FedPosterman5000

Saw this on youtube recently and thought others would be interested. Warning: but you already knew that ;)

Including yt link in case archive link don’t work, and the page of the seminar series for additional information

https://wrc.umn.edu/events/ext-weather-impacts

https://youtu.be/JA08h2flF1A

Abstract

Nationally, the US has sustained over 400 weather disasters since 1980 with costs over one billion dollars with 61 confirmed weather/climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion each to affect Minnesota. In 2024 there have been 25 of these disasters, exceeded only by 2023 for the title of year with the most disasters on record. As the uneven distribution of heating amplifies extreme weather events in both intensity peaks and frequency, industry can expect to see more damaging years with these events seemingly occurring in a back-to-back fashion. Temperatures in Minnesota have risen more than 2.5°F since the beginning of the 20th century with the warmest years on record occurring this century. These events stress already aging infrastructure and showcase the failures for materials across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors, causing significant supply chain disruptions. CISA provides a breakdown of these threats by separating them into eight main weather hazards: extreme heat, extreme cold, severe weather, tropical cyclones, sea level rise, drought, wildfires, and flooding, all of which have caused disruption to the water sector and throughout the urban environment. This presentation will provide beneficial statistics for understanding and employing resources to address the worsening threat as well as connect international implications for the sector through analysis of the supply chain and key resource hub locations and best practices.

Links at bottom :)

Flash flooding is a particular risk for most of North America this time of year, and while not much can be done to stop water when there’s WAY too much of it WAY too fast, there are resources to stay aware of anticipated changes. Emergency management departments (typically at the municipal/county level) were/are the usual conveyors of this information- but in the modern era, there are far more tools for the average netizen.

In this post I’m primarily sharing the stream gage forecast tool- which was massively upgraded in recent years, and is much easier to use! The points on the map show stream gages and their associated flood stage at present, typically a live stream at the gage (not just within the banks 😆), precipitation estimates, snowpack analysis, current flood risk/warnings, and a layer which shows anticipated inundation (flood depth/extent) for a given water level.

Having this data gives people a huge leg up since, as recently as the past couple years, the flood inundation maps would need to be generated on demand and then only in emergencies or during emergency action planning (a regular event in which local orgs prepare and review risks and procedures for emergency response). There has also been lots of advancement in using statistics to generate predictions for streams too small to warrant a gage, but that still very much pose a risk for flooding.

My recommendation would be if a person is in a flood-prone area, to stay aware of anticipated conditions and to have a response plan (since things get hairy, fast, sometimes), even if it’s just knowing what to grab and where to go before leaving everything else behind (which really really sucks and happened to my family, but most importantly we lived!)

Also be cognizant of your storm drains in the spring- a typically dry area can become flooded very quick if the drains are plugged.

General safety information and links for a number of different environmental risks: https://www.weather.gov/safety/

Link to website for stream gages showing past data and predictions for future levels (~7days): https://water.noaa.gov/

National flood hazard viewer: https://msc.fema.gov/nfhl

Wide frame camera pans across a desert landscape 🏜️

John Wayne pans into view, sweating in the sun, he wipes his mouth with a bandana

JOHN WAYNE

gulp

I don’t much like spitters, son.

Edited to switch thumb and body image linkys