Currently — June 3rd, 2022

June 02, 2022

The weather, currently.

The National Hurricane Center has upgraded the area of disturbed weather inbound for South Florida this weekend to "Potential Tropical Cyclone One". That's a lot of words to describe a huge expanse of thunderstorms that may or may not officially become Tropical Storm Alex — the Atlantic Hurricane Season's first storm of the season.

Whether or not this system gets a name or not doesn't really matter. What matters is that parts of Florida are about to get a whole lot of rain.

“Brace for floods,” wrote Currently meteorologist John Morales on Twitter. The National Weather Service is expecting rainfall totals of up to 10 inches (250 mm) by Sunday morning, with higher amounts likely in some locations.

That’s especially worrying for South Florida, where sea level rise and land subsidence has create massive flooding issues in recent years that continue to worsen. "My message continues to be to brace for flooding,” reiterated Morales in another Twitter post, “In recent years [flooding] has become more severe because of global warming. Climate-related factors include a warmer atmosphere which can yield more extreme rainfall rates, and a higher water table because of sea level rise.”

— Eric Holthaus

What you need to know, currently.

If you’re on the Gulf Coast and don’t have plans this weekend, head over to Baton Rouge for the Gulf Gathering for Climate Justice and Joy. Organizers are planning a two day gathering focused on rejecting the false narratives of extractive industries and imagining a sustainable future for the Third Coast.

“For decades, wealthy corporations have extracted our resources, carved up our swamps and forests, and used our region as the nation’s dumping ground. They have done this while offering false promises of wealth and opportunity. Instead, they have funneled the profits into CEO bonuses and corporate tax havens, leaving us with a rapidly shrinking number of jobs in the oil and gas industry, toxic water and air, and no way to pay to clean up their mess,” organizers write.

“This is a pivotal moment to remind our elected leaders that another future is possible…We can have a future where renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and our cultural economies provide good, healthy jobs that sustain our way of life.”