Tim Armstrong
@ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social
NWS meteorologist in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA⛈️
Environmentalist, retro gamer, gardener, birder and space afficionado🚀
Loves: democracy, empathy, Star Trek, Epcot, anime, and cuddly housecats 😸
Environmentalist, retro gamer, gardener, birder and space afficionado🚀
Loves: democracy, empathy, Star Trek, Epcot, anime, and cuddly housecats 😸
www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt
38 days working without pay and our nation's air traffic system is breaking down before our eyes. "Staffing triggers" is FAA-speak for where flights are being curtailed because there aren't enough controllers to safely handle the workload. This list will grow.
38 days working without pay and our nation's air traffic system is breaking down before our eyes. "Staffing triggers" is FAA-speak for where flights are being curtailed because there aren't enough controllers to safely handle the workload. This list will grow.
November 8, 2025 at 4:28 PM
www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_spt
38 days working without pay and our nation's air traffic system is breaking down before our eyes. "Staffing triggers" is FAA-speak for where flights are being curtailed because there aren't enough controllers to safely handle the workload. This list will grow.
38 days working without pay and our nation's air traffic system is breaking down before our eyes. "Staffing triggers" is FAA-speak for where flights are being curtailed because there aren't enough controllers to safely handle the workload. This list will grow.
My solar panels just reached 50 megawatt-hours of energy production since their installation in May 2020, offsetting over 34 tons of CO2 emissions from coal and gas power plants. #solar #electricity
November 5, 2025 at 6:12 PM
My solar panels just reached 50 megawatt-hours of energy production since their installation in May 2020, offsetting over 34 tons of CO2 emissions from coal and gas power plants. #solar #electricity
Just watched the venting second stage pass overhead from today's launch of an Ariane 6 rocket. It carried the Sentinel-1D satellite to orbit.
#Ariane6 #Sentinel-1D
#Ariane6 #Sentinel-1D
November 4, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Just watched the venting second stage pass overhead from today's launch of an Ariane 6 rocket. It carried the Sentinel-1D satellite to orbit.
#Ariane6 #Sentinel-1D
#Ariane6 #Sentinel-1D
#Geology and #Halloween go together like chocolate and peanuts
November 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
#Geology and #Halloween go together like chocolate and peanuts
Happy Halloween! 🌀
November 1, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Happy Halloween! 🌀
Reposted by Tim Armstrong
Alrighty, ready to see something really cool? (and maybe a little nauseating)
The evolution of Hurricane Melissa's mesovortices at peak strength.
The evolution of Hurricane Melissa's mesovortices at peak strength.
October 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Alrighty, ready to see something really cool? (and maybe a little nauseating)
The evolution of Hurricane Melissa's mesovortices at peak strength.
The evolution of Hurricane Melissa's mesovortices at peak strength.
"Last chance to protect your life" may be the most severe headline I've ever seen in an official NWS product. #Melissa now at 892 mb and 185 mph.
October 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
"Last chance to protect your life" may be the most severe headline I've ever seen in an official NWS product. #Melissa now at 892 mb and 185 mph.
Hurricane #Melissa's satellite appearance is frightening. 906 mb and 175 mph winds, will impact Jamaica tonight into Tuesday.
October 27, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Hurricane #Melissa's satellite appearance is frightening. 906 mb and 175 mph winds, will impact Jamaica tonight into Tuesday.
For the second year in a row I helped coworkers clean trash out of Smith Creek here in Wilmington. It was a stunningly beautiful day with sunshine and lower 70s.
October 25, 2025 at 12:43 AM
For the second year in a row I helped coworkers clean trash out of Smith Creek here in Wilmington. It was a stunningly beautiful day with sunshine and lower 70s.
Most private insurers don't offer coastal NC wind insurance policies due to hurricane risk. Over the past 13 years my wind policy premium has increased by 175 percent, probably already pricing out a portion of the population from owning a home here.
Insurers are scaling back in disaster-prone regions as climate change intensifies, forcing homeowners to pay more or risk going without coverage. Read the full story, first published by @yalee360.bsky.social
How Climate Change Is Driving Home Insurance Turmoil
Climate-fueled storms and wildfires are increasing costs and pushing insurers to the limit. Is the market broken?
undark.org
October 20, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Most private insurers don't offer coastal NC wind insurance policies due to hurricane risk. Over the past 13 years my wind policy premium has increased by 175 percent, probably already pricing out a portion of the population from owning a home here.
Didn't expect to hear the term "isentropic lift" used in the first 10 minutes of Tron Ares. Much better movie than I'd expected even without the synoptic meteorology!
October 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Didn't expect to hear the term "isentropic lift" used in the first 10 minutes of Tron Ares. Much better movie than I'd expected even without the synoptic meteorology!
Reposted by Tim Armstrong
A pic my mom sent me from the No Kings demonstration in Brevard, NC
October 18, 2025 at 10:10 PM
A pic my mom sent me from the No Kings demonstration in Brevard, NC
I wasn't sure if the clouds or sun angles would work out, but caught a glimpse of this evening's Starship Flight 11 looking south from Wrightsville Beach, NC. The rocket was traveling eastward just south of the Florida Keys and across the Bahamas with venting gasses lit up by the sun.
October 14, 2025 at 12:07 AM
I wasn't sure if the clouds or sun angles would work out, but caught a glimpse of this evening's Starship Flight 11 looking south from Wrightsville Beach, NC. The rocket was traveling eastward just south of the Florida Keys and across the Bahamas with venting gasses lit up by the sun.
Less than a month until my backyard crop of North Carolina citrus is ready! Changsha Mandarins, Ichang Lemons, and Owari Satsumas.
October 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Less than a month until my backyard crop of North Carolina citrus is ready! Changsha Mandarins, Ichang Lemons, and Owari Satsumas.
Preliminary water level reached 8.38 feet MLLW in Myrtle Beach, the highest since Dec 2023 tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome....
October 10, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Preliminary water level reached 8.38 feet MLLW in Myrtle Beach, the highest since Dec 2023 tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome....
Reposted by Tim Armstrong
This is quite the ridge over the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada.
It's warmer in Moosonee, Ontario—located on the shores of James Bay—than it is down in New Orleans.
It's warmer in Moosonee, Ontario—located on the shores of James Bay—than it is down in New Orleans.
October 5, 2025 at 6:09 PM
This is quite the ridge over the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada.
It's warmer in Moosonee, Ontario—located on the shores of James Bay—than it is down in New Orleans.
It's warmer in Moosonee, Ontario—located on the shores of James Bay—than it is down in New Orleans.
Reposted by Tim Armstrong
Federal workers provide weather forecasts for North Carolinians. Here’s how the shutdown could affect services during hurricane season.
Will government shutdown affect National Weather Service & NC hurricane updates?
Federal workers provide weather forecasts for North Carolinians. Here’s how the shutdown could affect services during hurricane season.
bit.ly
October 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Federal workers provide weather forecasts for North Carolinians. Here’s how the shutdown could affect services during hurricane season.
Hurricane #Helene was tearing through the southern Appalachians one year ago today. An excellent recent blog post from the NC Climate Office @ncsco.bsky.social puts the storm's impacts in historical perspective. #ncwx
September 27, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Hurricane #Helene was tearing through the southern Appalachians one year ago today. An excellent recent blog post from the NC Climate Office @ncsco.bsky.social puts the storm's impacts in historical perspective. #ncwx
Reposted by Tim Armstrong
I stand with PBS.
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
September 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I stand with PBS.
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
I stand with NPR.
I stand with Stephen Colbert.
I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.
I stand with the First Amendment.
PERIOD.*
*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files
Forty-one years ago (Sep 12, 1984) Hurricane Diana was about to make landfall near Cape Fear just south of Wilmington, NC. My storm history page: www.weather.gov/ilm/Diana1984 #ncwx
September 13, 2025 at 1:52 AM
Forty-one years ago (Sep 12, 1984) Hurricane Diana was about to make landfall near Cape Fear just south of Wilmington, NC. My storm history page: www.weather.gov/ilm/Diana1984 #ncwx
High tide on Bradley Creek #WilmingtonNC
September 11, 2025 at 2:12 PM
High tide on Bradley Creek #WilmingtonNC
Tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes: all things that I'm not clever enough to dream up if they didn't happen on this wonderful and weird planet we call home!
![Comic. [Two people on shore looking at body of water] PERSON 1: Hey, where’s that big island we were looking at this morning? PERSON 2 with short hair: Oh, it’s underwater. The ocean’s depth here goes up and down by like ten feet every day. PERSON 1: What? PERSON 2: It’s because the planet has a big moon orbiting near the surface. It causes weird gravity effects. PERSON 1: *What???* [caption] People here are used to them, but tides are one of the weirdest and most sci-fi elements of life on Earth.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreidj2tdqhkgoamiqf5reqt7kvbpt26x3cgjxsp4rtwwb46qumcltdq@jpeg)
September 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Tides, volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes: all things that I'm not clever enough to dream up if they didn't happen on this wonderful and weird planet we call home!
This is remarkable. As federal employees we're required to take whistleblower training ensuring there won't be retaliation for shining light on corruption. But I guess when the White House is nothing but corruption, this is what we get.
Breaking News: FEMA suspended about 30 employees who had told Congress that the Trump administration had gutted the nation’s emergency preparedness.
FEMA Suspends Staff Who Signed a Letter Criticizing Trump
The letter, sent to Congress on Monday, said cuts made by the Trump administration had erased improvements made to disaster response since Hurricane Katrina.
nyti.ms
August 27, 2025 at 6:13 AM
This is remarkable. As federal employees we're required to take whistleblower training ensuring there won't be retaliation for shining light on corruption. But I guess when the White House is nothing but corruption, this is what we get.