Another tornado last night near Yazoo City, MS. Why does this area seem to keep seeing tornadoes? And increasing risk for a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean this week Oct 19, 2025 Yesterday saw one of the first organized severe weather events of the 2025-2026 cool season. A few complexes of…

A visit to Katrina’s ground zero A short video tour of Bay St. Louis harbor and discussion of the storm surge event. And updates on severe weather risk Saturday and Caribbean tropical possibilities next week. Oct 17, 2025 Good Friday evening from the Florida Panhandle. I am going to be busy in the…

Hundreds of Alaskan flooding victims evacuated from impacted region Stateside, severe weather risk ramps up next 24 hours Oct 17, 2025 Good Friday morning from Louisiana! I want to start off this morning by following up on last weekend’s catastrophic storm surge event in western Alaska that I did…

Fall severe weather season starts to ramp up a bit Increasing risk for severe storms across parts of the central US into Saturday Oct 16, 2025 Starting off this morning by sharing a couple of stories and links I think of are interest. First, some shameless self-promotion as I want to share this…

No end in sight to the federal government shutdown Talking about practical implications for federal weather and climate science Oct 15, 2025 Today marks the 15th day of the federal government shutdown, and there are increasing concerns that this could end up being the longest shutdown on record,…

A look how NWS supports our air traffic control system – and why it’s another staffing concern Weatherwise: More flooding in southwest Colorado, but a trend toward a few quieter days in store Oct 14, 2025 With the federal government shutdown entering its third week, USA Today published an article…

Surveying a lot of strange weather Thunderstorms and snow in the West, coastal flooding in Alaska and the East, and tropical cyclones forming in unusual places for the time of year Oct 13, 2025 Coming at you with an additional late afternoon Monday weather focused post given all that is happening…

Historic coastal flooding strikes western Alaska Remnants of Typhoon Halong produce hurricane force winds and push massive storm surge inland in Kuskokwim River Delta, destroying and carrying away homes, leaving devastated communities. Oct 13, 2025 Today is Monday, which usually means a tropical…

Looking at the chaos at the CDC and why it matters for federal meteorological science In weather, significant coastal impacts peak on the East Coast next 36 hours, while flash flooding continues to impact parts of the Southwest Oct 12, 2025 Following up on my post yesterday about the firing of…

OPM starts shutdown layoffs of federal employees In weather: significant coastal impacts expected from East Coast storm, while rain and potential flash flooding continues in the Southwest Oct 11, 2025 On Friday, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had begun a new…

A high-impact weather weekend in store Major coastal impacts for the East with serious flash flooding risks in the Southwest. Also, a deep dive into the state of the NWS upper air network in Alaska. Oct 10, 2025 Happy Friday! It looks like a busy weekend of weather, but before I dive into that, I…

Busy US weather primarily driven by developments in the tropics Major coastal low to impact the East Coast for several days while heavy rains likely again in the Southwest from moisture from Tropical Storm Priscilla Oct 09, 2025 I am back from my Northeast travels, and I will have content to share…

NWS updates June Enderlin, ND tornado rating to EF-5 First tornado rated EF-5 in United States in 12 years. Also talking record warmth and tropical Atlantic risks. Oct 06, 2025 Good evening from rural northern Vermont — I don’t have great internet connectivity here, but I wanted to share some news…

NOAA has a new director Dr. Neil Jacobs confirmed as NOAA Administrator. Also, a look at the busy tropics. Oct 05, 2025 Good morning! I am still traveling, but am in a stable location for about 24 hours and wanted to provide some updates on a few items. First, even with the federal government…

Warm weather dominates much of US while tropics continue to stay active A couple of pics from my bucket list visit to Mount Washington Observatory Oct 02, 2025 Good evening! I will have a much longer post about this experience in future day, but today I had the opportunity to tour the Mount…

Happy October 1st: “Happy” government shutdown day Tropics remain busy into early October Oct 01, 2025 Happy first day of October! A quick morning update from my travels, today in Manchester, NH. With the first day of October, we also have a federal government shutdown. The National Weather…

WSJ: “FEMA Is Paralyzed” Thoughts and perspectives on their investigation into the crucial EM agency. And the weekly Monday tropical deep dive. Sep 29, 2025 Happy Monday, and Monday means a deep dive into the tropics, which continue to remain busy and look as if they will likely stay so for the…

Lots of uncertainty still on forecast surrounding TD9 as possible government shutdown approaches Slightly more forecast clarity this morning, but still many potential outcomes; Impressive Humberto a category 4 hurricane with threat to Bermuda. And rain in Phoenix!! Sep 27, 2025 There is SO much…

More looming climate and weather science funding casualties Three of USGS Climate Adaptation Science Centers threatened by lack of funding; threat of tropical impacts to the Southeast continues to grow Sep 26, 2025 Before I get into the busy Atlantic tropics, I want to share some climate related…

Latest info about potential government shutdown impacts on federal weather/disaster entities And a deep dive into the Atlantic tropics with increasing threats for Bermuda and possibly the Southeast US Sep 25, 2025 So much weather to talk about today, but I want to start off with follow-up about…

BalancedWx Special: Federal staffing and budget updates as possible shutdown looms Staffing levels and morale still concerning as head into the fall Sep 24, 2025 Earlier today, the Associated Press published a story about the chaos that has occurred due to Department of Government Efficiency…

Multiple tropical threats evolving in the Atlantic Gabrielle expected to impact the Azores as a hurricane, while disturbances in the Atlantic need to be closely watched from Bermuda to the East Coast and Bahamas Sep 24, 2025 The tropics remain very busy this morning, and we will start off with…

Severe weather and flash flooding expected across south-central US today Major focus on the tropics as Gabrielle threatens Azores, Ragasa targets Hong Kong and southern China, and 2 additional Atlantic systems likely Sep 23, 2025 A lot of weather to talk about today, both in the US today and…

Flash flooding in parts of the Southwest Thursday Tropics look to be entering an active period from western Pacific to the Atlantic Sep 19, 2025 Happy Friday! As anticipated, an upper level low and moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Mario brought thunderstorms with heavy rainfall to the…

Why the partnership of meteorology and emergency management is crucial Gabrielle devoid of thunderstorms, while Mario moisture brings flash flood risk to the Southwest Sep 18, 2025 Yesterday the primary professional organizations for operational meteorology and emergency management, the National…

Lots to talk about today in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Coastal low causing impacts today in the Mid-Atlantic; moisture from Mario likely to cause some issues in the Southwest later this week Sep 16, 2025 Apologies but running a little behind today as I got my COVID and flu vaccines…

Unusual tornadoes and flash flooding in North Dakota And the Monday weekly tropical deep dive Sep 15, 2025 Monday is usually my weekly tropical deep dive post, but before I get into that, I want to recap an event that almost seemed a bit tropical in nature, even though it was focused in North…

Quick Sunday morning weather update Thunderstorm risks in the Plains and watching a few systems in the tropics Sep 14, 2025 Good Sunday morning! Just a quick weather update as I am getting ready to hit the road to travel back to Oklahoma from the Mississippi Book Festival (more about that in later…

Obscure federal bureaucracy law causing problems for Trump’s climate plans DOE forced to disband DOE's Climate Working Group because of FACA Sep 12, 2025 I wanted to spend some time today sharing some personal experience about a federal law that has been in the news related to federal climate…

Congress clearly has very different ideas for NOAA than the Trump Administration Weather Act Reauthorization hearing a cheerleading event for NOAA weather efforts Sep 11, 2025 As I mentioned a few days ago, the House Science Committee on Wednesday held a hearing to “markup” the Weather Act…

Quieter weather for a change Warmer weather developing in central and eastern US Sep 10, 2025 As we approach the middle of September, the weather pattern (for a change) is relatively quiet across the US. With regards to thunderstorm activity, the most focused and widespread activity on Wednesday…

A quick trip to the 50th National Weather Association Annual Meeting A great weekend of learning and collaboration - but the absences and threats were tangible as well Sep 09, 2025 I am back from the 50th National Weather Association (NWA) Annual Meeting in Huntsville, and want to focus my post…

Kiko finally weakening – but will produce large surf and rip currents in Hawaii East Pacific looks to say active while Atlantic has areas of convection but little organization Sep 08, 2025 Running a bit late with our Monday weekly tropical update as I am traveling back from the NWA Annual Meeting…

House Science Committee to hold hearing on Weather Act Reauthorization Severe storms in Northeast today, Kiko continues as a category 4 hurricane in central Pacific Sep 06, 2025 Programming note: I am attending the 50th National Weather Association meeting this weekend, and as a result posts will…

Some early autumn severe weather risk for parts of the Eastern US next 48 hours Kiko still poses some risk of impacts for Hawaii; Atlantic showing mixed & complex signs Sep 05, 2025 As I mentioned yesterday, I am traveling today to the 50th National Weather Association meeting — but there’s quite…

Trump administration cancels collective bargaining agreement with NWS union Watching Kiko and Lorena in eastern Pacific for potential US impacts Sep 03, 2025 Back in March, the President signed an executive order (EO) that exempted a number of federal agencies from being able to participate in…

NSF terminates funding for its main meteorology focused AI institute In weather, lots of potential threats in the West this week Sep 02, 2025 Starting off this morning's newsletter talking about recent developments with regard to federal science agencies and funding. First, I wanted to highlight a…

A Labor Day Monday tropical deep dive Pacific provides a couple of systems to watch for U.S. this week; taking stock of big picture for Atlantic at start of September Sep 01, 2025 Happy Labor Day, and welcome to the first day of climatological fall! (For a full explanation of…

Earth’s oceans keep getting warmer – and (duh) that’s not good In weather: record heat in the West, several tropical systems to keep an eye on Aug 31, 2025 Starting off with a disturbing graphic shared this morning by the incredible climate scientist Zack Labe, who is a great follow for more…

An unusual weather pattern to start September Unseasonably cool for the East, but record heat for western Canada and the Pacific Northwest Aug 30, 2025 Welcome to Labor Day Weekend, and the unofficial end of summer and beginning of autumn - which as a meteorological and climatological season will…

BalancedWx Special: My Mississippi memories of Katrina Remembering a historic event 20 years ago today Aug 29, 2025 In January 1996, myself, my wife and our 2 year old daughter arrived in Jackson, Mississippi. I had been a meteorologist with the National Weather Service for a little more than 5…

Public broadcasting is also public alerting Budget cuts threaten programs meant to improve warning dissemination Aug 28, 2025 Starting off this morning with some news that demonstrates how cuts to funding in one part of government can have cascading consequences. Major cuts to federal funding for…

More thoughts on NOAA’s cancellation of the research phased array radar purchase Weatherwise: flash flooding potential in the West and Midwest, record cool in the East Aug 27, 2025 I have returned from my travel and am getting back into routine morning posts. Before I dive into the weather, I did…

NOAA cancels procurement of new phased array weather radar test article Further stalls important weather research program Aug 26, 2025 This afternoon, the NOAA Acquisitions and Grants Office (AGO) posted on the official federal government contracting website, SAM.gov, that the procurement action…

Heat and storms in the West Next Atlantic tropical system likely this weekend Aug 23, 2025 Record warmth in the West continues to be a major weather story this weekend. On Friday, a number of record warm temperatures were set, including record highs being tied in Seattle at 89F and set at Death…

CNN: Trump administration moving forward on NOAA satellite cuts Cuts target the GeoXO geostationary satellite program Aug 21, 2025 On Wednesday afternoon, Andrew Freedman of CNN reported that multiple NOAA sources told him that the administration is moving forward with plans to reduce the…

Strengthening Erin to pass well east of US East Coast – but there will be impacts Significant coastal flooding, beach erosion and rip currents up and down the coast Aug 20, 2025 The morning visible satellite imagery shows an amazing view of massive Hurricane Erin, centered just about due east of…

We are making rare events less rare – and paying the price Also: lots of heat this week for many, and the latest on Erin and the rest of the tropics Aug 19, 2025 Since Erin is looking quite a bit more disheveled this morning than anticipated (more later), I am going to start off this morning with…

Erin reorganizes into a large category 4 hurricane Significant impacts likely to the Outer Banks of NC even as center passes well east Aug 18, 2025 Good morning and welcome to a new work week. It’s Monday, so that means a deep dive into the tropics this morning — we’ll finish with an overview of…

Erin slogging through a reorganizing phase Much of the country will experience periods of significant heat over the next week Aug 17, 2025 As we talked about yesterday afternoon, after its incredible rapid intensification episode, Erin went immediately into a reorganizing eyewall replacement cycle…