Yes, Wisconsin, That Was a Derecho
More Examples: Tornado Alley Moving East
Tornado Alley is moving.
Continue reading “More Examples: Tornado Alley Moving East”If it seems like you’re preparing for tornado threats a little more than usual lately, there’s some truth to that, at least if you live in Illinois.
According to the National Weather Service, Illinois is leading the nation in tornadoes this year. Eighty-six tornadoes have already rolled through the Prairie State in 2023, nearly double the state’s average of 50 twisters per year.
The National Weather Service reports, as of Saturday, Illinois has braced through more than double the number of tornadoes in any other state this year aside from Alabama (80) and Georgia (45).
Per NWS, Illinois also leads every state in severe weather reports (466) this year aside from Texas. That number represents the total of confirmed tornadoes, plus hail and wind damage reports.
Among this year’s tornadoes, some have posed threats east of St. Louis. On March 31, an EF-1 tornado ripped through Salem, Illinois, damaging dozens of homes and peaking up to 105 mph gusts. On April 14, a series of tornadoes slammed the Metro East, with winds reaching up to 100 mph again and damaging parts of Belleville, Swansea, Hecker and Valmeyer.
One tornado up north caught national attention. In Belvidere, a tornado ripped off the roof of a local theater on March 31, leading to one person’s death and dozens of injuries.
The Weekend Wonk: Are We in Denial About AI?
Very worthwhile half hour video from Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman.
AI is on a par with nuclear weapons in its potential to change the world, some people say it’s even more so. Bregman agrees, and comes to some better conclusions than just “stop the world, I want to get off.”
Video Tracks Tornado Path Through Solar Farm
Interesting video from this week’s storm outbreak in the midwest.
Tracking a small tornado as it forms and moves through an array of panels.
GM Navigating Electrification Transition
American Auto manufacturers are on thin ice – having invested heavily in EV infrastructure only to have the Trump administration pull the rug.
The trick now is to maintain and expand EV offerings despite the head wind from DC. One way is to switch course on some existing facilities to serve the growing market for stationary electric storage.
It’s promising that one GM initiative will move into the cutting edge of Battery tech – Sodium ion systems.
General Motors plans to begin making components for large storage batteries, the company said Tuesday, joining Tesla, Ford Motor and other carmakers in pushing into a growing market and compensating for slower sales of electric vehicles in the United States.
The batteries, which can be the size of shipping containers, store excess energy from solar panels, wind turbines and other power sources. Utilities, data centers and other big energy consumers use them for backup power or to manage fluctuations in electricity supply or demand.
Tesla has been selling storage batteries since 2015. Ford said last year that it would convert a factory in Kentucky to make large batteries, after shutting down production of electric vehicle batteries at the plant because car sales fell short of expectations.
G.M. plans to develop battery cells for large-scale storage using a relatively new technology. Peak Energy, a company based in California and Colorado that is teaming up with the automaker, will integrate the cells into industrial-scale systems.
Continue reading “GM Navigating Electrification Transition”Wild Tornado Outbreak in Midwest
El Niño Arrives
Above, NASA Scientist Peter Kalmus, who has been extremely outspoken and active on climate issues, has parted from the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab after 15 years – he says he was forced to resign because of his activism.
He warns that this summer may be the hottest we’ve ever experienced, and at the same time, the coolest for the rest of our lives.
Meteorologists said Thursday that an El Niño has formed in the tropical Pacific and will likely intensify in the coming months, setting off more extreme weather and higher temperatures around the world.
El Niño is the name given to a natural phenomenon that occurs every few years when trade winds shift and the Pacific Ocean warms. It affects weather patterns globally and has the potential to supercharge floods and droughts that are already worsening because of climate change.
Thursday’s declaration by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration means that, technically speaking, temperatures in the equatorial Pacific have held at 0.5 degree Celsius (0.9 degree Fahrenheit) above the longer-term average for several months, and that scientists have observed atmospheric shifts conducive for an El Niño.
NOAA said there is a 63 percent chance of the sea-surface temperatures climbing 2 degrees Celsius above the norm, making for a “very strong” event.
Continue reading “El Niño Arrives”Solar’s Having a Big Year
Utility-scale solar generation is expected to increase 19% this summer compared to last summer, reflecting a 20% increase in capacity, while coal generation is expected to decline by 2%, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
This summer is also set to be hotter than last year’s, EIA said, with an anticipated 3% increase in cooling degree days from June to September this year. That increase is set to correspond with a 3% increase in generation, or an additional 1,620 billion kWh.
“We expect the increase will be met almost entirely by increased generation from renewable fuel sources,” EIA said in a Short-Term Energy Outlook report released Tuesday.
Solar energy companies are reporting fair weather, despite cloudy skies, with a new report finding solar power accounts for 91% of new energy resources installed in the United States.
The Solar Energy Industry Association and Wood Mackenzie released their Solar Market Insight Report for the second quarter of 2026 on Wednesday, pointing to Michigan as one of the states leading solar panel installations.
According to the report, Michigan ranked seventh in the nation for solar panel installation in the first quarter of 2026.
Continue reading “Solar’s Having a Big Year”Grifting Energy Secretary Struggles as Solar Price Plummets
MIT Sloan School of Management:
“We find that RPS mandates have virtually zero impact on prices, and utility-scale renewables are actually associated with lower retail rates,” said Knittel, the George P. Shultz Professor and Associate Dean for Climate and Sustainability at MIT Sloan, and faculty director of the MIT Climate Policy Center. “Energy generated by large-scale solar plants, for example, comes with lower transmission, distribution, and maintenance costs for utilities, and these efficiencies can be passed on to the consumer.”
Renewable power like solar and onshore wind is the least expensive and quickest power generation source to deploy in the United States, even without government subsidies, Lazard said in a report on Monday.
The cost to build new gas-fired power plants, meanwhile, has hit a 10-year high amidst the country’s record electricity use and growing backlogs for turbines and other equipment needed to construct the plants, Lazard, a global financial services firm, said in its annual Levelized Cost of Energy+ analysis.
Continue reading “Grifting Energy Secretary Struggles as Solar Price Plummets”Major Storm Approaches Chicago
Storm watcher Ryan Hall is tracking a major Derecho type storm currently on the outskirts of heavily populated areas of Chicago.