The intense heat wave is taking up residence in the Central states, with the possibility that Chicago, MSP, Des Moines, Memphis, St. Louis and other cities could hit 100° in the next few days. [THREAD] axios.com/2022/06/13/hea… Temperatures are running about 20-30°F above average. But along with this is high humidity, with some areas seeing dewpoints in the 80s, which is downright sultry. Heat + humidity = heat indices in the 100s to 110s. 2/

[THREAD] The White House today promoted a new lab study on the coronavirus' susceptibility to ultraviolet light, as well as heat and humidity as a reason to think this outbreak will wane as the weather gets warmer. washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/0… 1/ The study was carried out under the auspices of the Dept. of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, at an Army biohazard lab in Ft. Detrick, MD. They confirmed the suspicions of many researchers I've spoken to in the past few months. 2/

[THREAD] Key points to think about re: the 2019 climate data released today by @noaa, @nasa, @metoffice & others.
*This was the 2nd warmest year, capping off the hottest decade and 5-warmest years on record. Story at: washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… w/ @brady_dennis @JohnMuyskens 1/ One of the best measures of climate change is ocean heat content. The oceans are absorbing 93% of the extra energy pumped into the climate system.
* 2019 was the hottest year on record in the upper ocean (0-2000m).
* The top 5 hottest years? Yeah, each of the past 5. 2/

[THREAD] For this WaPo story, I spent many weeks reporting on the evolving relationship between government weather forecasting and the burgeoning private sector. Here’s what I found: We’re on the precipice of a paradigm shift. 1/ washingtonpost.com/business/2019/… To date, the National Weather Service (w/in NOAA, which is part of the Commerce Department (more on that in a moment)), the gov’t has provided most of our weather data at taxpayer expense, and all official watches & warnings. 2/

[Thread] The 2019 Antarctic Ozone Hole was the smallest on record since it was first detected about 4 decades ago. Multiple factors led to this, and make what happened this year particularly fascinating. 1/ washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/1… Ozone destruction is maximized when the lower stratosphere is especially cold and clouds are relatively abundant and long-lasting. But this year, the lower stratosphere in Sept. was almost 30 F above average. 2/