Meteorologist for Channel 5 KSTP Twin Cities | AMS CBM #977 | UNCC | #BiPride💗💜💙 🏳️🌈 | Husband @jmclovin28 | Opinions my own | NC➡IA➡NE➡CO➡TN➡MN
Memphis, TN
Joined April 2015
- Tweets12.7K
- Following1.7K
- Followers1.5K
- Likes35.5K
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
NE of Randolph, MN! #mnwx @NWSTwinCities
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Forget models and spaghetti plots.
This should be your number one tool when looking at #Isaías
weather.gov/srh/tropical
Threats and Impacts tool that shows threats can and WILL happen outside of the cone
We got our first low in the 40s for the fall in the Twin Cities, but the first 40° day is getting later due to climate change. #twincities #fall
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
History
Hurricane Polo is now a Category 5, and has rapidly intensified at a rate higher than almost every cyclone ever on Earth.
Its 24 hour period of rapid intensification is tied as the second highest ever seen in the Pacific (Eastern) Ocean.
.
Garcia-Franco et al., Hurricane Otis, (2024) for the original graphic.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
From the 5 am NHC discussion for #Polo:
"The intensification rate over the past 24 hours
is truly remarkable, with Polo strengthening by about 90 kt over that time period."
From yesterday's 11 am discussion:
"Every model responds to these conditions by
showing rapid intensification, and the SHIPS rapid intensification index is showing percentages as high as I have ever seen them. The new forecast is raised from the previous one and is very aggressive, but still below the latest HCCA corrected-consensus aid, which verbatim would be at least a 99th percentile event for intensification."
Very well-anticipated RI event. Kudos to NHC.
This has been one of the things I've been most excited to see during my career so far: we're getting better in our ability to predict RI. Not perfect, but with tools like SHIPS-RI, HAFS, Google DeepMind, and forecaster awareness, we can get it right a lot more than we did 10-15 years ago.
Definitely curious what our flight into #Polo will hold today. Looks like it could be my second Cat5 flight (first being Melissa last year).
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
My expectation for Hurricane Polo to undergo an "extreme intensification rate" was met - and then exceeded.
In just 42 hours, Polo went from a tropical depression to a category 5 hurricane - the fastest in modern records (1970-present) in both the Atlantic & East Pacific.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Tornado just occurred 5 NE Artichoke MN possibly still in progress 7:44 @NWSTwinCities
I’m so excited for the #MNstatefair kicking off!!
@ChrisReeceWX gave me the rundown of how our live shows will go, I’m excited to be out there next Thursday and Friday, as well as the final day!!
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
1 year ago today, the world’s first EF5 tornado in 12 years touched down near the town of Enderlin, North Dakota.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
This is something I have never seen before on satellite.
Clouds perfectly outlining roads.
Just incredibly neat imagery of Houston, Texas this morning.
Massive shoutout to @Emokwx who discovered it.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Spiralling global temperatures (1850-2026)
It is exactly 10 years since I first put this animated graphic of changes in global temperature online. #ClimateSpiral
It instantly went viral.
People watched it over and over again.
It still offers the power to shock a decade on.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Hurricane Melissa was about 40 mph stronger because of a warmer Caribbean!?
That’s what a new study in pre-print claims (peer-review not completed yet).
At the time, Caribbean temperatures were around 1.5°C above average and the study says, without the extra ocean heat, Melissa may have been a Cat 4 instead of a Cat 5. In the study, it’s argued that subsurface ocean water is a better gauge than surface water for intensity. The authors estimate ~30mph more peak wind per 1°C of ocean warming. But an important caveat: their warmer-water experiments kept the surrounding atmosphere basically the same, so this does not mean warmer water automatically translates to that full wind increase in the real world, where factors like wind shear also matter. I interviewed Dr Samantha Hallam at @AMSTropical
Paper link in thread…
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
The most crisp and clear satellite imagery of Super Typhoon Sinlaku’s atmosphere-rattling peak intensity on Sunday.
185 MPH, 890 MBAR, and over ~30 consecutive hours at Category 5 status.
One of the most impressive peak strength phases you’ll see.
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
AMOC is weakening. New Potsdam Institute study: once it collapses, it stays collapsed. The point of no return was 350ppm CO₂. We crossed that in 1988. We're at 430 today. Without the Gulf Stream: US East Coast winters get extreme. Europe loses 7°C. Southern Ocean releases 83 gigatonnes of CO₂. The fossil fuel industry knew about AMOC in the 1980s. Same decade we crossed 350. The EPA just stopped regulating the emissions driving it.
#AMOC #ClimateChange #GulfStream #Science #Meteorologist
Kit Thomas, Meteorologist retweeted
Surprise tornadoes in Kansas yesterday. Constant forecast flip flopping in fall & winter. Subpar hurricane intensity forecasts in 2025. The Trump DOGE cuts have had a long lasting effect. Compare Monday’s weather balloon releases to one year ago. The data gaps are immense.
