Tracking Henri And Grace – August 21, 2021

National Weather Forecast

With several systems across the United States Saturday, we’ll be watching scattered storm chances just about from coast to coast. Isolated severe storms are possible. We will also be watching Henri off the East Coast which looks to make landfall in the Northeast on Sunday. That system will bring increased swells and rip currents to the Southeast Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic coast.

Some of the heaviest rain through Sunday will be in the Northern Plains, where over three inches of rain could fall across portions of North Dakota. We will also be watching heavy rain Sunday into early next week across portions of New England in connection to Henri.

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Henri And Grace Update

All eyes are on Henri, which is expected to become a hurricane Saturday as it accelerates northward. It will be at or near hurricane strength on Sunday when it makes landfall in Long Island or southern New England. Now is the time to finish up preparations ahead of Henri in the Northeast.

Hurricane, Tropical Storm, and Storm Surge Warnings and Watches are in place from New Jersey to Cape Cod ahead of this storm. There could be a storm surge of 3-5” on the east side of the storm, which would be across coastal areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, Grace restrengthened into a hurricane over the Bay of Campeche Friday and was due to make landfall in Mexico Friday Night. The storm will start to quickly weaken as it moves farther inland.

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Study finds ‘very concerning’ 74% increase in deaths associated with extreme heat brought on by the climate crisis

More from CNN: “A pair of new studies out Thursday find a “very concerning” rise in the number of climate-related deaths and paint a picture of world where people struggle with regular temperature extremes. One of the studies finds the number of deaths caused by high temperatures increased by 74% globally between 1980 and 2016. Deaths related to extreme cold increased 31% since 1990, a new report, the first of its kind, finds. Human-caused climate change — generated by carbon, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions from industry, transportation, and agriculture — has led to a “new normal” with more days of extreme temperatures than in recorded history. The studies published Thursday provide more evidence that both hot and cold extremes can be deadly.”

As California’s fire season ramps up, “unprecedented” is getting a lot of use

More from the Grist: “The CalFire and Forest Service incident report for the fast-moving Caldor Fire points to dry fuels and wind. In California, climate change hasn’t changed the total precipitation over the long-term, but it has increased temperatures, drying out the trees, shrubs, and forest floors, said Leroy Westerling, a University of California, Merced professor who studies the way climate change affects wildfires. “You’ve had warmer temperatures for a long time now, and the variability of precipitation has increased, but the total amount of precipitation hasn’t increased to keep pace with increased evaporation, so you are basically getting drier and drier fuels,” Westerling told Grist. That means that big fires like this, that generate their own weather and behave in new unpredictable ways, “are going to become more and more common,” he said. California currently has five active fires over 50,000 acres. With some 10,000 personnel working around the state, “we’re kind of getting to that point where we are seeing a draw on firefighters,” said Tolmachaff of CalFire. “It’s not as bad as last year when we had the lightning siege, but it’s getting there.””

Rain falls on peak of Greenland ice cap for first time on record

More from The Guardian: “Rain has fallen on the summit of Greenland’s huge ice cap for the first time on record. Temperatures are normally well below freezing on the 3,216-metre (10,551ft) peak, and the precipitation is a stark sign of the climate crisis. Scientists at the US National Science Foundation’s summit station saw rain falling throughout 14 August but had no gauges to measure the fall because the precipitation was so unexpected. Across Greenland, an estimated 7bn tonnes of water was released from the clouds. The rain fell during an exceptionally hot three days in Greenland when temperatures were 18C higher than average in places. As a result, melting was seen in most of Greenland, across an area about four times the size of the UK.”

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

– D.J. Kayser