Hyping ARkStorms

What's new from the Federal Government? Oh no, they've decided to start hyping ARkStorms!:

The MHDP assembled experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USGS, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the State of California, California Geological Survey, the University of Colorado, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), California Department of Water Resources, California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA) and other organizations to design the large, but scientifically plausible, hypothetical storm scenario that would provide emergency responders, resource managers, and the public a realistic assessment of what is historically possible.

Apparently ARkStorms are just extended periods of Pineapple Expresses. Lots of rain for a long time. They can happen, they have happened, and they will happen again in the future.

So, what else is new?

I haven't been paying much attention to this stuff: I just figured they were trying to scare hard-pressed people into not dropping their flood insurance. Then, I saw this video and saw Marty Ralph at 1:09:



Now, who is Marty Ralph? He is important these days in the Federal Government scientific hierarchy, but back in the day, in the early 80's, when I taught a Meteorology Lab class at the University of Arizona, he was my student. And now he's telling me I have to worry about ARkStorms.

Do I have to worry about ARkStorms if they are exceedingly rare? It's likely I'll be dead before the next one comes....

(The relentless hunt for grant money and the relentless marketing it requires....)