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Daniel Swain

@Weather_West109k followers

Weather and climate scientist focused on extreme events like floods, droughts, & wildfires on a warming planet.

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1Feb 27, '25I am now hearing from multiple folks in the past two hours (including some who have personally been fired) that mass firings have now commenced within NOAA--including, yes, at the 62.5×2M6.3k2k516
2Aug 18, '23#Hurricane #Hilary has undergone an impressive burst of strengthening in recent hours, recently becoming a (category 3 of 5) major hurricane. Further strengthening is possible befo50.6×1.6M1.6k26143
3Jan 3, '23Just kind of obsessing over the amazing and perfectly-framed satellite imagery today of the inbound California storm. This is a *textbook* mid-latitude cyclone, with well-defined w35.3×1.1M5k1k174
4Jun 12, '23Significant flooding now as severe hailstorm continues in Boulder. #cowx25.5×816k1.9k47166
5Sep 28, '24The images and stories just beginning to emerge from eastern TN and western NC in the aftermath of widespread catastrophic flooding wrought by #Helene are genuinely horrifying, and23.3×746k6.1k1.4k640
6Aug 18, '23Flood risk from #Hilary in SE California deserts is genuinely alarming. Widespread & possibly destructive flash flooding is possible. This has high potential to be a historic f17×545k87734940
7Aug 18, '23Well, there it is: @NHC_Pacific has officially issued a Tropical Storm Watch for SoCal. This is the first such watch ever issued for West Coast of United States. Wind will be a con15.8×507k94644833
8Aug 20, '23Palm Springs just recorded its heaviest hourly rainfall on record, and intense tropical downpours could continue for hours in the Coachella Valley. Urban and flash flooding will fu15.8×505k1.6k49848
9Aug 10, '23Confirmed human toll from wildland-urban interface #MauiFires is terrible (already second deadliest wildfire in modern American history), but grim reports from residents on the gro14.8×474k1.1k39276
10Aug 20, '23#Hilary has officially made landfall in northern Baja CA as a tropical storm, per @NHC_Pacific, but center of circulation may move back offshore and potentially make a second landf14.8×473k1.1k29624
11Jan 3, '23Pretty spectacular satellite imagery today of rapidly strengthening ("bomb") cyclone out over the Pacific. This is the system that will bring widespread high wind and heavy rain to14.4×463k1.6k42249
12Mar 12, '23Brief thread about...snow. As of this weekend, the Southern Sierra now appears to have largest snowpack in recorded history (as measured by snow water equivalent, or SWE). Not just14.2×457k1.5k35983
13May 21, '23Update: remarkable "smoke cyclone"/ "smokestorm" has now moved south into central U.S., crossing the Canadian border near the MT/SD border. This low pressure system has entrained a13.6×436k89036742
14Aug 21, '23Major flash flooding has developed over western LA and eastern Ventura counties. Over two inches of rain has fallen in just 2 hrs, and torrential downpours continue as a rainband o13.5×434k1.3k37936
15Mar 11, '23I am considerably more concerned regarding more widespread flood risk (& possibly wind damage in some spots as well) with new #AtmosphericRiver on Mon-Tue than with past Fri ev13.5×433k1.4k32645
16Nov 10, '18If Northern California had received anywhere near the typical amount of autumn precipitation this year (around 4-5 in. of rain near #CampFire point of origin), explosive fire behav12.9×05.9k3.4k181
17Jul 1, '21I've watched a lot of wildfire-associated pyroconvective events during the satellite era, and I think this might be the singularly most extreme I've ever seen. This is a literal fi8.5×04.5k2.1k286
18Mar 21, '23No, it's not a hurricane! But the rapidly deepening low pressure center just south of San Francisco has developed a remarkably "eye-like" feature near the center of circulation, an8.1×258k1.2k28617
19Jul 5, '25There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods--but that's simply not true. This was undoubtedly an extreme event, but messaging rapidly escalated begi7.5×240k2.1k576263
20Feb 28, '25The mass firing of both new hires and recently promoted senior staff within #NOAA, including mission-critical and life-saving roles at the National Weather Service (#NWS), is profo7.2×232k4.3k1.1k330
21Mar 31, '23Unless stated Twitter policies change, today is the last day that my content will be visible to folks who do not already follow this account. Also, it will become difficult to foll6.8×218k860958
22Feb 27, '25I have written a short statement responding to mass firings today of #NOAA / National Weather Service (#NWS) staff (which were concentrated among recent hires as well as highly exp6.3×201k1.8k671212
23Feb 5, '25The U.S. #NationalWeatherService, housed within #NOAA, is a truly world-class meteorological predictive service, perhaps singularly so. It costs only ~$3/yr per taxpayer, & yie6.0×192k3.1k896185
24Jan 9, '25Is there a link between #ClimateChange & increasing risk/severity of #wildfire in California--including the still-unfolding disaster? Yes. Is climate change the only factor at play6.0×191k1.2k392435
25Aug 21, '23Despite a lot of folks online claiming otherwise, there are multiple reports starting to emerge of more serious flash flooding now and highly energetic debris flows in some areas. 5.9×191k89421523
26Sep 4, '22The coming week is shaping up to be a pretty crazy weather week in California, TBH--even more so than previously thought. Ongoing heatwave expected to be longer & peak even hig5.6×03.2k1.1k213
27Jan 6, '23The California storm onslaught continues. In fact, confidence is increasing that cumulative flood risk will further escalate by Mon, possibly culminating in widespread significant 5.4×173k83923216
28Jan 17, '25After becoming increasingly enmeshed in the wildfire world, you start to notice things about the way we've systematically altered our relationship with the natural environment in a5.3×169k2.9k407359
29Mar 21, '23Very rarely is this literally true in California, but in this case...it actually is. #CAwx5.2×167k1.1k17545
30Jan 24, '24As a weather & climate scientist as well as a professional science communicator, I offer this: It's easy to get caught up in the hype of viral social media posts in the weather4.8×155k1.1k11349
31Oct 24, '21Truly amazing satellite imagery of the powerful storm (technically a "bomb cyclone," as some have noted, due to its very rapid strengthening) affecting nearly the entire West Coast4.8×03k99889
32Jan 6, '23Kauai? Nope! Butte County, California. #CAwx #CAwater4.8×155k1.6k21953
33May 15, '25I just created a quick map depicting which portions of the United States are now (as of today) or will imminently be (by early June) without 24/7 local National Weather Service cov4.7×150k1.2k489213
34Jan 4, '23Yet more amazing satellite imagery of inbound storm. Multiple sub-vortices are visible rotating around common center inside broader low pressure system (aka "Fujiwhara effect"). A 4.7×150k90820717
35Mar 21, '23One thing I keep reflecting on, especially in context of recent events (CA's winter storm onslaught & dramatic increasingly dramatic hydroclimate whiplash), is how high societa4.7×149k1.3k13343
36Oct 8, '24We are witnessing a genuinely extraordinary, and regionally quite deadly and destructive, period for extreme #weather in the United States. And, quite frankly, the fingerprints of 4.7×149k2.1k46089
37Sep 8, '20The wildfire situation in California and Oregon has now escalated to the point that I can no longer keep track of the countless massive, fast-moving, and potentially very dangerous4.6×02.4k1.3k87
38Jun 13, '22Amazing to consider that in past 12 hours the U.S. West has seen devastating (record) flooding in Montana near Yellowstone, extreme wildfire activity in Arizona that visually resem4.4×02.6k1k86
39Sep 30, '24I realize folks in the Southwest are tired of the heat, but...there's now a strong signal for a prolonged autumn heatwave over next wk that may culminate in October monthly record 4.0×128k89819544
40Aug 20Given rising interest in the rapidly strengthening El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, I've created a one-page fact sheet succinctly describing what El Niño is, this year'3.7×119k1.4k342566
41Aug 21, '20Just did some rough math. It appears that we're closing in on 600,000 acres burned by lightning-sparked wildfires in Northern California *in just 7 days.* Nearly all such fires are3.7×01.7k1k75
42May 2, '25The fact that NWS field offices are not able to operate 24/7 anymore in growing number of locations, & that offices servicing major population centers no longer have supervisor3.6×116k1k30769
43Dec 31, '21One lesson that is going to be learned, yet again, in the aftermath of today's devastating Boulder County, CO fire is just how far into the suburbs the wildfire-urban interface act3.6×02.3k745114
44Jan 2, '20I'm not sure that folks outside of #Australia have yet grasped the full magnitude of this widespread and still-escalating catastrophe. Well over 12 million acres (!) have already b3.4×01.4k1.1k20
45Jul 30, '25Due to mass confusion, clarifying again: Tsunami Watch: Tsunami of indeterminate magnitude is possible; stand by. Tsunami Advisory: Tsunami is likely *but will probably be small.* 3.3×105k1.7k304132
46Dec 6, '18Are #climate scientists alarmist? Well, we're certainly alarmed. But that's different. The thing about shouting "fire" in a crowded theater is that it makes total sense if the thea3.2×01.9k81923
47Oct 18, '20Even as a scientist studying extreme weather & wildfire in a warming climate, I was shocked by how fast #CalwoodFire roared down the Colorado Front Range foothills this afterno3.0×01.6k71558
48Dec 30, '21Genuinely hard to believe this is happening in late December in Boulder, CO. But take a record warm & dry fall, only 1 inch of snow so far this season, & add an extreme (102.9×01.7k65745
49Jun 27, '25What a remarkable--and pointless--loss for NOAA and for the United States.2.9×93k2.2k50584
50Apr 11, '25Unfortunately, this is what I have been talking about for some time. The plan to essentially end climate research and prediction (and many extreme weather research/prediction activ2.9×92k1.8k551105
51Sep 9, '22One of the most striking satellite images of California & the West I've ever seen. #HurricaneKay is approaching from southeast while numerous large wildfires burn to north, and2.8×01.7k56299
52Sep 8, '20Updating this thread with last visible satellite frames before sunset. A truly stunning perspective, w/massive wind-driven fires & large dust storm in Washington/Oregon, & 2.8×01.4k71568
53Oct 9, '18Folks are asking: "What is the most important individual action I can take to address #ClimateChange?" My sincere answer, as scientist & human being: Vote. Vote in each & e2.8×01.4k8123
54Jul 28, '18Sobering satellite imagery at sunset this evening depicting (multiple) massive pyrocumulus plumes and widespread smoke coverage across northern California. #CarrFire exploding agai2.5×089085019
55Sep 6, '20Scary footage of pyrocumulus "column collapse" earlier this AM. This occurs when there is temporary interruption in sustained fire updraft strength & air falls rapidly back tow2.4×01.4k59953
56Sep 9, '20Extremely dense & tall smoke plumes from numerous large wildfires, some of which have been generating nocturnal pyrocumulunimbus clouds ("fire thunderstorms"), are almost compl2.4×01.1k59447
57Sep 5, '20Serious situation developing in foothills of Fresno County near #Oakhurst. #CreekFire has exploded in size & intensity at a time when 1000s of visitors have crowded area. Massi2.3×01.1k64433
58Jan 24, '17A reminder: virtually all we know about Earth’s atmosphere & oceans comes from sustained decades of government-funded scientific research.2.2×01k7390
59Sep 7, '20Incredibly, this slipped in "under the radar" due to the more acute short-term wildfire crisis: 2020 has now eclipsed 2018 for the most acres burned in California in a single year 2.2×01.1k63938
60Dec 31, '21Getting real tired of living in a real-world disaster movie.2.2×01.9k23913
62Sep 7, '20You could write an entire meteorology textbook just based on the phenomena visible from this afternoon's wild satellite imagery looking down at the American West. (Thread) #CAwx #W2.2×01.3k44363
63Sep 9, '22Extraordinary images of #MosquitoFire this evening. This one is going to be burning & producing large volumes of smoke for many days, so folks in NorCal and western Nevada shou2.1×01.3k46141
64Jan 27, '21Satellite view of powerful CA storm from space is pretty spectacular. Already reports of blizzard conditions, lightning, & wind damage in far NorCal. Will be a long night for m2.1×01.3k44124
65Jul 1, '21Satellite view of British Columbia interior confirms that the severe thunderstorms occurring at present are indeed pyro-convective events: wildfire-generated severe storms, complet2.0×01.1k39440
66Aug 17, '21Again, this bears repeating since a lot of folks are apparently still unaware: the #CaldorFire is turning into a potentially very dangerous & imminent threat for folks living i2.0×01.1k51719
70Jun 23, '21Projected temperatures on Sun-Mon across PacNW are so extreme that I think folks are having difficulty putting them into context. There remains some uncertainty, but places along I1.9×084445023
71Aug 16, '20Wild night in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it's also one of the hottest nigh1.9×01.1k44531
72Jul 19, '22It is seriously unnerving to see fiery, California-like scenes like this coming out of the U.K. today. There are apparently multiple vegetation fires (I hesitate to call them "wild1.9×01.1k43031
73Jul 19, '22The U.K. has broken essentially every temperature record there is to break by considerable margins over the past 24 hours. An astonishing and extremely dangerous heatwave by any me1.8×01k49323
75May 4, '21Water stored in CA's snowpack is essentially gone--statewide value for May 4th is only *15%* of avg. Strikingly, this water does not appear to be contributing much to streamflow--i1.8×081144037
76Aug 16, '21Just an incredible sea of smoke covering essentially all of the western U.S. and Canada. There have already been numerous widespread & extreme wildfire-related air pollution ep1.7×089746026
77Jun 9, '24Visually spectacular "sculpted" supercell thunderstorm near Woodrow on high plains of eastern Colorado earlier today (6/8/24). This storm featured a blue-green & ground-scrapin1.7×56k1k16357
78Jan 29, '21With additional heavy rain overnight, it appears the Highway 1 debris flow/washout near Big Sur went from a partial washout to, ah, a rather complete one. #CAwx @NWSBayArea1.7×095638936
79Sep 3, '20This *gesturing wildly and in every direction* is utterly exhausting.1.6×01.4k19621
81Sep 9, '17Looks similar to what can happen in run-up to #tusnami, but in this case likely combination of very low tide and offshore wind from #Irma.1.5×09793630
82Jan 15, '22A visual reminder that tsunamis are *not* like a single big ocean wave: they are a series of successive surges of water that may be only a few feet in height yet still contain a ma1.5×01.1k29233
84Oct 25, '21It is worth noting that this exact situation--an extremely strong atmospheric river bringing brief period of record rainfall in midst of severe and temperature-amplified drought--i1.4×082333128
86Jun 13, '22Remarkable footage of (presumably) topographically induced mountain rotor interacting with #PipelineFire near Flagstaff, AZ. These are usually invisible (the dreaded "clear air tur1.4×099526556
87Nov 6, '24Folks...I am rarely at a loss for words, but here we are. The world moving forward looks quite different from how it did just yesterday (including, perhaps especially, in terms of 1.4×44k8585327
88Jul 10, '22Spectacular (and dangerous) conversation of (gravitational) potential energy to kinetic energy in the form of a mountain glacier collapsing in Kyrgyzstan. We're seeing events like 1.4×082828757
92Sep 15, '22Against the odds, a very early and pretty substantial/probably "fire season slowing" precipitation event appears likely for much of NorCal late this weekend. If we can get through 1.2×01k15414
93Mar 9, '20It's utterly exhausting to repeatedly watch foreseeable & largely surmountable societal challenges turn into crises because they're widely perceived to be affecting "other peop1.2×080825912
95Jul 12, '21Two things can simultaneously be true: 1. #Wildfires are a natural & often beneficial process in most terrestrial ecosystems. 2. A constellation of factors, including historic 1.1×086019513
96Nov 2, '22CA weather update: mountain snow and cold (convective) lowland showers today will indeed herald the approach more more traditionally wet/cool conditions over the next 10-14 days. (1.1×091613911
97Dec 11, '20Honored to be one of @VICE's 2020 Humans of the Year! Many thanks to @mgregory_9 for the write-up and Michelle Urra for the cool cover art.1.0×08875028
98Aug 30, '21I would say it's one disaster after another, but there's actually a helluva lot happening all at once right now.1.0×0913964
101May 4, '21The number of people claiming that 1) California is not in a drought, 2) that the drought in CA is not severe, 3) that drought is unrelated to temperature, 4) that temperatures are0.9×0840786

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