Anti-government group threatens key US weather radar sites
CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Officials from the National Weather Service are on alert after an anti-government group publicly made threats against radar installations across the country.
Known as NEXRAD sites, or Next Generation Weather Radar, they are essential tools for meteorologists to monitor and forecast severe weather.
Extremist group Veterans on Patrol claims NEXRAD installations contain military-operated 'weather weapons' that are 'poisoning the skies.'
The group has not detailed how it intends to target the sites, but its founder, Michael 'Lewis Arthur' Meyer, publicly posted a response to the Washington Post on the messaging app Telegram.
FAA, Duffy face grilling over safety, delays at major US airports
Meyer said the group plans to 'take as many NexRads offline as possible.' He added that he has 'full authority' to do so.
In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the NWS, issued an internal warning advising employees to stay vigilant and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.
'NOAA is aware of recent threats against NEXRAD weather radar sites and is working with other authorities in monitoring the situation closely,' a spokesperson told NewsNation.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified Veterans on Patrol as an anti-government militia. The group has claimed it is watching radar sites in several states and is allegedly exploring ways to disable the equipment.
These developments come at a challenging time for the National Weather Service, which has been operating under severe staffing shortages. Roughly one-third of its positions remain unfilled following a wave of layoffs initiated by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
26 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This spot in California is so windy, locals call it a ‘little hurricane' zone
California is a state defined by wildly diverse topography; from the tall peaks of the Sierra Nevada, to the lush lowlands of the Central Valley and the rugged cliffs lining more than 800 miles of coastline. But when it comes to wind, the invisible force that shapes landscapes and fuels wildfires, one spot in the state consistently stands above the rest. A Chronicle analysis of three decades of wind gusts shows the state's windiest spot isn't a mountain peak, a high desert bluff, or even Point Reyes, which once reportedly logged a gust of 133 mph. It's Cape Mendocino — a remote coastal headland — which juts out into the Pacific Ocean just south of Eureka and marks the westernmost point in California. Cape Mendocino is a part of California's Lost Coast, a rugged, roadless stretch well-known by backpackers, where Highway 1 detours inland to avoid the steep terrain. Just south of Eureka, the cape is surrounded by steep cliffs, redwood groves and isolated communities like Petrolia and Shelter Cove. 'Yeah, it doesn't surprise me at all,' said Nick Pape, the fire chief in Shelter Cove, a small community tucked just southeast of the cape, of the region's windiest designation. 'We get the full brunt of the wind out here. There's no protection. It just comes screaming off the ocean and hits us head on.' A January 2023 storm stands out in Pape's memory. 'I couldn't even open the door of my duty truck, the wind was that strong,' he said. 'We had to open an emergency shelter and evacuate residents after trees came down on homes. That one (storm) came in from the south and we're totally exposed from that direction.' The Channel Islands, located off the Southern California coast, ranked at the state's second windiest area; gusts there are similarly amplified by steep coastal terrain and open ocean exposure. Further inland, exposed ridgelines near Lake Oroville, the high-country terrain of the Emigrant Wilderness and mountain passes around Kingvale and El Dorado National Forest all consistently experience intense gusts, each shaped by California's unique and varied landscape. The cape's fierce winds are driven by two seasonal patterns. The strongest and most persistent gusts occur in spring and summer, when sharp temperature contrasts form between California's hot interior and the cold Pacific Ocean. In late spring, inland temperatures can climb toward 100 degrees, while Cape Mendocino, along the coast, hovers in the upper 40s. That thermal divide creates a steep pressure gradient that fuels relentless north and northwest winds. These winds, guided by the North Pacific High, also help generate the dense marine layer and summer fog familiar to Bay Area residents. 'Cape Mendocino sticks out over the coastal waters, creating a convergence between the land and the faster-moving air offshore,' said Doug Boushey, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Eureka. 'When this air encounters the steep coastal terrain, it's forced to accelerate because it has nowhere else to go, it can't move inland easily, and it can't rise upwards due to a persistent marine layer inversion acting as a cap. That's why the winds become so consistently strong there.' Those spring and summer winds can be especially punishing for mariners, many of whom travel south along the coast after the winter storm season. Cape Mendocino's exposure makes it one of the hardest passages for seafarers on the Pacific coast. 'Every year, mariners come to our office asking, 'When can I get around the Cape?'' Boushey said. 'Sometimes we have to tell them it might be two weeks or more. There is just no opening. People unfamiliar with the area will try to round the Cape and just get beat up. They have to pull into Humboldt Bay and wait until the winds let up enough to safely pass.' In winter, the pattern shifts. Instead of pressure-driven north winds, powerful low-pressure systems sweep in from the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, triggering brief but intense southerly gusts. These storms can deliver serious wind impacts, but they are shorter-lived and less consistent than the prolonged blows of spring and early summer. The Chronicle's analysis relied on hourly wind gust data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, known as reanalysis data, which blends direct observations with weather modeling. We calculated the strongest gust recorded each day and averaged those over 30 years, from 1991 to 2024, to provide a comprehensive picture of wind behavior statewide, pinpointing the Cape Mendocino area as the consistently windiest place in California. There are limitations, however. The dataset's resolution is relatively coarse, which means it may not fully capture the nuanced influence of California's complex terrain. It also doesn't include data from newer ground-based weather stations installed by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., potentially missing localized wind extremes. Some individual locations have recorded stronger isolated wind gusts. California's highest-ever recorded gust, a remarkable 199 mph, occurred at the Alpine Meadows ski resort in the Lake Tahoe area in February of 2017. But this extreme reading reflects a single event. Pape, of the Shelter Cove Fire Department, confirmed it gets seriously windy at Cape Mendocino. 'We've had what folks around here call little hurricanes. Trees falling into power lines, roofs torn off, people getting evacuated,' he said. 'It's not every week, but when it hits, you remember.' Cape Mendocino residents and local officials have been grappling with the reality of relentless gusts. In Shelter Cove, that means more frequent wind‑related damage and disruptions, forcing the community to adapt to increasingly severe conditions. 'We're starting to see a real public safety issue with it,' Pape said. 'It definitely keeps us busy, especially during the winter months.'
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Flooding possible as storms return to North Texas on Wednesday
More rain and thunderstorms are on the way to North Texas on Wednesday. First Alert Weather Days are in effect for the threat of more heavy rain leading to flooding concerns Wednesday and Thursday. The Wednesday morning commute will be a wet one – rain will move north towards the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex around 7 a.m. Widespread severe weather isn't likely. Showers will linger around lunchtime. The evening commute will be dry before another round of rain arrives around 8 p.m. In fact, over the next several days, a forecasted 1 to 5 inches of rain accumulation will be possible. This has prompted the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center to issue a slight risk, level 2 out of 4, for the risk of excessive rainfall for both Wednesday and Thursday. The Storm Prediction Center highlighted the area of concern to the southeast of the metroplex. Hail one inch in diameter and wind gusts of 60 mph will be the primary threat, while the tornado threat is low. A flood watch is in effect now until Thursday evening for parts of North Texas, including Tarrant, Dallas, Parker and Rockwall counties. Wise, Denton, Collin and Red River counties aren't included in the watch. Please remember "Turn Around, Don't Drown." Do not try to drive through water-covered roadways, as it is very hard to estimate how deep the water is, and you could put yourself in a life-threatening situation. The slow-moving upper-level low-pressure system that has been creating the active weather pattern will shift to the east this weekend. This will allow conditions to clear, just in time for Father's Day.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Thousands without power Tuesday night in Denver metro: Xcel Energy
DENVER (KDVR) — Thousands of residents in the Denver metro area were without power on Tuesday night, but the reason was unknown. According to the Xcel Energy outage map, almost 12,000 customers in the Denver metro area were without power at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday night. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox The company had not made any statements about the outage on its social media pages as of the time of publication. The majority of the outage was located in the northwestern area of the Denver metro, including Arvada, Wheat Ridge and Lakewood. FOX31 has reached out to Xcel for information on this outage and has not yet received a reply. However, the National Weather Service had recorded some wind gusts up to 36 mph in the area. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
