# Tavily Search Results: Dusty

**Query:** Latest US extreme weather  
**Topic:** news  
**Results:** 5  
**Date:** 2026-03-07 01:25:33

---

## 1. Reliability risk isn’t just about capacity anymore - Utility Dive

**URL:** [https://www.utilitydive.com/news/winter-texas-reliability-risk-capacity-ercot/811748/](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/winter-texas-reliability-risk-capacity-ercot/811748/)  
**Score:** 0.3645

### Summary

### Recommended Reading

 DOE orders diesel generators to be ready as electric sector prepares for Winter Storm Fern

  By
  Robert Walton
  •
  Jan. 23, 2026
 Extreme weather shows need for dispatchable resources, new transmission: FERC commissioners

  By
  Ethan Howland
  •
  Jan. 19, 2024
 Record 13% of Eastern Interconnect capacity failed in Winter Storm Elliott: FERC, NERC

  By
  Ethan Howland
  •
  Sept. 22, 2023

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### Editors’ picks

 ### DOE loans Southern $26.5B for 5 GW of new gas, other grid investments [...] Extreme weather is increasingly looking like the new baseline rather than a tail event. Uri was once considered a black swan event. Elliott and Fern show that multi‑day, extreme cold events are now common. As NERC recommends in the report, planning tools must shift from peak-based adequacy to all‑hours probability and extreme‑condition energy risk.
 Weatherization and operational discipline work. The dramatic improvement in generator performance from Uri to Fern underscores that institutional reforms matter. Mandatory inspections, fuel‑supply programs and operational rigor can prevent catastrophic outcomes. [...] Skip to main content

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# Reliability risk isn’t just about capacity anymore

Winter Storm Fern showed that the integration of flexible resources paired with improved weatherization and better market structures can materially reduce risk during extreme weather.

Published March 6, 2026

By
Tapas Peshin

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Tapas Peshin is senior product manager at PCI Energy Solutions.

The North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s latest Long‑Term Reliability Assessment makes one point clear: the North American grid is moving deeper into an era of structural reliability risk.

### Full Content

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# Reliability risk isn’t just about capacity anymore

Winter Storm Fern showed that the integration of flexible resources paired with improved weatherization and better market structures can materially reduce risk during extreme weather.

Published March 6, 2026

By
Tapas Peshin

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Tapas Peshin is senior product manager at PCI Energy Solutions.

The North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s latest Long‑Term Reliability Assessment makes one point clear: the North American grid is moving deeper into an era of structural reliability risk.

Demand is growing faster than firm resources and transmission. Retirements are outpacing additions of dispatchable capacity. And the system is becoming more dependent on inverter‑based and weather‑dependent resources. Out of the 23 assessment areas in the report, 13 now face elevated or high reliability risk in the coming decade.

Those numbers matter, of course. But they also hide something else emerging beneath the surface: The most acute reliability risks today come not from a shortage of installed megawatts, but from the widening gap between how we model reliability and how the grid actually performs under operational stress.

Traditional resource adequacy frameworks are built around seasonal or annual peaks. But the grid’s actual vulnerabilities now emerge in fast‑moving operational intervals — ramp hours, extreme weather, fuel constraints, reserve shortages and mismatches between market incentives and operational needs.

Battery storage illustrates this perfectly. Planning models often treat storage as static capacity, but its reliability contribution varies from hour to hour, depending on charging opportunities, market rules and reserve commitments. It’s tempting to treat battery storage as just “another MW,” but doing so can seriously overstate its contribution in multi‑day or forecast‑error events.

Meanwhile, large flexible loads like data centers, crypto facilities and electrified industry do not respond to planning assumptions but to market prices and operational conditions. Their behavior can either support the grid or amplify stress.

And if you want to see that shift play out in real time, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ last five years tell the story.

### ERCOT’s five‑year case study: from Uri to Elliott to Fern

Winter Storm Uri in 2021 remains the defining reliability failure of the modern ERCOT grid. The event brought widespread subfreezing temperatures, massive generator outages across all fuel types, severe natural gas constraints, record [outages exceeding 50 GW](https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2021/04/28/ERCOT_Winter_Storm_Generator_Outages_By_Cause_Updated_Report_4.27.21.pdf) and over [20,000 MW](https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2023/10/11/54584-ERCOT-Reliability-Standard-Study-Information-re-McAdams-Memo-AIS-Final.pdf) of load shed.

Keep up with the story. Subscribe to the Utility Dive free daily newsletter

ERCOT lost [48.6% of installed capacity at the peak of the crisis](https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10400566#:~:text=A%20major%20blackout%20occurred%20in,mild%20when%20compared%20with%20Texas.) and entered Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 (EEA3) for the first time in a decade. Transmission owners could not rotate outages due to the magnitude of unavailability. Weatherization standards were minimal, oversight was limited and fuel‑electric coordination was almost nonexistent. Uri’s legacy was a grid that learned, painfully, that traditional assumptions about thermal reliability, fuel deliverability and weather performance were wrong.

One year later, ERCOT faced another test with Winter Storm Elliott in December 2022. Demand [hit a winter record of 74,100 MW](https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2023/03/27/December-2022-Cold-Weather-Operations-Public-Report.pdf), yet ERCOT maintained comfortable r

*[Content truncated...]*

---

## 2. Strong tornado threat brewing for millions across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas with severe weather ramping up - FOX Weather

**URL:** [https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/severe-storms-threaten-millions-friday-multi-day-severe-outbreak](https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/severe-storms-threaten-millions-friday-multi-day-severe-outbreak)  
**Score:** 0.3529

### Summary

Potential hail size on Friday.  
(FOX Weather)

 The atmosphere will be able to support supercell thunderstorms capable of generating hail larger than 3 inches in diameter, and tornadoes.

Strong tornadoes are possible from Kansas City to Wichita to Oklahoma City during the early evening hours Friday.

Potential tornado intensity threat on Friday.  
(FOX Weather)

Overnight, as a cold front pushes farther east-southeast, damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes will be possible from Illinois southward through Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.

Tags

 Severe Weather
 Forecast
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 Texas
 Missouri
 Oklahoma
 Arkansas
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 Tornadoes
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 Fox Weather
 Stay22
 Thunderstorms [...] A severe weather outbreak is likely across parts of the Plains and Midwest beginning Friday afternoon, where millions could see "monster hail" and tornadoes develop.

A broader severe weather threat is targeting more than 63 million people, spanning more than 1,500 miles from Texas to Michigan.

SEVERE STORMS TO REIGNITE THREATS OF DAMAGING HAIL, WIND, POSSIBLE TORNADOES ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS NEXT WEEK

Severe storm threat on Friday.  
(FOX Weather)

This comes on the heels of deadly severe storms that rumbled through the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma Thursday. [...] According to the FOX Forecast Center, an outbreak of severe storms is likely across the Southern Plains beginning Friday afternoon. There will be two primary areas to watch for severe storm development. The first round of storms is expected to develop during the mid- to late afternoon near the surface low across Kansas and the Missouri Valley, with the primary threats being monster hail and tornadoes. Overnight, as the cold front pushes farther east-southeast, all severe hazards will be possible from Illinois southward through Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.  A broader severe weather threat targets more than 63 million people Friday, spanning more than 1,500 miles from Texas to Michigan.

### Full Content

[Fox Weather](https://www.foxweather.com/)

[The FOX Weather App Learn More](https://www.foxweather.com/app)

[Weather News](https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news)

**Published**  **Updated**

# Strong tornado threat brewing for millions across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas with severe weather ramping up

## A broader severe weather threat targets more than 63 million people Friday, spanning more than 1,500 miles from Texas to Michigan.

By [Kieran Sullivan](https://www.foxweather.com/person/s/kieran-sullivan) , [Julian Atienza](https://www.foxweather.com/person/a/julian-atienza)   Source **[FOX Weather](https://www.foxweather.com/)**

[03:14](#)

## Severe weather outbreak likely Friday across Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas, 'monster hail' expected

According to the FOX Forecast Center, an outbreak of severe storms is likely across the Southern Plains beginning Friday afternoon. There will be two primary areas to watch for severe storm development. The first round of storms is expected to develop during the mid- to late afternoon near the surface low across Kansas and the Missouri Valley, with the primary threats being monster hail and tornadoes. Overnight, as the cold front pushes farther east-southeast, all severe hazards will be possible from Illinois southward through Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.  A broader severe weather threat targets more than 63 million people Friday, spanning more than 1,500 miles from Texas to Michigan.

A [severe weather](https://www.foxweather.com/category/severe-weather) outbreak is likely across parts of the Plains and [Midwest](https://www.foxweather.com/category/midwest) beginning Friday afternoon, where millions could see "monster [hail](https://www.foxweather.com/category/hail)" and [tornadoes](https://www.foxweather.com/category/tornadoes) develop.

A broader severe weather threat is targeting more than 63 million people, spanning more than 1,500 miles from [Texas](https://www.foxweather.com/category/texas) to [Michigan](https://www.foxweather.com/category/michigan).

[**SEVERE STORMS TO REIGNITE THREATS OF DAMAGING HAIL, WIND, POSSIBLE TORNADOES ACROSS CENTRAL PLAINS NEXT WEEK**](https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/central-plains-to-face-more-threats-damaging-hail-wind-possible-tornadoes-next-week)

Severe storm threat on Friday.  
**(FOX Weather)**

---

This comes on the heels of deadly severe storms that rumbled through the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma Thursday.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Friday that a mother and daughter were killed in Major County during Thursday night's storms. The emergency management department in Fairview, Oklahoma, shared video on social media of a large possible tornado just west of the city late Thursday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Norman confirmed at least three tornadoes by midday Friday, with surveys still ongoing.

FOX Weather Meteorologist Ari Sarsalari tracked a spotter-confirmed tornado Thursday night outside of Quail, Texas.

[**WHAT IS A SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM?**](https://www.foxweather.com/learn/what-is-a-supercell-thunderstorm)

[00:20](#)

## Severe weather brings possible tornadoes to the South

Lightning lit up the night sky over Fairview, Oklahoma on Thursday, revealing a possible tornado. Severe weather has been ripping through parts of the South throughout the week, with the threat expected to strengthen on Friday.

On Friday, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 5 risk of severe thunderstorms across parts of [Oklahoma](https://www.foxweather.com/category/oklahoma), [Texas](https://www.foxweather.com/category/texas), [Missouri](https://www.foxweather.com/category/missouri), [Arkansas](https://www.foxweather.com/category/arkansas), [Kansas,](https://www.foxweather.com/category/kansas) [Nebraska,](https://www.foxweather.com/category/nebraska) and [Iowa](https://www.foxweather.com/category/iowa).

Two primary areas of storms are expected to develop Friday.

According to the FOX Forecast Center, the first round of storms is expected to develop during the mid-to-late afternoon as an area of low pressure close to the surface moves across Kansas and the Missouri Valley.

Potential hail size on Friday.  
**(FOX Weather)**

---

 The atmosphere will be able to support supercell thunderstorms capable of generating hail larger than 3 inches in diameter, and tornadoes.

Strong tornadoes are possible from Kansas City to [Wichita](https://www.foxweather.com/local-weather/kansas/wichita) to Oklahoma City during the early evening hours Friday.

Potential tornado intensity threat on Friday.  
**(FOX Weather)**

---

Overnight, as a cold front pushes farther east-southeast, damaging wind gusts, hail and tornadoes will be possible from Illinois southward through Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.

Tags

* **[Severe Weather](https://www.foxweather.com/category/severe-weather)**
* **[Forecast](https://www.foxweather.com/category/forecast)**
* **[Atmosphere](https://www.foxweather.com/categ

*[Content truncated...]*

---

## 3. A bout of severe weather peaks in the central region on Friday. What to know. - The Washington Post

**URL:** [https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/03/06/severe-weather-tornadoes-forecast-texas-oklahoma/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026/03/06/severe-weather-tornadoes-forecast-texas-oklahoma/)  
**Score:** 0.2992

### Summary

Democracy Dies in Darkness

# A bout of severe weather peaks in the central region on Friday. What to know.

The storms could produce damaging gusts, large hail and a few strong tornadoes.

4 min

Make us preferred on Google

Storm clouds pass over downtown Chicago in July 2023. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

By 
Matthew Cappucci

 and

Ben Noll

A multiday spate of severe weather peaks Friday for parts of the Plains and Mississippi Valley, with storm chances spanning from Chicago to south of Dallas. Damaging winds and hail will be possible, but the main concern will be tornadoes — including a few that may be strong.

Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.

 Noah Robertson [...] Today at 6:00 a.m. EST
 Marianne LeVine

  , 

  Isaac Arnsdorf

  , 

  Brianna Sacks

   and 

  Theodoric Meyer

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  March 5, 2026
 Shane O’Neill

  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.

  Today at 5:00 a.m. EST
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 Column

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  Carolyn Hax: She would skip a reunion over sister-in-law’s ‘Olympic swimmer’ bod

  Today at 12:00 a.m. EST

 1

  Noah Robertson

  , 

  Ellen Nakashima

   and 

  Warren Strobel

  Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say
 2

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  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.
 3 [...] Noah Robertson

  , 

  Ellen Nakashima

   and 

  Warren Strobel

  Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say

  Earlier today
 Shane O’Neill

  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.

  Earlier today
 Lauren Kaori Gurley

  The U.S. labor market lost 92,000 jobs in February in warning sign for economy

  1 hour ago
 Column

  Carolyn Hax

  Carolyn Hax: She would skip a reunion over sister-in-law’s ‘Olympic swimmer’ bod

  Earlier today
 Jeff Stein

  Democrat’s plan would eliminate federal income taxes for half of U.S. workers

  March 5, 2026
 Natalie Allison

  In Texas, Trump flirts with defying his own movement

  Earlier today

By 
Matthew Cappucci

### Full Content

Democracy Dies in Darkness

# A bout of severe weather peaks in the central region on Friday. What to know.

The storms could produce damaging gusts, large hail and a few strong tornadoes.

4 min

[Make us preferred on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=washingtonpost.com)

Storm clouds pass over downtown Chicago in July 2023. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)

By 
[Matthew Cappucci](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/matthew-cappucci/)

 and

[Ben Noll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ben-noll/)

A multiday spate of severe weather peaks Friday for parts of the Plains and Mississippi Valley, with storm chances spanning from Chicago to south of Dallas. Damaging winds and hail will be possible, but the main concern will be tornadoes — including a few that may be strong.

[Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/climate-coach/?method=SURL&location=ART&initiative=CTA)

---

* [Noah Robertson

  , 

  Ellen Nakashima

   and 

  Warren Strobel

  Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say

  Earlier today](/national-security/2026/03/06/russia-iran-intelligence-us-targets/)
* [Shane O’Neill

  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.

  Earlier today](/style/fashion/2026/03/06/lily-allen-receipts-dress/)
* [Lauren Kaori Gurley

  The U.S. labor market lost 92,000 jobs in February in warning sign for economy

  1 hour ago](/business/2026/03/06/february-jobs-unemployment/)
* [Column

  Carolyn Hax

  Carolyn Hax: She would skip a reunion over sister-in-law’s ‘Olympic swimmer’ bod

  Earlier today](/advice/2026/03/06/carolyn-hax-sister-in-law-body-vacation/)
* [Jeff Stein

  Democrat’s plan would eliminate federal income taxes for half of U.S. workers

  March 5, 2026](/business/2026/03/05/middle-class-tax-relief-senate-bill/)
* [Natalie Allison

  In Texas, Trump flirts with defying his own movement

  Earlier today](/politics/2026/03/06/trump-cornyn-paxton-maga-base/)

By 
[Matthew Cappucci](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/matthew-cappucci/)

Matthew Cappucci is a meteorologist for Capital Weather Gang. He earned a B.A. in atmospheric sciences from Harvard University in 2019, and has contributed to The Washington Post since he was 18. He is an avid storm chaser and adventurer, and covers all types of weather, climate science, and astronomy.
[follow on X@MatthewCappucci](https://x.com/@MatthewCappucci)

By 
[Ben Noll](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/ben-noll/)

Ben Noll is a meteorologist passionate about explaining the why behind the weather, extreme events and climate trends. He has expertise in data analysis, supercomputer-driven graphics and forecasting weather worldwide.
[follow on X@BenNollWeather](https://x.com/@BenNollWeather)

* [Noah Robertson

  , 

  Ellen Nakashima

   and 

  Warren P. Strobel

  Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say

  Today at 6:00 a.m. EST](/national-security/2026/03/06/russia-iran-intelligence-us-targets/)
* [Marianne LeVine

  , 

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  , 

  Brianna Sacks

   and 

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  Trump removes DHS Secretary Kristi Noem after controversial tenure

  March 5, 2026](/climate-environment/2026/03/05/kristi-noem-fired-trump-dhs/)
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  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.

  Today at 5:00 a.m. EST](/style/fashion/2026/03/06/lily-allen-receipts-dress/)
* [Natalie Allison

  In Texas, Trump flirts with defying his own movement

  Today at 5:00 a.m. EST](/politics/2026/03/06/trump-cornyn-paxton-maga-base/)
* [Column

  Carolyn Hax

  Carolyn Hax: She would skip a reunion over sister-in-law’s ‘Olympic swimmer’ bod

  Today at 12:00 a.m. EST](/advice/2026/03/06/carolyn-hax-sister-in-law-body-vacation/)

* [1

  Noah Robertson

  , 

  Ellen Nakashima

   and 

  Warren Strobel

  Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say](/national-security/2026/03/06/russia-iran-intelligence-us-targets/)
* [2

  Shane O’Neill

  Lily Allen’s new revenge dress is peak pettiness. We’re here for it.](/style/fashion/2026/03/06/lily-allen-receipts-dress/)
* [3

  Lauren Kaori Gurley

  The U.S. labor market lost 92,000 jobs in February in warning sign for economy](/business/2026/03/06/february-jobs-unemployment/)
* [4

  Column

  Carolyn Hax

  Carolyn Hax: She would skip a reunion over sister-in-law’s ‘Olympic swimmer’ bod](/advice/2026/03/06/carolyn-hax-sister-in-law-body-vacation/)
* [5

  Jeff Stein

  Democrat’s plan would eliminate federal income taxes for half of U.S. workers](/business/2026/03/05/middle-class-tax-relief-senate-bill/)

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---

## 4. Heat waves that spark damaging droughts are happening more frequently, study finds - Greenwich Time

**URL:** [https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/heat-waves-that-spark-damaging-droughts-are-21959660.php](https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/heat-waves-that-spark-damaging-droughts-are-21959660.php)  
**Score:** 0.2710

### Summary

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Article continues below this ad

Weaver was not part of the study, but he lives in the Pacific Northwest, where the 2021 heat dome and drought was what Kim called a top example of what they see rapidly increasing. Others include the 2022 heat and drought around China's Yangtze River and the 2023-24 record heat and drought in the Amazon, Kim said.

“The 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome illustrates how quickly these compound extremes can escalate — temperatures near 50°C (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in Lytton (British Columbia) were followed by rapid drying and extreme wildfire conditions that destroyed the community,” Weaver, a former Canadian legislator, said in an email. [...] Researchers from South Korea and Australia looked at compound extreme weather — a one-two punch of heat and drought — and found it increasing as the world warms. But what's rising especially fast is the more damaging type when the heat comes first and that triggers the drought. In the 1980s, that kind of extreme covered only about 2.5% of Earth's land each year. By 2023, the last year the researchers studied, it was up to 16.7%, with a 10-year average of 7.9%

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The average has likely gone even higher with 2024's record global heat and a 2025 that was nearly as warm, the study's authors said.

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3 men arrested in Greenwich with fake IDs, credit card re-encoder, police say [...] In addition to long-term warming causing more compound extremes, Kim said they saw a speeding-up in the way heat went from land to air and back again just before that 2000 change point. He and Yeh speculated that Earth may have crossed a “tipping point" where the change is irreversible.

Several aspects of Earth's climate and ecological systems changed in the late 1990s, with a possible trigger by a major El Nino event in 1997-98, said Gerald Meehl, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who wasn't part of the study. But he added that it's hard to tell whether they are permanent changes.

Some computer models forecast another major El Nino — a natural warming of parts of the Pacific that warp weather worldwide — brewing later this year.

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# Heat waves that spark damaging droughts are happening more frequently, study finds

By 

SETH BORENSTEIN
, 
AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Heat waves that lead to sudden and damaging drought are spreading across the globe at an accelerating rate, highlighting how climate change-fueled extremes can build dangerously off each other, a new study found.

Researchers from South Korea and Australia looked at compound extreme weather — a one-two punch of heat and drought — and found it increasing as the world warms. But what's rising especially fast is the more damaging type when the heat comes first and that triggers the drought. In the 1980s, that kind of extreme covered only about 2.5% of Earth's land each year. By 2023, the last year the researchers studied, it was up to 16.7%, with a 10-year average of 7.9%

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The average has likely gone even higher with 2024's record global heat and a 2025 that was nearly as warm, the study's authors said.

More News

[3 men arrested in Greenwich with fake IDs, credit card re-encoder, police say](/news/article/greenwich-id-theft-arrests-card-re-encoder-21952856.php)

[Officers detained the men after they were found trying to return a stolen item to obtain funds from a store, according to police.](/news/article/greenwich-id-theft-arrests-card-re-encoder-21952856.php)

[Greenwich man killed in New Canaan crash was a born salesman, sons say](/news/article/greenwich-gary-berner-fatal-crash-new-canaan-21952839.php)

[Gary Glenn Berger of Greenwich, who died in a car crash in New Canaan, was a natural salesman, his sons said.](/news/article/greenwich-gary-berner-fatal-crash-new-canaan-21952839.php)

[3 NY men facing 100s of counts of fraud-related charges in Greenwich, police say](/news/article/greenwich-scheme-chinese-organized-crime-groups-21952511.php)

[One of the men charged is facing 487 counts, police said.](/news/article/greenwich-scheme-chinese-organized-crime-groups-21952511.php)

[Greenwich schools open enrollment to Central Middle to balance class sizes](/news/article/greenwich-open-enrollment-central-middle-school-21945335.php)

[“This is a wonderful opportunity to open the doors of a brand new building to all middle schooler residents in town,” said Alison Walsh, co-president of the Greenwich school's PTA.](/news/article/greenwich-open-enrollment-central-middle-school-21945335.php)

[Burglar nabbed while hiding inside Greenwich home, police say](/news/article/greenwich-home-burglary-rojas-urriola-arrest-21948898.php)

[Police said two people were caught on camera involved to the initial reported burglary.](/news/article/greenwich-home-burglary-rojas-urriola-arrest-21948898.php)

In their study published in Friday's [Science Advances](https://www.science.org/journal/sciadv), the scientists said the quickening rate of change is even more concerning than the raw numbers. For about the first two decades since 1980 they examined, the spread of heat-first extremes increased, but the rate in the last 22 years is eight times higher than the earlier rate, the study found.

Events where drought happens first, followed by high heat, remain more common and are also rising. But the researchers focused on those increasing cases where heat struck first. That's because when heat strikes first, the droughts are stronger than when the droughts come first or don't come with high heat, said co-author Sang-Wook Yeh, a climate scientist at Hanyang University in South Korea.

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They also lead to "flash droughts,'' which are more damaging than ordinary droughts because they come on suddenly, not allowing people and farmers to prepare, said lead author Yong-Jun Kim, a Hanyang climate scientist.

Flash droughts — when warmer air gets thirstier it sucks more water out of soil — have been increasing in a warming world, past studies show.

“The study illustrates a key point about climate change: the most damaging impacts often come from compound extremes. When heat waves, drought, and wildfire risk occur together — as we saw in events like the [Russian heat wave of 2010](https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/heatwave-in-russia-45069/) or the Australian bushfires in 2019-20 — the impacts can escalate quickly,” said Andrew Weaver, a

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## 5. Disaster declared: Feds approve winter freeze call for help - South Florida Reporter

**URL:** [https://southfloridareporter.com/disaster-declared-feds-approve-winter-freeze-call-for-help/](https://southfloridareporter.com/disaster-declared-feds-approve-winter-freeze-call-for-help/)  
**Score:** 0.2564

### Summary

During winter storms that took place Dec. 30-Jan. 1 and Jan. 26-Feb. 4, 66 of the 67 counties in the state experienced multiple hours of freezing temperatures.

“Much of these losses will take years (if ever) to recover. The devastation is heartbreaking,” Rollins said in a social media post that included photos of her meeting with members of Florida’s congressional delegation.

> Special thanks to so many of our wonderful Florida Delegation who joined me to discuss, and then sign, a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for impacted Florida farmers following the devastating winter ice storms. Projections include an estimated $3.17 billion in agricultural… pic.twitter.com/3ThWBSHwKt
>
> — Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) March 5, 2026 [...] Facebook     Twitter

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# Disaster declared: Feds approve winter freeze call for help

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has declared that the freezing temperatures that blanketed Florida during the past two months constituted a disaster.

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[Home](https://southfloridareporter.com/) [Consumer](https://southfloridareporter.com/consumer/ "View all posts in Consumer") Disaster declared: Feds approve winter freeze call for help

# Disaster declared: Feds approve winter freeze call for help

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[Florida Phoenix](https://southfloridareporter.com/author/florida-phoenix/)

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has declared that the freezing temperatures that blanketed Florida during the past two months constituted a disaster.

During winter storms that took place Dec. 30-Jan. 1 and Jan. 26-Feb. 4, 66 of the 67 counties in the state experienced multiple hours of freezing temperatures.

“Much of these losses will take years (if ever) to recover. The devastation is heartbreaking,” Rollins said in a social media post that included photos of her meeting with members of Florida’s congressional delegation.

> Special thanks to so many of our wonderful Florida Delegation who joined me to discuss, and then sign, a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for impacted Florida farmers following the devastating winter ice storms. Projections include an estimated $3.17 billion in agricultural… [pic.twitter.com/3ThWBSHwKt](https://t.co/3ThWBSHwKt)
>
> — Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) [March 5, 2026](https://twitter.com/SecRollins/status/2029534783873659149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The disaster declaration provides emergency loans and programs to producers who suffered losses.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services [announced](https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/20/freeze-dropped-agricultural-production-by-3-billion-ag-commissioner-estimates/) last month that damage totaled $3.17 billion in preliminary estimates.

That damage includes crops lost during this and future growing seasons.

“I appreciate President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins for always putting America’s farmers first, and for 

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