Extreme weather news and discussion

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[caltrek]

Extremely Dangerous Heat Wave Now Affecting Half of U.S. Population
By Ana Fernández
June 25, 2025

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Tens of millions of Americans sweltered outside or sought air-conditioned refuge as an "extremely dangerous" heat wave blanketed the eastern United States on Tuesday with record high temperatures.

As a fierce sun reflected off the skyscrapers of New York, the normally frenetic Times Square was virtually deserted by mid-day as the mercury reached 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius), the hottest since 2012 in the Big Apple.

By mid-afternoon Newark, New Jersey hit 103° F (39.4° C), according to the National Weather Service, and Philadelphia also reached 100° F (38° C).
New Yorkers walked under umbrellas as they navigated the streets of Manhattan, while others sunbathed in swimsuits in parks.

“It's been kind of a cold spring. Then all of a sudden, boom, here it is," Eleanor Burke, 82, told AFP of the heat, recalling how she took a dog for a walk the night before and "he almost looked like he was dead."

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/extremely ... ulation

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At least 70 dead in central Texas flash floods, over 2 dozen missing

Updated on: July 6, 2025 / 1:24 PM EDT / CBS News

At least 70 people are dead in central Texas after devastating flash floods slammed Texas Hill Country, with water rescues taking place along the Guadalupe River, which rose rapidly early Friday morning to the height of a two-story building. A dozen are still missing from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, a children's summer camp, officials said Sunday.

Of the fatalities, 59 have occurred so far in Kerr County, its sheriff, Larry Leitha, said at a news conference Sunday morning — an increase from 43 deaths reported the previous night. The dead include 38 adults and 21 children, with 18 of the adults and four of the children unidentified.

At least 11 Camp Mystic campers are missing, along with one counselor, Leitha told reporters. This is the first solid number officials have provided regarding campers who remain unaccounted for, after estimating Saturday that it could be as high as 27. There were about 750 children at Camp Mystic when the floods hit, the sheriff said earlier ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-hill ... re-floods/

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'Exactly What We Would Expect': Climate Scientists Weigh in on Deadly Texas Flooding
By Brett Wilkins
July 6, 2025

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) As the death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas continued to rise, climate scientists this weekend underscored the link between more frequent and severe extreme weather events and the worsening climate emergency caused primarily by humans burning fossil fuels.

Officials said Sunday that at least 69 people died in the floods, 59 of them in Kerr County. Of the 27 missing girls from Camp Mystic—some of whom were sleeping just 225 feet from the Guadalupe River when its waters surged during flash flooding Friday—11 are still missing.

While some local officials blamed what they said were faulty forecasts from the National Weather Service—which has been hit hard by staffing cuts ordered by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency in line with Project 2025—meteorologists and climate scientists including Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles have refuted such allegations, citing multiple NWS warnings of potentially deadly flooding.
Experts do concur that human-caused global heating is causing stronger and more frequent extreme weather events including flooding.

"This kind of record-shattering rain (caused by slow-moving torrential thunderstorms) event is *precisely* that which is increasing the fastest in a warming climate," Swain wrote in a statement. "So it's not a question of whether climate change played a role—it's only a question of how much."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/texa ... e-change

[caltrek]

While the NWS issued an essentially accurate forecast of rain, the issue seems to be the amount of rain that was forecast versus what actually occurred. I mean there are floods (that flood control and diversion structures can largely handle) and then there are (flash) floods that are considerably more dangerous.

As Flood Deaths Rise, Texas Officials Blast Faulty Forecast by DOGE-Gutted National Weather Service
By
July 5, 2025

Extract:

(Common Dreams) Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said during a press conference in Kerrville late Friday that 24 people were confirmed dead, including children. Other officials said that 240 people had been rescued.

Although the National Weather Service on Thursday issued a broad flood watch for the area, Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd—noting that the NWS predicted 3-6 inches of rain for the Concho Valley and 4-8 inches for the Hill Country—told reporters during a press conference earlier Friday that "the amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts."

"Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service," Kidd reiterated. "You all got it; you're all in media. You got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw."

Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice also said during the press conference that the storm "dumped more rain than what was forecasted" into two forks of the Guadalupe River.

Kerr County judge Rob Kelly told CBS News: "We had no reason to believe that this was gonna be anything like what's happened here. None whatsoever."

Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/news/nws- ... -floods

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Noem: Trump ‘Absolutely Heartbroken’ Over Texas Flood, ‘Absolutely Committed’ to Using All Federal Resources for Disaster
By Caleb Howe
July 5, 2025

Introduction:

(Mediaite) Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other officials for a presser on Saturday afternoon on the tragic and deadly flooding around the Guadalupe River in Texas, during which she stressed the federal government is offering all aid and assistance in the disaster. She also expressed that President Donald Trump is “heartbroken” over the devastation in the state.

Abbott declared a disaster in the state on Friday, and on Saturday he signed an expansion of that disaster declaration, adding additional counties to the list of those affected and emphasizing the state’s need for federal assistance and resources in a joint presser on Saturday afternoon.

Noem delivered remarks during that briefing, and stated that she’s spoken with the president and continuing to keep him up to do date.
“President Trump is absolutely heartbroken by what has happened here in Texas, and the loss of life is absolutely devastating to him and Melania,” Noem said.

“This morning, I talked with him several times,” Noem said. “And he wanted to make sure that all of you know how much he loves Texas, how much he’s grieving for your families that have lost someone and the beautiful children that we’re still looking for and hoping to return to their families.”

Read more here: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/no ... saster/

caltrek’s comment: So, after doing everything in his power to avoid efforts to prevent the severe effects of human caused climate change, Trump is now “absolutely heartbroken by what has happened…in Texas.”

Meanwhile, it would seem that FEMA budget cuts will take the form of denying aid to Blue states.

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