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Rain, snow, go away

11 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah tells of how the "rain and snow come down" from heaven. People across the nation can attest to that situation, as the miserable mix of heavy snow, freezing rains, and flooding that hit many parts of the country during the holiday season continues to plague residents in many areas. In regions of New York State and New England, up to a foot of new snow is expected this week. Farther south, rain and freezing rain have hit much of the area this week. In the West, parts of Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado are suffering from high winds, heavy rain, and melting snow that is sending many rivers toward record flood levels. No area of the country has escaped harsh weather this winter, with the Midwest recently recovering from near record low temperatures and heavy snowfall, only to face more cold weather on its way. The Midwest and Northeast can expect an extended winter chill, including bitter cold temperatures next week that should boost demand for home heating fuels, forecasters and oil traders said on Tuesday. "This cold snap will bring some of the coldest temperatures of the winter to the Midwest and the Northeast," meteorologist David Streit said. "It looks like Chicago will go below zero by next week." Source: Articles by Haitham Haddadin for Reuters and Buzz Bernard for Weather.com

cold ice snow rain west northeast midwest weather
Can Middle-East peace talks avoid a muddle?

05 Sep 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“The deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans,” the reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us. Hoping for a better outcome than that, President Barack Obama hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for dinner Wednesday, a prelude to direct negotiations between the leaders Thursday. While the U.S. is calling on the leaders to forge a final peace agreement within one year, major progress in the early going is unlikely. The two sides are far apart on key issues as they meet in face-to-face negotiations for the first time since December, 2008. Heightening tensions, a Palestinian gunman opened fire Tuesday on an Israeli vehicle traveling near the West Bank city of Hebron, killing four passengers. The militant Hamas movement, which rejects Israel’s right to exist and opposes peace talks, claimed responsibility. Israeli officials called the shooting an attempt to sabotage the discussions, and the White House and Abbas weighed in with their own condemnations. To underscore the administration’s desire to avoid the kind of timid and tentative deliberations the Book of Wisdom describes, former Sen. George Mitchell, Obama’s special Mideast peace envoy, said the goal of reaching a deal within one year is intended to counter a sense among many in the Mideast that years of inconclusive negotiations mean the process is never-ending. “It’s very important to create a sense that this has a definite concluding point,” Mitchell told reporters at the White House. “And we believe that it can be done.” Spurce: A report by Michele Kelemen for NPR.org and articles by Robert Burns for the Associated Press and by Reuters

hamas midwest mahmoud abbas benjamin netanyahu peace negotiations george mitchell
Nation’s midsection snowed under

06 Feb 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The just person is steadfast and has no fear, the psalmist tells us this Sunday. A winter storm larger than many states have seen in decades churned through the central U.S. this week with a potentially deadly mix of snow, sleet, wind, and ice. Folks were “freaking out” with fear as they scurried for snow removal equipment, according to one hardware store owner. The massive storm billed as the worst in decades barreled toward the Northeast Wednesday evening, paralyzing big cities and small towns alike with deep snow and thick ice, stranding hundreds of motorists, and shuttering airports and schools in its aftermath. The 20.2 inches of snow that fell by midday Wednesday in Chicago made the storm the city’s third-largest on record. A foot or more was dumped on parts of Missouri, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, and upstate New York. Making matters worse, bitter cold air was moving into the region after the storm. The storm is, if not unprecedented, extraordinarily rare, National Weather Service meteorologist Thomas Spriggs said. "A storm that produces a swath of 20-inch snow is really something we'd see once every 50 years--maybe," Spriggs said. Source: Articles by Jim Salter for the Associated Press and by Reuters

northeast midwest winter thomas spriggs storms
The heat is on

24 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Solomon requested an understanding heart in response to the Lord’s invitation in this Sunday’s first reading, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Given the same option, residents in much of the country would surely ask for some cloud cover, a rain shower, and a cool breeze as the worst heat wave in years grips the nation. The Midwest’s misery has spread to the East. with temperatures and heat indices in the triple digits. The meteorological phenomenon--dubbed a "heat dome" by weather experts--has born down on much of the United States from the Southwest to the Ohio Valley for days before pushing into the Northeast Wednesday, ushering in oppressive humidity. At least 22 deaths have been blamed thus far on the heat. and at least 27 states are under some sort of heat warning, watch, or advisory. Until the heat breaks, doctors are warning that high temperatures can cause serious--and potentially fatal--health problems, especially for the very young, the elderly, and those with chronic medical conditions. The high heat and humidity was also stressing U.S. crops, particularly corn, which is in a key development phase. The atmospheric high-pressure ridge hanging over the Midwest was blocking moisture from moving into the crop belt as well as causing a buildup of heat, said agricultural meteorologist John Dee of Global Weather Monitoring. The prolonged excessive heat also endangers the lives of livestock, which have died off in the hundreds in some western states. If there were a small silver lining it woujld be that a cold front currently moving across Montana was forecast to drop temperatures across the upper Midwest later in the week. "It's starting to break down somewhat," said Keeney. "Even if it does, it's still going to be hot." Sources: Articles by HealthDay News and Reuters

midwest weather heat crops livestock heat dome
Sizzling summer fatal to fish

12 Aug 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Elijah nearly perished in the desert before God saved his life by providing food and water that refreshed him. Hundreds of thousands of fish in the Midwest are perishing in drought- and heat-stricken areas where water is scarce and hardly refreshing—some 40,000 sturgeon died last week in Iowa when water temperatures reached 97 degrees. One fishery biologist said he’d never seen anything like it. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead fish of various species in the Lower Platte River, including endangered ones. Biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of fish. "It's something I've never seen in my career, and I've been here for more than 17 years," said Mark Flammang, a fisheries biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "I think what we're mainly dealing with here are the extremely low flows and this unparalleled heat." The fish are victims of one of the driest and warmest summers in history. The federal U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states are experiencing some form of drought, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared more than half of the nation's counties—nearly 1,600 in 32 states—natural disaster areas. More than 3,000 heat records were broken over the last month. Source: An article by Grant Schulte for the Associated Press

fish illinois midwest drought rivers nebraska iowa
Tornadoes and floods exact heavy toll

04 May 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday takes refuge in God, who will “show us the path of life.” Residents of several central and panhandle states took refuge where they could find it while tornadoes and floods ravaged a stretch of the nation this week, but loss of life was still heavy. As of Tuesday, at least 34 people had died, and twisters had left a wake of carnage in Arkansas and stretches of devastation in Oklahoma and Kansas. All this was followed by devastating flooding in the Florida Panhandle.Tornadoes and other high winds flattened homes and businesses, uprooted trees, and flipped cars across sections of the South and Midwest Sunday and Monday. The National Weather Service was investigating reports of almost 100 tornadoes.The twisters were followed by floods which deluged roads and engulfed homes and cars in Florida's Panhandle and coastal Alabama on Wednesday. Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for 26 counties inundated by as many as two feet of relentless rain over a 24-hour period as severe thunderstorms raced across the northern part of the state.Along Alabama's Gulf Coast, major county roads were flooded and several rivers overflowed after some areas got between 22 and 26 inches of rain in 24 hours, according to Mitchell Sims, emergency management director for Baldwin County."We were rescuing people out of cars, out of ditches, out of homes," Sims said. "We are still getting reports of people trapped." The flooding appears to be the worst in 30 years in the Panhandle, according to initial radar images of the rainfall, said Eric Esbensen, a National Weather Service meteorologist.Homily hint: Long after the winds have died down and the waters have receded, people whose lives have been devastated often report symptoms suggesting a form of post-traumatic stress syndrome—sleepless nights, terrifying dreams, constant dread of the next disaster. They need comforting support, like prayers and donations to established relief agencies. Sources: Articles by Bill Cotterell for Reuters and Doyle Rice and John Bacon for USA TODAY

midwest tornados floods south