Dr. Jeff Masters
@drjeffmasters.bsky.social
Extreme weather and climate change expert writing for Yale Climate Connections. Co-founder, Weather Underground; former hurricane hunter.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
The best set of tools for flood is from @drjeffmasters.bsky.social. The fact that there are 30 is sort of the problem though.
I spent a long time researching this one! A long🧵on some of the 30+ tools to evaluate flood risk in the U.S. that I cover in my recent post. 1/21
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/07/30-great-tools-to-determine-your-flood-risk-in-the-u-s/
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/07/30-great-tools-to-determine-your-flood-risk-in-the-u-s/
30 great tools to determine your flood risk in the U.S. »...
The 30 tools include five new risk-rating agencies, FEMA ...
yaleclimateconnections.org
January 19, 2026 at 3:56 PM
The best set of tools for flood is from @drjeffmasters.bsky.social. The fact that there are 30 is sort of the problem though.
Makes sense: “Until now, the ocean was largely overlooked in the standard accounting of the social cost of carbon even though the degradation of coral reef ecosystems, economic losses from fisheries impacts and damage to coastal infrastructure are well documented and adversely impact millions.”
Damage to the ocean nearly doubles economic cost of climate change, new study finds
Scientists have factored damage to the ocean to the social cost of carbon for the first time -- finding it nearly doubles the economic impact from climate change.
abcnews.go.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Makes sense: “Until now, the ocean was largely overlooked in the standard accounting of the social cost of carbon even though the degradation of coral reef ecosystems, economic losses from fisheries impacts and damage to coastal infrastructure are well documented and adversely impact millions.”
Wear an N95 mask on public transportation! New op-ed in Science: “PM2.5 in underground subway platforms are typically 2-6 times greater than outdoor levels”; inside NYC train cars, they are 7x higher than the WMO standard. Toronto subway has PM2.5 levels 8-50 times that of concurrent outdoor air.
January 15, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Wear an N95 mask on public transportation! New op-ed in Science: “PM2.5 in underground subway platforms are typically 2-6 times greater than outdoor levels”; inside NYC train cars, they are 7x higher than the WMO standard. Toronto subway has PM2.5 levels 8-50 times that of concurrent outdoor air.
My comprehensive report on the most important records set during 2025 for the globe.
"While 2025’s warmth did not set a new record, it was extraordinary because human-caused global warming pushed global temperatures to near-record levels despite the cooling influence of the La Niña phenomenon, which typically suppresses global temperatures." #SpectrumNews1 #ncwx #ClimateChange
2025 was Earth's 3rd-warmest year on record » Yale Climate Connections
Human-caused global warming pushed global temperatures to near-record levels despite the cooling influence of the La Niña phenomenon, which typically suppresses global temperatures.
yaleclimateconnections.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:39 AM
My comprehensive report on the most important records set during 2025 for the globe.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
2025 was yet another unusually warm year for the United States – and another year packed with costly disasters, despite the absence of any landfalling U.S. hurricanes.
@climateconnections.bsky.social @drjeffmasters.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/four...
@climateconnections.bsky.social @drjeffmasters.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/four...
Fourth warmest year in U.S. history: 2025 » Yale Climate Connections
It was the first year in a decade without a U.S. hurricane landfall - but it still ranked third for billion-dollar disasters.
yaleclimateconnections.org
January 13, 2026 at 6:10 PM
2025 was yet another unusually warm year for the United States – and another year packed with costly disasters, despite the absence of any landfalling U.S. hurricanes.
@climateconnections.bsky.social @drjeffmasters.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/four...
@climateconnections.bsky.social @drjeffmasters.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/four...
Isostatic rebound from the end of the Ice Age will cause Lake Superior waters to rise by 9.2" and 4.8" per century at Duluth and Marquette, respectively, with falls of 11.4"/century at the NE end of the lake. A repeat of Duluth's costly Jun 21 storm (archive.is/G0eTK) will be costlier in the future.
January 12, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Isostatic rebound from the end of the Ice Age will cause Lake Superior waters to rise by 9.2" and 4.8" per century at Duluth and Marquette, respectively, with falls of 11.4"/century at the NE end of the lake. A repeat of Duluth's costly Jun 21 storm (archive.is/G0eTK) will be costlier in the future.
The 2025 L.A. wildfires rank as the 10th-costliest weather disaster in U.S. (and world) history, using inflation-adjusted data from 1980-2025 from Climate Central, based on foundational work from NOAA.
January 8, 2026 at 9:23 PM
The 2025 L.A. wildfires rank as the 10th-costliest weather disaster in U.S. (and world) history, using inflation-adjusted data from 1980-2025 from Climate Central, based on foundational work from NOAA.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
A brief cooldown is on tap, and perhaps some legitimate midwinter weather by late Jan—but for now, most of the southwest 2/3 of the United States is still eerily non-wintry. @climateconnections.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/stil...
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/stil...
Still plenty of mildness – for now – after a historic holiday warm wave » Yale Climate Connections
Much of the Southern and Western U.S. entered 2026 with weirdly nice conditions, but winter may yet strike a few more blows.
yaleclimateconnections.org
January 7, 2026 at 4:06 PM
A brief cooldown is on tap, and perhaps some legitimate midwinter weather by late Jan—but for now, most of the southwest 2/3 of the United States is still eerily non-wintry. @climateconnections.bsky.social
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/stil...
yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/01/stil...
The institutional memory of NOAA has suffered: “All these leaders of things who’ve been around for a long time and know how it operates, we’re kind of moving on.” NOAA lost 2,000 of its 11,800 employees through layoffs and retirements since Trump took office”. Now at its lowest staffing level ever.
A look at one scientist’s journey provides a window into the Trump administration’s hollowing out of NOAA, an agency that has long been a world leader in ocean science and protection.
How Trump Derailed a NOAA Pioneer’s Move From Climate Impacts to Solutions - Inside Climate News
Libby Jewett founded the U.S. ocean acidification program and had begun work on offshore wind energy. But she joined the past year’s historic exodus from the agency, the impacts of which are still not...
insideclimatenews.org
January 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
The institutional memory of NOAA has suffered: “All these leaders of things who’ve been around for a long time and know how it operates, we’re kind of moving on.” NOAA lost 2,000 of its 11,800 employees through layoffs and retirements since Trump took office”. Now at its lowest staffing level ever.
Today's king tide peaked in Santa Barbara, CA, at 2.29’ above MHHW, the highest water level since records began in 1973 (old record: 2.23', 12/13/2012).Their 3rd-highest water level on record was during yesterday's high tide (2.19'). According to NOAA, the 2026 record is about a 1-in-100-year event.
January 3, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Today's king tide peaked in Santa Barbara, CA, at 2.29’ above MHHW, the highest water level since records began in 1973 (old record: 2.23', 12/13/2012).Their 3rd-highest water level on record was during yesterday's high tide (2.19'). According to NOAA, the 2026 record is about a 1-in-100-year event.
Today's king tide peaked in San Francisco at 2.56’ above MHHW, the 3rd-highest water level since records began in 1897. Only two water levels in 1983 were higher. According to NOAA, the 2026 level would have been a 1-in-100-year water level 30 years ago, but is now more like a 1-in-70-year event.
January 3, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Today's king tide peaked in San Francisco at 2.56’ above MHHW, the 3rd-highest water level since records began in 1897. Only two water levels in 1983 were higher. According to NOAA, the 2026 level would have been a 1-in-100-year water level 30 years ago, but is now more like a 1-in-70-year event.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
A 4th study not included in the Grist article found that in the 90 days after January's fires in LA emergency medical encounters increased by 24% for acute pulmonary illness, 46% for myocardial infarction (heart attacks), and 118% for blood chemistry abnormalities.
www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...
www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...
January 2, 2026 at 7:54 PM
A 4th study not included in the Grist article found that in the 90 days after January's fires in LA emergency medical encounters increased by 24% for acute pulmonary illness, 46% for myocardial infarction (heart attacks), and 118% for blood chemistry abnormalities.
www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...
www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/...
3 studies:
1) January’s infernos in Los Angeles killed >440 once you factor in the smoke (official toll: 30).
2) Wildfire smoke kills 40,000 Americans a year, which could increase to 71,000 by 2050.
3) Canada’s wildfires in 2023 significantly worsened childhood asthma across the border in Vermont.
1) January’s infernos in Los Angeles killed >440 once you factor in the smoke (official toll: 30).
2) Wildfire smoke kills 40,000 Americans a year, which could increase to 71,000 by 2050.
3) Canada’s wildfires in 2023 significantly worsened childhood asthma across the border in Vermont.
Wildfire smoke is a national crisis, and it’s worse than you think
Wildfire smoke is a national crisis, and it’s worse than you think
Greenhouse gas and particulate emissions from fires globally may be 70 percent higher than once believed.
dlvr.it
January 2, 2026 at 6:50 PM
3 studies:
1) January’s infernos in Los Angeles killed >440 once you factor in the smoke (official toll: 30).
2) Wildfire smoke kills 40,000 Americans a year, which could increase to 71,000 by 2050.
3) Canada’s wildfires in 2023 significantly worsened childhood asthma across the border in Vermont.
1) January’s infernos in Los Angeles killed >440 once you factor in the smoke (official toll: 30).
2) Wildfire smoke kills 40,000 Americans a year, which could increase to 71,000 by 2050.
3) Canada’s wildfires in 2023 significantly worsened childhood asthma across the border in Vermont.
I highly recommend the 2023 book, "California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline", by LA Times environmental reporter Rosanna Xia, on sea level rise issues for California. There's a great discussion about how hard it is politically to do managed retreat from doomed coasts.
The National Weather Service warns that the tidal level in Monterey could threaten record levels this weekend as king tides, storm surge and waves push up water levels in the Central Coast and Bay Area. Friday and Saturday are forecast to be the most impactful days for coastal flooding. #CAwx
Why this weekend’s king tides could cause coastal flooding in the Bay Area
Forecasters said a rare alignment of astronomical tides and gusty winds could send seawater into streets, parks and other low-lying areas — especially during peak tides Friday and Saturday.
www.sfchronicle.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:09 PM
I highly recommend the 2023 book, "California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline", by LA Times environmental reporter Rosanna Xia, on sea level rise issues for California. There's a great discussion about how hard it is politically to do managed retreat from doomed coasts.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
At Toronto Pearson Airport, a dedicated team from Falcon Environmental uses a unique approach to keep the skies clear, featuring their star employee, Ivan the bald eagle. The Weather Network's Mark Robinson spoke to the experts about how they use falconry to protect both passengers and wildlife.
December 31, 2025 at 2:04 PM
At Toronto Pearson Airport, a dedicated team from Falcon Environmental uses a unique approach to keep the skies clear, featuring their star employee, Ivan the bald eagle. The Weather Network's Mark Robinson spoke to the experts about how they use falconry to protect both passengers and wildlife.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
From high-impact weather events to stratus clouds dancing over the open ocean, this year was filled with impressive satellite imagery.
We look back on the most compelling satellite views of 2025.
1) Mesovortices slosh within Hurricane Melissa’s ferocious eye (October 8).
We look back on the most compelling satellite views of 2025.
1) Mesovortices slosh within Hurricane Melissa’s ferocious eye (October 8).
December 30, 2025 at 11:36 PM
From high-impact weather events to stratus clouds dancing over the open ocean, this year was filled with impressive satellite imagery.
We look back on the most compelling satellite views of 2025.
1) Mesovortices slosh within Hurricane Melissa’s ferocious eye (October 8).
We look back on the most compelling satellite views of 2025.
1) Mesovortices slosh within Hurricane Melissa’s ferocious eye (October 8).
Got to do multiple meteorologist meet-ups during my week-long Atlanta vacation! The first was with @climateguyw.bsky.social, who gifted me this awesome Hurricane Hugo photo. Turns out both of us had harrowing experiences in the eye—mine in air, and Guy’s on the ground (in Charleston).
December 29, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Got to do multiple meteorologist meet-ups during my week-long Atlanta vacation! The first was with @climateguyw.bsky.social, who gifted me this awesome Hurricane Hugo photo. Turns out both of us had harrowing experiences in the eye—mine in air, and Guy’s on the ground (in Charleston).
21’ waves are forecast on Lake Superior tomorrow. The largest waves ever recorded on the Great Lakes were 28.8’, measured in Lake Superior between Marquette and Munising on Oct. 24, 2017. Buoy coverage isn’t good this time of year, though.
December 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
21’ waves are forecast on Lake Superior tomorrow. The largest waves ever recorded on the Great Lakes were 28.8’, measured in Lake Superior between Marquette and Munising on Oct. 24, 2017. Buoy coverage isn’t good this time of year, though.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
There's an interesting special section in the NYT today on the future of NYC, including the climate risks.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Notable is this graph of local changes in extreme rainfall:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Notable is this graph of local changes in extreme rainfall:
December 28, 2025 at 7:22 PM
There's an interesting special section in the NYT today on the future of NYC, including the climate risks.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Notable is this graph of local changes in extreme rainfall:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Notable is this graph of local changes in extreme rainfall:
A meeting of the meteorologists! Great to meet up with @michaelrlowry.bsky.social and Kait Parker and kids, with my family, at the Atlanta Zoo today. Crazy record warm temps in the 70s for the 5th straight day for our vacation here.
December 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
A meeting of the meteorologists! Great to meet up with @michaelrlowry.bsky.social and Kait Parker and kids, with my family, at the Atlanta Zoo today. Crazy record warm temps in the 70s for the 5th straight day for our vacation here.
My latest post is also on this topic: yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/12/impr...
It’s super important to know if you are breathing good air indoors, and there are many cost-effective ways to monitor and improve your air quality.
It’s super important to know if you are breathing good air indoors, and there are many cost-effective ways to monitor and improve your air quality.
December 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
My latest post is also on this topic: yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/12/impr...
It’s super important to know if you are breathing good air indoors, and there are many cost-effective ways to monitor and improve your air quality.
It’s super important to know if you are breathing good air indoors, and there are many cost-effective ways to monitor and improve your air quality.
Reposted by Dr. Jeff Masters
🚨🔥 Warmest Christmas on record for the Contiguous U.S.! The average high of 57.9F and the average low of 36.6F each broke the Christmas record by a full 3F. 🔥🚨
December 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
🚨🔥 Warmest Christmas on record for the Contiguous U.S.! The average high of 57.9F and the average low of 36.6F each broke the Christmas record by a full 3F. 🔥🚨
Fix indoor air pollution and poor ventilation! I often measure CO2 of 2,500 ppm due to poor ventilation in buildings and airplanes. At this level, COVID spreads easily, and brains suffer: test scores can drop 44%. Suggestions: invest in HEPA filtration, ditch your gas stove, improve ventilation.
Improving indoor air quality might save your life » Yale Climate Connections
Cost-effective ways exist to improve your indoor air quality that will reduce your COVID and flu risk, lower your cancer and lung disease risk, and eliminate headaches and sleepiness caused by poor ve...
yaleclimateconnections.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Fix indoor air pollution and poor ventilation! I often measure CO2 of 2,500 ppm due to poor ventilation in buildings and airplanes. At this level, COVID spreads easily, and brains suffer: test scores can drop 44%. Suggestions: invest in HEPA filtration, ditch your gas stove, improve ventilation.
Smart: RI has a statewide document prioritizing 10,000 crucial assets—infrastructure, healthcare facilities, emergency service—for adaptation funding. Bond proceeds will finance a state revolving loan fund for multi-million-dollar resilience projects; grants will fund smaller design efforts.
What if every state had a plan--and a fund--for climate resilience? Rhode Island’s about to. Read all about it in my column today: susanpcrawford.substack.com/p/a-small-st...
A small state with a big climate plan
Inside Rhode Island’s efforts to pair statewide risk ranking with a permanent resilience loan fund and bottom‑up municipal planning
susanpcrawford.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Smart: RI has a statewide document prioritizing 10,000 crucial assets—infrastructure, healthcare facilities, emergency service—for adaptation funding. Bond proceeds will finance a state revolving loan fund for multi-million-dollar resilience projects; grants will fund smaller design efforts.
A September brookings.edu report, “Who Bears the Burden of Climate Inaction?”, found climate -driven changes in home insurance premiums, home energy costs, and smoke effects on mortality are $400-$900 per household per year, with much higher costs—upward of $1,300 a year—in the hardest-hit places.
New paper demonstrates climate inaction is already hitting U.S. households like a hidden, regressive “climate tax”--but unlike Obamacare, there’s no national coalition or business deal to turn that fact into real climate adaptation progress. Column today: open.substack.com/pub/susanpcr...
Obamacare and climate adaptation have a lot in common
But the deal that made health insurance possible is far less likely in the climate arena
open.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:39 AM
A September brookings.edu report, “Who Bears the Burden of Climate Inaction?”, found climate -driven changes in home insurance premiums, home energy costs, and smoke effects on mortality are $400-$900 per household per year, with much higher costs—upward of $1,300 a year—in the hardest-hit places.