Author | Lightnews

Tim Armstrong

@ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social

250 followers 250 following 230 posts

NWS meteorologist in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA⛈️ Environmentalist, retro gamer, gardener, birder and space afficionado🚀 Loves: democracy, empathy, Star Trek, Epcot, anime, and cuddly housecats 😸

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 16h

Zooming in on Melissa's eye...

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 16h

Four hour loop of 1-minute GOES imagery of Hurricane #Melissa south of Jamaica

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 2d

For the second year in a row I helped coworkers clean trash out of Smith Creek here in Wilmington. It was a stunningly beautiful day with sunshine and lower 70s.

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 2d

I grew up in a very Republican family in a very Republican part of the country. I absolutely credit Star Trek for helping deprogram me from that aspect of my upbringing.

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 3d

Spectacular!

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 6d

Most private insurers don't offer coastal NC wind insurance policies due to hurricane risk. Over the past 13 years my wind policy premium has increased by 175 percent, probably already pricing out a portion of the population from owning a home here.

Undark Magazine @undark.org · 6d

Insurers are scaling back in disaster-prone regions as climate change intensifies, forcing homeowners to pay more or risk going without coverage. Read the full story, first published by @yalee360.bsky.social

How Climate Change Is Driving Home Insurance Turmoil

Climate-fueled storms and wildfires are increasing costs and pushing insurers to the limit. Is the market broken?

undark.org

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 6d

Didn't expect to hear the term "isentropic lift" used in the first 10 minutes of Tron Ares. Much better movie than I'd expected even without the synoptic meteorology!

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Reposted by Tim Armstrong

Will BOO-rows 🖖🍞🥀 @reforest-kelley.bsky.social · 8d

A pic my mom sent me from the No Kings demonstration in Brevard, NC

A middle-aged white man holding a cardboard sign with a picture of a monarch butterfly and hand-painted text that says "the only orange monarch I want."

Another, older white man has a US flag over his shoulder and is wearing a paper crown upside down over a trucker cap.

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 12d

A Homestar Runner reference in the wild!

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 13d

I wasn't sure if the clouds or sun angles would work out, but caught a glimpse of this evening's Starship Flight 11 looking south from Wrightsville Beach, NC. The rocket was traveling eastward just south of the Florida Keys and across the Bahamas with venting gasses lit up by the sun.

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 13d

Less than a month until my backyard crop of North Carolina citrus is ready! Changsha Mandarins, Ichang Lemons, and Owari Satsumas.

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 14d

Finally had a chance to listen to your Planetary Radio interview with Maxwell Zhu yesterday. Fascinating discussion!

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 16d

High astronomical tides plus onshore winds were responsible. More flood pics: bsky.app/profile/wmbf...

WMBF News @wmbfnews.com · 16d

Some more photos coming in of flooding in Cherry Grove.

Credit: Erin Sharp

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 16d

Preliminary water level reached 8.38 feet MLLW in Myrtle Beach, the highest since Dec 2023 tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/stationhome....

WMBF News @wmbfnews.com · 16d

LOOK: Atlantic Ave causeway in Garden city is now closed

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 19d

One-pedal driving and easy charging are the two things Tesla got right

Reposted by Tim Armstrong

Dennis Mersereau 🛰️ @wxdam.com · 21d

This is quite the ridge over the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada.

It's warmer in Moosonee, Ontario—located on the shores of James Bay—than it is down in New Orleans.

A temperature map across the U.S. and parts of Canada and Mexico on Sunday afternoon. 70s and 80s bathe the eastern half of the continent.

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Reposted by Tim Armstrong

The Charlotte Observer @charlotteobserver.com · 24d

Federal workers provide weather forecasts for North Carolinians. Here’s how the shutdown could affect services during hurricane season.

Will government shutdown affect National Weather Service & NC hurricane updates?

Federal workers provide weather forecasts for North Carolinians. Here’s how the shutdown could affect services during hurricane season.

bit.ly

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · 27d

One of my absolute favorites too! After his TNG role, actor Jerry Hardin created a traveling show called "Mark Twain: One Man and His World" that ran from 1993 to at least 1997. Wish I could have seen it!

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 27

Hurricane #Helene was tearing through the southern Appalachians one year ago today. An excellent recent blog post from the NC Climate Office @ncsco.bsky.social puts the storm's impacts in historical perspective. #ncwx

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 19

I remember 7-8 years ago when Electrek only posted glowingly positive articles about muskrat and tsla. Good for Fred Lambert coming around and seeing through the forest of half-truths and exaggerations

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Reposted by Tim Armstrong

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · Sep 18

I stand with PBS.

I stand with NPR.

I stand with Stephen Colbert.

I stand with Jimmy Kimmel.

I stand with the First Amendment.

PERIOD.*

*Also #ReleaseTheEPSTEIN_Files

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Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 17

Full electrification of our transportation systems can't come soon enough. Although even that won't end the legacy of our fossil fuel era.

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 16

This was an excellent report! My family and I took a train from the Selma station last year and enjoyed the journey almost as much as the destination.

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 13

Forty-one years ago (Sep 12, 1984) Hurricane Diana was about to make landfall near Cape Fear just south of Wilmington, NC. My storm history page: www.weather.gov/ilm/Diana1984 #ncwx

Tim Armstrong @ilmthunderstorm.bsky.social · Sep 12

I worked at the Hickory Toys R Us the summer the Virtual Boy was being discontinued and clearanced. Never played it long enough for headaches - but it's not surprising.

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