Wildfire Smoke In The Northern Plains & Upper Midwest – National Weather Outlook For May 18, 2023

by | May 18, 2023 | Weather

National Weather Forecast

On Thursday, scattered areas of showers and thunderstorms are expected from the Great Lakes back into the Four Corners region. We will also see storm activity in the Southeast. A few record highs will be possible around Portland, OR.

Forecast near-surface smoke between 3 PM Wednesday and Noon Thursday.

Meanwhile, with that cold front diving out of Canada into the Upper Midwest, poor air quality will follow due to a band of Canadian wildfire smoke out of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

A couple of pockets of heavy rain are expected through the end of the week across the lower 48 – one in the southern Plains and another along the Mid-Atlantic coast. For some, rainfall amounts in these areas could top 3”. Only a couple of inches of snow will be possible in the Colorado Rockies

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Formula One’s Emilia Romagna GP called off amid heavy flooding

More from ESPN: “This weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Italy, will not go ahead after extreme weather resulted in flooding in the local area, Formula One announced on Wednesday. F1 held meetings with local authorities and the race promoter on Wednesday before agreeing the event could not proceed safely. “The decision has been taken because it is not possible to safely hold the event for our fans, the teams and our personnel and it is the right and responsible thing to do given the situation faced by the towns and cities in the region,” F1 said in a statement. “It would not be right to put further pressure on the local authorities and emergency services at this difficult time.” … Heavy rainfall in the area resulted in flooding on Tuesday night, leading to concerns the Santerno river, which runs adjacent to the Imola circuit, would overflow. The circuit was evacuated as a precaution earlier on Tuesday following a red weather alert warning of floods and landslides in the area.”

‘Sounding the alarm’: World on track to breach a critical warming threshold in the next five years

More from CNN: “The world is now likely to breach a key climate threshold for the first time within the next five years, according to the World Meteorological Organization, due to a combination of heat-trapping pollution and a looming El Niño. Global temperatures have soared in recent years as the world continues to burn planet-warming fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. And that trend shows no sign of slowing. In its annual climate update, the WMO said that between 2023 and 2027, there is now a 66% chance that the planet’s temperature will climb above 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels for at least one year. As temperatures surge, there is also a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years – and the five-year period as a whole – will be the warmest on record for the planet, the WMO reported.”

Boeing’s new tool lets airlines plan for net zero emissions

More from Axios: “As the aviation industry wrestles with meeting its net zero emissions goal by 2050, Boeing is offering a new tool meant to help executives, policymakers and other leaders explore the risks and rewards of potential pathways. Why it matters: Aviation’s global CO2 emissions have doubled since 1987 and now account for about 2.5% of the worldwide total, according to the World Economic Forum. CO2 output will keep growing as demand for freight and passenger air travel increases — unless the industry undertakes substantial measures to reverse the trend.”

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– D.J. Kayser