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?
LOL! I’m old enough to remember the days when windshield wipers had only two speeds: on or off.
My 2010 Ford F-150 has about six intermittent settings, plus a constant ‘normal’, plus a constant accelerated speed for the worst thunderstorms.
If it’s raining hard enough that your wipers cannot keep up with it, you pull off the road and wait for the storm to lighten up, which serious thunderstorms always do. If you try to keep driving, and it’s raining that hard, you risk running into serious enough ponding, in which water isn’t draining off the road fast enough, which can cause a crash.
In driving, we are counting on two things: our own skill at driving, and the skills of the other people on the road. Even if you are (over?)confident in your skills, you cannot be certain of the skills of the drunk in the next lane. When conditions deteriorate that much, the risk becomes too great.
Chicago DNC Update: Leftist Protests shut down Chicago streets ahead of DNC
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2024/08/chicago-dnc-update-protests-shut-down.html
Remember vacuum wipers? They were ‘fun’ in a heavy rain. Driver skill and awareness are important. Yes, if you can’t see the road well, find a safe place to pull over and wait. Also, when you buy wiper blades and washer fluid, get the good stuff, there is a difference. Hydroplaning can happen in rather moderate rain. It depends on several factors; tires, speed, and pavement surface being predominate. Good wet tires and all wheel drive help a lot.
I’ve had to drive in rainfalls that exceeded an inch an hour, several times. Challenging and yes many of the other combatants on the road were exhibiting some questionable skills. I would suspect that this cat was mostly interested in his glowbull warming cult philosophy.
Again, these morons have become impossible to parody.