Dorian J. Burnette

Whitmer's office calls for probe into why weather service didn't issue tornado watch. Whitmer's office questioned whether the lack of a tornado watch alert could be attributed to funding cutbacks at the National Weather Service.

Map showing progression of tornado warnings across southern Michigan, including a warning for Union City.

First, the funding cutbacks at NWS did not contribute to a lack of a tornado watch.

Second, all of southern Lower Michigan was in a 2% tornado risk area for every outlook on Friday.

Third, I'd be more concerned if they didn't issue a tornado warning, but warnings were in place.

IEM :: PNS from NWS IWX PNS issued by NWS IWX at 07 Mar 2026 18:15 UTC

The Union City, Michigan tornado has been given a preliminary EF-3 rating with estimated winds of 150 mph

mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.ph...

This storm went very tornadic right as it hit the surface warm front where there was substantial shear in the lowest 1km (veering from a SW to SE to E flow).

The storm has since crossed into the cold air north of the front.

Look at all the ice on the water!

I see lots of discussion about a recent model forecast for ENSO. My only comment is a cautionary reminder that we are in the spring predictability barrier (see Barnston et al. (2012) linked below). I would take model forecasts of ENSO with a big grain of salt right now.

If you teach quantitative geoscience classes, check out this upcoming workshop! 🧪

👀 new storm events database site at @noaa.gov , and it's not terrible!

Go check out the beta site and break it!

www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/storm...

A new era for SPC Outlooks & severe storms forecasting begins today! If you haven’t seen the new outlook (severe & fire weather) graphics yet, check out the SPC website. www.spc.noaa.gov Increasing severe risk in the coming days will give a first live look at the new conditional intensity levels.

Spring storm season has arrived in the Plains very active pattern expected this week.

For those interested in a storm chase safety, the essay to read in my opinion is Chuck Doswell's (link below). 2/2
www.flame.org/~cdoswell/ch...

That safety card is just bonkers! Hanging on to a tree?! 1/2

"...a warmer atmosphere pulls more moisture from soils, vegetation and snowpack. Snow melts earlier, soils dry out faster and plants lose water more quickly. In practical terms, precipitation totals alone no longer tell the water story in the Southwest." 🧪

Harrison Ford: Life Achievement Award Acceptance Speech | 32nd Annual Actor Awards YouTube video by Netflix

When you have the chance, please take the time to watch Harrison Ford's remarkable, beautiful Life Achievement Award acceptance speech. #ActorAwards

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV_2...

OFFS. When Iran tried to interefere in 2020, researchers caught them and called them out. Then the Benz-Weiss-Taibbi-Musk-Jordan-Trump axis labeled those researchers "censors" ... and set about defunding them and dismantling their organizations.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center's severe weather outlooks will be changing slightly next week.

Meteorologists Evan Bentley and Liz Leitman, our experts at SPC, provide an update about the new conditional intensity outlook.

2223 UTC (4:23pm CST) surface observations over the southcentral U.S. show a number of locations in Deep South Texas over 90 degrees F and a several locations cracking 100 degrees F.

Seems a little hot in Deep South Texas. 🔥🔥🔥 #txwx

A good ~12-minute interview with an original author of the EPA Endangerment Finding in the quoted post below. 🧪

Some highlights:
-Authorizes appropriations for five years for OAR’s weather labs and cooperative institutes, plus related weather research efforts.
-Renews and authorizes appropriations for five years for VORTEX-USA.
-Furthers HFIP, with a renewed emphasis on social sciences. (1/n)

To counteract the SOTU vibes….can I tell you about some shenanigans currently happening in my building that have nothing to do with the HVAC?

NSF NCAR Stories As part of its coverage of, and response to, federal plans to break up the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), the American Meteorological Society is collecting testimonials from ...

If you have personal testimonials about how @ncar-ucar.bsky.social has benefited your career, submit your story to @ametsoc.org via this web form. #SaveNCAR docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A lifetime look at the impactful nor'easter that pounded the northeastern U.S.

A lot of that "Phoenix water supply" is going to irrigate alfalfa

Map of snowfall totals from the National Weather Service showing 12 or more inches of snow from Maryland northeast to southern Maine. A number of locations over Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts reporting 30+ inches.

Some very impressive final snowfall totals from the recent Nor'easter! TF Green Airport in Providence, RI, broke their record for the largest single snowstorm with a total of 37.9" (old record was 28.6" from the blizzard of 6-7 February 1978). #wx

Link to map: www.weather.gov/source/crh/s...

Two job opportunities with the @ipcc.bsky.social WG1 TSU:

Science Officer: www.ipcc.ch/2026/02/17/s...

AI Officer (deadline passed but will consider applications until the end of the week): www.ipcc.ch/2026/01/12/a...

This snow band is an all-timer, likely producing a foot of snow in just 3-4 hrs.

Supported by incredible lift w/in the ascending branch of the frontogenetic circulation, it follows that this band won’t weaken but will contract. Whoever remains in that contraction will likely see 3+‘ of snowfall.

From the newengland community on Reddit: Remembering the Great Snow of 1717 in New England - New England Historical Society Explore this post and more from the newengland community

Snow attention now on the occuring New England storm. I got some experience with old New England historical data. The 1717 storms really stand out as likely the worst ever. I got a diary with zodiac symbols which I've never been able to fully interpret.
www.reddit.com/r/newengland...

This is exactly right. The Onion quietly left Twitter a month ago and... our weekly subscribers went up. It's because we're doing well here, on Instagram and on YouTube.

As a business, being on Twitter is somewhere between useless or detrimental, unless you're selling boner pills.

Boom! First gold medal since 1980! 🥇 🇺🇸

Ooo...I am pumped for this!

BREAKING: The Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN Trump's "emergency" tariffs. The vote is 6–3. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

From left to right, silver medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, gold medalist Alysa Liu of the United States, and bronze medalist Ami Nakai of Japan, on the podium after receiving their medals in the women’s free skate program in figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026

Here's another angle from the AP's Stephanie Scarbrough. Just so much joy and sportsmanship.