Consider This from NPR - Wild weather spreads across the U.S.

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

In Washington, D.C., the federal government is closed – as are most of the schools in the area. That's because the first major snow storm in about three years barreled in Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Southern U.S. is preparing for another storm that could paralyze parts of Texas, Arkansas and Northern Louisiana. And Southern California is preparing for "life threatening, destructive gusts" driving wildfires. That's a lot of wild weather...so what's going on?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.orgEmail us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

People who love snow have been waiting years for this moment. By this I pronounce the beginning of the Meridian Chilp. Charge! In Washington DC, hundreds of snowballs flew through the air Monday in a snowball fight that was open to all. And since work and school were cancelled across most of the city, lots of people showed up. Michael Lippin was one of the organizers. It's been a decade. So we're here to recreate some of the magic from 10 years ago.

Maybe not exactly a decade, but it has been a long time since a storm as big as this one swept from the Midwest through to the East Coast. The National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings in at least half a dozen states, covering more than 34 million Americans. In Kansas City, Missouri, Stephen Coranda taught his first grader, Elden, how to use a snowblower.

All right, he's off. He's snow blowing. That's too fast. And in Cincinnati, Ohio, the city set a record of more than four inches of snow. Ms. Starr thought it was perfect weather to grill dinner on her back porch. I like to grill in the snow because then I'm not sweating

and I'll irritate it. Of course, winter storms aren't all snowball fights and barbecues. There were also major disruptions and even fatalities. By late Monday morning, more than 300,000 people had lost power, more than a third of those in Virginia. Thousands of flights were cancelled. In Missouri alone, the State Highway Patrol reported more than 300 vehicle crashes. So that's what some parts of the country have been dealing with.

And now, other parts of the US are looking ahead to their own extreme weather forecasts. Parts of Texas are under a winter storm watch. Governor Greg Abbott issued a state of emergency there. And out west, Southern California is bracing for hurricane-strength winds, creating dangerous conditions for fire. Forecasters say it could be one of the most destructive wind storms to hit Southern California. of the most destructive wind storms to hit Southern California. Consider this. As some parts of the country are digging out from extreme weather, others are about to face major storms.

What do these events have to do with climate change, and how are they affecting people around the country? From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. It's Consider This from NPR. Here in Washington, the federal government is closed, as are most of the schools in the area. That's because of the first major snowstorm in about three years barreled in Sunday night. Meanwhile, the southern US is preparing for another storm

that could paralyze parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Northern Louisiana. And Southern California is preparing for life-threatening destructive gusts that could last for days. That's a lot of wild weather. So what's going on? Well, let's bring in LAist reporter,

Jacob Margolis and Rachel Oger Lindley of the Texas Newsroom in Dallas. Good to have you both here. Thanks so much. Yeah, good to be here. Let's start in California, Jacob, with you. Southern California is seeing these very strong winds. As I just said, those are driving wildfires.

What's happening where you are? What we're experiencing right now is one of the strongest wind events that we've seen in years. It's so strong that the National Weather Service actually called it a particularly dangerous situation. And that's because we're seeing strong wind gusts potentially in some spots up to a hundred miles per hour from Santa Barbara all the way down to San Diego, essentially all of coastal Southern California, where tens of millions of people live. Now, strong winds during this time of year are normal. We call them the Santa Ana winds.

It's Santa Ana wind season, essentially winds that blow towards the coast. But the big problem is that it is also very, very dry and the fire risk is very high. So what is the fire situation right now? An absolute nightmare. We have not had rain for 260 plus days here, so everything's very dry. The winds also dry everything out. And when a fire does start up

and you have winds this strong, they can actually throw embers a mile plus ahead of the fire front itself, starting spot fires up all over the place, making it all but impossible for firefighters to contain, especially in mountainous terrain like we have here in Southern California. Well, to turn to Texas, Rachel, the forecast in your part of the country is very different. You're in Dallas where there's a winter storm warning heading toward North Texas and neighboring

states. What's the expectation? Well, it has been pretty cold here since Sunday around freezing in many parts of the state and now we're expecting possibly three to six inches of snow and sleet across the northern parts of the state including Dallas and that's expected to start late Wednesday peak on Thursday and continue into Friday. Now three to six inches may not seem like a big deal if you're listening from some place like Michigan, but winter weather like this only happens a few times a year in Texas, so it can be pretty disruptive to the state's infrastructure. And while these cold snaps aren't unusual for this time of year, psychologically when we get these storms now, it is far more stressful for Texans than before. And that's because you may remember back in 2021, we had a winter freeze that

overwhelmed the state's power grid, and it left millions of people across Texas that power for days. So many still have vivid memories from that storm, which was ultimately blamed for more than 240 deaths. Yeah. So is Texas more prepared this time? Yes. Well, you know, Texas has made several electric grid changes since 2021. For instance, there are new weatherization requirements for power plants and things like that. But right now, ERCOT, which manages the state's electric grid, is asking Texans to conserve power. And that's because they're predicting an increased demand for electricity amid the cold. Still,

though, ERCOT is saying that the electrical grid conditions should be normal through this cold snap and local municipalities, they've also beefed up their own infrastructure since 2021. But of course, there's still a chance of local outages with this weather. But one thing that I've really noticed is that Texans are not leaving things to chance with these sorts of situations anymore. Since 2021, a lot of people in the state have bought generators, including myself and sorts of situations anymore. Since 2021, a lot of people in the state have bought generators, including myself and many of my neighbors. Soterios Johnson And California's grid has also struggled to keep up during bad storms in the past.

Jacob, are people concerned about how the state's prepared to handle that? Jacob Leach Well, you know, we've really responded in a pretty big way to wildfires in regards to the grid. And one of the big things that we have done and important tool is that utilities are essentially de-energizing lines throughout the state when you do get these really big wind events. Because one of the big concerns is these lines of power lines throughout the state can spark and start wildfires. And we've seen that a number of times. So that is a major kind of tool in the toolbox

that we've been using lately. Anytime there are severe weather events, people wonder whether and how it's linked to climate change. What can you tell us about the connection here? Well, there's not a connection to this that I'm aware of. A meteorologist I talked with earlier today at the National Weather Service said, these cold snaps aren't unusual for Texas this time of year, but did point out that the sheer volume of snow or sleet that

we could see this week is abnormally high. And Santa Ana winds, completely normal for this time of year, but the place we see climate impacts are hotter temperatures, which dry out our landscapes, which of course set the stage for really gnarly fires. Well, as we are digging out here in Washington, DC, we are wishing you the best in Southern California and in Texas. Jacob Margolis in Los Angeles

and Rachel Oger Lindley in Dallas. Thank you both so much for your reporting. Thank you. You're welcome. This episode was produced by Brianna Scott and Catherine Fink. It was edited by Rachel Waldholz and Courtney Dornig. NPR's Liz Baker and Nick Swartzall of member station WVXU contributed additional reporting. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan.

It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.