Above, awesome stormscapes from Colorado videographer Nicholaus Wegner.
Yahoo News – “..Feeding on unseasonably warm air, storms left a trail of destruction in rural communities from Alabama to Illinois.”
Below, postcard from the future,
A “large and extremely dangerous” tornado was confirmed south of Dallas, Texas Saturday afternoon as the death toll from severe storms throughout the South this week has risen to 17.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) reported two more deaths Saturday, bringing the total in the state to 10. The two additional deaths in Bexar County were originally considered missing.
The National Weather Service this afternoon issued a tornado watch today for 49 counties in Texas, including Dallas County, the state’s second most populous after Harris County. The tornado watch is in effect until 8 p.m. CST in those counties.
And Saturday evening, a “large and extremely dangerous” tornado was reported near Glenn Heights, TX, south of Dallas, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters called the situation “life-threatening” and said that mobile homes “will be destroyed.” They also predicted “considerable damage to homes” and “complete destruction is possible.”
One of the tornadoes in the Dallas area passed just a mile or two to the east of my home last night. Lots of rain and lightning and sirens all around.
The NWS shows that Dallas has exceeded it’s rainfall record by about 10″, and it is supposed to rain all day today, which will raise that record even higher! We are 24″ above average rainfall as of yesterday I think.
The weather around here has been crazy all year, with swings in temperature as much as 40 degrees at times, and day after day of relentless winds at other times.
Although it is impossible to say for certainty that any particular storm is the result of global warming, the increased number and severity of storms is almost certainly the result of global warming. It is likely to become much worse.
Check out this link:
http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/mar/01/scienceofclimatechange.climatechange
Here is an update on the storms and damage:
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/seven-confirmed-dead-in-storms-in-garland-and-copeville-50000-without-power-across-north-texas.html/
Perhaps the voters in TX will soon realize that God is punishing them for inflicting Cruz, Cornyn, Gomer and Lamer on the country. (And their neighbors for Inhofe and the general state of affairs in KS).
I have said before that only an unending stream of bad and weird weather is going to get people’s attention—don’t wish ill on the folks in CA and TX, but their suffering is far more likely to elicit concern about AGW than a few Inuit villages going under.