Guam Still Suffering After Typhoon Mawar

These storms really can clobber even the best-prepared islands:

One week after typhoon Mawar ripped through the US territory of Guam, most parts of the island were still without power, water, and internet, with residents frustrated by the government’s slow response to the crisis.

By Wednesday, power had been restored to just 28% of customers, according to officials. The Guam Power Authority said it had deployed crews working on a 24-hour shift to clear lines and repair the typhoon-damaged feeders and circuits.

The island’s governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, said based on updates from utility agencies she expected 80% to 85% of power and water restoration to be completed within four to six weeks. 

“We cannot say 100% because there’s going to be places that we might not be able to reach and we don’t want to raise expectations,” she said.

Converting Horizontal Vorticity into Vertical Vorticity

Kate alerted me to this remarkable video of the recent Compton, California tornado:

Vertical tilting of horizontal vorticity in its most dramatic form. Wow! Amazing footage of the Compton EF-0 tornado today. 

This is a fantastic illustration of how horizontally-oriented spin in the atmosphere gets tilted vertically to form a tornado that touches the ground.

I love this tornado video! The meteorology textbooks all say that tornadoes usually form from the tilting of a horizontal vortex tube. There is plenty of horizontal vorticity due to friction with the ground. Converting that horizontal vorticity into vertical vorticity is the trick, however, and usually requires a significant updraft. It's hard to picture that process but this video shows exactly how it happens!

Almost Forgot to Mention Recent Earthquakes Under Lake Almanor

On May 11th, I was hustling groceries into the house, when the 5.5 magnitude earthquake struck. I didn't feel the quake exactly - I was moving around too much - but I HEARD it. The door to my bedroom was banging against a bookcase. I knew instantly that an earthquake was occurring. 

It's interesting that aftershocks continue, and just highlight the Earth's shift away from the San Andreas Fault, and towards the faults heading north from the Gulf of California, through Lake Tahoe, and points north:

PRATTVILLE, Calif. — Families are cleaning up the damage after two strong earthquakes near Lake Almanor in less than 12 hours.

The first one of 5.5 magnitude happened around 4:20 Thursday afternoon and a 5.2 aftershock hit early this morning.

Jim Pope was remodeling his basement bathroom when the first one hit. 

"Suddenly, the lights went out and I got thrown against the wall,"

"You Hurt My Feelings"

I saw this movie at the Tower Theater. It reminded me a lot of Woody Allen movies: angst among Manhattan professionals. The premise seemed encouraging - things start falling apart after the wife overhears unwelcome statements from her husband - but the decay process features events so minor that I basically lost interest. So, the movie was not for me.

 

It's Fuffer Time in Sacramento Again!

Katherine used to call these oak florets "fuffers," since they looked fluffy. I adopted the name too. If you have a Valley Oak tree, you'll find them everywhere underneath. And that's where you'll find my home, underneath a Valley Oak!

Puzzled by Art in the Hedges

RIP, Tina Turner

Tina Turner was the best.

   

She inspired all kinds of imitators. Here is Czechoslovak State Television’s rendition of Ike and Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits, 1978:

@ozkitsch The Soviet Bloc does Tina Turner. From Czekosolvakian state television, 1978 #tinaturner #nutbush #nutbushcitylimits #czechoslovakia #sovietbloc #easternbloc #coldwar #valeriečižmárová #jsempouháženská #čssr #1978 #1970s #seventies #centraleurope #easterneurope #coldwarpop #coldwarculture #coldwarmusic H/T @MIsotainment on Twitter #czechoslovaktelevision #čst #easternblocvisuals #čssr_czechoslovak #seventiesmusic #theseventies ♬ original sound - OzKitsch

Such a Cool Time in California!

What’s true for LA is true for Sacramento and the rest of California too. Unprecedented cloudy, cool weather. What’s more interesting is that there’s no sign the strange weather will end anytime soon. Indeed, there are indications in long-range forecasts of rain around June 11th. Which will be super-weird, if it happens.

 

@evanlovett This has been one of the cloudiest winter and spring season’s in Los Angeles history. Is this just an extreme marine layer? When will we see the sun again? Let’s get into it! #Climate #Meteorology #cloudy #Sunshine #SunnyDays #HereComesTheSun #LosAngeles #LAInAMinute #Weather#greenscreen ♬ original sound - L.A. in a Minute

John Connor on AI

I'm being peppered with ads for a blog-writing AI product called Jasper. It figures that Armageddon would come disguised as my dog.