Wildfires
43 responses | 0 likes
Started by patrick - June 28, 2026, 12:23 p.m.

With the season heating up, why not give the fires their own thread? Will they be bad enough to affect beef production? The SW water problems?
I don't know, but 3 million acres seems a lot.

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/28/g-s1-130737/wildfires-utah-colorado-firefighter-deaths-snyder

The biggest blaze is the Cottonwood Fire, burning in rugged terrain in southern Utah's Beaver County, which has grown to more than 144 square miles and remains entirely uncontained. It is currently the largest wildfire burning anywhere in the United States.

Comments
Re: Wildfires
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By metmike - June 28, 2026, 2:18 p.m.
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Excellent topic and thread!

More shortly.

By metmike - June 28, 2026, 5:59 p.m.
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Before doing my search for the best links to display this, I'll make some initial comments on this great topic.

1. Climate change IS increasing the intensity of wildfires for certain IN THE UNITED STATES WEST. CO2 is a beneficial gas that is greening up the planet and massively increasing crop yields/food production. Basically an increase of every 5 parts per million equates to an increase of around 1% in foliage. Going from around 290 ppm to 430 ppm is +140 ppm that equates to +28% more foliage.   Since all animals eat plants or something that ate plants, this is a wonderful blessing.

But NOT when it comes to wildfires. More foliage = more fuel. Also, woody stemmed plants(trees) have the most accelerated growth of all. Many trees are growing 50% faster than they were 100+ years ago because of climate change, mainly from the added CO2. This is good for regrowing forests (harvested for timber for instance or destroyed from a wildfire) but this is MORE FUEL for a wild fire. 

2. The United States West is one of the places heating up the most from the increase in CO2 because the air masses are so dry to begin with. Humid places are not heating up as much because the radiation absorption bands for CO2 are already partly saturated by the H2O. 

Why the Forcing from Carbon Dioxide Scales as the Logarithm of Its Concentration

https://romps.berkeley.edu/papers/pubdata/2020/logarithmic/20logarithmic.pdf

The radiation absorption bands of CO2 are almost saturated in the warm/humid areas of the planet because they overlap with the H2O absorption bands. This is why the warming has mostly been in the higher latitudes.

File:Longwave Absorption Coefficients of H2O and CO2.svg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Longwave_Absorption_Coefficients_of_H2O_and_CO2.svg


You can see the overlap in the chart above. There is a LIMIT to how much radiation any absorption band can absorption band can absorb up to 100%. If it's saturated by H2O already, you can add as much CO2 as you want but that absorption band will not absorb any more heat radiation. 

This is why the coldest (DRIEST) places in the Northern Hemisphere are heating up the most, in the coldest times of year...........and the deserts that are the driest. 

The pattern below shows that its the very high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere that are being warmed the most by a wide margin. (the coldest places in the coldest times of year).



This is what the temperature changes/anomalies look like from global warming the past 140 years. Highest latitudes warming the most because the cold, DRY air doesn't have much H2O to saturate the radiationabsorptionbands compared to the warm, humid areas, where those absorptionbands are often nearly saturated from H2O which overlaps with the CO2 absorptionbands.

This video doesn't show the warming in the dry West very well but I'll find additional data that does show that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBG2IIbwbA


Global Warming from 1880 to 2021


3.  For every +1 Deg C of warming, the atmosphere can hold around 7% more moisture. With saturated air masses like the  one that just dumped 8" of rain at our house in 72 hours, we might speculate that means 7% more rain in 2026 or +.56 more compared to 7.44 in 1926. 

All things are definitely NOT equal and this is a great discussion that explains why. In the dry West, there might be more moisture in the air but the elevated temperatures cause a LOWER relative humidity making it harder to saturate the air in order to make rain!

                                        

Guest post: Investigating climate change’s ‘humidity paradox’

https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-investigating-climate-changes-humidity-paradox/

Global time series of annual average specific humidity for the land ocean and global average relative to 1981-2010

Global time series of annual average relative humidity for the land ocean  and global average  relative to 1981-2010

So the point above is that the total moisture is increasing in most places but to get moisture to come out as rain, you often need to SATURATE the air mass. At 1 deg. C warmer the air can hold 7% MORE moisture but if it only has 4% more moisture in it, then it's 3% LESS saturated. This can actually reduce marginal rain events but increase rain amounts of SATURATED air masses. If there's something we know with certainty, a warmer atmosphere, all things being equal will INCREASE rain amounts in many of the saturated air rain events, which are the extreme/heaviest ones. 

By metmike - June 28, 2026, 6:01 p.m.
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Larry started a great discussion for some of the same areas back when they were having an incredible March heat wave.

Historic SW US March heatwave            

                            48 responses |               

                Started by WxFollower - March 18, 2026, 12:24 a.m.            

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/118783/

Re: Wildfires
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By patrick - June 29, 2026, 9:22 a.m.
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There are small wildfires all over the world this summer.
The Balkans - where a landfill fire somehow made the news in Manila - https://beta.manilatimes.net/2026/06/29/world/heatwave-shifts-grip-to-balkans-sparking-wildfires/2374795
And Florida, where they're all over the place hoping for rain -
https://www.fdacs.gov/Forest-Wildfire/Wildland-Fire/Current-Wildfire-Information
(Red is active, brown contained - interactive map is at https://ffs.firesponse.com/public/ )

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 10:01 a.m.
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By metmike - June 29, 2026, 10:22 a.m.
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Previous threads on this topic:

                Canadian Wildfires            

                 Started by metmike - June 1, 2025, 9:57 p.m. 

           https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/112260/

++++++++++++

Deceptive use of data

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/110157/#110162

Wildfires, for instance. Below is the data going back 100 years.

Can you guess when the media and message gatekeepers start their graphs?


https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/102493/#102564

https://www.cfact.org/2017/10/17/fires-far-worse-last-century/


metmike: You guessed right below:

Graph: Large Wildfires Increasing Across the West

by Climate Central (metmike: a climate alarmist information site)

https://www.climatesignals.org/resources/graph-large-wildfires-increasing-across-west

According to this graph, data before 1970 didn't exist...because data before that time frame CONTRADICTS the false narrative they want portrayed.

+++++++++++++++++

                California fires            

                Started by metmike - Jan. 10, 2025, 11:49 a.m.  https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/109456/

+++++++++++++

                Canadian Wildfires            

               Started by metmike - May 14, 2024, 9:59 a.m. 

  https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/103995/

+++++++++++++

 2023 Canadian wild fires still burning                      

                Started by cutworm - Feb. 25, 2024, 10:05 p.m.     https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/102493/

++++++++++++++++++

Air quality/Wildfires in E.Canada 6-28-23            

                            8 responses |         

                Started by metmike - June 28, 2023, 1:29 p.m.  

     https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/96802/

++++++++++++++++                                        

                Wildfires in Canada            

                            29 responses |           

                Started by metmike - May 19, 2023, 4:53 p.m.  

     https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/95312/

++++++++++

                     fire tornadoes/whirls            

          Started by metmike - Sept. 9, 2023, 7:15 p.m.  

  https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/98842/



++++++++++++++++++

                Part 2, Hawaii wildfire: CC/drought 8-17-23            

                           Started by metmike - Aug. 17, 2023, 7:23 a.m.            

                                https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/98328/        

+++++++++++++

                Hawaii wildfire at Lahaina (on Maui): CC blamed as a factor             

                            42 responses |        

                Started by WxFollower - Aug. 10, 2023, 11:46 a.m.     

       https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/98093/

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                Western Wildfires are back            

                            Started by metmike - July 14, 2023, 11:06 p.m.  

          https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/97269/

++++++++++++++

                Re: July 2023 global temperature/science            

                     By metmike - July 10, 2023, 11:41 p.m.            

            Matthew Mclean@AO1JMM

Image

Good Climate News: Wildfire Trends Have Fallen Off Significantly Over the Recent Decades

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/11/good-climate-news-wildfire-trends-have-fallen-off-significantly-over-the-recent-decades/



    

What the Media Won’t Tell you About … Wildfires–Roger Pielke Jr


From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/11/what-the-media-wont-tell-you-about-wildfires-roger-pielke-jr/

https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/what-the-media-wont-tell-you-about-783?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=126926234&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email

 

As we have come to expect from Roger, this is another thorough, well researched and objective analysis. He makes the following points:

 

  • The IPCC has not detected or attributed fire occurrence or area burned to human-caused climate change
  •  
  • Globally, emissions from wildfires has decreased globally over recent decades, as well as in many regions
  •  
  • Canada wildfire trends show no increase in recent decades
  •  
  • Wildfires used to be much more extensive in past centuries
  •  
  • Wildfires are a part of the natural eco-system.

 

You can read the full analysis here.                                    


   There are over a dozen additional links in the story at the first link below.

You are being conned: Data, studies & UN IPCC all reveal Canadian fires not due to ‘climate change’ – ‘There has been a significant & continuing decline in the number of fires’

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/06/10/you-are-being-conned-data-studies-un-ipcc-all-reveal-canadian-fires-not-due-to-climate-change-there-has-been-a-significant-continuing-decline-in-the/

https://www.climatedepot.com/2017/10/17/fires-far-worse-last-century-claim-global-warming-causing-wildfires-goes-up-in-flames/



https://www.cfact.org/2017/10/17/fires-far-worse-last-century/

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 10:44 a.m.
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Scientist Calls Out Media ‘Misinformation’ On Wildfires And Global Warming

https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/09/media-misinformation-wildfires-global-warming/?__cf_chl_f_tk=Pr7zJhSX.jYoYHlNQj8OlrvAE7A283ixVJnZLC_rG1E-1782743976-1.0.1.1-AGGW2ls8HbkwY51UvR9DzcZnpChpHdtgE7QxbozO.aA

++++++++++

Cliff Mass is a solid source for authentic, objective science data:

Cliff Mass Weather Blog

https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2018/08/california-wildfires-is-global-warming.html

August 09, 2018                   

California Wildfires:  Is Global Warming Producing a New Normal?  Part 1: Are CA Wildfires Becoming More Frequent?

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 10:46 a.m.
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Note what happened in the 1930's during the Dust Bowl years in the Plains/Midwest when the drought extended across much of the country for much of the time.......all the way to the West Coast:

 https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/09/17/fire/


+++++++++++

Media Promotes Badly Flawed Science Spreading It Like Wildfire

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/11/24/media-promotes-badly-flawed-science-spreading-it-like-wildfire/

Now good science demands of research, and must also account for changes in human caused ignitions before correlating summer temperatures with the increase ignitions.

 

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 10:51 a.m.
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                Real Manmade Wildfires            

                            Started by metmike - Nov. 21, 2021, 10:44 p.m.            

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/78164/

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                Re: Re: Re: Real Manmade Wildfires            

                         By metmike - Nov. 21, 2021, 10:55 p.m.            

            ++++++++++++++++++++++

    

                            

Previous discussions on this:

West Coast/Oregon fires            

                            12 responses |            

                Started by metmike - Sept. 12, 2020, 2:48 a.m.            

                                       https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/59043/

+++++++++++++++++++++                    


  California governor blames wildfires on climate 'emergency'             

                            33 responses |                

                Started by metmike - Sept. 14, 2020, 12:08 a.m.          

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/59093/

++++++++++++++


                Re: Re: Drought/Heat out west to N.Plains-La Nina            

                                                       By metmike - Aug. 15, 2021, 12:13 a.m.            

https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/73659/#73661

We know what caused this.

Not man made climate change/global warming as you've been told but the complete opposite. COOL waters and a La Nina signature(cooling waters)  in the East/Central tropical Pacific, that started showing up in Spring 2020.

++++++++++++++

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What I've learned about ‘Climate Change’ (in summary)            

                                                      By madmechanic - Aug. 3, 2021, 2:30 p.m.            

+++++++++++

                Re: Re: Re: What I've learned about ‘Climate Change’ (in summary)            

                            By metmike - Aug. 4, 2021, 8:30 p.m.            

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 11:01 a.m.
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That's a ton of stuff but it's basically a compilation of most previous threads/posts on this topic so that I don't need to do  all that research over again to provide enlightenment.

As I mentioned from the get go, there are several elements to climate change which increase wild fire intensity in the Western United States, especially from the increase in foliage from human emissions of CO2.

Is it be better to have almost 30% more food for all the creatures on the planet or to reduce wildfires in the United States West????

We should note that the more important one never makes the headlines.


By patrick - June 29, 2026, 11:28 a.m.
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I dunno, but using charts that shows a steady fall in acres burned from 1930-1950 and ignoring the changes in firefighting over that period & since to compare it to current conditions strikes me as more than a bit suss.

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 2:59 p.m.
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Thanks very much patrick!

Actually, that was the entire point. It's called adaptation using technology.

This is also the reason for much of this chart


This is a logarithmic chart below. The drop in tornado deaths, is more than just 50% less violent tornadoes in the warmer climate. 

It's the Storm Prediction Center's outlooks, days ahead of the event and watches many hours before the threat. The local NWS, armed with Doppler radars that can see the wind and tornado formations(mesocyclones), with tornado warnings 30 minutes BEFORE the tornado hits.

US Tornado Deaths Per Million People

They can't STOP the tornadoes or the damage though like we can with fire fighting.

Climate change has helped REDUCE tornado deaths, along with technology. I'll show you why.

Many people site the big increase in reported tornadoes in the last 35 years as being caused by a climate crisis. This is false. Almost all the increase is being caused by the technology to detect them. Better spotter network but improving radar technology, especially the quantum leap better with NEXRAD Doppler radars installed around the country that can actually SEE the wind and SEE, even the weakest tornadoes that previously went undetected and unreported because they touched down in rural areas or in the dark. 

Look at the graph below. There has been a huge increase in the weakest EF0 and EF1 tornadoes, with the EF0 count LEAPING higher exactly when the NEXRAD radars were installed!

Amazingly, the stronger tornadoes, that kill most of the people actually went down from climate change(weaker cold fronts and jet streams, less steep temperature gradient from the highest latitudes warming the most).

I borrowed this guys graph below but his attempt to see a climate crisis fingerprint is completely blinding him and resulting in his ridiculous attempt to explain the huge jump up in the EF0 and EF1 tornadoes.

I'm not just a meteorologist/atmospheric scientist but you can see how I cover severe weather events with the dozens of threads here and have been doing it for decades. This guy is like many others that want to believe in a climate crisis. He's a pretty smart guy that understands some things about science. He has this blog site with impressive graphics and HIS interpretation of something that, in reality he is clueless about. He's probably  nice guy with a sincere (but biased/uneducated) on this topic that makes people DUMBER when they read it.

But who would know that?

Probably not 98% of his readers. This is exactly what I try to battle on MarketForum.

  

                                        

    US Tornadoes 1950-2019: A look at what the data may be telling us

https://www.davidgunter.com/2021/12/13/us-tornadoes-1950-2019-a-look-at-what-the-data-may-be-telling-us/

Tornadoes by strength per decade

This is the statistic for strong/violent tornadoes. The ones that were NOT missed in the past because or their extensive damage. The ones that kill the most people!

We know the physical reason for this drop and it's a benefit of global warming!

 

Recent Tornadoes are Due to Unusually Cold Weather

https://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/recent-tornadoes-are-due-to-unusually-cold-weather/





This is what the temperature changes/anomalies look like from global warming the past 140 years. Highest latitudes warming the most because the cold, DRY air doesn't have much H2O to saturate the radiation absorption bands compared to the warm, humid areas, where those absorption bands are nearly saturated from H2O which overlaps with the CO2 absorption bands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBG2IIbwbA


Global Warming from 1880 to 2021

By patrick - June 29, 2026, 4:52 p.m.
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Well, 2024:48 & 2025:41 break the F3 trend.
I'm curious about the measurement tools. With hurricanes, they used radar in the 1950s and for a few years it ran high. Now they fly over them and drop something in. 1950 got reanalyzed from 243 ACE to 211. Is anybody looking back at tornados the same way? There are crazy people who like chasing tornados, but how do they get speeds? "It just blew away 3 trailers and a cow! Must be blowing 211.7 MPH"?

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 5:15 p.m.
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Outstanding question, Patrick!

I actually flew into Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

The apples apples metric for hurricanes today to a century ago is LAND FALLING. 

We had Hurricane Hunters in the 1940s but was the start of the satellite era in the 1970's that allowed us to see almost ALL the smaller tropical systems that were missed before then.

                Re: Re: 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Forecast            

                            By metmike - May 31, 2026, 5:51 p.m.            


On tornadoes, the NWS will go out there with a trained survey team within a couple of days of the damage. They use the magnitude of damage and the damage pattern to accurately report on the path and strength. They are really good at it too. 


Damage Surveys

https://www.weather.gov/ama/damagesurveys


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Fujita_scale

Enhanced Fujita Scale
EFUUnknownNo surveyable damage
EF065–85 mphLight damage
EF186–110 mphModerate damage
EF2111–135 mphConsiderable damage
EF3136–165 mphSevere damage
EF4166–200 mphDevastating damage
EF5>200 mphIncredible damage

                          ...

By metmike - June 29, 2026, 5:21 p.m.
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It's tough to do an apples to apples comparison for 2026 to the past on wildfires too because much has changed.

For sure the factors I mentioned from the get go are contributing to worse Wildfires in the West but the  cooler climate and lower CO2 levels in the past actually caused MORE droughts and more long lasting SEVERE droughts. That sounds nuts, only because we've all been taught the exact opposite.

The authentic, weather, climate and science data don't lie!


3 separate Dust Bowls in the 1800's in the OLD climate, much of it BECAUSE of that climate and lower CO2 levels. Climate change is protecting much of the United States from Dust Bowls. The West, not as much.

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Death by GREENING!                                                   

                By metmike - Feb. 2, 2025, 7:54 a.m.            


+++++++++++++++++++

Even deserts are greening up!!!!

https://phys.org/news/2013-07-greening-co2.html

 

Deserts 'greening' from rising CO2

                          Deserts 'greening' from rising CO2


This makes trying to compare 2026 with 1876 impossible with so many different factors discussed here.

The biggest one is our technology and ability to fight fires but at the same time, technology CAUSES some fires.

Utility-caused wildfires

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility-caused_wildfires

++++++++++

Cause of the Eaton fire caught on video and photos (power lines arcing in high winds)

https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1hz6mzv/cause_of_the_eaton_fire_caught_on_video_and/

    

By patrick - June 29, 2026, 6:04 p.m.
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I was underneath the final gasps of Gloria.
It didn't live up to the hype, but lots of people had fun dancing.
https://youtu.be/nNEb2k_EmMg?t=7

Wildfires
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By metmike - June 29, 2026, 7:32 p.m.
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Good one, patrick!

One of the funny things about our 8 hour flight.

I was a media guest, chief meteorologist from WEHT-TV in Evansville IN,  along with my photographer, Dan Monohan. .

There were 2 other media guests were the chief meteorologist from a tv station in Pittsburgh, PA and his photographer.

We thought it was funny that we were so far from the coastlines which get hit by hurricanes.

It was all about ratings. Our news director at the time, Jon Ester, during WW2 had flown with the hurricane hunters as a  Morse Code operator, which is how they communicated back then.

He still had some contacts. I used to do the Noon, 5, 6 and 10 pm shows. I came in the morning when Gloria hit 150 mph and was the strongest hurricane ever at that point and mentioned it to him, having no idea about his background.

He came back with a shocker "How would you like to fly into Gloria".  What a shocker. Of course I would.

He went into his office and 30 minutes later had all the arrangements made, including the flights using commercial jets to get there and back.

Deb and I had just married the month prior (August 10, 1985) and she was petrified.

The plane before us came back early after it was hit by lightning and damaged. I felt zero fear, instead being pumped up on adrenaline. 

The amount of turbulence was nothing anybody, other than being on flights like this would ever experience. 

My photog. upchucked 3 different times. When I interviewed 1 of the pilots and asked him how he flies under such conditions, he admitted to losing control numerous times while flying but that he was trained to get control back and with plenty of time to do it being a mile+ off the ground.  

They told me stories about guys not being strapped in their seat belts, flying up and hitting the ceiling from an intense downdraft. A couple of times they had to return early to get them medical treatment (teeth knocked out and a fractured jaw). 

Most of the time though, the pilot could see the turbulence ahead and warn everybody to have their seat belts on.

I got in trouble a few times for not staying strapped in because I wanted to go from one side of the planet to the other to see the cloud formations on both sides. 

1 time, an updraft hit and I went from standing to being on my knees in less than a second. 

Great experience. I wish I could go back and thank Jon Ester today for giving me that unique opportunity.




Re: Wildfires
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By WxFollower - June 29, 2026, 7:49 p.m.
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Ahh, Gloria sung (not written) by Laura Branigan! Another great and memorable song from decades ago, when music was sooooo much better to me. Sung with so much emotion! And a beautiful woman to boot.

Re: Wildfires
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By patrick - June 29, 2026, 8:17 p.m.
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The Hurricane Hunters never seem to mention how rough it is.
But sounds fun!!

By cutworm - June 29, 2026, 9:24 p.m.
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I think that the fires and drought in Nebraska earlier this year probably did moer harm to the cattle heard than the current fires in the Great Basin. just my 2 cents 

By metmike - June 30, 2026, 3:02 a.m.
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I’ll link you to some great stories from meteorologists that flew into hurricanes that are pretty crazy.

One of them is from Jeff Masters that was a classmate at the University  of Michigan And went on numerous flights.
Hurricane Hugo was an especially dangerous storm!

By metmike - June 30, 2026, 3:04 a.m.
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Thanks, cutworm. I remember you making that point earlier this year.

By patrick - July 3, 2026, 12:14 p.m.
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I bookmarked a link that tracks all the fires in the US -https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn
Updated today, Utah & Colorado are still the only really big ones.
I hear this is a big weekend for fireworks.

By metmike - July 3, 2026, 12:40 p.m.
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Thanks, patrick!

This is the 2nd most acres burned in those last 10 years!

Wildfires
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By metmike - July 4, 2026, 11:04 a.m.
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Amazing story, broken into 9 segments. Boring at first, spellbinding suspense after that!

Hunting Hugo: The Hurricane Hunters' Wildest Ride

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-1


Hunting Hugo: Part 2 - Take Off

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-2


Hunting Hugo: Part 3 - Approach

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-3

Hunting Hugo: Part 4 - Into the Eyewall

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-4


Hunting Hugo: Part 5 - Disaster

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-5


Hunting Hugo: Part 6 -The Eye of Hugo

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-6


Hunting Hugo: Part 7 - Awesome, Terrifying, Supernatural

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-7


Hunting Hugo: Part 8 - Deadly Scenarios

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-8


Hunting Hugo: Part 9 - Out of the Eye

https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/hunting-hugo-part-9

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Most amazing for me is that I actually did this 1 time in Hurricane Gloria in September 1985 and the main reason was that Gloria, at the time with 150 mph winds was the strongest hurricane ever measured! If I had read a story like the one above first, my complete lack of fear before and during our flight would have NOT been the case.

Re: Wildfires
0 likes
By metmike - July 4, 2026, 12:47 p.m.
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With regards to wildfires. Extremely complicated information. One HUGE problem is that both sides have a position and agenda that trumps their mentality when presenting authentic, objective science!

1 side wants to convince us that current wildfires are unprecedented in every way, shape and form, so they only give us information that supports that.

The other side wants us to see the LONG TERM record, which does show it REALLY WAS worse 100 years ago in some realms and that means that climate change is having NO IMPACT. I started this thread with my opinion, using science to discuss why that is NOT TRUE. 

Good(biased) discussion here:

The Mysterious Wildfire Chart

https://andthentheresphysics.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/the-mysterious-wildfire-chart/

++++++++++++++++++++

Contrast that with this discussion that makes it's own unique points.

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Fewer forest fires burn in North America today than in the past—and that's a bad thing

New research analyzed tree rings and fire scars to compare modern fires to those in the past

https://cires.colorado.edu/news/fewer-forest-fires-burn-north-america-today-past-and-thats-bad-thing


By patrick - July 6, 2026, 7 p.m.
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At least around here, the Heat Dome included rain every night. Trying to burn hickory & maple on the 4th, I eventually went to a few drops of acetone as a starter because even paper didn't burn.
Burgers turned out fine.
New fires, all west of the Rockies. 2 established burns in Utah & 1 in Colorado pushing 100,000 acres.
https://www.nifc.gov/fire-information/nfn

By patrick - July 14, 2026, 5:21 p.m.
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We were due for 97 today, and got about 89.
Because haze. Yellow sky, and pink light into early afternoon. Nice day for swimming at the town beach.
The Canadian Wildfire Smoke effect is back in New England.
No major fires happening this side of the border.

From a bit east of here, so the smoke arrived later:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/14/metro/new-england-wildfire-smoke-heat-forecast/

We saw temperatures and humidity rise quickly into the 80s to near 90 degrees during the day before a swath of Canadian wildfire smoke blanketed the region by Tuesday afternoon. The smoke blocked out much of the sun, giving the sky a hazy yellowish-brown tint and absorbing the peak heating of the day. That was enough to hold temperatures about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than what was forecast (Boston hit 90 as of 5:10 p.m.).

The atmosphere is very complex, and this wildfire smoke arrived earlier than expected. Think about this — the wildfires create their own localized areas of rising, hot air, and that smoke reaches the jet stream and then travels very quickly downstream, with the path right over New England.

By metmike - July 14, 2026, 6:38 p.m.
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Thanks very much, patrick!

Ben Noll@BenNollWeather

Well, this is concerning. Lots of smoke from wildfires in Ontario, Canada is forecast to blow across the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic in the days ahead. This will cause hazy skies on Tuesday and may reduce air quality on Wednesday as some smoke settles toward the ground.Wednesday as some smoke settles toward the ground.

https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/2077005960602902808

+++++++++++++++

Ben Noll@BenNollWeather

·

Satellite imagery showed wildfire smoke moving into the Northeast early Tuesday. This smoke plume, which is lofted high above the ground, is expected to reach the Mid-Atlantic on Tuesday afternoon. If you notice hazy skies or a campfire smell, it's wildfire smoke from Canada!

Image


@danwalker9999

With respect,

@BenNollWeather

, it's a continental-scale problem. That particular belt of wildfires in Ontario extends across the border to include wildfires in Minnesota. A lot of of small fires in E  contribute to the smoke, including prescribed fires.https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

https://x.com/danwalker9999/status/2077114783371804852/video/1  

By metmike - July 14, 2026, 6:53 p.m.
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Here are some good links to get wildfire data:

https://map.purpleair.com/air-quality-standards-us-epa-aqi?opt=%2F1%2Flp%2Fa10%2Fp604800%2FcC0#3.4/38.05/-87.53


24 hour loop:

https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/?showgreencontours=false&xmin=-16368760.059738757&xmax=-5293340.4093328025&ymin=1510113.6068967315&ymax=7762051.024396205&tab=loops

++++++++++++

To use this forecast model product below from Canada,  go to the link, scroll down and play the 72 hour animation. The 12z runs are updated around noon, I suspect. The 0z runs are updated around midnight. 


https://weather.gc.ca/firework/index_e.html

72h Hourly Maps at Ground Level - 12 UTC


++++++++++++

Current Hazards at the link below. Some of the smoke alerts are covered up by heat advisories. 

For your NWS and county, go to the link below.

 Then you can hit any spot on the map, including where you live and it will go to that NWS with all the comprehensive local weather information for that/your county. 

  

https://www.weather.gov/                                                                                                                 

                   

                              

By metmike - July 14, 2026, 7:07 p.m.
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This is extremely fascinating.........146 years ago!

Gives us a shocking perspective of contrast comparing today's world with the landscape and life in the eastern half of the country less than 2 decades after the Civil War!!!!!!

https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nattrans/ntuseland/essays/fire.htm

History with Fire in Its Eye: An Introduction to Fire in America

                                                                                                                                

By patrick - July 15, 2026, 9:05 a.m.
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Love that 1880 map! Fire based land clearance, railroad danger, excessive certainty, & all.
Pink again today. The smoke plume hasn't moved south yet.

By metmike - July 15, 2026, 12:06 p.m.
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patrick, I'm especially grateful to you for tipping us off on this wildfire smoke.  There are tons of things going on in the world that I never know about, especially in areas that impact a large region or a realm that is outside of the one I might be following. 

Especially when I'm focusing on the weather for corn/beans and natural gas at this time of year..........or the Iran war and the latest item related to Donald Trump wrecking the world. 

You've given this thread a huge positive boost!

By patrick - July 17, 2026, 10:26 a.m.
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Your forecast of the plume moving south was dead on.

By metmike - July 17, 2026, 11:09 a.m.
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Thanks, patrick!

The weather models are pretty skillful at forecasting low level wind direction in 72 hours!

I have family in Chicago and Detroit(where I grew up) that are in the highest concentration,  downwind smoke plume and very unhappy with the conditions. 


Here's the forecast for the next 3 days since this is a HUGE deal.

Go to this link and hit the loop or advance manually thru 72 hours. This was the 0z run which is almost 12 hours old and ran on a Thursday evening initialization time(observations/measurement of empirical data) . The run is updated every 12 hours.

https://weather.gc.ca/firework/firework_anim_e.html?type=pa&utc=00

I'll try to update this in 2 hours with the 12z run forecast. The forecast is for the smoke intensity to diminish. I'm not extremely familiar with this type of model but can guess that a big rain event on top the area with fires will cause that model run to completely bust.....but don't know if the model takes that into account. 

1. Thursday evening

2. Friday afternoon

3. Saturday afternoon

4. Sunday afternoon


              

              Image.

                   Image.

       Image.

++++++++++

Maps show wildfire smoke forecast, air quality alerts due to pollution from Canadian, Minnesota fires

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wildfires-smoke-millions-exposed-midwest-northeast-us/

More than 100 wildfires burn in Canada

metmike: With so much of Canada having wildfires right now, this will likely be around for awhile in the United States, especially the Upper Midwest and Northeast .... UNTIL WINDS SHIFT to take out the north to south component. 

+++++++++++++=

12:45 pm CDT, Friday: Here's this morning's 12z update. I left the previous one above to compare. Crystal clearly(not clear skies though) the worst is RIGHT NOW. 

Go to the link below to play the entire loop:

https://weather.gc.ca/firework/firework_anim_e.html?type=pa&utc=12

1. Friday morning- 7am CDT on each day-Concentration colors at the top of the concentration scale on the left in the central bands from western Ontario, thru then entire Great Lakes and southeast to the East Coast with some big tapering there. 

2. Saturday morning-last of the huge smoke plume moving past the East Coast.

3. Sunday morning-Another less expansive slug of less concentrated particulates(more concentrated along the Canadian border) pushing down farther west

4. Monday morning- That should be diluted/dissipate(except along the Canadian border) with good air quality in the Northeast. .......but the fires still burning mean it's not over.




Image.

Image.


Image.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Current Hazards at the link below.

For your NWS and county, go to the link below.

 Then you can hit any spot on the map, including where you live and it will go to that NWS with all the comprehensive local weather information for that/your county. 

  

https://www.weather.gov/                                                                                                                 

                   


Here's the still frame image at 1pm Friday. Gray shaded areas are under an air qualify alert:

By patrick - July 17, 2026, 3:38 p.m.
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Well, thanks. I see by your maps that, to choose a completely random place & time, on 7/19 from 3 to 5 pm in East Rutherford , NJ, the air should be fine.

By metmike - July 17, 2026, 5:26 p.m.
Like Reply

Thanks, patrick,

I tried to pick 24 hour intervals. The loop at that link will show images every hour for 72 hours. I couldn't get it to load on MarketForum.

You'll love this one:

Trump says Canada will face tariffs over wildfire smoke, claiming ‘willful negligence’

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5975233-trump-canada-wildfire-smoke-tariffs/

President Trumpthreatened on Friday to impose additional tariffs on Canada, accusing the country’s government of “willful negligence” in its handling of massive wildfires that have wafted heavy smoke and worsened air quality in parts of the Midwest and East Coast.

 “We are holding Canada responsible for the fact that they are not properly maintaining their Forests, and Brush therein, and the United States is being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

++++++++++

Some of this stuff coming from Donald Trump would be perfect for Saturday Night Live skits. Yeah, I know they already do that. 

But no need to change much except for the actor playing Trump. Just have him doing and saying almost the same things he does in real life.  This one is a perfect example.

I was taught not to make fun of mentally ill people and would never do that......if the mentally ill person wasn't our president that continually embarrasses and destroys the United States with his diseased brain that makes him unqualified to lead anything. 

Re: Wildfires
0 likes
By patrick - July 18, 2026, 8:36 p.m.
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Is there polymarket betting on wildfires?
Of course there is!

Nordskog said he would normally play something like this down, especially as only a tiny number of people ever commit arson. But through his work he has noticed a strong connection between obsessive gambling and fire setting. “A surprising number of (arsonists) set their fires near casinos that they frequent on a daily basis,” he said.

By metmike - July 19, 2026, 12:25 a.m.
Like Reply

Wow!

This should be illegal in every way, shape or form. 

Prediction markets allow people to bet on wildfires. Experts fear it will fuel arson

https://www.kcra.com/article/prediction-markets-wildfire-betting-arson/73167877

One other surprising benefit could be to shift people’s attitudes to climate change, according to recent research. Taking part in prediction markets “actually changes your brain on the topic,” said Moran Cerf, a neuroscientist at Columbia Business School, who co-authored the study.

If climate deniers make money betting on climate disasters happening, they “start to see that there’s truth out there, which otherwise you reject,” Cerf said. “Eventually it leaks into your psyche.”

++++++++++++++++

    

++++++++

9am:

Study Shows That Climate Change is the Main Driver of Increasing Fire Weather in the Western United States

https://cpo.noaa.gov/study-shows-that-climate-change-is-the-main-driver-of-increasing-fire-weather-in-the-western-united-states/

++++++++++++++++++++

There is actually a 1-2 punch from the added, mostly beneficial CO2.

This is consistent with a take home point being made in our heat wave/other threads about how the atmosphere warms from greenhouse gases. H2O is 95% of the greenhouse gas warming impact on the planet. The radiation absorption bands for H2O OVERLAP those of CO2. 

In humid regions,  they SWAMP CO2 at many bands, where those bands are already, nearly saturated from H2O. Thus, warm/humid places on our planet are NOT warming nearly as much as cold/DRY places(where the CO2 radiation absorption bands can absorb more).

The Western US is warming FASTER than the Midwest because the air masses there are DRIER. The beneficial CO2 is massively increasing photosynthesis by 28%(on average-+140 parts per million of CO2 total, with +1% in plant growth for every +5ppm of CO2) around the planet which equates to much more food for humans and most creatures.  Woody stemmed plants are growing at almost double the rate faster...........including trees. This is providing more fuel for the fires to burn.

Canada, like the Western United States has a DRY/cool climate and a lot of forests. Based on the physics already proven here on CO2 warming as well as the science of photosynthesis which is causing a booming biosphere and massive increase in plant growth and greening planet there is no question this is contributing to worse wildfires in Canada.

                Re: Re: Wildfires            

                            By metmike - June 28, 2026, 5:59 p.m

+++++++++++++++++++

                CO2 & Climate discussion July 2026            

                            By metmike - July 10, 2026, 2:35 p.m.            

++++++++++

                CO2 & Climate discussion July 2026            

                            By metmike - July 10, 2026, 4:22 p.m.   

+++++++++++++++++++

                CO2 & Climate discussion July 2026            

                            By metmike - July 10, 2026, 7:26 p.m.   

+++++++++++++++

                         CO2 & Climate discussion July 2026            

                            By metmike - July 10, 2026, 7:30 p.m.    

+++++++++++

                        CO2 & Climate discussion July 2026            

                            By metmike - July 10, 2026, 9:49 p.m.            

                Re: Re: Re: Global temperature anomaly for June 2026-UAH/CO2 & Climate discussion            

                            By metmike - July 12, 2026, 4:02 p.m. 

+++++++++           

         

What to do about it?

1. The BEST thing for immediate impact is to use adaptation. Grooming the forests is effective in many countries in some places, especially those close to higher population centers. However, Canada is a huge country with forests that feature LOW population, rural areas.  Although this strategy can reduce the intensity of wildfires and make it better, Canada  will always be fighting much harder against climate change than warm, humid locations, ironically when in most realms, the warming in the coldest places, during the coldest times of year from increasing CO2..... IS A BENEFIT TO LIFE. In the realm of wildfires, however it is NOT a benefit.

2. Tell the truth about the big picture!  While we adapt as much as possible to this huge negative for the next several decades, stop covering up the several times more powerful positives from increasing CO2. (milder Winters-more food- less deaths from extreme temps-less violent tornadoes- etc) 

3. Most importantly tell the truth about the future! Fossil fuels ARE FINITE. They will start running out in a few decades. If we do nothing, atmospheric CO2 levels will be crashing lower in 50 years. Even as we do everything we can to prevent CO2 from falling in 50+ years,  as global food production drops with 10 billion mouths to feed and THE REAL CLIMATE CRISIS EMERGES.  Why is this truth NOT being told and instead, we use models programmed with CO2 increasing to 2100+ (to levels that will NEVER happen)  and beyond? Why are we told that this CO2 today stays in the atmosphere for 100+ years based on a speculative theory,  completely ignoring what happens every year during our growing season in the Northern Hemisphere-as atmospheric CO2 levels FALL because plants take out more than all sources combined not keeping up.  When we run out of fossil fuels, with 100% certainty, the greened up planet will deplete the planet of its atmospheric CO2. This will happen below 600 ppm, with the optimal level for life on earth at 900+ ppm.   But that is when our biggest problems begin! When CO2 levels are plunging lower later this century! 

4. We should always conserve all natural resources that are not renewable, especially fossil fuels. Most of them are finite and will run out eventually. The biggest reason to find and use alternative energy sources (nuclear power for electricity for example) is because FOSSIL FUELS WILL BE RUNNING OUT!.  We need to save them for our grandchildren to help keep CO2 levels from falling fast and tide us over for the replacements!

++++++++++++

Added, 4pm: Despite the contributions from the increase in CO2 noted above, there is another side to this story. This case stresses the ability of humans, with our technology in managing these wildfires. And we should recognize that humans  CAUSE the sparks(power lines for instance) that set wildfires.

                Re: Re: Re: 2023 Canadian wild fires still burning            

                            By metmike - March 7, 2024, 8:31 p.m.        

++++++++++++++++

                    2023 Canadian wild fires still burning            

                           By metmike - March 7, 2024, 8:49 p.m.            

+++++++++++++++


By metmike - July 19, 2026, 4:52 p.m.
Like Reply

Additional link:

Smoke plume forecast thru the next 48 hours:

https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

++++++++++


+++++++++++++++

From Canada:

Current conditions for July 19, 2026

https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en/summary#graphs

Active Wildland Fires


Cumulative area burned in Canada by year estimated from satellite hotsopts.

++++++++++++

metmike: The green line above was 2023, when the wildfires were much farther west and covered a much larger area.

Previous link forecasting the downwind wildfire smoke plume.

From the Canadian model (for Canada AND the United States) thru 72 hours. Last run Sunday Morning 7-19-26:

Go to the link below to play the entire loop of 73 images at 1 hour intervals:

https://weather.gc.ca/firework/firework_anim_e.html?type=pa&utc=12

+++++++++++

Loop of the past 24 hours:

https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/?contours=pm25&tab=forecast&xmin=-14008384.626293141&xmax=-7854286.604998667&ymin=3075543.9461767254&ymax=6196620.685116212&forecastcontours=forecasttoday&showgreencontours=false&showlegend=no



By metmike - July 20, 2026, 6:33 p.m.
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Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Imposes Additional Tariffs on Canada

  The White House

 

                Donald Trump's address to the nation 7-16-26            

                                                       Started by metmike - July 14, 2026, 9:50 p.m.  

          https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/121592/

+++++++++++++++++


                New Donald Trump propaganda ad bombarding us            

                            Started by metmike - June 26, 2026, 2:54 p.m.     

       https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/121158/

++++++++===

Even the most loyal MAGA followers must know that Donald Trump's progressively diseased brain is in a state that no human being has ever recovered from.

Nobody has ever recovered from progressive dementia or his rapidly advancing delusions of grandeur. The difference, just between Donald Trump in July 2026 and Donald Trump in January 2025 is pronounced. 

No meds or doctors can save him.  He tells 10+ times more lies than the truth. Nobody believes him about anything except for the 40 million people in MAGA that believe everything that he says because they WANT IT TO BE TRUE. Fox is using them for block buster ratings. The Rs in Congress are afraid to oppose Donald Trump because those 40 million MAGA voters will vote for whoever Donald Trump tells them to vote for. 

Donald Trump has done a complete overhaul of government employees. Replacing 10s of thousands of them with Donald Trump adulators that pledged allegiance to Donald Trump. 

After the Ds take the House and do the impeachment investigation, Donald Trump's actions are unpredictable and he will be at his most dangerous of all. 

Re: Wildfires
0 likes
By patrick - July 29, 2026, 9:12 a.m.
Like Reply

Bad news for wine & olives, plus about 400,000 people have had to evacuate in France & Spain. 

https://www.cnn.com/weather/european-wildfires-france-spain-vis

By metmike - July 29, 2026, 10:13 a.m.
Like Reply

Thanks, patrick!

Excellent post to give me an opportunity to demonstrate something about the media and others covering this historical event in Europe.

Let's also include this thread:

                HISTORIC Heat wave in Europe            

                            39 responses |      

                Started by metmike - June 24, 2026, 8:07 a.m.  

          https://www.marketforum.com/forum/topic/121072/

+++++++++++

With absolute certainty the historical heat wave(unprecedented) in Europe was the main factor in the historical wildfires in Europe. 

I've already discussed the CO2 fingerprint  in contributing to the increase in wildfire intensity in dry(cold) places, like the US West and Canada, where the impacts global warming is amplified. 

But there is much more to it than that, especially how the media covers weather and wildfires extremes in a misleading fashion with their cherry picking.

More coming after I figure out how to show it