Real Climate Science

“Wed, Oct 29, 1879

Hurricanes in Florida

On approach of autumn the Floridian quakes with apprehension. It is the dreaded season of hurricanes. Tearing through the West Indies, they often strike the coast with deadly effect. With scarcely a note of warning, houses are overthrown, sailboats blown from the water, and orange groves swept bare of leaves and fruit. Some of the old settlers say that they can detect signs of the storm a day before it breaks upon them. “You feel it in the air long before it comes,” says one. This is, however, an indefinite sign. The devastation lingering in its track certainly proves that “you feel it in the air when it comes.” One of these typhoons visits the coast every year.”

Oct 29, 1879, page 4 – Wyoming Democrat at Newspapers.com

“”Hurricane Milton wind speeds at landfall: Another case of exaggerated estimates? I went through all of the highest sustained wind speeds the Hurricane Center listed for several hours around landfall time: The average observed by stations was 67 mph, and the average of the NHC official value was 114 mph. That’s a 47 mph difference. The best positioned station was just offshore of Venice Beach, which measured 78 mph at landfall, which was 42 mph lower than the NHC estimate (120 mph). The same thing happened with Helene: our UAH storm intercept team measured only 60 mph at landfall, whereas the NHC value was 140 mph.””

• Dr. Roy Spencer

Google Gemini says high surface temperatures are responsible for large storm surges and intense storms, and then says the record storm surge in Britain during February 1953 was caused by an intense storm with low sea surface temperatures.

“However, with climate change increasing sea surface temperatures, future storms are likely to be more intense and generate higher surges, making events like the 1953 flood even more dangerous.”

“The Royal Charter Storm, also known as the Great Storm of 1859, was a severe storm that hit the Irish Sea on October 25–26, 1859.  …. The storm killed over 800 people and destroyed or damaged more than 200 ships.  …. The storm was slow moving and brought winds of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). The storm’s effects were felt from the English Channel to Scotland,”

“Here’s a breakdown of why we get intense ocean storms in winter, even when sea surface temperatures are lower:

Temperature Differences: While the ocean surface is cooler in winter, there’s still a significant temperature difference between the ocean and the cold Arctic air masses. This contrast creates instability in the atmosphere, fueling the development of powerful storms called extratropical cyclones or winter storms.”

0.00008% of Antarctica has turned green.

“Antarctica has turned green due to global warming: the vegetation cover has increased more than 10 times.

A team of scientists analyzed satellite images of the peninsula over the past 40 years to find out how much of the territory has turned green as a result of warming. The analysis of Landsat archives (1986-2021) was conducted using the Google Earth Engine cloud processing workflow, NatureGeoscience writes.”

“Back in 1986, the images show that only one square kilometer of the peninsula was covered with vegetation. However, by 2021, this area had grown to almost 12 square kilometers.”

This is what Google Earth imagery shows since 1985

During 1957, five storms originated in the Gulf of Mexico, including major hurricane Audrey, which rapidly intensified, made landfall on June 27 and killed more than 400 people.  The US hasn’t been hit by a hurricane during June in almost 40 years.

1957_revised.jpg (6392×4936)

Jun 30, 1957, page 18 – The Tampa Tribune at Newspapers.com

In 1969, Hurricane Camille rapidly intensified and came ashore in Mississippi with sustained winds at least 190 MPH.  According to NASA, temperatures in the Gulf Of Mexico were low that year.

1969-new.png (21958×16674)

Global Temperature | Vital Signs – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet

“Milton’s pressure has dropped an insane 50 mb in 10 hours. If this doesn’t convince you the climate crisis is upon us, I don’t know what will.”

Dr. Jennifer Francis, Rutgers University

The third deadliest US hurricane hit Lake Okeechobee, Florida in 1928. Barometric pressure dropped 55 mb in four hours when the storm passed Guadalupe.

Wayback Machine

Top 10 deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history – CBS News

Eight years ago, the press announced that Asheville was ready for the next big rainfall event like the one during July 1916.

“Never before had so much rain fallen anywhere in the United States in a 24-hour period, the National Weather Bureau reported.

The French Broad River, usually about 380 feet wide, stretched 1,300 feet across. It crested at 21 feet, some 17 feet above flood stage. Though the rain had stopped on the Sunday morning of July 16, 1916, people were taken by surprise by the speed and volume of rising floodwaters.”

100 years after the Flood of 1916, the City of Asheville is ready for the next one – The City of Asheville

“In 1916, weathermen couldn’t predict a hurricane’s path with much more precision than the Farmer’s Almanac could predict the hour of winter’s first snowfall. Early meteorologists could, however, measure the speed and strength of falling rain. On Saturday, July 15, 1916, the Blue Ridge region saw more rain than anyone anywhere had ever seen since such records had been kept. One spot in Altapass, near Grandfather Mountain, measured more than 22 inches of rain in 24 hours.”

Hell and High Water: The Flood of 1916 | Our State

Four weeks after the 1916 flood in North Carolina, an even larger flood occurred in West Virginia.

Aug 10, 1916, page 1 – The Wheeling Intelligencer at Newspapers.com

Mar 19, 1925, page 22 – The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com

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On May 30, 1935 two locations in Eastern Colorado received 24 inches of rain in six hours.

Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book – Christopher C. Burt – Google Books

h/t Lee Adam Wilshier

Life has thrived on earth for at least 540 million years.

The Washington Post says earth is close to the coldest of the last 500 million years, and says this provides “a warning on the consequences of human-caused warming”

Scientists calculate Earth’s temperature changes over 485 million years – The Washington Post

When life exploded

Chazy Reef: The Oldest Reef in The World – Ocean Info