“California’s snowpack soars to record high after 17 atmospheric rivers.
“The latest in the long onslaught of storms that began in December has pushed California’s snowpack to its highest level on record. This week’s storm dumped another one to two feet in the Sierra Nevada helping this season eclipse 1982-83, the previous record-holder.
“The water stored in the state’s snowpack is 235 percent of normal, according to the California Department of Water Resources, surpassing 234 percent in 1982-83. By far, the central and southern Sierra have seen the most unusual amounts of snow, with their snow water content 233 percent and 298 percent of normal, respectively.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/03/30/california-snowpack-record-sierra/
“San Diego experienced the coldest March it’s had in almost 90 years.
“…figures released Friday by the National Weather Service. That’s nearly 4 degrees below normal. The average temperature in San Diego in March 1935 was 54.5 degrees. The coldest March on record occurred in 1880, when the average temperature was 52.1.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/weather/story/2023-03-31/cold-march-san-diego
“1,000 Years of Tree Rings Show Just How Hardcore the 2021 Pacific Northwest Heat Wave Was.
“…the largest rates of temperature change have occurred in the last decades of the 1900s. “While the 2021 value substantially increases the period’s average anomaly, even without its inclusion, the period from 1979—2020 CE is still the warmest on record,” the team wrote.”
https://gizmodo.com/2021-pacific-northwest-heat-wave-tree-rings-science-1850280268
“Winter wheat in Kansas struggling with drought.
“Dennis Todey of the US Department of Agriculture Midwest Climate Hub in Ames, IA, says the best chance of precipitation this spring is in the areas currently experiencing extreme drought to exceptional drought. Still, he says it’s going to be very hard to eliminate the drought in those areas.”
https://drgnews.com/2023/03/30/kansas-winter-wheat-struggling-with-drought/
“At least 3 dead, dozens hospitalized after violent tornadoes devastate central US…
“The first death was reported in North Little Rock, Arkansas after a violent tornado devastated the area Friday afternoon, Madeline Roberts, a spokesperson for Pulaski County, confirmed to CNN. There were at least 50 hospitalizations reported in the area and more were expected…”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/31/weather/severe-storms-south-central-us-friday/index.html
“2023 seeing hottest start ever on record – Orlando has seen eight days with temps 90+…
“According to climate data, the average first day with 90 degrees usually arrives by April 9. But in 2023, the first 90-degree day popped up a month earlier on March 3. Since then, most of the reporting stations have experienced 90+ days several times by the end of March.”
“Ecuador landslide death toll rises to 23; rescuers continue to look for 67 missing people.
“Almost a week since the landslide in Ecuador, as rescue teams continue to search for missing people, the number of dead has risen to 23. As per the latest figures, 67 people remain missing, while 37 people are injured.”
“[Incipient El Nino at work here] Ecuador: Adverse weather forecast nationwide through at least April 4.
“Adverse weather is forecast nationwide through at least April 4. As of March 31, Ecuador’s National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (INAMHI) has issued a weather warning for rainfall and thunderstorms across the country through late April 4.”
“Rains in Peru: despair in Lambayeque and Piura due to flooding of houses, streets and avenues.
“The population affected by the heavy rains in the city of Chiclayo, in the Lambayeque region, have been desperately asking the authorities to remove all the water accumulated in houses, streets, avenues and other public areas. “There are mosquitoes, mosquitoes, everything”…”
“Floods in Brazilian state of Acre affect 40,000 people.
“The Acre River hit the 17.22-meter mark Thursday morning, the highest level since historic flooding in 2015, when it reached 18.4 meters… Six municipalities in Acre are in an emergency situation: Rio Branco, Assis Brasil, Brasiléia, Epitaciolandia, Xapuri and Sena Madureira.”
“Incredible numbers from Buenos Aires, Argentina:
“This March 2023, which should be part of meteorological autumn, was not just 2.1C hotter than the previous hottest March, but tied Jan 1989 and Dec 2013 as its hottest month on records overall.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1641972183609094145
“Argentina Debuts ‘Dollar Malbec’ to Aid Exports Amid Drought.
“Argentina is rolling out a temporary, subsidized exchange rate for wine and other agriculture products in an elaborate bid to boost exports and foreign reserves as the worst drought in a century exacerbates a looming recession.”
“Met Office data shows March was England’s wettest in 40 years [February was the driest in 30 years]…
“Dr McCarthy added, “While the rainfall has been notable in England and Wales, it hasn’t been enough to fully recover the deficit of rain over the last 12 months.””
https://news.sky.com/story/met-office-data-shows-march-was-englands-wettest-in-40-years-12846657
“Spring Starts With a Chill in Europe After Second-Mildest Winter [Cold Aprils are becoming a theme; I recall in particular the frosts that devastated French vinyards in April 2021 and to a lesser extent in 2022; Spain had huge snowfalls in late April 2022]…
“The frigid weather of the past week is a stark change from the previous mild months. Only the winter of 2019-2020 was warmer, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. That helped Europe avoid rolling blackouts that some governments warned about…”
“Several injured as 2 Swiss regional trains derail in storm.
“Two regional trains in Switzerland derailed in separate incidents, injuring more than a dozen people Friday after a storm brought high winds and strong rains to the small Alpine nation, police said. The incidents occurred at Lüscherz and Büren zum Hof…”
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/injured-2-swiss-regional-trains-derail-storm-98271962
“Austrian glaciers last year retreated “more than ever”, the country’s Alpine Club said Friday, as climate change threatens glaciers around the globe…
“”Never before in the history of the Alpine Club’s glacier measurement service, which dates back to 1891, has there been a greater loss of glaciers,” it said.”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230331-austria-glaciers-retreat-more-than-ever-measurement
“Macron unveils water-saving plan as France faces record drought.
“The summer of 2022 in France was marked by scorching temperatures and record droughts and the unusually dry winter has failed to recharge groundwater supplies. Such events are predicted to become more and more common… The government therefore wants to reduce the entire country’s waster usage by 10 percent by 2030.”
https://www.thelocal.fr/20230330/macron-unveils-water-saving-plan-as-france-faces-record-drought
“Amazing Spain again. Which summer you choose?
“36.8C Canary Islands (34.0C / 93.2F at 3am at Agaete!) or 29.8C Mallorca and Ibiza (26.9C Airport is also record); Also Communities of Andalucia 32.6C; Murcia 32.8C; Valencia 32.3C; Catalonia 30.8C… It’s March…”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1641830910608769025
“Is Cyclone Freddy’s record-breaking devastation the new normal?
“Thousands have been displaced by weather-related disasters in Southern Africa, which are becoming more brutal and frequent… Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which struck Southern Africa between February and March, broke multiple records for both power and duration.”
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/is-cyclone-freddys-record-breaking-devastation-the-new-normal
“Torrential rains in Yemen cause floods and cut off towns.
“Since last April, flash floods in Yemen have damaged already poor infrastructure across the country, including roads, water sources and healthcare centres. Last summer, at least 10 500-year-old buildings collapsed in Sanaa’s historic Old City, a Unesco World Heritage site.”
“Schools closed in 9 provinces as rain, snow grips Türkiye.
“Türkiye is grappling with extreme weather emergencies as torrential rains once again cause floods in the southern quake-hit province of Hatay’s Iskenderun district, while heavy snowfall forces schools to close in nine out of all 81 provinces in the country.”
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/schools-closed-in-9-provinces-as-rain-snow-grips-turkiye-181989
“Iraq’s first sandstorm of the year blankets Baghdad.
“In 2022, Iraq experienced more than a dozen sandstorms, an unprecedented number that was attributed to desertification. Iraqis who ventured outside on Friday afternoon were greeted with the increasingly familiar ochre sky and unbreathable air typical of sandstorms…”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230331-iraq-s-first-sandstorm-of-the-year-blankets-baghdad
“Rajasthan sees rain, hailstorm for 6th time in March…
“This was the sixth spell of rainfall, hailstorm and lightning in the state. Farmers have already suffered crop damage due to inclement weather. The wheat crop has been badly damaged.”
“Endless heat wave in Thailand:
“Today, with rare hot dry winds, the humid coastal resort town of Krabi rose to a record high of 39.6C [103.3F]. In Southwestern Thailand only Trang has ever recorded higher temperatures than this.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1641819192956448769
“Thai forest fires worsen pollution that’s left 2 million ill.
“Raging forest fires in northern Thailand are threatening to worsen the country’s air pollution, which has sent nearly 2 million people to hospitals with respiratory illnesses since the beginning of the year.”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/03/31/asia-pacific/thailand-forest-fires-pollution/
“Hundreds of heat records fell today in Koreas, China and Japan:
South Korea: 25.6 [78.1F] Jinju; 25.3 Wando; 25.1 Tongyeong… North Korea: 23.4 Singye; 23.2 Pyonggang; 23 Yangdok; 22.8 Ryongyon; 22.5 Sariwon; 22.5 Chunggang… Japan: 24.8 Sasebo; 24.4 Kawasoe; 23.4 Miri; 22.9 Tokusa; 21.9 Akana.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1641772834526511107
“South Korea grapples with one of its worst water scarcity crises.
“More than 1 million people in South Korea are currently facing a water crisis, as two main reservoirs that supply the Jeolla province – about 440km south of Seoul – run dry. A drought has ravaged the region, known for its pristine landscapes, for about four months now…”
“Crazy day [E China]! Today, 81 stations broke the March record (nearly half of the stations in Liaoning broke the record), and Yangshan, Liaoning, was the highest in Northeast China at 27.8C [82F].
“The cold Daxing’an Mountains also raised the March record by 2-6C!”
https://twitter.com/yangyubin1998/status/1641772989833428992
“Another insane warm day in Siberia/Far East Russia with dozens records beaten with huge margin.
“Most important: 22.0 [71.6F] Aginskoe; 21.8 Aksa; 21.6 Ulety; 21.1 Chita; 20.9 Priargunsk; 20.8 Borzja; 20.1 Sretensk; 18.4 Bagdarin… Records broken these weeks in Asia amount to many thousands.”
https://twitter.com/extremetemps/status/1641800267699027971
“Perth traffic: Peak-hour gridlock after record rainfall causes roads to flood.
“Bureau of Metrology duty forecaster Jessica Lingard said Perth 35mm of rain had hit gauges since 9am on Thursday. The average rainfall for March in Perth is 19.9mm.”
“La Niña ending and Southern Annular Mode to blame for Australia’s delayed summer, record hot March, says meteorologist.
“”We do see a warming trend quite consistently for Australia as we do globally,” Dr Trewin said. “One of the things that means is the average temperatures we see in early autumn we might have seen at the end of summer 50 years ago.”
“New Zealand’s extreme summer has bitten another chunk out of our postcard glaciers – some of which have now largely vanished.
“Scientists had been expecting to find devastation when they recently took to the skies to run their 46th annual health-check of our mountain wonders following a scorching West Coast summer: and that’s just what they found.”
“A Heat Wave at -37˚C? That’s Bad News at the South Pole…
““The culprit for the unusually high temperatures [at the South Pole] is likely to be a shift in the southern jet stream, the undulating high-altitude current that carries warm air masses far into the south while bringing colder air masses farther north,” wrote Dr. Michael Wenger in a recent post on Polar Journal.”
https://explorersweb.com/south-pole-heat-wave/
“What caused the record-low Antarctic sea ice in austral summer 2022?
“…”We found that the combination of stronger positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the Maritime Continent during July–September 2021 and the preceding near-strongest positive-phase Southern Annular Mode during August–October 2021 induced a deepened and southwestward-shifted Amundsen Sea Low, causing sea ice retreat via horizontal wind anomalies,” explains Prof. Li.”
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984656
“Arctic’s ‘Last Ice Area’ may soon disappear during summer months…
“New research reveals that the “Last Ice Area” north of Canada and Greenland has disappeared during the summer months in the past and it will do so again, perhaps sooner than we think… we are quickly approaching a tipping point…”
You can read the previous “Climate” thread here. I’ll be back on Monday with an “Economic” thread.
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This just caught my eye 👁️
The EPA approves California’s plan to phase out diesel trucks
March 31, 20238:11 PM ET
By The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast.
The decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California — which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades. The rule applies to a wide range of trucks including box trucks, semitrailers and even large passenger pick-ups.
“Under the Clean Air Act, California has longstanding authority to address pollution from cars and trucks. Today’s announcement allows the state to take additional steps in reducing their transportation emissions through these new regulatory actions,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan, in a statement.
…..The transportation sector accounts for nearly 40% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. Newsom has already moved to ban the sale of new cars that run entirely on gasoline by 2035. The EPA has not acted on those rules.
Looks as if our time horizon is short folks
Australia is 6 months in a 2-year trial of E -Trucks, used in logging/timber industry. They converted a fleet of diesel double-length logging trucks to run on batteries. Using a *swap-and-go* system where each of the batteries give 10-12 hours life and several charging stations or depots along their routes. So driver drives in, and swaps out the dead batteries for newly charged ones.
We’ll have to see how it goes.