Free Republic

Scorching temperatures return to the West, persisting through mid-week, and reappear this weekend as multiple heat waves develop. Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, and Nevada, are still grappling with record-setting heat and diminishing water supplies from last month’s heat wave. The next round of daytime highs may climb into the 90s and or triple digits. There’s no end in sight to the hellacious climate. “Excessive and oppressive heat across the Northwest will continue through at least the first half of the week where daytime highs will climb well into the 90s and low 100s,” the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) wrote. “Daily...

Like death and taxes, the annual hurricane season can be counted on as a sure thing. The number and intensity of named storms may vary each year, as well as where they occur and whether or not they make landfall. But there’s no doubt that these storms will develop yearly — it’s a matter of when, not if — and some scientists see increasingly more intense and wetter storms in the future as the climate continues to warm. A report — Preventing the next Katrina — published by Munich RE in 2020 and written by Mark C. Bove, Meteorologist and...

Dozens of people have died in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed temperature records. Police in the Vancouver area have responded to more than 230 sudden deaths within 4 days (Friday-Monday), about 100 more than the average for a four-day period. As of 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, officers had responded to 20 sudden death calls that day alone. Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor. Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight day on Tuesday – 49.6°C (121.3°F) in Lytton, British Columbia. The US north-west has also seen record highs...

Everywhere you look, things are getting weird, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Throughout all of our ups and downs over the decades, one thing that our society could always count on for a certain degree of consistency was nature. But now nature is going haywire at the same time that the very fabric of our society seems to be unraveling all around us. In this article, I am going to share with you a number of items that have been brought to my attention over the past month. On their own, each one of these items...

The Pacific Northwest is experiencing a multi-day heat wave that we said last week would be “historic.” The unrelenting triple-digit temperatures shattered records across the region and have stressed out power grids where rolling blackouts have been reported. Bloomberg reports Avista Corporation, which supplies electricity to 340,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers, triggered its first rolling blackout across its grid after it became overloaded Monday evening. Rotating outages first hit 9,300 customers late Monday and could expand as temperatures remain well above average through July 4. Avista was the first major utility to report rolling blackouts in the Northwest region,...

The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm warning for parts of the South Carolina coast due to the formation of a tropical depression. The warning is for citizens from Edisto Beach northeastward to South Santee River. The warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected this evening, within the next 12 hours. The weather service said some slight strengthening is expected today, and the depression is forecast to become a tropical storm before it makes landfall. Rapid weakening is forecast after landfall occurs. Heavy rainfall is possible from coastal southern South Carolina and Georgia, inland across the Piedmont...

The US launched air strikes on Iranian backed militia in Syria and Iraq this evening... Tomorrow morning the next court hearing for two men arrested during Idaho's special legislative session last year as they tried to observe action on coronavirus related legislation... Crowds fleeing to the countryside of Bangladesh this weekend with a nationwide coronavirus lockdown set to start tomorrow. No one will be allowed to leave their homes unless it it an emergency... Darwin, Australia moving into a lockdown that will last at least 48 hours... Some coronavirus restrictions also in force for several days in and around Perth...

By now, it’s become quite evident that the western half of the U.S. is facing one of the worst megadroughts in decades. We’ve spoken about fallow land and drying up reservoirs, but the question remains what happens next? Well, it’s not great, and it’s straight out of the playbook from the 1930s Great Depression when the same parts of the U.S. were transformed into a desert, triggering a grasshopper plague. A.P. News said federal agriculture officials are set to launch one of the largest grasshopper-killing campaigns in three decades amid an outbreak. The insects belong to the suborder Caelifera family...

An emergency stockpile can greatly increase your chance of survival if SHTF. But creating a stockpile can easily drain your grocery budget if you’re not careful. Luckily, some of the best foods for stockpiling are extremely cheap, so you can buy them in quantities enough to last you several months. Here are some examples of cheap foods to stockpile: Rice – Rice is a staple food worldwide. It is also a versatile ingredient as it can be paired with various foods or cooked with various ingredients. When stored in an airtight container, rice keeps for six months. Rice is also...

Sarah Brunner opened the irrigation spigots on her farm in March, three months early. The rain should have still been falling in California. Now that summer is taking hold, she and her husband are considering shifting their meager water supplies into pastures so their animals will have enough to eat. Brunner’s worries don’t stop at the barnyard. The family’s fields of shallots, garlic and goats are surrounded by thick Northern California forests, dried out and primed to burn. An early season wildfire near her home recently prompted Brunner to document her possessions and reevaluate her fire insurance. “I don’t feel...

At least 6 people have been injured and 16 homes heavily damaged after a radar-confirmed tornado swept through suburban Chicago, IL at around 23:09 LT on Sunday, June 20, 2021. This could end up being the first strong tornado (EF-2+) in the metro Chicago counties since 2015. The twister touched down near Woodridge and continued toward Naperville, where at least 6 people were injured and at least a dozen homes suffered extensive damage. 1 person is reportedly in critical condition while 5 sustained only minor injuries. Numerous large trees were downed and several areas were impassable due to tornado damage,...

VIDEOSometime after 4:30 PM EDT on June 20, I heard a lot of thunder outside here in Broward County. When I opened my door to check I was somewhat surprised. Not by the rain clouds above but by the fact that the air felt very dry and warm. This is unusual in that we don't normally feel dry air here in South Florida where humid is the norm. Also of interest was that the wind was quite high gusting up to about 40 mph. When warm dry air rushes up against rain clouds the result is a lot of electricity...

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture said farmers are experiencing a total loss for some crops after the flooding conditions swept farmlands. This loss will affect the economy but hopefully not Mississippi’s food production. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said. “It was just torrential. It looked like a tropical storm.” Gipson went to north Mississippi this week to observe the impacted farmlands. “They look like lakes where there was cotton and soybeans. And there are even cornfields that are totally underwater,” he said. Boliver County is one of the hardest-hit areas and those farmers are said...

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - JUST two weeks into the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season and already three disturbances are being monitored in various sections of the Western Hemisphere. The first one is expected to fully develop off the coast of the United States and Canada in the coming days. According to the National Hurricane Center, satellite and surface observations indicated that a well-defined low pressure system, located about 90 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is acquiring more tropical characteristics. Meteorologists said that environmental conditions appear conducive for further development, and that a tropical depression or tropical storm is likely...

A heatwave already punishing parts of the U.S. Southwest on Monday was expected to move into California this week, prompting the forecasters to warn of health and fire dangers. A high-pressure ridge that built over southwestern deserts over the past few days is responsible for the unusually blistering heat this early in the year, National Weather Service meteorologist Karleisa Rogacheski said. “Today last day of seasonable weather in California,” Rogacheski said. California saw balmy weather on Monday, with temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s Fahrenheit (30-35°C), but forecasts called for warming on Tuesday, spiking into the triple digits...

Former Hollywood star Jane Fonda, better known as ‘Hanoi Jane’ in some circles, showed once again on Tuesday that nothing will ever be enough for the radical left when she went on CNN to say that the Democratic President Joe Biden is “not bold enough” on ‘climate change.’ The actress, perhaps most famous for her photo-op with North Vietnamese soldiers with an anti-aircraft gun during the Vietnam War, made her comments on CNN’s New Day.

Severe drought has caused California's reservoirs to run low, with Lake Oroville expected to reach a record low later this summer. Nearly three-quarters of the state is suffering from the extreme dry spell, with other areas facing a dire water supply situation and fears of wildfires. Each year, Lake Oroville helps water a quarter of the nation's crops and sustain endangered salmon beneath its dam. However, the lake is seen to be shrinking at a surprising speed amid a severe drought. According to AP, state officials are forecasting it will reach a record low as hot summer looms. If the...

Two shallow M5.9 earthquakes hit off the coast of southern Oregon, U.S. at 07:52 and 08:17 UTC on June 4, 2021, at a depth of 16.6 km (10.3 miles) and 14.5 km (9 miles), respectively. They were located around 12 km (7.4 miles) from each other and followed by 5 moderately strong aftershocks over the next 15 hours. 13 M6+ earthquakes have occurred within 200 km (124 miles) in the last 50 years. The largest of which was a M7.2 earthquake on June 15, 2005. These earthquakes occurred as the result of shallow strike-slip faulting within a deformed section of...

A giant sinkhole measuring 80 m (262 feet) in diameter has opened up on a field in southern Mexico on Saturday, May 29, 2021. No damage or injuries were reported, but a nearby home is at risk of being swallowed as the gaping hole continues to expand rapidly each day. Scientists are considering several hypotheses as the possible causes, including variations in the soil's water content. The sinkhole appeared in the town of Juan C. Bonilla, Puebla State, in the southeastern region, according to state officials. It is estimated to be about 15 m (50 feet) deep. Authorities said there...

The biggest earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2, briefly startled lawmakers in session in the Nevada capital. There were no immediate reports of damage, but seismologists are concerned about a recent series of quakes near the lake and the potential for a tsunami. The biggest earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2, briefly startled lawmakers in session in the Nevada capital. There were no immediate reports of damage, but seismologists are concerned about a recent series of quakes near the lake and the potential for a tsunami. It came as Lake Tahoe’s resorts and tourist destinations prepared for a Memorial Day...