Ryan Stauffer
@ryanswx.bsky.social
NASA/GSFC scientist running a global ozone network who was also wrongfully stripped of my 2025 JD Power Virtual Storm Chaser Championship
Serious wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire situation in Spokane, WA amid "extremely critical/Particularly Dangerous Situation" fire weather conditions. Two separate fires, #OldTrailsFire & #FairViewFire, are actively burning near/in neighborhoods; mass evacs ongoing. #WAwx
Absolute scenes at the Wolf Trap Kidz Bop concert. Parents are going at this one HARD. Many are calling it the Event of the Summer
Insane satellite imagery. This is the change from May to July. Europe has cooked. (🎥 Colin McCarthy)
Death Valley 130°F watch? Current NWS forecast is 126°F both Saturday and Sunday
Anthony Edwards@edwardsanthonyb.bsky.social · last wk.A long and dangerous California heat wave will begin Friday, July 31 with potential for record-breaking temperatures. The first phase will focus on Central & Southern California from July 31-Aug. 3/4. Record heat is likely to expand to NorCal ~Aug. 3/4, with no clear end date in sight. #CAwx
A behind the meter Northern Virginia data center's power plant went offline on 7/16, causing the facility to run off diesel generators for 24 hours during a Code Red air pollution event
wusa9.com
Daily Niño 3.4 Coral Reef Watch and OISST both above +2.3°C, with Relative Niño values of about +1.8-2.0°C. cyclonicwx.com/sst/
The extraordinary wildfire outbreak across Oregon, eastern Washington, and southern British Columbia has become even more alarming amid critical fire weather conditions. Over 500,000 acres have already burned in OR & WA alone, and that number could be >1 million acres by Mon.
PDS Watch was spot on. This was originally warned for 60 mph winds but clearly that is no longer the case. Yikes
The infamous August 2003 heatwave was tragic. Unfortunately, Summer 2026 will continue to far exceed anything that has ever been observed in Europe
Alan Gerard@wxmanms1.bsky.social · 2w agoThe latest Euro model is forecasting Berlin to reach 41.2C (106.2F) on Friday, which would break its all-time record high of 39.9C (103.8F) set...4 weeks ago.
Just a casual PDS Severe Thunderstorm Watch in South Dakota for winds up to 100 mph.
Today will almost certainly be the 15th consecutive day of Code Orange or above ozone pollution in the Denver area
Got tricked by the HRRR vertically-integrated vs surface smoke while messing around on my phone. Don’t do that!
After last week’s record smoke, folks seemed incredulous that this may be a regular thing and that we apparently didn’t see it coming. June 2023 could've been an isolated event, but 3/4 years is trend. So I went to literature to see what climate scientists actually projected about this risk.
I have to imagine it is rare to see such a strong MJO/El Niño atmospheric signal in boreal summer…
Ryan Stauffer@ryanswx.bsky.social · 2w agolol. Look at this Walker Circulation insanity. cyclonicwx.com/analysis/
lol. Look at this Walker Circulation insanity. cyclonicwx.com/analysis/
I've never seen anything like it. Salta, Argentina, has just recorded its hottest night on record during the climatologically coldest time of the year. The minimum overnight temperature did not fall below 26°C (78.8°F), pulverizing the previous monthly record by 7°C.
There were like 3 Expected Goals in the last two minutes and nothing to show for it. Insane
The preliminary data from Ohio EPA for yesterday are in. It was the most widespread bad air quality day in Ohio's history. We had PM2.5 exeedances at 30 monitors (up from 25 on 7/16) and set records in 8 cities. While the intensity of the smoke was not as bad as Thursday, it affected more people.
Hate to double quote but Tim implies a critical point here that all pollutants are not created equal. PM2.5 (e.g., smoke) is monitored for a very specific reason because it penetrates the lungs and crosses into the bloodstream, circulating and doing damage throughout the entire body
PM2.5 Kills ~9 Million People Each Year Worldwide@tkovach.bsky.social · 3w agoThis requires some context. NYC has experienced 394 days >200 AQI since 1980. Nearly all (381) of those were from ground level ozone, while 12 were from carbon monoxide. 247 (63%) of those occurred during the 1980s. There is 1 PM2.5 day >200 AQI - 6/7/23. This smoke is still exceptional.
A good thing is we have the observational and modeling capacity to accurately tell us when things are going to hell?
In addition to the smoke DC stations are also recording Code Red ozone pollution values today
Ryan Stauffer@ryanswx.bsky.social · 3w agoOn the periphery of the dense smoke plume you have just the right mixture of ozone precursor fire emissions and still enough sunlight leading to Code Orange and Red ozone pollution values along Lake Michigan and Erie this evening. It’s a double whammy of air pollution for millions
Preliminary data are in from Ohio EPA for yesterday. We set new PM2.5 daily records for the following cities: - Cleveland: 297 AQI (285 previous max) - Toledo: 624 AQI (190 previous max) Youngstown: 230 AQI (226 previous max) Toledo easily had the worst air quality day in Ohio's recorded history.
June 2023 pales in comparison to this event. There were ~3 total monitors back then that recorded a 24-hr AQI in the Hazardous category (all in PA). Yesterday there were dozens affecting tens of millions of people
Update: well that’s wild y’all. Filter on top is a clean, unused one fresh out of its packaging. Filter on bottom was the same when I installed it yesterday evening; this is what it looks like after roughly 24 hours of HVAC in Chicago’s blanket of wildfire smoke.
