Cisco Sonar

Weather……

Bryce Nielson, Cisco Sonar

I don’t know if you have noticed, but in the last few years the lead stories on the National Newscasts are weather related disasters.  Floods, tornados, heavy rain and snow, hurricanes and drought are the star players.  Maybe it is because there are more people to be impacted now or that the weather is changing.  It used to be called “global warming” which was a political term generated to create potential threats so government could put more restrictions on big business and us.  I never bought into the Global Warming theory because it put all the blame on humans and it occurred in a short period of time.  My scientific background causes me to think in terms of thousands of years, not just ten or a hundred. Every natural thing has variation and seldom is static.

The new buzz word now is “Climate Change”.  This makes more sense to me because it references extended changes and trends and includes more causes than human.  I feel more comfortable with data but there are problems of comparing now with the past. Weather observations in the United States started with simple data points in the late 1800’s is now compared to countless data points using more sophisticated instruments in the 2000’s.  But there is something going on, I can feel in my bones.

As the Rich County Emergency Manager, I have spent years working with the State trying to prepare for emergencies.  During that time the focus has been on a large earthquake which will occur sometime in the future.  After observing how many people were lost in 2015, it became readily apparent to me that Extreme Weather Events, (EWE) were a significantly greater threat to loss of life and property than earthquakes.

One EWE is an intense thunderstorms dumping inches of rain in a localized spot in a matter of minutes causing instantaneous flash floods.  Remember cars floating down the interstate below St. George, the lives lost in Hilldale and Zions?  How would we react if an EWE occurred on Sagebrush Flat and a flood came down the short canyon above Harbor Village?  The horrible loss of life on Bear Lake last spring was caused by microburst storm mixed up with the effects of Fish Haven Canyon and the Lake weather.  It is interesting to note that the average length of a thunderstorm is 27 minutes.  As I think about it, when one hits Bear Lake everyone tries to get off immediately but by the time they risk everything and get to shore it is over.   It may be better to just leave your boat in gear facing the waves and ride it out.

The best way to face these threats is to be cognizant of what happening around you and take appropriate actions.  Get an app on your phone so you can check incoming weather and make decisions appropriately.  Pay attention to lightning which typically kills more people in Utah than any other weather event.  Learn about weather at www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc and you will be at the site where all the TV forecasters get their information.  Set your own location for immediate updates.  Look at flows of the Bear River.  Find “weather spotters” under Weather Safety and become one.

So now when you get up in the morning and start thinking about your day, also think about the weather and be safe.