Happy New Year to everyone in the world. New Years is an event that is global. It is essentially the same as Earth Hour. It happens to all of us. 

Happy New Year, Germany!

I love that the government was able to keep everyone safe. That was the best New Years' celebration I've ever heard.

The California drought will be stubborn for the reasons the article states.

The ground will soak up the snowpack as it melts before there will be runoff. It all is a very easy to understand concept.Would droughted land simply repel water or first soak it up? That is physics. Okay? We are all on the same page with this? 

December 30, 2015

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. (KCRA) —Results (click here) from Wednesday's first snowpack survey of the season provided some good news for Californians during the ongoing drought.

The California Department of Water Resources said the measurement put the Sierra snowpack at Phillips Station in El Dorado County, which is at 6,800 feet, at 136 percent of average for this time of year. The water content is at 16.3 inches and snow depth is just under 5 feet.

"This location this time of year we’re at 136 percent, which is encouraging but obviously not where we’d like to be," Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. "This is clearly much better than it was last year at this time."

However statewide, the snowpack stands at 105 percent of average.

"A good part of this snowpack is going to essentially soak into the ground before we start to see it as runoff," Gehrke said. "The problem we’ve had in the last couple of years – we might start off ok and then it justs shuts off - literally shuts off."...

Thank you for this. Sincerely appreciated. The truth is more valuable than politics. This is about all of us, not politicians. This should never have been made into a political dialogue.

Clockwise from top left: Flooding in Straiton, Scotland, on Wednesday; haze in Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, in October; flooding in Horry County, S.C., in October; drought in South Australia in November. 
Credit Danny Lawson/Press Association, via AP; Haris Sadikin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Janet Blackmon Morgan/The Sun News, via AP; David Gray/Reuters

December 30, 2015
By Justin Gillis

...But that natural pattern of variability is not the whole story. (click here) This El Niño, one of the strongest on record, comes atop a long-term heating of the planet caused by mankind’s emissions of greenhouse gases. A large body of scientific evidence says those emissions are making certain kinds of extremes, such as heavy rainstorms and intense heat waves, more frequent.

Coincidence or not, every kind of trouble that the experts have been warning about for years seems to be occurring at once.

“As scientists, it’s a little humbling that we’ve kind of been saying this for 20 years now, and it’s not until people notice daffodils coming out in December that they start to say, ‘Maybe they’re right,’ ” said Myles R. Allen, a climate scientist at Oxford University in Britain.

Dr. Allen’s group, in collaboration with American and Dutch researchers, recently completed a report calculating that extreme rainstorms in the British Isles in December had become about 40 percent more likely as a consequence of human emissions. That document — inspired by a storm in early December that dumped stupendous rains, including 13 inches on one town in 24 hours — was barely finished when the skies opened up again....

Let me get this right.

December 30, 2015
By WSJ "Spy v Spy"

When President Obama's national security team (click here) signaled after his 2008 election that they wanted the NSA to keep giving the White House intelligence on foreign "leadership intentions," that included the fruits of electronic surveillance of Israeli leaders along with the heads of other U.S. allies. When Obama curtailed the use of eavesdropping on friendly leaders in 2013 after NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed this closely guarded program, Obama decided to keep on closely monitoring the communications of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing "interviews with more than two dozen current and former U.S. intelligence and administration officials."...

The USA is holding high level diplomatic talks with allies and foreign powers in China and Russia and the USA is suppose to allow Israel to spy on them?

I don't think so. 

The paranoia within the Netanyahu administration is ridiculous. President Obama has afforded Israel every aspect of military munitions and hardware it wanted in anticipation of talks with Iran. He wanted to make a gesture to Israel, its security was most important to the USA and no talks with Iran will compromise that. Even with all those reassurances, Netanyahu kicked sand in the face of the President by grand standing his political agenda on the floor of a joint meeting of the US Congress. 

This isn't the first time Israel has spied on the USA. (click here)

The United States is reportedly close to agreeing to release an American named Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel in 1987. If he is released, it would be part of an effort to breathe life into the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and would likely be accompanied by Israel releasing prisoners of its own and agreeing to stop building some settlements in the West Bank. Pollard was paid in cash for the American documents he gave Israel in the ‘80s, which were said to have compromised national security and exposed intelligence methods....

Perhaps it was wrong to allow Israel to believe it has a friend in President Obama and Jonathan Pollard should still be in prison?

The argument the political right wing is making regarding Israel is that the NSA didn't stop collecting information on Israel after Edward Snowden released information that indicted the NSA collecting meta data of every American. 

Excuse me? Since when is Edward Snowden a friend of the political right wing of the USA or Israel? The political right wing of both countries wants to try Edward Snowden for treason. Hello? Edward? Come home, the USA right wing is the only group that wants you tried for treason and no surprise here, it is for politics. This proves when it is convenient for the political right wing to embrace Edward Snowden they'll do it. I think in political standards it is called a 'flip-flop.'

No, no, Israel is not getting away with this. I want a full investigation to the leaks that could have compromised the safety of the high level diplomats of all parties. A very successful treaty with Iran was garnered in the face of those that hate and embrace war. 

Here we go again. Netanyahu is as extreme as they come. He has victimized school girls and wants to exile Israeli Arabs.

31 December 2015
By AP in Jerusalem

Israeli police (click here) have questioned the wife of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, over her alleged inflated household spending – the latest in a string of accusations that have led critics to portray the first couple as a petty pair who improperly use state funds to subsidise an excessive lifestyle.
The questions are expected to focus on whether Sara Netanyahu used state funds to finance maintenance work and new furniture for the couple’s private home in the exclusive coastal city of Caesarea. She may also be asked whether she or the state paid for the nursing care of her late father.
Israeli media reported the questioning, and cameras posted outside the police station showed her car arriving. Police declined to comment.
The investigation follows a report by the official watchdog that detailed large sums of public money the couple spent. Last week, Israeli media reported that the Netanyahus asked for public funds to cover the cost of food for a dog they adopted, called Kaiya, which bit two guests at the PM’s Hanukkah party earlier in December....

It is an easily recognized pattern. The same thing happened to Olmert. When Israel's Prime Minister acts as a dictator rather than a representative of the Israel people, it won't be tolerated. 

The USA needs to investigate the leaks involved in the Iran Non-Proliferation Agreement. The NSA hasn't ended it's program yet and Americans are still compromised. We are compromised and still the victims of violence that is suppose to be prevented because of the NSA program.

The USA has had enough of the extremist Republican agenda.

US Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida (click here), a member of the FOX Neil Cavuto Team, states it doesn't matter what the standard was when Secretary Clinton typed the emails. He stated he is going to ask the FBI to read through every email and decide if it should have been classified at the time Secretary Clinton wrote them. DeSantis never read the 5000 plus emails, but, the FBI should.

It doesn't matter what the progression was to classified status, Secretary Clinton should have worn her clairvoyant hat when she was writing her emails. 

This is a hideous standard for a US Congressman. He is playing politics with the FBI. It isn't enough the State Department went through a great deal of SERVICE to the country to read the emails and determine whether or not there is CURRENTLY a known standard to classify the emails.

This is nonsense. This is politics and it should not be rewarded. The US State Department stated in the most recent batch of emails released none were classified at the time of Secretary Clinton's SERVICE to the country. 

The Florida Representative is also complaining the State Department has taken far too long to release them regardless of the volume. Whatever the volume of emails there should have been dedicated state department staff to carry out the demands of the Republican extremists.

FOX's "The Five" state "Black Lives Matter" is a political movement. ??? Yes, it's political because black men are dying that are suppose to die. The African American committee is working to change that reality. The methods of "Black Lives Matter" is political, but, their reality is starkly real. Stating "It's political," as if that is the only character the movement has is wrong.

"The Five" will play black artists as among their favorites, but, they won't have those same artists on their shows to discuss "Black Lives Matter." That is the solution of propagandists such as FOX News; there definition of involvement with the community is completely superficial. But, in all fairness to them; they are superficial about most things.

I don't know how Juan Williams does it. He is something like the third or fourth staff member with left leanings to hold that seat to make "The Five" a correct title rather than "The Four."

Happy New Year, everyone.

2015 was not a good year for Earth.

December 18, 2015

Global temperatures (click here) have already smashed records this year, and now meteorologists are warning 2016 will be even hotter.
The annual global temperature forecast from the Met Office suggests 2016 will be between 0.72C and 0.95C above the long-term average of 14°C.
Man-made global warming, along with a smaller effect from the natural El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific, are expected to push temperatures towards record levels next year.
Professor Chris Folland, from the UK's Met Office, said: "2015 is on track to be the warmest year on record, and this forecast suggests 2016 is likely to be as warm, if not warmer."

\

See what happens when he gets out of the White House and among the people?

January 1, 2016
By Megan Cassella

Washington: US President Barack Obama (click here) is expected to announce executive actions expanding background checks on gun sales, media outlets reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with White House proposals and planning.
The changes, which could come as soon as next week, would include requiring more small-scale gun sellers to be licensed and to conduct a background check whenever selling a weapon, Politico reported....

Happy New Year, President Obama.

That is a farm at the base of the tornado. Luckily the tornado landed a short distance from the farm and not on top of it.

James' winning photo of the rare cyclone in Colorado earlier this year. Photo: James Young

December 31, 2015

By Ebony Bowden

A Melbourne man (click here) who picked up a camera just five years ago has won the National Geographic 2015 photo contest.
James Smart, from Balwyn, beat more than 13,000 entries to take out the prestigious competition with his photo of a tornado in Colorado.

The 30-year-old said he entered the competition not even knowing what the prize was – a handsome $US10,000 and a trip to National Geographic's headquarters in Washington.

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Smart, a freelance satellite operator, picked up a camera just five years ago while on holiday in Europe and said he couldn't believe he had won.
"I was surprised, that's for sure. I didn't think I'd win at all to be honest. I didn't even know what the prize was," he said....

Congratulations to James Smart and his brave resolve to photograph this rare phenomena. Interesting though, there is a great deal of rare and record setting events now that Earth is hotter than it ever should be.

This event was well documented. This picture of the storm appeared in The Washington Post.

This phenomenal storm, with two tornadoes spinning simultaneously, was photographed late last week near Simla, Colo. (Kelly DeLay)


June 8, 2015
By Angela Fritz

...Many different photos (click here) and videos of this storm have been shared, and it does seem that one of the tornadoes was rotating anticyclonically — or clockwise — which is a pretty rare occurrence. Just like mid-latitude cyclones and hurricanes, tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere tend to rotate counter-clockwise, along with their parent thunderstorms, because of the rotation of the Earth and the Coriolis effect.

But every once in a while, a tornado will buck that rule, according to leading tornado researcher and director of the Center for Severe Weather Research Josh Wurman. “Anticyclonic tornadoes can form if a supercell contains an anticyclonic mesocyclone,” said Wurman. “Or, a pair of tornadoes, one cyclonic, one anticyclonic, can form. Both of these are rare.”...


The picture Mr. Smart took was of a tornado that exhibited it's unique characteristics for a very brief time.

This storm in the far North Atlantic is the same storm that caused two tornado outbreaks and widespread flooding in the United States. Photo / earth.nullschool.net

December 31, 2015

A powerful winter cyclone (click here) - the same storm that lead to two tornado outbreaks in the United States and disastrous river flooding - has driven the North Pole to the freezing point this week, 50 degrees above average for this time of year.
From Tuesday evening to Wednesday morning, a mind-boggling pressure drop was recorded in Iceland: 54 millibars in just 18 hours. This triples the criteria for "bomb" cyclogenesis, which meteorologists use to describe a rapidly intensifying mid-latitude storm. A "bomb" cyclone is defined as dropping one millibar per hour for 24 hours.
NOAA's Ocean Prediction Center said the storm's minimum pressure dropped to 928 millibars around 1 a.m. Eastern time, which likely places it in the top five strongest storms on record in this region.
"According to the center's records, the all-time strongest storm in this area occurred on Dec. 15, 1986, and that had a minimum central pressure of 900 millibars," Mashable's Andrew Freedman reported on Tuesday....
 

If the artic ocean rises in temperature enough it could release what is now frozen methane.

December 1, 2015
The rate of ice growth  (click here) for the first half of November 2015 was quite rapid, but the pace of ice growth slowed during the second half of the month, only to increase again at the end of the month. Throughout the month, sea ice extent remained within two standard deviations of the 1981 to 2010 average....

Growth in sea ice is more attributed to warmer temperatures at work with resultant formations less than solid ice. The variations in November 2015 may be connected to waxing and waning temperature events over the North American and Northern Asia continents. There were extended frigid temperatures in Siberia. The release of frigid temperatures from the Arctic Ocean due to warmer ocean waters explains the decrease in air masses temperatures that descended to lower latitudes.

December 30, 2015
By Roginson Meyer

The sun (click here) has not risen above the North Pole since mid-September. The sea ice — flat, landlike, windswept, and stretching as far as the eye can see—has been bathed in darkness for months.
But later this week, something extraordinary will happen: Air temperatures at the Earth’s most northernly region, in the middle of winter, will rise above freezing for only the second time on record.
On Wednesday, the same storm system that last week spun up deadly tornadoes in the American southeast will burst into the far north, centering over Iceland. It will bring strong winds and pressure as low as is typically seen during hurricanes.
That low pressure will suck air out of the planet’s middle latitudes and send it rushing to the Arctic. And so on Wednesday, the North Pole will likely see temperatures of about 35 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2 degrees Celsius. That’s 50 degrees hotter than average: It’s usually 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero there at this time of year....

Solargraphs or solargraphics or solarigraphics are photographs people had never seen before.

December 23, 2015
Photographer states, "Looking towards Dunball wharf, the wharf is mainly used to deliver sand dredged from the Bristol Channel, Pinhole size 0.5mm.

The photographer states "Solargraphy: (click here) 5 months."

With all the renewed discussion of an arctic methane blast, I though this might be interesting.

Below is the River Parrett on a good day in 2013.

Published on Jul 1, 2013

Paul Hamilton visits the River Parrett, Thorney, Somerset (tel: 01935 824337, SAT NAV: TA12 6AE) for the Angler's Mail Where To Fish section. Fees have now risen to £15 for the year.

I take it the Missouri Governor aleady called out the National Guard.

It isn't as though the floods are a maybe because the storm arrived. We know the Mississippi River is going to flood beyond anyone's imagination. The states down stream need to issue emergency declarations and harness readiness with their National Guard.

December 29, 2015
Missouri River floods at St. Charles riverfront.

By Reuters

Dec 30 (Reuters) - Rain-swollen rivers (click here) rose across Missouri on Wednesday with widespread flooding forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people, closing parts of a major interstate highway and threatening to wash out scores of structures.
At least 13 people have died in Missouri since the weekend, when days of downpours from a massive winter storm system triggered the state's worst flooding in two decades, Governor Jay Nixon said.
Nixon called the flooding "very historic and dangerous" and urged motorists not to drive into movie water. A dozen of the deaths in Missouri were due to people driving into flooded areas, Nixon told CNN on Wednesday.
Several major rivers, including the Mississippi, and tributaries in Missouri and Illinois were poised to crest at record levels, the National Weather Service said, but parts of the region already are inundated....

According to The Times of Indiat, the death toll from severe storms in the USA is at least 43/

Americans are at the cusp of a new danger they cannot compensate to survive.

Dallas: Storms hit the US South, (click here) Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time.

The bad weather or threat of it prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states.

Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois....

Eight deaths at least in Missouri. These are totals of the dead from a single storm system at this time of year is unheard of. I have to look up the death tolls of Sandy. Sandy was an east coast phenomena and considered the equivalent of a Category One hurricane in wind velocity. Sandy is not the same as the Christmas Storm of 2015.

In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed....

The Christmas Storm of 2015 was enormous. It was drawing supporting warm air from a very large swath of Earth. Sandy built it's size over a warm ocean. 

Sandy's death toll was 285 primarily from drowning regardless of warnings made to evacuate. Americans don't 'get it' necessarily. It isn't the media's fault. The American media dedicates a great deal of time in warnings about storms. People focus on something to convince themselves they'll "be alright."

In the case of Sandy, I think people focused on "Category 1" status and thought the media was overplaying their hand.

Americans in large measure don't understand physics. A storm the size of Sandy needed a great deal of energy to sustain it's size. The winds were a minor event compared to the size and scope of THE TIDAL SURGE. Americans think high velocity storms carry "high walls of water" a shore and they take it seriously. But, in the case of Sandy it had what most Americans consider a survivable Category wind speed of One.  

These lower category storms carry a large tidal surge not necessary in height but width. The radius/diameter of Sandy was enormous. People have to realize the height of tides at lower velocity storms is not the problem, but, the WIDTH of the ARRIVING tide will 'pile up' once it reaches land/the shore. 

The tide of these lower velocity storms are similar to tsunamis. The height can be lower, but, when it reaches the shoreline/beach/land the water piles on top of itself to cause THE ACCUMULATION of high amounts of water that is not survivable.

May 23, 2015
By Laura Petrecca 

New York  — Drowning (click here) was the most common cause of death associated with the devastating Superstorm Sandy, according to a report out Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Almost half – 45% — of the 40 drowning deaths in the October storm occurred in flooded homes in New York City's mandatory Evacuation Zone A, said the CDC, citing research from the American Red Cross.
That zone covers swaths of coastline areas in city boroughs and includes hard-hit communities such as Breezy Point, Queens, Midland Beach, Staten Island and Lower Manhattan. Residents in Evacuation Zone A received mandatory evacuation orders the day prior to the storm, but many remained in their homes.
"A lot of the drowning occurred in the evacuation zones, and so that just reminds us how important it is to listen to these (evacuation) messages, whether it's for a hurricane, tornado or any severe event," says Amy Wolkin, Team Lead for CDC's Disaster and Epidemiological Response Team....

It is transportation problems in Michigan. There aren't good train access in most areas of the state.

Ice forms along Muskegon Lake as sizable waves hit the Western shoreline in Muskegon, Mich. Dec. 28, 2015. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning that lasts until Tuesday morning, December 29. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)




By Emily Lawler

Lansing, MI -- State of Michigan offices (click here) will resume normal hours on Tuesday, Dec. 29 after having closed early Monday due to severe weather.
According to a press release from the State Emergency Operations Center, a coordinated state and local response effort that Gov. Rick Snyder set into motion Monday afternoon, employees should report to work at the start of their shift. That information is cross-posted on Michigan.gov, where the Snyder administration told employees to look for updates. 
While storms are still raging in parts of Michigan, current predictions show warmer air coming into Michigan and melting much of the ice before morning commute times....

By the time most Michiganders access mass transit the travel time defines a better reason to stay home than venture into work. The mass transit system in Michigan is lacking. 

I have no idea what 'wet-solid' snow is. I think of it as slush. When warming trends attract heat transfer systems the trajectory of weather is predictable. First the frigid temperatures occur accompanied by 'cold weather' precipitation hence causing public warnings. 

BUT, the frigid temperatures are mixed with warmed air and there is turbulence or vice versa warmed air can be mixed with frigid temperatures depending on where one is standing on the geographical match. THE STORM FRONT is what is defined by location and the weather expected.

But, after the frigid temperatures and the weather accompanying it, then there is a change to a more MEDIAN temperature after the hot air mass and water vapor frigid air mass. That median temperature can bring about rapid melting of ice/snow. If the frigid air remains there will be slush accompanied by freezing temperatures and a return to icing conditions. 

These heat transfer systems are macroscopic, but, the way people COPE are microscopic simply because the land falls under turbulence and the outcomes of that multi-front temperature changes. 

LOCAL MICROSCOPIC WEATHER COPING IS BEST. To achieve a generalized national picture is difficult. The USA Weather Service does a great job, but, ultimately it is the journalist on the beat that will have the most accurate picture. It is the local media that will bring about emergency response in areas not yet realized as effected.

Additional snow forecast overnight December 28, 2015. Most areas of northern Michigan will get another five to eight inches overnight. (source: NOAA/weatherbell.com) 

By Mark Torregrossa

...This current storm (click here) has always leaned a little more toward the crystalized forms of precipitation. When freezing rain has been expected, sleet mixed in and dominated at times. Where sleet has been expected, snowflakes outnumbered the sleet pellets.
Now the storm is doing the same thing in northern Lower Michigan and the eastern U.P.
Heavy snow will continue overnight in northern Lower and the eastern and central U.P. An additional five to eight inches of snow is going to be very common from Traverse City to Grayling to Tawas and northward.
You see some 10 inch to 12 inch additional amounts forecast in far northern Lower. That might be two inches too much, so plan on the heaviest spots getting another eight to 10 inches of snow overnight.
It will be a wet, solid snow - the kind that can start a base on northern Michigan snowmobile trails....

The 'idea' winter has arrived is grossly inaccurate with a troposphere that spawns heat transfer systems. There may be seasonal conditions in some elevations and latitudes, but, generally the USA will have very mixed weather through winter.

December 29, 2015

Bloomington — State Farm (click here) has stepped up to help as storms devastated the Midwest and southern United States over the last week.

The company has received nearly 2,400 homeowners and auto insurance claims across seven states due to recent severe weather, said spokeswoman Holly Anderson.

That total includes 620 homeowners claims in Georgia, which was hit by torrential rain and tornadoes Wednesday; 460 homeowners and 160 auto claims in Texas, where at least 11 were killed by Saturday tornadoes; and 460 homeowners claims in Missouri, where rain became flooding over the weekend.

Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan have also generated homeowners claims — 170, 180, 250 and 40, respectively....

Insurer group urges residents to monitor continued severe weather (click here)
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to tornadoes and other severe weather over the weekend, Farmers Insurance® has deployed its specially-trained Catastrophe Claims Team to begin assisting customers.
In addition to claims handling staff, the Farmers Mobile Claims Center (MCC) catastrophe bus is in the area and has begun providing on-site assistance to residents in Texas. Farmers Insurance personnel are assisting customers file claims on the spot and are providing storm victims with basic necessities. Currently, the MCC is located in the Target parking lot at 4701 Lakeview Parkway, Rowlett, Texas, 75088. Customers can visit the MCC to file claims and ask questions during operating hours from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Catastrophe claims staff have also initiated triage at this time, via geo-technology, to identify customers located in the areas where damage occurred.
Farmers Insurance encourages everyone in the area to closely monitor the weather and stay safe as additional storms are expected to move through Friday and Saturday.
To aid residents in preparing for additional potential severe weather, Farmers Insurance urges residents to:...

This is the flooding which triggered the EU to reassess its preparedness for the climate crisis.

December 28, 2015

Military personnel (click here) were mobilised on Sunday to help people in Yorkshire and Lancashire as they battled to keep rising flood waters from the doors of their homes and businesses....

HAB or Harmful Algal Blooms is the correct name for this phenomena.

This is a bloom of algae, small microscopic plants. HABs can cause illness, but, not consistently. With each species of algae there can be dangerous health effects. These blooms effect local economies regardless of toxins or not. People don't want to swim in it and it frequently has an odor. Towns effected by these blooms should apply to FEMA for relief under economic and health emergency conditions. 

This was a HAB with a 'Fish Kill." Fish Kill is the proper name for this phenomena. These Fish Kills are not unusual with blooms. 

December 26, 2015
By Garin Flowers

Treasure Island, Fla. -- Ed Inloes is enjoying (click here) a much nicer looking holiday season in Florida than his home in Michigan. But, what rolled in with the tide behind his rental home in Treasure Island put a bit of a stench on his vacation plans.
"This beautiful sight that I'm looking at right now is what we expected to see, nice house and everything. What I did not expect to see was a bunch of dead fish," he said.
And the smell outside was so strong, he and his wife couldn't sit outside and enjoy the Jacuzzi.
"I mean I got up to the number 40 as I was counting them, but there was still plenty more."
For people who live along the coast, they knew it could be a case of red tide. It's caused by an algae from the Gulf of Mexico when there's a high concentration. That leads to the dead fish and murky waters....

The proper name of these weather systems is an upper tropospheric heat transfer system.

Even after Americans achieve the American Dream there is no keeping it. That is a brick house? If that was a brick house that is an F5 tornado. Regardless, it is at least an F4.

Pam Russell, left, and Linda Hart rescued a cat from Ms. Russell's house in Rowlett, Tex., on Sunday. Credit Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated Press

December 28, 2015
By Katie Rogers and Christine Hauser

After spawning tornadoes (click here) in Texas and floods in the Midwest, deadly storm systems continued to drift across the United States on Monday. The severe weather has in the last week led to the deaths of at least 43 people and the injuries of dozens more, according to a count by The Associated Press.

The hazardous weather has been caused by several factors, including a stronger-than-average jet stream across the southern United States and the disruptive effects of the weather phenomenon El Niño, Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in College Park, Md., said on Monday.

The pattern is also expected to continue this week, Mr. Otto said, as meteorologists track a winter storm system that is moving from Texas and Oklahoma toward the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes. Here’s a roundup of the hardest-hit areas of the country....

This is NOT a defined weather system. Call it El Nino if it makes one feel better in having control, but, this weather system has no definition.

 ...As residents attempted to clean up the rubble and assess the damage on Sunday, harsh weather, including quarter-size hail and enough rain to set a precipitation record, pummeled the area. Gov. Greg Abbott warned that the death toll could rise and declared a state of disaster in four counties — Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Ellis — according to The Associated Press.

In the western part of the state, transportation crews in Lubbock cleared highways during blizzard conditions. On Monday, the National Weather Service reported on Twitter that snowfall in the Dallas area had given way to slush. Mr. Otto said that the worst of the snow was leaving Texas on Monday as a winter storm system moved toward the Midwest....

The picture to the right is from NOAA and an F4 site. The brick building in the background is an F3 damage because the walls are still standing. This was a tornado that crossed Moore, Oklahoma. This system exhibited mixed effect from F3 to F5.

"In order for this scene to be rated F5, the debris must have been swept away, leaving behind evidence that the house was well-attached to its slab. [The brick house in the left background suffered F3 damage, with a mixture of inner and outer walls removed.] This tornado caused an immense amount of F4 damage on its path through the southern portion of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, and several locales of F5 damage."

Empowered and brave children make for mentally healthy young people. It provides a way of having purpose beyond devastation. Children are about the future and this young man knows he is powerful and knows he is important and vital to minimizing the damage to the community. He is great. He is becoming a master of his future. When they want to help, say "Yes, work at my side."

Jayden Covert, 10, of Kimmswick, Mo., filled sandbags with other volunteers on Sunday as the Mississippi River rose south of St. Louis. Credit Cristina M. Fletes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via Associated Press