When you’ve got tens of millions of people living close to more than 1,000 miles of coastline, it could help to closely track the slews of steps being taken to protect homes, ports, roads, and other infrastructure from rising seas.

So it is in California, a broad and densely populated state where powerful tectonic and hydrologic forces have sculpted elaborate coastal, bayfront, and estuarine landscapes. To help adapt to the increased flood-risks affecting people and property in these landscapes, the Golden State is about to compile the nation’s most elaborate sea level rise planning database.

 

 Big storms are hitting Earth, but you don't need a raincoat or umbrella.

These storms are coming from the sun. It's raining down a huge amount of solar radiation. We're safe, but power grids, radios and satellites may be affected.

Experts say the combined energy from two recent solar events has arrived, prompting the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a strong geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday.

Wait. What's a solar storm? Basically, the sun is a giant ball of gas: 92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium. Every now and then, it spits out a giant burst of radiation called a coronal mass ejection.

Is summer officially over?

At least in South Dakota, the answer appears to be yes, as snow blanketed parts of the state just ten days after Labor Day. The national weather service issued a winter weather advisory on Thursday warning of potential tree damage and power outages due to heavy snow.

Rapid City, South Dakota, saw its earliest measurable snowfall on record after nearly one inch fell on the city. Black Hills, South Dakota, is expected to receive as much as seven inches of snow along with freezing rain later in the afternoon.

Janice Smith Calgary area 

Big storms are hitting Earth, but you don't need a raincoat or umbrella.

These storms are coming from the sun. It's raining down a huge amount of solar radiation. We're safe, but power grids, radios and satellites may be affected.

Experts say the combined energy from two recent solar events has arrived, prompting the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue a strong geomagnetic storm watch for Saturday.

Wait. What's a solar storm? Basically, the sun is a giant ball of gas: 92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium. Every now and then, it spits out a giant burst of radiation called a coronal mass ejection.