Severe weather likely to bring 8 to 12 inches of snow and ice to Forsyth, weather service says

Severe winter weather is forecast for Forsyth County from early Sunday into Monday as a storm brings snow, sleet and some freezing rain into the area, the National Weather Service warned Friday.

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for Forsyth and other parts of the central Piedmont from 1 a.m. Sunday through 7 p.m. Monday.

Sporadic power outages are expected in any areas that get significant accumulations of snow and ice.

https://www.journalnow.com/news/local/severe-weather-likely-to-bring-to-inches-of-snow-and/article_bf2e7219-9044-5e0a-9591-918a6fe9dbbe.html

Federal report: Hurricane Harvey was a climate change harbinger

Texas should brace for more — and worse — Hurricane Harveys, according to a major scientific report made public on Friday by the Trump administration.

Based on the research of hundreds of government and academic scientists, including several in Texas, the 1,656-page appraisal warns that Harvey and other recent extreme weather events are harbingers of climate change. Absent swift action to slash carbon emissions, the report says, the warming trend will have an even more crippling impact on life in the United States

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/23/hurricane-harvey-climate-change-federal-report/

Houston Got Hammered By Hurricane Harvey — And Its Buildings Are Partly To Blame

Hurricanes are dropping more rain and causing more flooding than in the past, and humans are to blame on multiple fronts.

Climate scientists have warned for decades that global warming will cause extreme weather to get more frequent and severe. A pair of studies published today in the journal Nature find that hurricanes are already causing more rain than they used to, and that cities themselves may be making the rainfall from those storms even worse. 

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/14/666946363/houston-got-hammered-by-hurricane-harvey-and-its-buildings-are-partly-to-blame

Climate change was behind 15 weather disasters in 2017

A drought scorched the Great Plains, causing wildfires and $2.5 billion in agriculture losses. Catastrophic floods submerged more than a third of Bangladesh. Record-shattering heat waves killed scores of people in Europe and China.

These were among 15 extreme weather events in 2017 that were made more likely by human-caused climate change, according to in-depth studies published this week in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. At least one episode — a devastating marine heat wave off the coast of Australia that cooked ecosystems and damaged fisheries — would have been “virtually impossible” without human influence, scientists said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/12/10/climate-change-was-behind-weather-disasters/?utm_term=.5382f774697e

7.1-Magnitude Earthquake Near Antarctica, No Tsunami Warning

A magnitude 7.1 quake struck on Monday in the southern Pacific Ocean, close to the South Sandwich Islands north of Antarctica, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.5, was in a remote area and fairly deep underground.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/7-1-magnitude-earthquake-near-antarctica-no-tsunami-warning-1960735

Rare December tornado outbreak injures dozens in Illinois

The surprise swarm of twisters marked the most to hit Illinois during a single December calendar day on record. The Storm Prediction Center had issued a “slight” risk of severe weather that morning, warning that “the development of afternoon thunderstorms in this region seems likely, with [wind] shear… favoring discrete supercell storm structures.” Supercell thunderstorms are the most dangerous form, with rotating updrafts that are the precursor to tornadoes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/12/03/rare-december-tornado-outbreak-injures-dozens-illinois/?utm_term=.b7056a3b71a6

Forecasters say winter and spring could bring active tornado season because of El Niño

There have been several tornadoes that have touched down in the Bay Area multiple times in just over a month. And weather forecasters say this could be just the beginning of tornadoes this winter and spring.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pasco/forecasters-say-winter-and-spring-could-bring-active-tornado-season-because-of-el-nino

Severe weather possible as storms move through Central Florida

Central Florida may experience severe weather on Sunday as rain and storms pass through.

Rain started to come through Central Florida early on Sunday morning, meaning that sunshine and instability was limited throughout the day. The risk of severe weather is limited though thanks to early start.

http://www.fox35orlando.com/weather/severe-weather-possible-as-storms-move-through-central-florida

Is El Niño to blame for the big Southern storm?

Heavy rain and mudslides in California, flooding in Texas, and up to 2 feet of snowin North Carolina — all these recent weather events are symptoms of the infamous climate phenomena called El Niño. For months now we have been on the verge of an official El Niño, but so far the climate community has not pulled the El Niño trigger. Officially there is an "El Niño Watch," but an El Niño Alert may be issued any day, indicating the phenomena has officially begun.  

The El Niño phenomenon is, by definition, a periodic warming of the waters in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific Ocean. When this happens vast amounts of heat is released into the atmosphere. This heat disrupts normal weather steering patterns, which can have big consequences to global and regional weather.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-el-nino-to-blame-for-the-big-southern-storm/

Powerful coast-to-coast storm to bring weather misery to millions

At least a dozen states will see snow and more than 20 states will see rain from the powerhouse storm. Widespread air and road travel headaches and significant power outages are likely.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2018/12/05/big-storm-united-states-california-snow-ice-rains/2213340002/

After Dumping Snow on the Rockies, The Next Eastern Storm Will Likely Be More Wet Than Wintry

A new storm system will sweep from the Northwest to the Rockies into midweek before emerging over the central and eastern United States, where it will likely produce more rain than snow or ice late this week into the weekend.

Rain and mountain snow, heavy at times, are expected in the Northwest Tuesday, with snow then spreading into the Rockies by Wednesday.

The system will emerge over the Plains and Midwest Thursday before slowly moving toward the East Coast Friday into the weekend.

Energy from a disturbance farther south may also track into the central U.S., likely resulting in a strengthening area of low pressure. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will surge northward, increasing the amount of precipitation that may fall with this system.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/2018-12-10-next-eastern-storm-more-wet-than-wintry

Snow could blanket the South, including Texas, in major winter storm

A significant winter storm is taking shape Friday over the Southern Plains and Texas and will spread this weekend through the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

How far south freezing air will reach remains an open question, making it difficult to precisely forecast ice and snow accumulation. Where it happens, dangerous travel conditions and power outages are possible.

https://www.click2houston.com/weather/snow-could-blanket-the-south-including-texas-in-major-winter-storm

Severe Storms Caused Flooding In Houston Area Watersheds

Harris County Flood Control District officials are keeping a close eye on several Houston area waterways after the Houston area was inundated heavy rain, causing flooding along some creeks and bayous.

https://patch.com/texas/houston/severe-storms-caused-flooding-houston-area-watersheds

Wildfire claims will likely exceed $10 billion for second straight year

Total insurance claims for wildfires in the US will likely exceed $10 billion for the second year in a row, according to a new report.

Aon’s Impact Forecasting team recently released its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report, which evaluated the impact of natural disasters worldwide during November.

The Camp Fire killed 88 people, left dozens unaccounted for, and damaged or destroyed 19,357 homes and other structures.

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/catastrophe/wildfire-claims-will-likely-exceed-10-billion-for-second-straight-year--aon-118352.aspx

Wildfire scientists brace for hotter, more flammable future as Paradise lies in ashes

Every man-made thing that burned, burned all the way.

That is the powerful first impression driving into Paradise after America's deadliest wildfire in 100 years.

There are a few scorched-but-recognizable husks of gas stations or curio shops but most of the 14,000 homes that caught an ember burned with such blowtorch intensity, only railings and the fireplace remain.

Windows and car parts melted, hardening into bizarre puddles of glass and aluminum along a main drag where entire blocks of stores are gone.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/10/us/california-wildfires-climate-weir-wxc/index.html

How humans are transforming the hurricanes of the future

Climate change is already making devastating hurricanes wetter — and similar storms are likely to unleash more rain and faster winds by the end of the century, new research says.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/14/18095236/hurricane-climate-change-harvey-maria-irma-katrina-flooding-rainfall

Looking Back at a More Active than Predicted 2018 Atlantic Hurricane Season Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/looking-back-at-a-more-active-than-predicted-2018-atlantic-hurricane-season#ixzz5ZL3VwFAz

The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on November 30th after packing a punch, producing an above average 15 named storms, including eight hurricanes of which two were major. An average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.

http://www.caribbean360.com/news/looking-back-at-a-more-active-than-predicted-2018-atlantic-hurricane-season

New look at Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria

When Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico head-on as a Category 4 storm with winds up to 155 miles per hour in September 2017, it damaged homes, flooded towns, devastated the island's forests and caused the longest electricity black-out in U.S. history.


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181210105355.htm

Climate change is already here, and heat waves are having the biggest effect

Climate change is here and affecting our health, with extreme heat in particular also having effects on productivity, food supply and disease transmission, a new global report finds.

More people than ever are vulnerable to heat exposure globally, and numbers are rising, according to The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report by an international group of researchers, published Wednesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/28/health/global-climate-change-and-health-report-intl/index.html

Flash floods are sweeping through areas burned by California wildfires

Flash floods carrying piles of debris are sweeping through rain-drenched parts of California that were affected by recent wildfires.

In Southern California, evacuation orders and flash flood warning are in effect in some communities affected by the Holy Fire, which burned more than 22,000 acres earlier this year.

Cal Fire of Riverside County issued mandatory evacuation orders as thunderstorms have increased the risk of mudslides and debris flows in some areas. The department urged people to keep checking its site for current warnings and orders as boundaries keep shifting.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/28/us/california-wildfires-evacuation-orders/index.html