When the mountains broke

image generated via ChatGPT

Prayers for all affected by the horrific Himalayan glacial collapse and flooding. {AP 27 August}

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-nepal-tibet-glacier-collapse-floods-61b592d428e4631add31ce052d0daf1f

FTA: DEVIGHAT, Nepal (AP) — Rescue teams searched Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border, where a deadly torrent of water and mud several stories high swept through communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse.

Videos of the disaster showed people running before the floodwaters swallowed them up and washed out buildings and bridges. More than 350 people were killed, police said, and more than 1,300 were missing, including scores of foreigners and pilgrims. Hundreds of others have been displaced across the Himalayan region.

The steep slopes and lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range — home to many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers — are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Melting glaciers have become more common because of human-caused climate change.

Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal’s hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Weathering in the dark

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Weather forecasting in the former United States is set back decades by the Trump regime. {The Independent 24 August}

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/doge-noaa-weather-usa-b3035937.html

Rapidly descending to the status of a Third World s**thole —

FTA: Experts told Forbes that there are simply fewer weather monitoring instruments being used today than before agencies like the NOAA suffered cuts under the Trump administration

According to the report there are fewer buoys measuring wave conditions than in 2024, and fewer weather balloons being launched to collect data on air pressure, temperature, humidity, and windspeed.

That data feeds weather models, which is then used to build forecasts by weather apps and local forecasters.

One program, enacted 20 years ago to measure arctic ice, was recently cut by the Trump administration. Plans for a next-generation weather satellite meant to replace two older, faltering structures that may begin to fail in the next several years have been scrapped.

Overall, the Trump administration has cut between $1.6 and $1.7 billion in funding from the NOAA’s budget, and more than 800 NOAA workers since February.

The impacts on the nation's ability to reliably produce forecasts isn't just an annoyance for TikTokers. Fishers, farmers, pilots, shipping companies, insurers, utility operators — virtually everyone who has to operate in the physical world to do their jobs relies on accurate weather data.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The Pacific's reckoning

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‘Unprecedented’ El Niño forming over the Pacific, could lead to 2027 being the hottest year on record; ‘not beyond the realm of possibility to say this might be the strongest El Niño event in 500 or even 1,000 years’. {BBC 21 August}

https://www.bbc.com/weather/articles/c3ekg93vjz9o

FTA: The El Niño event that is developing over the Pacific Ocean is likely to be the strongest in living memory, the Met Office has warned.

The powerful natural climate phenomenon pushes up global temperatures and can increase the risks of extreme weather.

Added to the effects of human-induced climate change, the Met Office is warning that it is "very likely" to mean 2027 is the hottest year on record.

There is growing evidence that weather patterns around the world are already being affected, with below-average monsoon rains in India and suppressed hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean.

El Niño could put the UK at greater risk of a wet, stormy autumn.

"We should be clear that this is an unprecedented event", said Prof Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the UK Met Office.

"I have never seen an El Niño signal this intense in our forecasts."

El Niño is a naturally occurring weather pattern, which happens about every two to seven years, lasting for around a year.

Trade winds that typically blow from east to west across the Pacific Ocean can weaken or even reverse, allowing warm water to spread eastwards.

Heat is released from the ocean into the atmosphere, lifting global temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns.

Scientists declare an El Niño when sea surface temperatures in a key area of the Pacific are 0.5C or more above average.

Current measurements show that they are well over 2C above normal.

Latest forecasts from the Met Office suggest that these temperature anomalies could exceed 3C later this year as El Niño nears its peak.

This would be unprecedented in records going back to 1950, and probably the strongest event since the 19th century.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The long summer

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NOAA: July 2026 was the hottest month on record in the continental US, breaking the Dust Bowl record from 1936. {AP 10 August}

https://apnews.com/article/hottest-month-july-climate-change-4a9d612281485356103631f0f09b61af

FTA: The contiguous United States sizzled to its hottest month ever last month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

July averaged 76.89 degrees Fahrenheit (24.94 degrees Celsius) across the Lower 48 states, eclipsing the Dust Bowl’s July 1936 by an eighth of a degree. Records go back to 1895.

“It’s not good when you’re breaking records from the Dust Bowl, which we are in this case,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections. “And that was a crazy sort of situation where you put tens of millions of people in motion. You had this great migration because of the drought and the heat that hit the center of the U.S. — just a cataclysmic event in U. S. history. If we’re exceeding records from The Dust Bowl, that says that we’re in deep trouble.”

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The scorching of green and pleasant land

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Another sweltering heatwave heading to the UK and much of Europe, with temperatures potentially exceeding 110°F. {The Mirror 25 July}

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-weather-met-office-heatwave-37475303

Godspeed, this is scary.

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🪐💔 #QueSeraSera 𓅨 🕈

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Ferocious nor'easter slams Massachusetts and surrounding states

Fallen tree in New Bedford, MA. Photo: Peter Pereira

A considerable storm among the many I’ve seen in my days. A lot of people on the South Shore may not have power until after the weekend, and some are in shelters tonight. They’ll pull through, but prayers for them. Via WFXT - 

BOSTON — Thousands of Massachusetts residents woke up without power Wednesday morning as a powerful nor’easter thrashes New England with heavy rain and hurricane-force gusts.

Be extra cautious on the roads as driving conditions can be treacherous during these types of storms. Damage is being reported across the state.

The South Shore was crushed leaving many towns with no power at all.

“It’s just howling wind, houses were shaking, my house was shaking,” said Tom Hence of his Cohasset home.

Cohasset Police Chief Bill Quigley said his officers were inundated with calls. “We’ve gotten used to these fizzling out, but this is not the case. I’ve been here for 30 years and this is the worst I’ve seen,” Chief Quigley said.

In Cohassett, police say a Commuter Rail train hit a fallen tree on the Green Bush line. Police cleared the broken tree. The MBTA said they had to clear about 50 trees from several commuter rail lines.

Boats were also a casualty of the nor’easter. The damage was everywhere, making getting around a chore. Even the press building at one of the athletic fields in Cohassett was taken out. (Read more)

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Pentagon: Climate change is a threat to national security

Getty Images

Via NPR - 

In a report last week, the Pentagon found that "increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks" for the U.S. 

For example, recent extreme weather has cost billions in damages to U.S. military installations, including Tyndall Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Also, the military has bases on Guam and the Marshall Islands that are vulnerable to rising seas. And China may be able to take advantage of U.S. susceptibility, the Pentagon says. 

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks tells NPR that Congress should be paying attention as the Biden administration tries to put together a clean energy plan that Sen. Joe Manchin will support. The Democrat from West Virginia stymied an earlier effort. 

"We need to have the rest of the government with us. We can't do it just here at DOD," she tells Morning Edition. (Read more)

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‘(T)oo inundated with information to take the threat seriously.’ All is not well with the collective psyche of America

Paullee Wheatley-Rutner via Storyful

AP - As flood alerts lit up phones, did 'warning fatigue' cost people their lives? 

The alarm was sounded on COVID before it reached our shores in earnest in March 2020, and millions of Americans refused to take it seriously. More than 600,000 deaths and 39 million cases later, millions still stubbornly refuse to follow protocol and some still believe it’s a hoax even as people are dying all around us. So, what chance did the National Weather Service have when they sent out warnings of the catastrophic flooding that would engulf New York City and surrounding areas this past week? People shrugged their shoulders, or got annoyed, or otherwise didn’t take the warnings seriously. They couldn’t be arsed to take heed, and a few of them likely died as a direct result of their apathy, stubbornness, and willful ignorance. I am honestly beginning to believe that an imminent warning of a nuclear bomb heading our way wouldn’t move people to action anymore. What a pathetic country of losers we are becoming. 

Copyright 2021, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here.

Deadly Hurricane Ida batters Louisiana and the Gulf Coast

GOES-East NOAA

Prayers for all in the path of Ida ...  

The Weather Channel – Continuing coverage 

Ongoing coverage from WWL TV in New Orleans 

President Biden’s remarks before virtual FEMA briefings on Ida preparation 

As Ida arrives, New Orleans veteran meteorologist reflects on Hurricane Katrina 16 years later 

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