“First 100F/37.8C of 2023 in the United States! Falcon Lake in Texas reached the triple digit, while in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee monthly records are falling like flies.
“Atlanta rose above 80F in winter for the first time in its history.” [Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport reached 81F / 27.2C, breaking the old record of 80° from Feb. 7, 2019].
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1628497328121184259
“New York’s Record Warm Winter: Good for Sunbathing, Bad for Ski Slopes.
“A wildly erratic season has been a blessing for haters of mittens and blizzards, but a potential disaster for businesses that rely on snow and ice… the mild temperatures are threatening or shattering records, with New York recording its second warmest January on record and neighboring states like New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut setting new highs for the month.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/nyregion/ny-warm-winter-weather.html
“Grape vines suffer major damage in Nova Scotia from wild weather swings.
“Some grape varieties may have been completely lost in Nova Scotia when the mild winter suddenly turned frigid… The warmest winter on record meant grape vines in Nova Scotia didn’t get as hardy or as acclimated to the cold weather as they normally do, and when the cold snap finally hit in early February, Ells said it was a recipe for disaster.”
“Warm weather has resulted in record-low ice levels across the Great Lakes this winter, which could lead to increased lake-effect snow and flooding concerns for cities and towns along the shorelines.
“The warmer weather in the region resulted in dwindling ice starting in January, with several cities reporting their warmest start to the year on record…”
“Wisconsin ice storm forecast; possibly worst in nearly 50 years.
“Southern Wisconsin could experience its worst icing since 1976 when a storm passes through Wednesday, Feb. 22 into Thursday. In addition, this system will likely set February snowfall records for parts of Minnesota and central Wisconsin.”
https://www.fox6now.com/weather/wisconsin-ice-storm-forecast-possibly-worst-nearly-50-years
“The land of swimming pools and movie stars [LA] is close to a blizzard warning for the first time in more than 30 years.
“A wild pattern draped over North America led to a significant bout of snow across southwestern portions of the United States, bringing a rare bout of blizzard conditions to the mountains near Los Angeles for the first time since the late 1980s.”
“The National Weather Service is forecasting 100 inches of snow to fall near Mount Baldy Resort in a 24 period Friday-Saturday, which would absolutely smash the US 24-hour snowfall record.
“The blizzard that is about to hit SoCal could truly be unprecedented.”
https://twitter.com/US_Stormwatch/status/1628516432752549891
“Climate change is affecting agave crops, tequila.
“Agave is drought-tolerant and can thrive in hot weather with little to no water. However, the crops are not tolerating the recent major weather whiplash from extreme drought to deadly storm deluges. Climate change is also putting a strain on the agave plant’s vital pollinator: the bat.”
https://www.wsaz.com/2023/02/22/climate-change-is-affecting-agave-crops-tequila/
“Chile: Wildfires kill over 17,000 farm animals.
“According to INDAP, out of dead animals, 13,554 are poultry birds, 1,783 cattle, 560 goats, 407 sheep and 244 pigs, among other species. The report did not include wildlife affected by the forest fires in early February, mainly in Ñuble, Biobío and La Araucanía regions, where over 452,000 hectares were ravaged.”
https://www.plenglish.com/news/2023/02/22/chile-wildfires-kill-over-17000-animals/
“Fires Burn in Argentina’s Iberá National Park.
“Fires blazed through a protected wilderness in northeastern Argentina in February 2023. Home to jaguars, capybaras, and giant anteaters, Iberá National Park has reportedly been burning since late December 2022, and continued to burn as of February 22, 2023.”
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151011/fires-burn-in-argentinas-ibera-national-park
“Between 2022 and 2023 there were already 8 heat waves: in February there were 27 cities that broke records [Argentina]…
“At least 27 Argentine cities broke a temperature record this month. Some recorded an all-time high, while others had their warmest February day… What is expected in the future? In the AMBA area the strong heat returns…”
“Brazil floods: death toll rises to 48 as landslides and looters prevent aid reaching survivors.
“Rescue operations were continuing and firefighters, police and volunteers still hoped to find people alive in the rubble of houses slammed by the landslides. 1,730 people have been displaced and 1,810 left homeless.”
“Recent Alps snow cover decline ‘unprecedented’ in past 600 years.
“The duration of snow cover in the Alps is now 36 days shorter than the long-term average – an “unprecedented” decline over the past 600 years – according to recent research… The findings are significant for the millions of people who depend on meltwater from the Alps snowpack every year for “agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes…””
https://www.carbonbrief.org/recent-alps-snow-cover-decline-unprecedented-in-past-600-years/
“France goes 31 days without rainfall, unprecedented in winter.
“With rainfall over the entire country of less than one millimetre a day since January 21, weather service Meteo France said the absence of precipitation equals the record set in spring 2020. Winter is normally a crucial period for recharging groundwater levels with rainfall. The number of days without rain has “never been seen” in winter.”
“Lake Garda tourists [Italy] flock to island reconnected by drought.
“Dotted with cypresses and rocky white beaches, San Biagio island was in the past only accessible by boat. But historically low waters on the lake have revealed a sand and stone causeway — and tourists are flocking to the site.”
“Experts are warning that olive oil could join the list of kitchen staples seeing a price hike this year.
“Droughts and intense heat ravaged olive-producing regions across Europe in 2022, causing a poor harvest season that will likely see supplies dwindle. Major olive oil-producing and exporting countries like Italy, Greece, Spain, and Portugal are projecting lower bounties.”
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-olive-oil-more-expensive-200742456.html
“Snowstorm in Morocco leaves 87 villages isolated and 24,000 people in need of assistance.
“The southeast of Morocco has been experiencing an unprecedented snowstorm since this weekend that has left 24,000 families in need of assistance and 87 isolated villages in the region of Ouarzazate and Zagora…”
“Yesterday 20 February was the hottest day on record for the Nigerian town of Port Harcourt with 38.6C [101.5F].
“Very high temperatures have persisted in the area for weeks. February is the or one of the hottest months of the year few degrees above Equatorial Africa.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1628011174095728640
“Daily outages likely as Nelson Mandela Bay starts water throttling during crisis.
“Residents of Nelson Mandela Bay will have to battle daily water cuts unless consumption can be reduced to 50 litres per person per day. This, as the city cuts back on its extraction from near-empty dams to preserve the little that is left.”
“‘Absolute chaos’ after flooding in the Vaal [NE South Africa]…
“There are people who had a house on Friday and on Sunday morning they only had a foundation. Their entire house was washed away.” This is according to Storm Zurcher, the community policing forum chairperson of the Loch Vaal neighbourhood watch area.”
https://mg.co.za/environment/2023-02-21-absolute-chaos-after-flooding-in-the-vaal/
“Cyclone Freddy makes landfall in Madagascar, leaving destruction in its wake.
“Cyclone Freddy made landfall in south-eastern Madagascar on Tuesday, leaving at least four people dead and destruction in its path, as winds of up to 112 mph lashed the island nation. Waves of nearly 8 metres brought flooding to parts of the country, with the storm forcing more than 11,000 people to flee their homes.”
“While cyclone Freddy made landfall in Madagascar in the past hours, high temperatures were recorded yesterday in the Reunion Island up to 36.0C [96.8F] at Pointe des Trois-Bassins, a new monthly record.
“More South, monthly record at Port Aux Francais (lat 49S), Kerguelen Islands with 24.0C.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1628318689484496898
“Drought trends in the Horn of Africa are now worse than they were during the 2011 famine in which hundreds of thousands of people died.
“The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center said on Wednesday that below-normal rainfall is expected during the rainy season over the next three months… The drought, the longest on record in Somalia, has lasted almost three years and tens of thousands of people have died.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/22/drought-in-horn-of-africa-worse-than-in-2011-famine-experts
“Why has Pakistan not recovered from its catastrophic floods?
“…Six months on from the worst of the devastation, people across the country are still displaced and facing knock-on effects of the floods on their health. The international community pledged $9bn to aid Pakistan in rebuilding at the beginning of this year, but experts on the ground say it will be of little use if it does not arrive soon.”
“Explained: Why February is the new May as temperature breaks record across India…
““It’s not even March yet and it’s already looking like a replay of last year, where spring was missing. The pace of change is alarming,” said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, an associate fellow at the Center for Policy Research focusing on heat waves.”
“A massive storm system has smashed NSW leaving a path of destruction in its wake while South Australia endures an extreme heatwave and an out-of-control grass fire sparks alerts in Victoria.
“…a month’s worth of rain struck in a single night… Huge rainfall totals were reported across the city with Terrey Hills reporting a whopping 92mm of rain, breaking its February rain record of 90.2mm.”
“Australia faces unprecedented grassfires next summer ‘supercharged’ by global heating.
“Australia should prepare for grassfires on a scale not experienced before, with new analysis warning spring and summer 2023-24 could see widespread fire risk “supercharged” by the climate crisis.”
“Niwa glaciologists are preparing themselves for “utter devastation” when they do their annual Glacier Snowline Survey next month.
“Climate and environmental applications principal scientist and survey leader Dr Drew Lorrey said New Zealand had just experienced its hottest year (2022) on record, and many of the South Island’s glaciers would have been decimated.”
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/glaciers-will-be-devastated-niwa
“Antarctic sea ice hit record lows again. Scientists wonder if it’s ‘the beginning of the end’.
“Antarctic sea ice has reached record low levels for the second time in two years… “It’s “not just ‘barely a record low,’” Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, told CNN. “It’s on a very steep downward trend.””
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/02/21/world/antarctic-sea-ice-record-low-climate-intl/index.html
“No, billionaires won’t “escape” to space while the world burns…
“The ISS crew is only able to survive up there at all because multiple countries employ thousands of brilliant, highly-trained engineers and doctors and astrophysicists and computer experts whose full-time job is keeping them alive and the ISS functioning.”
https://www.salon.com/2021/07/07/no-billionaires-wont-escape-to-space-while-the-world-burns/
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with an “Economic” thread.
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Justin. This is occurring now here on both sides of the continental US coast, one in San Francisco and the other in Miami, the Army of Corp of Engineers have been assigned to undertake a project of seawalls to address sea level rise flooding.
It is so bad that Miami Dade has approved to eliminate all septic tanks in residential homes because of the water table rise will make them inoperable and cause a health crisis.
Naturally, this will cost billions in public funding….just like Rex Tillerson suggested in his public Q&A talk several years back… privatize the profits and socialize the expenses of climate change.
Not to find fault at anyone, we can not have 8 billion on the planet without consuming fossil fuels.
Still scratching my head on the amount of mindsets not accepting climate change, or the foolish efforts being undertaken to solve it today…
Here isn Sunny South Florida expecting to break records for the High temperature yet again
Vince, that is a depressing vignette re Miami Dade. What is going to happen to that waste?!
The weather whiplash now is unnerving. It does indeed look toasty where you are: “…residents farther south can expect near record highs near 90 degrees under sunny, dry and breezy conditions.”
https://eu.tcpalm.com/story/weather/2023/02/22/florida-weather-forecast-near-record-high-temperatures-dry-breezy-sunny-into-weekend/69930926007/
And yet Miami just had its coldest Christmas day on record at 50F.
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/miami-weather-chill-remains-after-record-cold-christmas-day/
Hi Justin, just read your post about Christmas Day being cool.
That may be so, initially moved here in 1972 until 1989, returned in late 2015.
Have witnessed many odd weather events, even snow while driving 1-95 in the 1970s and many cold snaps…not to mention many rain, drought events.
From my own biased memory the climate patterns here have changed.
This winter season has especially been without them and the temperatures elevated. The weather report indicated that in March because of the high pressure system will bring record heat once again.
My biggest concern is the ocean water temperatures fueling mega storms
Turning into destructive hurricanes..that’s in the pipeline.
Thanks for the reply, good day!
Vince, you are welcome. There’s no doubt that Florida is warming overall, for sure, and I’m afraid destined for some mind-boggling storms. But what can you do? Even mooted climate safe havens like the Pacific NW and New Zealand are proving to be anything but, so moving anywhere is a gamble.
I just finished reading a cli-fi novel, “The Light Pirate”, telling a story of the climate collapse of Florida over a 20-year period. Much of the population moved away in dribs and drabs over time, as counties and neighbourhoods dwindled. At one point Miami had one hurricane too many, and the government gave the remaining population ‘relocation packages’ to abandon the city. One of the main characters, was a linesman in a small southern county and one day he found he had no work team left, the supply depot had not been resupplied in weeks, and the county offices had closed – and so he called the State govt to say he needed urgent help and supplies etc – to keep the local power and cell towers going – and was told ‘We can only try to save cities, nothing left for anywhere else’. Eventually, the feds abandoned the whole state – sent in buses, trucks around to evacuate anybody left. The second part of the novel is an imaginative fantasy story of the handful of people, who chose not to evacuate when they closed the state border. Could no longer go out in the daylight – heatstroke – so they became nocturnal hunter/gatherers with canoes living on platforms in the jungle canopy. Some developed a mutant symbiotic phosphorescent bacteria to release into the waters to create night-lights – hence the title 🙂
Here in Oz, we are still getting a rare respite of the “Old Normal”. However, I have family in Auckland, and they are still in shock from a 2am landslip taking their whole suburban street.
Sounds like a good read, Rain. I tend not to read fiction these days and, in fact, have been getting very lazy with books generally. I fear social media has given me the attention span of a fruit-fly.
Glad the Aussie weather is finally behaving itself; hopefully ENSO neutral for a while will mean something at least approaching normality, whatever that is these days.