Above is the 3-day rainfall to noon in the southern farm belt a of noon. Below is the 7-day rainfall for last week along with a departure from normal map (in inches). Heavy rains fell from the Kansas Flint Hills to eastern Kentucky where catastrophic flooding caused 26 deaths. The moderate to heavy rain in the central High Plains was desperately needed.  Returning to Kentucky, there is a serious risk of more heavy rain between now and 7am Monday in the area outlined in red. If you have friends or relatives there, please call and make sure they are aware of the threat.

Back in the 1970's when we had huge inflation, many companies made television commercials to show how they were doing their part to keep prices down. So, for our Sunday fun, here are some inflation golden oldies. 

The horror stories pertaining to the Kentucky flooding continue. The death toll is now 25 with the governor forecasting the death toll will continue to rise. NBC News reports that the flooding and landslides are so severe that rescue crews have not reached some areas. There are 18,000 homes and businesses still without power.  Here is a map of the rainfall over eastern Kentucky from Wednesday night.  It is hard to understand why the death toll was so high as the event was reasonably well forecasted and telephones triggered by NWS flash flood warnings went off during the night .  This is exactly the type of disaster for which we need a National Disaster Review Board .  Otherwise, we are doomed to continue the loss of life and property in these situations.  --- Monday Morning Update --- Headline from Wall Street Journal: As of Wednesday, August 3, the death toll has risen to 37.

A new movie is in post-production. It is called Supercell  and it is along the lines of Twister.  The rumors are that it will be released in November. If you are interested in learning more, go here . 

Very pleased to report that Novacoast, an international cybersecurity company, is moving its corporate headquarters from Santa Barbara to Wichita. This will include 100 high-tech jobs. The details are here . You may have heard last week that Panasonic is building a battery factory in Kansas that will bring 4,000 direct jobs plus another 3,500 jobs from suppliers and others.  Wichita features a wonderful lifestyle at very low cost. Check us out!  

As frequent readers know, I am a strong advocate for voting YES!!  in Kansas' special election pertaining to abortion. I make the non-religious case as to why this is right for Kansas, here . Probably because I have been writing about it on the blog, I've gotten a few comments from readers. At least two have been concerned that this important vote was being held in an August primary election rather than the November general election. Well, based on the turnout when I voted today, that doesn't seem to be a problem. Wow! I have never waited for anywhere close to an hour before.  While I hope most are voting YES, I want to salute the people of Kansas for coming out to vote in the primary and in the constitutional election.  *One other thing: I've been asked who I would vote for on the Republican side for Attorney General? My vote was for Tony Mattivi. 

Our friends at Survive-A-Storm Shelters asked me to answer the question, "How Do Tornadoes Form?" You'll find my answers, here . There is still a lot we do not know about how every type of tornado (supercell, landspout, etc.) forms. But, we are making progress. Hope you enjoy reading. 

You may have seen yesterday's news reports about the sad state of the U.S.'s temperature measuring network. If you missed it, the story is here .  As others have pointed out, NOAA runs a superb temperature and precipitation network that was designed to be state-of-the-art and highly accurate. But, we never hear about the data it produces. Why?  It does not show warming! Its data is below and a link to the U.S. Climate Research Network (USCRN) is here .  When NOAA pitched the USCRN it was based on the premise that it would measure the warming temperatures across the USA. Since there is no warming, its data has been pushed into the background.  I guess one could call the lack of warming an "inconvenient truth."

NPR seems to think ending Kansas as an abortion destination is a bad thing Do we really want to continue to be the abortion capital of the Midwest!?  Liberals from outside of Kansas (from where most of the money is coming) are playing us for chumps.  There are excellent religious and theological arguments against abortion, but I haven't used any of them. Why? They aren't needed to encourage you to vote  YES!!     Kansas, by any measure, has economically lagged behind Texas, Oklahoma and other neighboring states. Companies do not want to move to abortion-intensive areas just like they do not wish to locate near strip clubs, meat packing or rending plants.  One good way to start to turn economy around would be to put abortion back into the realm of Kansans and our representatives rather than an activist Kansas Supreme Court -- which has virtually no accountability -- and wants to expand abortion to the day before birth.  Consider that Mich...

This map is 12-hour rainfall to 9am. The white areas are more than ten inches. Toward upper left is the 10+inch area near O'Fallon where Interstate 70 has been closed.  This is the radar as of 9:21am. Rain continues to fall but not at the torrential rates that fell during the night.  This is the worst flash flood situation in the St. Louis area I can remember over the last 40+ years.

Via Amazon, there is a sale on new  copies of my book for $13.02. You can purchase a copy here .  It is a great summer read. Please purchase a copy before they raise the price. 

Below is the 5-day rainfall forecast from now until 7am Saturday. The three inches of rain forecast for southwest Kansas is desperately needed (see Palmer Drought info below). Updated map posted at 2:30p. East of the Mississippi, the rain may be too much, too fast. West of the Mississippi the rain is desperately needed.  Below are the 24-hr and 48-hr rainfalls across Kansas ending at 10am. Please note the different color scale on each map.  Below is the Palmer Drought Index as of July 17. Since the 17th, rains have been generous over far eastern Colorado and adjacent border areas of Kansas. Additional rain will improve rangeland conditions. 

The private jet crowd is finally getting called out for all of the misery it is causing. These are not well-intended but misguided people. The Bill Gates-Al Gore-John Kerry-Prince Harry crowd seem to enjoy making life miserable for the rest of us while they increase their wealth and influence with 'solutions' that will only make things worse.  There are a couple of good articles on this topic here and here .  Unless your congressional candidates this fall are talking about nuclear and, where possible, hydro power, they are not serious about fixing our greenhouse gas problems. Windmills and solar, while useful for certain specific tasks, are not what we need to level off the rate of carbon increase. 

At long, long last, Buck O'Neil is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon. It is long, long  overdue! If you are not familiar with Buck's amazing legacy, please click here .  UPDATE--- Finally, at long last. And, his family. 

There is a tornado threat in New York.  And, there is an enhanced threat of thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph or stronger in the red area and a significant threat in the yellow area.

Here is an excellent column about heatwaves in the United States .  And, yes, they are made worse by global warming.

Several of you have recently purchased copies of my book Warnings . Thank you. There are some really good prices right now for anyone else who may be interested. It is a great, uplifting book for summer reading.  And, thank you to the people who recently purchased images from my stock photography collection .  Please note that there is no third-party advertising attached to this free blog, so the support is greatly appreciated.  And, a reminder: This and all content © 2022 Mike Smith Enterprises, LLC

A balanced and quality essay from Dr. Cliff Mass . 

...and, only if the wood is available.  This piece is intended to be cautionary: that one should not be dependent on politicians or celebrities for your information about global warming -- especially in an election year. For them, global warming advocacy is merely fashion. To illustrate, every one of these stories was published this week. The reason politicians' and celebrities' exhortations to cut our carbon footprints bother me is because they do not come from a place where they want to   make lives better for the average person.  Many of the advocates I have personally encountered seem to enjoy getting away with the hypocrisy of private jets (by far the most carbon-intensive way of traveling) while eco-economies like Sri Lanka's collapse with great suffering and people are forced to heat their homes with scarce wood this winter.  Please take just a moment to read this brief article about how Germans will have to heat their homes with wood this winter and that the ...

We in Kansas are faced with a constitutional amendment vote on August 2 -- with early voting now in progress -- pertaining to abortion. The question is simply whether the people of Kansas, through our representatives, get to control our destiny pertaining to this critical issue.  With zero mention of, or allusion to, abortion in the Kansas Constitution, our state's Supreme Court "found" a right to abortion. This, of course, took the question out of the hands of the people and our legislators and put it into the hands of unelected judges.  The only question before the people of our state is whether we decide our future. By voting yes, the only thing that happens is the KS Supreme Court's decision is overturned and the people through the legislature will make sure decisions as to the law on this topic. To me, the clear vote is, YES!! The above is my recommendation. If you wish to read more, please join me. Once returned to the legislature, the goal of pro-life people li...

Two Headlines Since 9am This Morning The two headlines above came in today, hours after posting the item below. I simply do not understand why this utter hypocrisy is tolerated in people who are supposedly working to stop global warming.  What people do with their own money is fine with me unless  you are lecturing me about my carbon footprint when your carbon footprint is the size of Alaska's. These people should be shunned and Carry should be fired.  As Glenn Reynolds says, I'll believe global is a crisis when the people who tell me it is a crisis start acting like it is a crisis. 

Don't you love [sarc] getting lectured about global warming from people who fly private jets everywhere and who have zero scientific qualifications? 

Hi everyone, I have been fighting illness for nearly two weeks and so I don't have as much fresh content as I would like.  However, I do have some concise material from others that I think you will enjoy reading.  Thanks to 'green' energy, Germany may have to go back to heating its homes with wood this winter . Worse, they are going to close their three remaining -- carbon free -- nuclear power plants .  And, when you hear the USA is closing coal plants to "stop global warming," you may wish to consider.

Last week, I learned that Ford's Theatre in Washington has a 34 foot display of books glued together in more-or-less the shape of a tornado. They call it the "Lincoln Book Tower." Details here . The architecture surrounding the "tornado" even vaguely resembles the wind flow around a twister.  I guess what puzzles me is why they thought a tornado was an appropriate shape for a tribute.  There were two presidents what were amateur meteorologists: Jefferson and Truman. I've never seen a reference to an interest in weather by Lincoln but I may be wrong. Readers?  

Educating people about hurricanes! Details here .