LOUD trended on Twitter very early Wednesday morning as Los Angeles residents were woken from sleep by intense thunder in a storm so strong it shook their houses.
A person tweeting about the thunder wrote that LA is not supposed to have this kind of weather.
Really?
I’ve never experienced a thunderstorm that shook my house. Sounds like a frightening experience and the predawn storm made me curious about the impact of a changing climate on the severity of thunderstorms.
A thunderstorm is fueled by warm moist air and winds or wind shear which organize the storm and create a rotation. Its volume is caused by the amount of electrical energy that flows from the cloud itself to the ground.
National Geographic reports that the changing climate will increase the intensity of thunderstorms. The article notes the increase in these severe weather events does not necessarily mean that more tornadoes will occur as “only about 20 percent of supercell thunderstorms produce tornadoes.” education.nationalgeographic.org/...
Just ten years back, Scientific America, in a 2012 article, Has Climate Change Really Made Thunderstorms More Powerful? claimed social media platforms and reporting were raising awareness of extreme weather; however, there was no support for the claim that weather was becoming more severe.
But we all know better now. In an article covering major weather events from 2012 to 2021, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) looks at the number of billion-dollar disaster events we have experienced just here in the US.
One of the most visible consequences of a warming world is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. The National Climate Assessment finds that the number of heat waves, heavy downpours, and major hurricanes has increased in the United States, and the strength of these events has increased, too.
Science Daily reports on research finding More extreme short-duration thunderstorms likely in the future due to global warming.
“New research has shown that warming temperatures in some regions of the UK are the main drivers of increases in extreme short-duration rainfall intensities, which tend to occur in summer and cause dangerous flash flooding.”
Here in the North Bay, Tuesday was a scorcher, hitting 105 up in San Rafael with weather reports warning of dry lightning igniting fires Wednesday. Despite the extreme drought conditions, some folks where I live are setting off fireworks ahead of the 4th.
How's the weather in your neck of the woods?
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
