California is known for having a mostly Mediterranean-style climate. This means that temperatures stay fairly moderate throughout the year. However, when particularly cold systems move through the state, temperatures sometimes have the chance to dip into the 20s and 30s. Such is the case currently in the Bay Area and parts of the Central Coast.
Continue ReadingEvery year, the United Nations holds a global conference on climate change known as the COP summit. It’s at this summit where people and diplomats alike from all over the world come together to talk about the world’s most pressing climate and environmental issues. This year’s COP 30 conference is in Belem, Brazil. 19.11.2025 –
Continue Reading
There are countless environmental systems across the globe, in the air, on land, and in the seas. All these systems are interconnected and, if changed too drastically, they can have wide-ranging consequences on both people and the planet. This is something scientists monitor very closely as the planet warms. Global warming is forcing some of
Continue Reading
Southern California is world-renowned for its pleasant weather and plentiful palm trees year-round. Given the moderate temperatures, there aren’t many places across the region that provide people with a chance to see some fall foliage. One of those places is just an hour away, up in Idyllwild. Most of the trees up in our local
Continue ReadingJust after 11 PM on June 20, 2025, a violent tornado touched down near Enderlin, ND. It was initially given an EF-3 rating. However, extensive reviews of the damage have led the National Weather Service to retroactively upgrade the tornado to EF-5 status. This marks the first time a tornado has reached EF-5 status since the
Continue Reading
La Niña and El Niño are two phases of a larger climate cycle known as ENSO, or the El Niño Southern Oscillation. ENSO is just one of many different climate cycles across the globe. Whether temperatures in certain regions of the equatorial Pacific are warmer or cooler than average determines the phase we are in.
Continue Reading
Last week’s spell of wet weather brought generous amounts of rain to Southern California, especially for the higher, more mountainous terrain. Some areas, like Oak Glenn and Idyllwild, saw a lot of rain in a very short amount of time. This caused some flash floods and mudslides in these areas. The Forest Falls/Oak Glenn area
Continue Reading
Last month, the American Meteorological Society released its annual report on the state of the climate for 2024. The report was a collaborative effort of hundreds of scientists from all over the world. The report highlighted a number of findings, ranging from sea ice concerns to record-high greenhouse gases to signifcant weather events. Some of
Continue Reading
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway experiences a wide range of weather throughout the year, ranging from sun to snow to rain. News Channel 3’s First Alert Meteorologist Spencer Blum took a ride to the top to get a behind the scenes look at how the tram stays
Continue Reading
Hurricane Erin has become both the first hurricane and the first major hurricane in the Atlantic basin this year. It grew from a tropical storm to a major, Category 5 hurricane in roughly 24 hours. This is one of the fastest-growing storms in history. As of the publishing of this article, Erin is a Category
Continue Reading
Ocean temperatures across the globe have been on the rise in recent years. Warmer oceans can have a number of consequences, ranging from increasing the strength of tropical cyclones to the bleaching of coral reefs. 2023 and 2024 saw record-high ocean temperatures, with 2025 not far behind. This is especially true when you compare it
Continue Reading
The summer months mean a return of intense heat waves across the U.S. That’s especially true for some areas like here in the Coachella Valley. ClimateCentral analyzed heat waves across the US over the last few decades. They found that 80 percent of the areas they analyzed now see more intense heat waves every year.
Continue Reading
The US is no stranger to costly natural disasters, from hurricanes to tornadoes to earthquakes and more. Since 1980, there have been more than 400 billion-dollar disasters. Collectively, these events have led to the deaths of nearly 17,000 people. These events haven’t been spread evenly over the years, however. The number of these disasters has
Continue Reading
It’s no secret that temperatures are rising all across the globe thanks to rising greenhouse gas emissions. Graphics like these help show this warming trend. Each stripe represents one year, with the color representing the average temperature compared to the climatological average. Warmer colors represent warmer than average temperatures, and cooler temperatures represent cooler years.
Continue Reading
Summers here in the Coachella Valley mean one thing above all else: heat! So we desert folk find ways to stay cool in the summer months. One of the tools we use to stay cool is evaporative coolers. But whether or not we can use evaporative coolers is dependent on our weather. To help forecast
Continue Reading
Summers are warming all across the country. According to Climate Central, 97% of locations analyzed now experience average summer temperatures warmer than in the 1970s. In total, by an average of 2.6°F. The areas that have seen the most warming include the Southwest and Northwest. Here at home in the Coachella Valley, summers have warmed
Continue Reading
The Global Change Research Act of 1990 requires the federal government to release a major, comprehensive report detailing how climate change will impact nearly every facet of American life. This report is called the National Climate Assessment and is used by countless federal, state, and local officials, as well as private businesses, to plan for
Continue Reading
It’s no secret that temperatures across the globe are warming as a direct result of climate change. Heat-trapping pollutants in the atmosphere are causing the planet to warm. This is causing plant hardiness zones to shift north, impacting what kinds of plants can be grown where. Plant hardiness zones are based on the coldest annual
Continue Reading
The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that Antarctic sea ice likely reached its summer minimum extent on March 1st, about five days later than usual. The NSIDC monitors the extent of sea ice across the globe and estimates that the annual minimum sea ice coverage in the Antarctic was about 1.98 million square
Continue Reading
Happy Earth Day! Today marks the 55th Earth Day, going all the way back to 1970. In that time period, the planet has seen significant warming. Across the US, every single state has experienced warming. Of the 242 cities Climate Central analyzed, 240 have seen warming since 1970. That’s more than 99%! Alaska has seen
Continue Reading