Each weekday on News Channel 8 at 5:45 pm WFLA’s Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist digs into the science behind a fascinating weather or climate topic.
March 5, 2024
Spring is upon us and in March we gain around 5 degrees on average from the beginning to the end of the month, starting with highs in the mid 70s and ending with highs near 80. But springs are warming in the Tampa Bay Area. Since 1970 the period of March, April and May has warmed by more than 4 degrees. And our last 40 degree day is now one month earlier than it used to be a century ago.
March 1, 2024
Winter 2023-2024 was by far the warmest winter in record across the US, aided by a strong El Nino and robust human-caused climate change. But 1% of the nation was below normal, and most of Florida fit into that small category.
Feb 29, 2024
The extreme weather continues across the US. This weekend parts of California will get buried under up to 12 feet of snow. Meanwhile the Smokehouse Creek Fire continues to burn in the Texas Panhandle. It is now the largest wildfire in TX history. But just how big is that? We compare it to the size of Central Florida.
Feb 28, 2024
El Niño briefly reached “super” status this winter when Eastern Tropical Pacific waters warmed to +2 degrees Celsius. Now sea surface temperatures are starting to fall as El Niño weakens. Over the coming months it will fade away and so will its impacts. Due to El Niño it has been a cloudy, somewhat wet and slightly cooler than normal winter around the Tampa Bay Area. Here’s more:
Feb 26, 2024
A remarkable winter heatwave is underway in the nation’s middle with dozens of sites breaking their monthly record high temperatures. This is being caused by strong winds downsloping off the Rockies, creating dry, windy, warm weather, on top of the warmer baseline climate of today. Here’s more:
Feb 23, 2024
With Tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures much above normal and computer models projecting La Niña to form in the eastern Tropical Pacific this upcoming summer, the signs point to an active or perhaps hyperactive hurricane season ahead. Here’s what the latest computer model ensemble says.
Feb 22, 2024
The Atlantic Ocean has never been this warm in February – by a long shot. Here we put the heat into perspective and compare past hurricane seasons to get a glimpse into what this hurricane season may bring.
Feb 20, 2024
Forecasting weather in the mountains can be a challenge. That’s because the way air flows up and down the slopes often means vastly different weather in locations just miles apart. Here’s how it works…
Feb 19, 2024
Over the weekend the jet stream clocked an incredible 265 mph over the US East Coast. That helped power a flight from NYC to Lisbon at a peak speed of 835 mph, with the flight reaching Portugal an hour early. Climate change is making upper level winds faster – a 2% wind increase for every 1C warming with a boost of 2.5X for the fastest winds. Right now Earth is 2C warmer than preindustrial, so the boost is approx. 10%. Thus winds of 240mph would be 265 mph. More on the science here…
Feb 15, 2024
This winter, so far, has been the cloudiest winter on record in the Tampa Bay Area and most of Florida. This is due to El Nino – a natural climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean. Here’s an in-depth explanation.
Feb 14, 2024
Fatalities caused by hurricanes have changed significantly over the past few decades. Storm surge used to be the main killer but now it is rain flooding. Also potentially surprising, indirect causes are death in hurricanes are just as prevalent as direct.
Feb 13, 2024
The Amazon Rainforest is in the midst of its worst drought in modern history. A new attribution study finds climate change, not El Niño, was responsible, making it 30X more likely.