Thread by @edgarrmcgregor

Thread:

It has been exactly 3 years to the hour since I woke up to climate change.

It wasn't a speech, a report or a scientist that told me. It was the weather itself that showed me climate change. Here is my story:

On October 13th, 2015, my hometown, Pasadena, CA had just exited a massive heatwave. Temperatures reached 103F on the 10th, while lows were in the low 70s.

Despite the heatwave being over & the highs dropping to the 90s, the lows continued to warm, day after day.

By the 13th, even though the high was a "cool" 96F, the low was a whopping 25F above the per-industrial average at 73F. October was, to me, the first month of fall when temperatures cooled off and the rain returned. October 2015, however, finished as the hottest October ever.

I thought a lot about the heatwave on this evening 3 years ago. I first wondered if climate change was affecting me, right here and right now. I knew the basics of what climate change was, and I knew it was behind the 2012 - ???? California drought, but I didn't think it affected

me, Edgar McGregor. Either way, it was an El Nino year. 2016, specifically February, was expected to be soaking wet with tons of rain. All the meteorologists hailed "hallelujah, the rains were returning!" I had no reason to doubt them. I thought our drought would finally be over.

February 2016 was in no way shape or form what they had predicted. 17 of its 29 days recorded highs of 80 degrees or warmer, 5 of which over 90 degrees. Many, many daily records were not just broken, but where annihilated. Only 1.5" of rain fell, a far cry from the average of 5".

March gave northern California rain while southern California fared okay.

I had just witnessed every meteorologist and climatologist get a for-sure forecast wrong. Despite March, we were still deep into our drought. This was it. I know for a fact now that climate change was

hurting me directly. I became obsessed with figuring out just how. I began searching for where the @NWS kept weather records. I finally found the @WRCCclimate site which showed me the average temperature for each year since our records began.

My jaw dropped to the ground when I saw how much the weather had changed. I didn't need a graph whatsoever to see the stark differences between the early 20th century and the early 21st century. What looked like summer back then was late Spring and mid-fall to us.

Winter was inconceivably cold, with many of the nights falling well below even our coldest days. The records seemed like a different city, in a different state, far from sunny southern California. On August 20th, 2017, I charted them using google sheets and simple copy & paste.

I saw the frightening graph before my own eyes. 10 days later on the 30th, I saw my hottest temperature ever of 112F. Since then, I have been creating graphs like crazy. Heatwaves, cold snaps, 70 degree lows, 60 degree lows, 95 degree days, 100 degree days, you name it, I got it.

Quickly after that, I began putting together my website, WhereWeStand while my Twitter was growing. (I have since closed WWS, but will re-open it soon). Climate change was my thing, and I was worried about it. It was fun.

It was fun until, once again, October rolled around.

The morning of October 25th, 2017 is a morning I will remember to the day I die. Climate Change was interesting. It was a hobby. It was something kind of exciting.

That changed. Once again, by not a speech, nor a report or a scientist, but by the weather.

October 24, 2017
4:00PM: The first pitch of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers was underway. The temperature was 103F outside.

8:00PM: Temperatures had cooled into the 90s and 80s over the region.

10:00 PM: The first weather station in isolated mountain regions north of L.A. began indicating strong down sloping winds. Temperatures fell into the 70s across the L.A. basin

October 25, 2017

1:00 AM: Santa Ana winds began quickly across southern California. In mountain passes, temperatures rose from the 70s well into the 90s and low 100s in mere minutes as the down sloping winds pulled warm air above the surface to the ground.

At 2:00 AM, I was sitting on my back porch awaiting the arrival of the winds. I was not sure if they would reach Pasadena, as we are usually a wind-protected city. Out of nowhere at 2:33AM, the trees went sideways. My weather stations temperature jumped from 73F to 92F in minutes

Temperatures remained above 87F between 2:45 AM and 6 PM the next afternoon. An ALL TIME HOTTEST 6:00AM TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED in Pasadena of 93F was set in.... late fall? The old record was 83 degrees in the middle of summer.

These numbers are not recorded in the official Pasadena station because the winds never hit that side of the city. That night was hotter than most summer days.

That night forever resonates in my mind. The per-industrial average low for that night was 46F. The 6 AM temperature that night was 47F above average.

The
6 AM
temperature
was
Forty-seven (47F)
degrees
above
average!!!

If that wasn't a blaring siren, I don't know what is.

After that night, I first became.... well.... frightened about climate change. I had only a few years to gather what I felt like my climate was like before it changed. I am 18, and I already can see the climate in my city changing.

I see 30 year old, 50 year old, 70 year old climate scientists yelling at people to wake up, listen, and understand the science. I have joined the game late. I have joined the game after it looks like we are going to lose. I cannot fathom my city's old climate just like I cannot

fathom it's new one. I am watching humanity enter its adolescence years, and boy are we doing some stupid shit. It is one thing for a kid to do something stupid, but we know better. It is time to put down the Crayons and Lego's and get to work!

My generation will live to see the climate of the year 2100, assuming modern medicine keeps improving. However, I can see the climate of 2100 today. It is something beyond anyone's belief. It is a mass extinction event, caused by our carelessness and our greed. It is time to act.