Climate Change, On Full Display. What Will It Take to Act?

The west coast is in the midst of a true apocalypse. I hope you're staying safe, and keeping indoors given the unhealthy air outside... on top of the pandemic and everything else going on. The climate change crisis is real, and immediate, and we can't afford to ignore, and I hope this at least serves as the alarm bells this country desperately needs to get back on track in promoting policies and behavior that can help save our ever-increasingly fragile planet.

Speaking of which, this Wednesday I speak to storytellers and philanthropists Norman and Lyn Lear in the Variety Streaming Room all about sustainability and the environment, as part of Variety's virtual series "Sustainability in Hollywood" presented by Toyota Mirai. The Lears have been involved in so many different, important causes for decades, with the environment being a key one. We talk about that, and yes, it's good to be reminded that there are people working hard to make a difference.

Register here

Look to the Skies: Our Current Streak of Clear Air and Beautiful Sunsets

As the kids say, "no filters!" In a weird coincidence, the coronavirus quarantine has coincided with a spate of rain that has also led to the clearest skies I've seen in years. Obviously the decrease in cars on the road has helped as well. It's this perfect storm (pun intended) that has led to beautiful, clear skies — and amazing sunsets. There's a lot of darkness going on right now as we adapt to our current situation. But at least Mother Nature is giving us a show.

We Went to Palm Springs and Got Stuck in a Snowstorm

Yes, it's true. A few weeks ago we spent a few days in Palm Springs for spring break, and just like we did in 2012, we took the famed Aerial Tramway from Palm Springs' Chino Canyon (elevation 2,643 feet) to the San Jacinto mountains (8,516 feet).

Down below, the temperature was in the 80s. Up there, it was chilly. Upper 30s, low 40s. Cold enough for snow. And it was there that we experienced our first "thundersnow" -- a downpour of chunky snowflakes, accompanied by some thunder and lightning. We hiked a bit, until we decided it was safer to go back and get some hot chocolate at the Aerial Tramway station. But it was pretty cool experiencing real heat and a blizzard, all in one afternoon. Some more pics:

Here's Something You Don't See Every Day: Rain at Dodger Stadium

And yet there it was, a full downpour at Dodger Stadium on Friday night! Sadly, it was not nearly enough to help our current drought/water crisis. And we're sure going to wish for rain this week. Here's the forecast for the next few days:



Yeah. Yikes.

FRANKLIN AVENUE IN NEW YORK: My Own Snowmageddon

Timing is everything, and I couldn't have found myself in New York at a more interesting time: SNOWMAGEDDON! Well, for me, anyway, I'm just not used to all this stuff anymore. (It's been, well, a while since my Chicago college days.) But hey, it's an interesting change from all those pesky 80 degree days in L.A., so I'll enjoy it.

Below, the view outside my hotel window:

Our Solution to a Hot Summer Day

The car said it was 113 degrees outside today. OK, there's no way it was that bad, but it was another scorcher here in Southern California.

Enter Scoops. The ice cream store is a Franklin Avenue favorite for its unique flavors (the East Hollywood store even opened up early last November to be a part of our Great Los Angeles Walk). Thankfully there's a location closeby, on York in Highland Park.



My flavors: Irish tea and Coffee molasses.



It was also day one of soccer for the Blogger Kid 2.0. The reward: Blueberry pomegranate ice cream!

Cloudy With a Chance of Another Lawsuit

Deja vu? From the Hollywood Reporter, 8/15/13:

A veteran meteorologist has filed a discrimination lawsuit against KABC-TV, alleging the Los Angeles TV station did not consider him for a position because it wanted to hire a young, attractive woman for the job.

According to a lawsuit Kyle Hunter filed Wednesday, Aug. 14, in Los Angeles Superior Court, Hunter applied for the job of weekend meteorologist in June 2011, but was never interviewed for the job. He alleges "multiple qualified persons age 40 and over" applied for the position, but they were also not interviewed.

The suit describes Hunter as a meteorologist with 25 years of experience, with both a bachelor's and master's degree in meteorology, and a third bachelor's degree in political science with an emphasis on earth and space sciences from UCLA. It says he worked as a broadcaster in Los Angeles and San Diego.

From the Hollywood Reporter, 3/15/12:

A Los Angeles weatherman has filed a lawsuit claiming he was passed over for jobs at two prominent stations because he wasn't a young, good-looking woman.

Kyle Hunter, who has worked as a meteorologist in various southern California markets during a 23-year career, filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against CBS Broadcasting and its owned-and-operated Los Angeles stations KCBS and KCAL on Thursday. He's represented by Gloria Allred.

Hunter alleges "that within the past few years, KCAL and KCBS decided to hire young attractive women as weathercasters in prime time rather than men in order to induce more men to watch their prime time newscasts," according to the suit. That means there was no place for Hunter, an over-40 male meteorologist with impeccable credentials, he says.

Hunter seems perfectly fine in his demo reel, but no better or worse than hundreds of other meteorologists across the country. L.A. is a competitive market. I'm surprised he'd be so willing to torch his chances in the No. 2 market by filing these lawsuits. (By the way, I'm a bit taken aback by his headshot. Is it photoshopped? Sure seems that way.)

It's Cold. And Here's How Silly We Look For Complaining About It

Jimmy Kimmel put together a roundup of local L.A. news reports complaining about the freezing temps. And yes, to the rest of the country (except perhaps Hawai'i and Southern Florida) we look like a bunch of babies. Watch above.

The San Fernando Valley Is Melting

Holy crap. The Valley has been vaporized. It's hot outside, people. Make it stop.

Oh, and apparently the Sepulveda Pass is on fire too. My colleague Rob Moynihan shot this pic from our Century City offices:

Fox 11 Reports on Los Angeles' Hurricane

Thanks to Todd Beck for spotting this. KTTV Fox 11 gets the location of Hurricane Isaac, um, slightly wrong. Guys, New Orleans is in La., not L.A.!

UPDATE: KTTV called me to clarify -- and sorry folks, the real story isn't as fun. It turns out this was done on purpose -- the station was juxstaposing Hurricane Isaac onto California to give us some perspective on how big the storm is, and how much of SoCal it would consume if it were here.

If Many Trees Fall in a Crowded Urban Setting

On Saturday afternoon, the Franklin Avenue Quartet decided to head over to the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino to enjoy their annual holiday festival. Of course, we should have checked beforehand to see if they were even open -- and sure enough, due to last week's windpocalypse, the Huntington was still closed on Saturday. (It re-opened on Sunday, and will hold a makegood day for its holiday festival next Saturday, Dec. 10).

But even though we missed out on the Huntington, it gave us an opportunity to finally try out Pasadena's Slaw Dogs (review to come) and drive around town to witness the jaw-dropping tree destruction first hand.

The visual of this collapsed massive oak, off Hill, was enough for us to stop the car and snap some photos. They still don't do justice to the sheer size of this toppled tree and its roots.

Thankfully for the home owner, somehow the tree knew exactly where to fall -- in the driveway. But nonetheless, it did some serious damage, destroying the driveway and ripping up both the sidewalk and the street. How even a fierce gust of wind can topple over such a giant is fascinating to me. A friend of ours suggested that all of these non-native trees in L.A., because they rely more on watering than on any deep water under the surface, have shorter roots and are less entrenched in the ground than in other parts of the country.

It's going to be a good Christmas for the San Gabriel Valley's tree trimmers. More pics of that tree:

Scenes from the Labor Day Weekend: Rainbow

From Sunday, right before that odd thunderstorm-with-two-drops-of-rain. Did you see the rainbow? Or experience the lightning/thunder? The 6-year-old, who hasn't experienced many storms (given our Southern California locale), was not a fan.

Spring Awakens Southern California

Maybe it was all that rain this winter, or the unusual cold snaps we experienced here in Southern California, but the arrival of spring seems especially sweet this year. We're not used to celebrating spring here, as there's never much of a difference between April and, say, February. But this year it feels like it.

Above, the view from our house on Saturday evening -- and of course, this Blackberry photo doesn't do the spectacular red, pink and orange sky justice. But it is a nice reminder of just how warm the past few evenings have been.

Any of you folks who went to Coachella this weekend, (a) I'm jealous but (b) not of the 100-degree heat. How did you cope?

KABC Embraces Its Crouching Dallas Raines

Remember when we wrote about "Crouching Dallas," the website devoted to KABC/7 meterologist Dallas Raines' wild on-air body movement?

It's taken a few years, but the TV station has finally embraced their chief weather guy's dramatic behavior. One of KABC's latest promo spots introduces us to several of the aptly-named Raines' signature moves -- including "the pump," "the swing" and "the whirl." KABC even created a webpage for viewers to select their favorite.









And here's the spot:

Snowpocalypse: Los Angeles

We got a bit of sleet at Franklin Avenue HQ, but not enough for it to stick (or even show up in photos)... but it looks like other portions of L.A. and Burbank got a real noticeable amount.

For the most part, today was actually beautiful -- sunny skies and low snow levels in the mountains. Above, the scene atop Mt. Wilson via webcam, at about 5 p.m. this evening.

This Is Winter in Los Angeles: Snow and Palm Trees (PIC)

This weekend's heavy rains at least left us with a spectacular view this morning: Heavy snow-covered mountains amidst blue, sunny skies. This is winter, Los Angeles style.

One More Shot of That Rainbow

Kinda cool that the downpour finally let up right before Christmas Eve, huh? Like everyone else, we got goofy over the rainbow on Wednesday. It's been beautiful here since then. Merry Christmas, everybody!

Stormpocalypse 2010 Is Just Beginning

Hope you like rain.

I mean, really like rain. Because that deluge of precipitation we've received so far? Oh, it's only the beginning, my friend. Welcome... to STORMPOCALYPSE 2010.

It's the kind of thing that will get Dallas Raines crouching.

Per the L.A. Times (where we grabbed the satellite photo, above):

A northern cold front is expected to move into the Los Angeles basin Monday afternoon, mashing up with subtropical moisture that has been sitting off the Pacific coast for several days. Periods of intense rainfall through Wednesday will bring another 5 inches to coastal plains and valleys and up to 10 inches in the mountains.

Hope you like rain!

Sunset in Los Angeles

Spotted while driving down San Fernando Road in Glassell Park. This pic doesn't do the burning orange sky justice. But still, a reminder of how amazing the sunsets are this time of year around here.

As L.A. Melts, Earthquake Hoax Freaks People Out

Yes, it was hot on Monday. Hottest recorded temperature in Los Angeles history.

But no, we'll never know how hot it really got. The National Weather Service's official thermometer at USC made it to 113 degrees at 12:15 p.m. -- but then stopped working. So who knows, the temperature may have even been higher. But nonetheless, L.A. beat its previous record, reached on June 26, 1990.

Yes, it was hot on Monday.



But no, there's no such thing as "earthquake weather." And the spooky "MAJOR EARTHQUAKE WARNING" spreading on Twitter? A hoax. Say it with me: No one can predict an earthquake. It'd be nice, but it just isn't possible right now.

Yes, it was hot on Monday.

Hope you didn't melt.