From the mind of hyper-Warmist Marshall Shepherd comes this delightful tale of climate doom, which is a new one
Are Your Wiper Blades Moving Fast Enough For Today’s Rainstorms?
Much of the content that I write about comes from the convergence of routine life and being an atmospheric scientist. Yesterday, my family and I were driving home from a college recruiting trip. We encountered very intense rainfall as we entered Gwinnett County, a suburb just northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The wiper blades were at full speed and could not keep up with the intensity of the rainfall. I said to my wife, “The current generation of wiper blade settings are not ready for the climate change-juiced rainstorms of today.” She pulled out her phone and snapped the picture above because she probably knew a Forbes article was coming. Here’s the science behind my statement.
Got that? He was in one heavy rainstorm and because the wipers couldn’t keep up doom is coming
While my observations about wiper blade rates are somewhat anecdotal, here’s what I do know. I had a difficult time seeing the road in that rainstorm yesterday, and the wiper blades on that car were recently installed. My wife also happened to snap a picture of my phone showing the weather radar (picture above). Yes, it’s true. I am a “weather geek,” so it is not uncommon for my phone to be on the radar in these situations. The blue circle indicates the position of our car within that afternoon thunderstorm.
Here’s also what’s not anecdotal. Scientific studies consistently show that rainfall intensities are increasing in the U.S. Rainfall intensity or rate is essentially a measure of how hard it rains. The 2023 U.S. National Climate Assessment report notes, “Since the 1950s, there has been an upward trend in heavy precipitation across the contiguous US…. increase is driven largely by more frequent precipitation extremes, with relatively smaller changes in their intensity.” The Northeast and Midwest have seen the largest increases. Here in the Southeast, total precipitation in the heaviest 1% of days has increased by 37% from 1958 to 2021.
And? That fails to prove anthropogenic causation, just that the Earth is in a typical warm period. Heavy rains happen. They always have. They always will. Sometimes even on high they cannot keep up, so, you slow down or even pull over. You don’t go all cult over it.
BTW, was Marshall traveling in a fossil fueled vehicle?
Read: Hotcold Take: ‘Climate Change’ Means Your Windshield Wipers Are Moving Fast Enough »