Eric Blake

From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

Andy Neumann actually took the photo- thanks to him for giving it to me (or Billy) years later.

Katrina 20 years later - my only saved picture from the event was of the great Max Mayfield and Billy Wagner looking serious/concerned, with me working radar (left) at landfall (thinking it would be close to a disaster but hopeful). Later that morning we found out it wasn’t close at all 😢

Breathtaking video from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron of the stadium effect inside the eye of Hurricane Erin from last night’s pass

These observations are crucial for improving forecasts and keeping people safe

Unbelievable footage from NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters inside the eye of Hurricane Erin.

Simply incredible.

Just an incredible explosive RI event with #Erin overnight. The pressure has fallen roughly 75 mb in 24 hours and has gone from a TS to category 4 during that time . 💣

I work as an elder and hospice caregiver, which I am oddly passionate about. I can love on them shamelessly and no one complains about my codependence. It's a win-win situation. Many of my caregiving colleagues complain about the repetitive questions and, sometimes reactions, of the elderly, especially when those patients happen to read the newspaper, especially with the current downward spiral of our country — as if these people haven't lived through enough horror... I love my dementia peeps, but sometimes wonder if there's a Guinness Book World Record for how many times an hour a dementia patient can repeat the same question — it's got to be in the hundreds. At least with small children, they ask different questions. Dementia patients will get stuck on one short question and ask it until you can interrupt their train(carousel) of thought and successfully redirect their attention. That carousel is pretty manic sometimes. A couple days ago, I picked up my mail from the post office and drove over to the nursing home to take (let's call her "Miss Daisy") Miss Daisy out for a drive. Before we took off on our road trip, to the end of The Road and back, in our landlocked little town (Juneau, Alaska), I set my copy of The Onion down in front of her. Over our two-hour excursion, tiny Miss Daisy read that front page at least a dozen times and each time she would snicker, giggle, and guffaw, then put it down on the dash board and, a minute later, discover it anew. I think it was the best afternoon of my life. We don't often hear them laugh and when they do, it's the sweetest thing you've ever heard. ... Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the really important work all of you do. You make the world a better place.

I got permission to share this, and I'm extremely grateful for that.

The Onion got this letter from one of our subscribers in Alaska. She works with dementia patients and decided to leave a copy in the car for each one.

This email made my year. Read it and you'll see what I mean. People are good.

I sought comment from NOAA and the Department of Defense on this and received this reply today from NOAA's spokesperson. They suggest we use the surviving ATMS microwave that degrades significantly at the edges. You can see how much worse off we'd be with Erick last week if we only had ATMS.

A comparison of what we see from geostationary infrared imagery vs. what we get when passive microwave imagery like what SSMIS provides is available.

This is Hurricane Otis in 2023 as it was gearing up for extremely rapid intensification prior to impacting Acapulco as a category 5 storm.

I did a handful of interviews yesterday on the imminent shutdown of SSMIS data flow and the expected consequences for hurricane forecasting at NHC. I've tried to collect and polish up my thoughts on the topic, attached...

Not going to lie, I cried a bit when I got the email that SSMIS was being discontinued. I developed D-MINT with a toddler in tow, showing her pretty pictures of hurricanes so she knew what Mommy did while she's playing with friends at school. This one hurts.

A macro photo, front three-quarter view, of a little butterfly perched on a green leaf. The butterfly has pale green eyes with black speckles, legs covered in thick yellow fuzzy hair, and orange wings sprinkled with metallic light blue patches. It is very cute.

A macro photo, side view, of a little butterfly perched on a green leaf. The butterfly has pale green eyes with black speckles, legs covered in thick yellow fuzzy hair, and orange wings sprinkled with metallic light blue bands and patches. It is very cute.

Please enjoy this ridiculously cute butterfly, which was about the size of my pinkie fingernail. It's in the butterfly family called metalmarks (Riodinidae). Males, like these, have reduced front legs and perch using only the rear 4 (females can use all 6). Sarota acantus; Costa Rica 🐙🌿 #insects

Nerd post of the week :)

NSF Unidata Pause in Most Operations

This is a seismic gut punch to the weather enterprise.

It is impossible to overstate how important @unidata.bsky.social is in implementing many datasets/libraries (LDM, netCDF, THREDDS, metPy) we currently use in meteorological research & operations.

www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/e...

A 40 second video I took on my iPhone of a large dusty tornado near Rudolph Iowa. I didn’t think iPhones could really help night mode on normal video but this took the cake. #tornado

DOGE cuts could lead to ‘very big error’ in ‘crucial’ hurricane forecasts, expert says Local 10 is examining a potential public safety alert regarding how DOGE staffing cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service may already be impacting the ability of federal meteorologists to accura...

Story and interview on Miami's Channel 10 this afternoon on the NOAA cuts...
www.local10.com/news/local/2...

BalancedWx Special: Perspective on the NOAA budget passback A proposed sea change to the US meteorological science enterprise

Thanks to @edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social and SFChronicle for sharing the full NOAA FY26 budget passback. After a detailed reading, think it is important for people to really understand just what massive changes are planned for US weather forecasting and research.

open.substack.com/pub/balanced...

Astronomers Detect a Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (Gift Article) Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.

120 light years from Earth, there's a planet that may be covered in a living ocean. Here's my story on a tantalizing hint of life beyond the Solar System. Gift link: nyti.ms/3GbrEaZ 🧪

Weather Service Prepares for ‘Degraded Operations’ Amid Trump Cuts (Gift Article) An internal document describes how severe shortages of meteorologists and other staff members could affect forecasts and other operations.

Weather Service Prepares for ‘Degraded Operations’ Amid Trump Cuts. Gift link: nyti.ms/42MeGJD

The Social Value of Hurricane Forecasts Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

The economic value of hurricane forecasts
www.nber.org/papers/w3254...

Public Information Statement National Weather Service Memphis TN 212 PM CDT Fri Apr 4 2025 ...Memphis Operational Status Update... We have a tremendous backlog of storm reports that still need to be posted. Due to the ongoing warning operations and the extremely high volume of partner coordination, briefings, and media interviews, we simply haven't had the bandwidth to post them in real-time. We sincerely ask for your patience as we continue to balance the delivery of critical, life-saving information during this multi- day event while also working to mitigate staff fatigue. We are only half way through what is a marathon. Please know that all reports are being carefully documented and will be posted in the coming days. At this time, we have made the decision to hold and post Local Storm Reports in bulk rather than releasing days-old reports during active weather. Our concern is that trickling in outdated information could unintentionally add confusion to an already chaotic operational environment. Additionally, we plan on focusing on warnings and communication and will forgo the issuance of any Special Weather Statements for sub-severe storms this afternoon and tonight. Thanks for your continued support, and please keep the real time reports coming as they are critical to the warning process. Stay safe and take care of yourselves and others around you.

This just in from the Memphis National Weather Service Forecast Office. They have a "...tremendous backlog of storm reports that still need to be posted." Full statement is below with alt text. #arwx #mowx #mswx #tnwx

NCCDPHP Division of Reproductive Health Division of Population Health BCSB EPI branch Prevention Research Translation Branch Office of Smoking and Health NCHHSTP Division of TB elimination -Communication, Education, and Behavioral Studies Branch PBEMB GLOBAL Division of HIV and TB Communications Branch SPIN SPICE PBEMB MCHB HIDMSB EHSRB Scientific Integrity Branch NCEH Division of Environmental Science/Practice Asthma and Air Quality branch NCIRD ISD/Partnerships NIOSH Miner safety Health effects lab division Respiratory health division NCBDDD Office of the Director Disability Health NCIPC Division of Violence Prevention Division of Injury Prevention OD Office of Health Equity OCOO Office of Human Resources

New — Here is a running list of Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) offices that have either been fully eliminated or gutted into non-functionality as a result of today's mass firings (provided to me directly by a CDC staffer):

Conan is great at the Oscars - a welcome distraction from the world 👏

NOAA Cuts Leave Wind Chimes As Sole Predictor Of Approaching Hurricanes SILVER SPRING, MD—As mass firings of career experts and scientists continued to roil the federal government, officials confirmed Friday that cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

NOAA Cuts Leave Wind Chimes As Sole Predictor Of Approaching Hurricanes

‘It's not just a job to me': Hurricane hunter among NOAA employees laid off in DOGE cuts NBC6 spoke to employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who were shocked to hear they were laid off because their work is vital for public safety

www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/n...

Donate to Weathering the Storm: Support for Andy Hazelton, organized by Lisa Bucci We need your help! Andy is the guy in the office who loves his job and cowo… Lisa Bucci needs your support for Weathering the Storm: Support for Andy Hazelton

As the weather community experiences tremendous challenges, I couldn't chose a better cause to promote. Please consider showing your support for Andy Hazelton as he and his family explore next steps following federal employment layoffs this week.
gofund.me/8020498c

RIP to a Queen - thanks for so many years of great music 🪦

After a cool January- #Miami has had its warmest start to February on record, with little cool air forecast to be on the way. Guess we are paying for the nice temperatures!

Agree. This shall pass. I’m old enough to remember the 90s and the threat of cuts across the weather service. Keep working hard and opportunities will come! 👏