Saturday, we had an awful tragedy in Kansas when a young man who was a husband and father of three children was killed by lightning while running in an endurance race at Elk State Park . CBS News has the background story, here . A key excerpt of the CBS Story, quoting the event organizer, About two-and-a-half hours before Mr. Stanley's death, I tweeted (below) about golfers continuing to play as lightning flashed in the Wichita area. My second sentence was a reference to the common remark after a storm-related tragedy that the storm was a " surprise " or there was "no warning." As the CBS quote above demonstrates, the comment was, unfortunately, prescient. Stipulating that I do not have any knowledge as to the procedures the Flat Rock Trail Race may or may not have had in place, I am going to discuss outdoor events, in general.  What can we learn from this case to help prevent future tragedies?  The first item is very simple: All of thes...

This is via Anthony Watts and, apparently, the author is unknown. Every...single...one... of these gloom and doom forecasts was wrong. Every one of them. Big Environment looks at these as fundraising opportunities and doesn't care much whether the forecasts are correct as long as the money flows. In coming up with these, both Big Environment and Big Climate (there is considerable overlap) never seem to figure in the ingenuity of the human race. Instead, they rely on authoritarianism and nihilism which, inexplicably, seems to appeal to a subset of people. But, these people tend to be disproportionately powerful because Big Climate/Enviornment craves money and power while the rest of us just want to be left alone to live our lives and raise our families. So, the next time you hear environmental gloom and doom, take it with a cubic foot of salt. 

I would like to introduce all of you to Ms. Shelley Seidl, the new executive assistant at Mike Smith Enterprises and MSE Creative Consulting. She will be posting on the blog from time to time. If you wish to get in contact with us, her email is: shelley AT msecreativeconsulting DOT com.

New poll. It reinforces my contention (from other polls and personal experience) that, in spite of all of the words expended the last 30 years, no one really cares about global warming. click to enlarge  In spite of Big Climate spending billions to convince we send to spend more than the half-trillion dollars already spent, worldwide (GW is the biggest gravy train, by far, in the history of atmospheric science), few care. Global warming came in last of all of the possible choices. Why? I think the answer is easy: the people trying to convince us to care with their words demonstrate they don't care with their actions. Whether it is a royal couple taking multiple private jet flights within hours of telling us to cut our carbon footprints or scientists telling us their jetting off to Bali, Copenhagen, Cancun, etc., doesn't matter. The item below is a sarcastic comment from Dr. Roger Pielke, Jr. The arrogance of the alarmists doesn't help, either: Our intellig...

The remains of a Mexican tropical storm will cause an heavy rainfall event later this week in the southern Rockies and Great Plains.  Here is the forecasted rainfall. Note the widespread 4+" amounts. This is more than enough to cause flooding. I recommend keeping abreast of the weather forecasts later this week.

But, of course . Is there anyone  in Big Enviornment that practices what they preach?

At about 10am I tweeted this photo of these golfers continuing to play while a thunderstorm was in progress. Here is the tweet: I said to Kathleen, "Why would you risk your life like that?" Unfortunately, a few hours later and to the east of Wichita, the worst happened. The entire story is here . I just don't get it. What a tragedy.

I signed up for ESPN+ because I loved NFL Primetime  when it was on ESPN and because my Kansas State Wildcats were going to open Big 12 play this year against Oklahoma State and it was going to be 'televised' only on the +. So, I shelled out my $4.95 for the first month. Verdict after 1.5 quarters of the game? It should be called ESPN - .   The production values are terrible: no line to gain projected on the field, no pylon cam, no first down cam, no referee cap cam, no field goal live statistics. There are very few cameras being used which results in missed plays and few angles for replay. It is chintzy. And, for your money, you get just as many commercials as you do with free television broadcasts. The ESPN - streaming is poor quality. Even though the game is in a second quarter lightning delay there have been at least a half-dozen times when the screen has frozen or broken up. And, they tried to sell me a one-year subscription when I logged in and there as no "...

Next week, there will be widespread heavy rains from Michigan to New Mexico and Texas. Please keep an eye out for flood warnings.

The story is here . It is extremely touching. I want to pass along this important bit of information: coral snakes, the most poisonous snakes in North America, are the only snake where the yellow and red directly touch. There are other snakes with colored rings but the yellow/red is a foolproof tell. If you see one, slowly back away.

And, this goes for both sides. Essay here .

Here we go again.  The phantom issue of "privatizing" meteorological data.  Yesterday, a hearing was held in the House of Representatives on a number of meteorological topics. "Privatizing" weather data came up, but I'm not sure why. No one is, or to my knowledge ever has, proposed the government's meteorological data be taken out of the public domain. The discussion about the (non-) issue of privatizing meteorological data transitioned into a conversation on Twitter this afternoon that has gotten a number of people confused. I'm going to try to fix the confusion, especially since this may make the news. Our federal government creates lightning data through its "total lightning mapper" on the new generation of GOES weather satellites. An example, from a few minutes ago, is below. The colored dots are the lightning. If you want to see it for yourself, go here ,  then click on the globe, then click "GOES Derived," then cli...

I urge you to keep an eye on the weather beginning now in Missouri and Illinois and starting at mid-afternoon in Kansas.  There is a small area with a significant tornado risk very late this afternoon and this evening. While the brown area is the higher risk, a tornado or two are quite possible in the green area. In addition, very large hail is forecast. The significant hail risk is in yellow. The enhanced hail risk is in red. And, the hatching indicates that the hail is forecast to be larger than 2 inches in diameter. Damaging thunderstorm winds are possible throughout the yellow area. For more, follow me on Twitter @usweatherexpert . There is also a chance of severe thunderstorms in a small part of the central Great Plains Saturday. I'll update on that tomorrow morning.

A story from the Wichita Business Journa l  that may be of interest. If you are a researcher in the fields of aviation, meteorology or climate, please contact the University for access.

This is far off-topic for this blog and I dislike having to write this. But, I feel compelled to do so because of the political events of this week. While it is distasteful, I'm going to defend Donald Trump.  I am doing so because far too many of our intelligencia seem to have forgotten the basic, but crucial, Constitutional principle of “Equal Protection Under the Law” (EPUTL).  As the Legal Information Institute puts it,  Equal Protection refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. The governing body state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances.  What does this have to do with the Democrats’ impeachment investigation? Everything! Apples To understand EPUTL, I’d like to provide a simple example. Suppose there is a green grocer in NYC that puts a fresh bushel of apples in front of the store every day. The grocer sweeps...

As of 8:50pm CDT, a severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for the south Wichita suburbs and nearby areas until 9:45pm. One inch diameter hail and wind gusts to 60 mph are forecast by the National Weather Service. The storms are prolific lightning producers. Video from 8:45pm.

Birds over the Amazon Rainforest Would you believe a 300 ft. tree? Could it be that the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is behind the mystery of record tree growth ?

Please keep an eye on the weather in these areas later today.   We have an out-of-season tornado risk this afternoon and evening. The brown area is a significant risk. The area I have highlighted and hatched has an enhanced risk. There will be large hail throughout this region (see below). The yellow area = significant threat of large hail. Red is an enhanced risk and hatching is where hailstones larger than 2" are forecast to occur.

I had not heard of this before. It uses NWS radars to assist in tracking bird migration. The URL = birdcast.info. 

The same people who laughingly claim to be "pro-science" evidently do not have the ability to reason: blocking thousands of cars (all emitting CO2) in Washington today is perhaps not the best way to demonstrate you are serious about cutting greenhouse gases. I happen to be -- strongly -- in favor of dispersing the federal government. If they can block a few more intersections and cut the air conditioning in federal government buildings (saving the greenhouse gas to generate the electricity to run those AC's it is just setting a good example, after all!), I suspect the political desire to disperse the federal government will pick up rather quickly. Update, Tuesday, 10:15A: I was reminded of this. Since the government is telling us we need to change our thermostats to cut our carbon footprint, that is all the more reason air conditioning in federal buildings needs to be permanently disconnected. This is especially true for NOAA, EPA, NASA and the others that whine ...

- Bumped and Updated - 2pm EDT, Monday, 9/23 I'm always amused by the people who dislike my phrase, "Big Climate." I'm told that the climate change movement is a bunch of grassroots innocents against [evil] "oil companies." Of course, that is the reverse of the truth. You are being influenced by big money on this issue. This report, published today , is fascinating. It discusses where the funding is coming from for the climate strike and other climate propaganda. A couple of excerpts: This is "dark money" at its worst. It is also elected officials and civil servants acting as stealth advocates. It needs to stop. - Original Posting -  And, the MSM wonders why no one trusts it... Get this : We have 12 years to radically change course, UN scientists warned last October, or face catastrophe. As journalists, we have a professional responsibility to report on the urgency of this moment. Despite good coverage by some news outlets, c...

This is something we do not see every day: an enhanced  risk of large hail and damaging winds in Arizona. There is even a chance for a tornado or two. The primary threat is hail larger than 1" in diameter along with downbursts/haboobs. There is also a threat of flash flooding, especially near and northeast of Phoenix.

The Big Texan is known for its understated decor While I visited the Big Texan during a business trip to Amarillo in 1998 no one was attempting to eat the gargantuan meal. But, I saw the size of the 72-ounce steak. Eating two of those meals (with shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad and roll for each meal) back-to-back seems impossible for a man, let alone for a trim woman. The entire story, and photo of the 'winner,' is here .

It will be a busy 36 hours for much of Kansas and Missouri. Flooding Let's begin with the flash flood outlook. Some areas will have more than five inches of rain between now and 8pm Sunday. Please remember: Turn around, don't drown  if you encounter flooding. Tornadoes and Hail  The first of the severe thunderstorms should develop between 4 and 5pm. The brown areas have a significant risk of tornadoes. And, there is a significant risk of 1" or large hail in the yellow areas with hail larger than 2" in the hatched area. Baltimore Ravens v. Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead at Noon TripAdvisor Rain is especially likely the first half with the probability lessening in the second half. Total rainfall at Arrowhead during the game will mostly likely be 1/4" to 1/2 inches.

Unfortunately, this story is apparently correct. Here is the story . I dislike the headline because I don't care who makes whom richer as long as they are honest about it. That stipulated, I believe the story is essentially correct because it tracks with my experience pertaining to 350.org .  The Dakota Access Pipeline, which recently began carrying oil from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota to a refinery in Illinois, was threatened and delayed by a series of professional and well-funded protests. Much of the anti-Dakota Access Pipeline activities were part of a campaign orchestrated by  350.org , an extremist organization that receives major funding from the Tides Foundation – which gets a large portion of its financial support from Buffett’s NoVo Foundation. It appears NoVo’s interest in blocking the construction of the pipeline had more to do with protecting Berkshire Hathaway’s railroad interests than protecting the environment. Berkshire Hathaway owns Bur...

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