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nickpbassill.bsky.social
Meteorologist | Director Of The NY State Weather Risk Communication Center @NYSWRCC | Director of R&D, UAlbany's Center Of Excellence | Affiliated With @nysmesonet Mostly Weather | Politics & WI Sports #gobadgers | Thoughts Mine
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Short thread. 🧵 We're all up in arms about the firings at NWS/NOAA, right? Large weather vendors like Accuweather, DTN, Tomorrow.io, (etc) are also upset at these impacts, right?? Not so fast. None of these weather vendors has any sort of press release up on their website in support of NWS.

submitted 21 hours ago • 1 comment

As with most of the weather community and fellow sane Americans, I'm gutted by the news of firings hitting some of our best and brightest. Many of these people took jobs (often lower paying ones!) in the public sector because they care about the mission and protecting the public.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

My 4 year old told me she made a joke for me. Q: "Why was the walrus green?" A: "Because it saw the ocean's bottom." Pretty solid effort for a 4 year old!

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Yesterday is the new all-time leader in both NYS Mesonet max daily average snow depth (43.9", Cold Brook) as well as total number of stations setting their all-time daily average snow depth record (25, red circles). Numerous storms and persistent Lake Ontario lake effect snow have contributed. #nywx

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

If you're out and about today, be weather aware. A variety of hazards will impact travel and may induce power outages in your area. If you're in one of the 🔴, 🟡, or 🔵 zones below, check out the relevant key points.

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

🧵The combination of icing and strong winds tonight/tomorrow will likely produce outages - and *possibly* a significant outage event if ice remains on the trees when the winds pick up tonight. First, here's the amount of <32F precip observed by the NYS Mesonet over the last 24h. #nywx

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

We uphold a certain amount of professionalism at our center (most of the time). ⤵️

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

At a loss for words at the impending firings, particularly those that impact the numerous excellent colleagues in our field. Federal government should not be run like a startup. At the risk of having horribly crass timing, I do want to note that our Center's meteorology job postings remain open. ⬇️

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

If you don't like what Musk/Trump are doing, I would suggest to everyone - especially federally elected Dems - that the simplest thing to do would be to exclusively refer to "President Musk". Trump won't stand for that, and want to exert control, which will accelerate their inevitable falling out.

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

The thing that often frustrates me - and clearly others! - is that democrats on the federal level collectively have no sense (or desire?) of when to flex authority. Here you have a senator from a liberal state conducting a righteous mission ... who seems to be easily foiled by a rent-a-cop. Why?

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

It's a busy weather day today. If you're traveling in NY, here's what to expect. ⤵️

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Snowfall totals won't be high in NY Thursday due to the rapid movement of the snow, but what does fall is likely to maximize its impact. This hour-by-hour time-lagged HRRR ensemble possible *max* hourly total shows (a) snow peaking during rush hour, and (b) rates of 1-2"/h possible. #nywx

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Federal dems aren't exactly known as messaging gurus, but if you want to reach people, react as Rs would if the situation were flipped. Short, simple lines: "Trump wants Musk to stop your social security checks" "Trump wants your food prices to go up" "Trump wants to give your money to Musk" etc

submitted 27 days ago • 1 comment

Our center is hiring! We're hiring a software engineer (~84-90K, skill-based), a product developer (65K + possible 13K, MS+), and an operational meteorologist (55K, BA/BS level). These three will join 7 other excellent @nyswrcc.bsky.social colleagues to help provide weather assistance to NY. ⤵️

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

It's been a *really* rough time for local TV meteorologists. One in my hometown was just fired for acknowledging reality on her personal social media accounts (if, profanely). I hope @samkuffelwx.bsky.social lands on her feet somewhere. From a distance, one wonders if this is an excuse to cut costs.

submitted 37 days ago • 10 comments

Meanwhile, in NWS forecast world, the forecast snowfall in Erie County over the next 3 days is nearly 2 feet, with much of the county in "Major" WSSI territory and 14" of snowfall on average along the Thruway over Erie County. Awesome graphic courtesy of Matt Seymour. #nywx

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

I love the #HRRR, but I've realized over the years that it stops being good at Lake Effect snow around this time of year, especially for Lake Erie. Not sure if it's an issue with lakes freezing, or the coldness of the airmass, but reality (left) often doesn't match forecasts (right). #nywx

submitted 39 days ago • 4 comments

Skeptical of much short-term snow accumulation in the #NYC & Long Island areas, given NYS Mesonet wetbulb temperatures around 34F. Northerly winds and loss of daytime sun might help get better accumulations this evening. Right now, the Hudson Valley seems like the best bet, given temps+radar. #nywx

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

This is not a forecast of the Sunday storm, but it is one possibility (via Pivotal Weather). This exact rain/snow line is basically maximized to infuriate the most people. Everyone in #NYC & Philadelphia would complain about a busted forecast while just miles away would get 6"+ of snow. #nywx #pawx

submitted 42 days ago • 1 comment

I love the clean look of these @nyswrcc.bsky.social graphics that the SWRCC team puts together! Incidentally, it's going to really feel like winter next week. Hopefully the capital region gets some snow on Sunday night so the cold doesn't feel "wasted". #nywx

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

If you'll still be at #AMS2025 on Thursday morning, consider coming by the "Forum on Climate Linked Economics" session at 10:45 in room 205, where I'll be giving a 30 minute invited talk on financial considerations for various NY decision making. 💵 & 🌩️ = 🤔. @adamsobel.bsky.social is right after!

submitted 44 days ago • 1 comment

I joke that the NYS Mesonet has the best snow drifting dataset in the entire world, but here's why: Look at the 24 hour trace of snow depth in the gray line. In windy unidirectional weather like today the snow drifts work like sand dunes: sharp "ups" and gradual "downs". Camera data confirms. #nywx

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

Overlaid street names on top of this stunning satellite image of the Eaton Fire that shows the heartbreaking devastation block after block in Altadena.

submitted 51 days ago • 0 comments

Lake effect snow has been affecting multiple interstates across upstate NY this afternoon. Currently, locally heavy snow is affecting the I-90 Thruway between Syracuse and Albany. Other locally heavy snow is affecting I-86 across the Southern Tier. Drive with caution!

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments