"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot
August is often defined by heat, but this year the Midwest reminded everyone that late summer can bring some of the most damaging storms of the year too. On August 11, a line of powerful storms tore across the region, tracking nearly 400 miles from eastern Iowa through Chicago and into northern Indiana and the Ohio Valley. Wind gusts reached 99 mph in Gary, Indiana, with some damage assessments suggesting gusts closer to 110 mph in the hardest-hit areas, and several tornadoes spun up along the way. It was strong enough, and widespread enough, that it's already being treated as a preliminary derecho, pending official confirmation next year.
Wherever you're reading from, here's what the Tempest network picked up across the country in August.
The month's high came in at 122°F in Mohave Valley, AZ.
La Pine, Oregon takes the record low two months in a row with an August low of 20°F.
Tempest Lookback: Dr. Marty Bell on the Partly Cloudy Podcast
Last month, our Chief Science Officer, Dr. Marty Bell, joined WJBF News Channel 6 for a segment on the science behind Tempest. He walked through our sensor technology, the AI models that power hyperlocal forecasting, and how our connected network of stations makes each forecast sharper over time. It's a good look behind the curtain if you've ever wondered what's happening inside your station, or why your forecast keeps improving the longer your station is running.
CHECK OUT THE FULL INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE
Does your workplace success depend on knowing what's happening with the weather, or what's coming your way? For field and site operations teams, a forecast from the nearest airport isn't enough. TempestOne gives operations and safety leads critical, hyperlocal weather intelligence, from real-time lightning and wind alerts to dashboards built for the exact conditions at your site, not conditions ten miles away. That means faster, better-documented decisions on when to pause work, move crews to safety, and get back up and running. Read how construction teams are reducing weather risk, delays, and liability with site-specific data.
Learn how TempestOne supports field operations decisions >>>
Ninety-one years ago this month, the most intense hurricane ever to make landfall in the U.S. tore through the Florida Keys. According to the National Weather Service, the storm reached Category 5 strength with a landfall pressure of 905 millibars and winds estimated between 150 and 200 mph, a record for landfall intensity that still stands today. It struck Long Key on Labor Day, September 2, with a storm surge of 18 to 20 feet that swept over the low-lying islands.
The toll was severe. NWS records put the death toll at approximately 408, most of them World War I veterans working in a federal camp on the Keys. The storm went on to make a second, weaker landfall near Cedar Key days later before pushing into Georgia and the Carolinas.
Train swept off track by 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
This month our Tempest in the Elements feature is a little different - introducing the newest ProNet station install from WeatherFlow-Tempest! Installed in Los Angeles Harbor in August, this station will support the 2028 Olympic Games alongside the Tempest lifestyle apps and other operations. Excited to have this addition to the network!
As the seasons start to shift, there's no better time to see your station's weather data in a whole new way. The LightMap Weather Display for Tempest turns your real-time weather data into something worth looking at, with temperature, wind, humidity, and more live on your wall without ever reaching for your phone. Built in small batches in the U.S. with an innovative direct-to-acrylic process, it's a clean, modern display that looks as good as it performs. This fall, see your Tempest data like never before - and current owners can get 10% off with code LIGHTMAPS at checkout.
A New Kind of Map: Atmospheric Rivers
Scientists have mapped the world's atmospheric rivers in detail for the first time, tracing the highway-like channels that carry massive bands of water vapor across the globe. Landfall from these systems can trigger floods, blizzards, landslides and even heat waves, but forecasting exactly when and how hard they'll hit has remained difficult. The new global network map, published earlier this summer in Earth System Dynamics, gives researchers a clearer picture of these routes and could improve prediction going forward. Read More >>>
The Science of Extreme Event Attribution
A new National Academies report takes stock of how far extreme event attribution (EEA), the science of linking specific extreme weather events to human-caused climate change, has come since the field was last assessed in 2016. The tools, data and methods behind EEA have matured considerably, boosting confidence in results for some event types. That confidence isn't uniform, though: it's highest for heat waves, cold snaps and large-scale heavy rainfall, all strongly tied to a warming atmosphere, and lowest for small-scale events like severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, where climate models and observational records still fall short. Read More >>>