Storms

A new report finds several shortcomings in Buffalo's response to a historic December blizzard in which 31 city residents died. The report was released Friday by New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. It says Buffalo’s snow-removal fleet was no match for heavy snow and high winds, and the city fell short in warning residents and providing shelter. Mayor Byron Brown commissioned the report amid questions about why the storm was so devastating in an area accustomed to heavy snow. The 175-page report also found the storm exacerbated existing inequities in the city.

It’s time for residents along the southeastern U.S. coastline to get plans in place as the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway on Thursday. Forecasters and experts are predicting a “near-normal” hurricane season. The director at the National Hurricane Center stressed during a Wednesday news conference that there’s really nothing normal when it comes to hurricanes. Forecasters have predicted 12 to 17 named storms will form with five to nine developing into hurricanes. One to four of those could grow into major hurricanes. Forecasters have a new storm surge model this year and will be able to extend tropical weather outlooks to seven days.

Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters say the cyclone is heading due south toward the western tip of Cuba. National Hurricane Center forecasters said in a 1:30 p.m. advisory Friday that Arlene had sustained winds of 40 miles per hour. It was located about 265 miles west of Fort Myers, Florida, and was moving south at about 5 mph. No storm watches or warnings have been posted for Cuba or Florida. Forecasters say the storm could fall apart before reaching any land. The Atlantic hurricane season officially began Thursday and runs through Nov. 30.

China has warned of the risks posed by advances in artificial intelligence while calling for heightened national security measures. The statement issued after a meeting Tuesday chaired by Communist Party leader and President Xi Jinping underscores the tension between the government’s determination to seize global leadership in cutting-edge technology and concerns about the possible social and political harms of such technologies. It followed a warning by scientists and tech industry leaders in the U.S., including high-level executives at Microsoft and Google, about the perils AI poses to humankind. The official Xinhua News Agency said Xi urged “dedicated efforts to safeguard political security and improve the security governance of internet data and artificial intelligence.”

New York City is sinking under the weight of its skyscrapers, homes, pavement and humanity itself. New research published this month says the city is sinking at an average rate of 1 to 2 millimeters a year. The study sought to estimate how much that process is being hurried along by the weight of its roughly 1 million buildings. The research team calculated that all those structures add up to about 1.7 trillion tons of concrete, metal and glass — about the mass of 4,700 Empire State buildings. While the process is slow, the study's lead researcher says parts of the city will eventually be under water.

Two clashing climatic behemoths, one natural and one with human fingerprints, will square off this summer to determine how quiet or chaotic the Atlantic hurricane season will be. An El Nino is brewing and the natural weather event which warps weather worldwide dramatically dampens hurricane activity.  But at the same time record ocean heat is bubbling up in the Atlantic, partly stoked by human-caused climate change, and it provides boosts of fuel for storms.  This scenario hasn’t happened before. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, like most forecasters, are calling for a near normal season.

Rescuers have evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 12 feet deep along western Myanmar’s coast after powerful Cyclone Mocha injured hundreds and cut off communications. Six deaths were reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia’s least developed countries. Winds blowing up to 130 miles per hour injured more than 700 people among those sheltering in sturdier buildings on the highlands of Sittwe township in Rakhine state, where the cyclone blew ashore Sunday. The Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association said residents moved to roofs and higher floors as the waters rose. Water was still about 5 feet high in flooded areas Monday morning, but rescues were being made as the wind calmed.