Currently in Los Angeles — July 7, 2023: Meet our new LA weather reporter, Ade Adeniji

The weather, currently.

Ade Adeniji here. Native New Yorker who fled west to California for college and never left. I’m addicted to L.A.’s Mediterranean climate, which is quite a bit warmer in the winter than cities like Rome and Athens that actually exist on that magical sea. What else to know about me? My love affair with weather began when I was 8 years old and my Nigerian father told me I could only watch the news during the school year, not cartoons. But I did him one better and started watching the Weather Channel.

Writing for Currently's Los Angeles newsletter, I hope to talk not just about the daily forecast but the unique climate we all enjoy in SoCal. This year, that climate has been a lot more cloudy and rainy than normal. Try this on for size: Downtown L.A. usually has its first 80 degree day by January 16. But my beloved Hollywood didn’t hit 80 degrees until April 20. I’ve had to apologize to no fewer than 5 east coasters who visited me. But the sun is out and the days are getting warmer.

On Friday, expect temperatures in the mid to upper 70s in the LA basin. Over the weekend, expect the same, with valley locations getting into the mid and upper 80s. But a true warm up is on the horizon for next week, courtesy of a ridge.

— Ade Adeniji

What you can do, currently.

The climate emergency doesn’t take the summer off. In fact — as we’ve been reporting — we’re heading into an El Niño that could challenge historical records and is already supercharging weather and climate impacts around the world.

When people understand the weather they are experiencing is caused by climate change it creates a more compelling call to action to do something about it.

If these emails mean something important to you — and more importantly, if the idea of being part of a community that’s building a weather service for the climate emergency means something important to you — please chip in just $5 a month to continue making this service possible.

Thank you!!

What you need to know, currently.

On Thursday, researchers at Colorado State University released an updated seasonal hurricane forecast for the Atlantic, boosting their outlook to 18 named storms, 9 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes — all of which are well above long-term averages.

The forecasters cite record-warm ocean temperatures as the main reason for the worse forecast. “Most of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic now has record warm sea surface temperatures,” they write, which they anticipate will offset the effect from El Niño, which typically creates stronger upper-atmospheric winds that can complicate hurricane formation.

The forecasters give this helpful note to remind coastal residents to start making their hurricane season plans now:

Climate change has boosted the odds that any given hurricane will reach Category 3 or greater, the most destructive type. Six of the past 7 hurricane seasons have had more hurricanes than the long-term average number of hurricanes per year.

—Eric Holthaus