.gov and search “NWS” to learn more.

The headline here neglects to mention today also sets a new all-time high temperature at Tampa, but it's noted in the second paragraph.

For perspective... A dewpoint of 90 deg F means there was ~32.4 grams of water per cubic meter. That's almost twice as much water vapor as there is for a 70 degree dewpoint (17.8 g/m3). So, as muggy as a 70 deg dewpoint feels, this 90 deg dewpoint is TWICE the water vapor (per volume of air).

An 80 deg dewpoint in my yard this afternoon with a temp in the mid-90s makes for gross conditions. I live in a ~40 yr old neighborhood w/ many mature trees (lots of vegetation & less mixing), so the daytime Td tends to be several deg higher than nearby mesonet sites with more open exposure. Yuck.

Currently going through the most frustrating peer review process I've experienced (after 40+ papers). I've have tried 4x to get in touch w/ editor (both AMS and work emails): 2x seeking update on reviews (after ~3 & ~4 months since submission w/o any update) & 2x for clarity on recommendations 1/3

Yard work has gotta be one of the worst regular chores associated w/ homeownership. Maybe it's better in cooler parts of the country, but mowing in Oklahoma's summer is all sorts of terrible. I'm over it by the end of June & count down the weeks until the grass goes dormant for the cool season.

NEW: Trump’s budget chief suggested today he doesn’t need Congress or the Constitution to force through massive cuts to federal spending, as Trump demonstrates he’s “not cowing to a legislative branch’s understanding of its own authorities and powers.” www.huffpost.com/entry/russ-v...

Colorado Department of Insurance says health insurers are asking for >28% average premium increases for 2026, anticipating that enhance tax credits will not be renewed ( leading to a sicker risk pool.) doi.colorado.gov/news-release...

My tipping gauge is at 3.50" now, while my Climalytic CoCoRaHS gauge is ~3.95". Radar estimate at my place is very near 3.75", which is a good match with my gauges. Other areas of the N and W metro have seen >5". (In attached radar image, magenta starts near 4.25" and purple/blue near 5.5"!) #okwx

Very heavy rain across the northern and western OKC metro. Peak rainrate at my house has been above 3"/hr. I've gotten nearly 2" (reasonably close to radar estimate), and the rainrate is still >2"/hr here.

This guy deliberately downed the News9 radar. This is equal parts troubling and confusing. www.news9.com/story/686c14...

Flood Watch issued yesterday at 1:18 pm. WPC had mesoscale discussions throughout the event. NWS issues Flash Flood Warning at 1:14 am. NWS issues Flash Flood Emergency at 4:03 am. NWS was on the ball. The challenge is always getting the warning the last mile and getting people to respond.

Whoa. That's a sprite, an elusive, high-altitude electrical discharge from a thundercloud photographed by NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers from the ISS earlier today. With reported sightings going back more than a century, this phenomenon was first photographed in 1989.

For no particular reason, thinking about some of the major aspects of NHC operations that came out of the NOAA/OAR research labs and the Cooperative Institutes. I've probably missed some key ones, but the first ones that come to mind are...

The NOAA budget justification doc that finally was posted today didn't contain a lot of surprises - but as the first time all of the cuts were listed in their destructive detail, it is a depressing read. I tried to distill and explain the weather part, sad as it is. substack.com/@balancedwea...

This budget justification is devastating to oceanic and atmospheric research.

NOAA's FY26 Congressional Justification is out. Screenshot is from Page 190 (OAR-10). A small number of positions from OAR are transferred to NWS, but otherwise there are a lot of zeroes, consistent w/ previous news. Congress ultimately is responsible for budgets, so we'll see what they do.

Wait, Meta wants to be able to upload any photo (not just pics you select -- it doesn't tell you the photos it transfers) from a user's phone to its servers for an ambiguous reason? I don't have any of Meta's apps (Facebook, Insta, WhatsApp, etc) on my phone, but this seems like a really bad idea.

I don’t think so mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/plotting/aut...

Before tonight, NDAWN rarely had wind speeds above 90 mph. Tonight, Linton has gusted to 101, and Robinson is at 99 with sustained winds of 74. #ndwx #severe #derecho

Pretty good day over ranchland west of Wellfleet, Nebraska this evening June 16, 2025, think this tornado lasted an hour or so... #newx with Juston Drake

Chasers! NSF ICECHIP is looking for your help to obtain hail measurements. While we are out in the field, if you happen to have collected a large or interesting hailstone, feel free to bag it and place in cooler with the date, time and location to share with one of our teams…

Floyd, NM tornado sequence. Estimated start time was 5:18 p.m. and rope out at 5:40 p.m. Photos captured at 5:21, 5:25, 5:31 and 5:38 p.m. this evening.