ICYMI: Behold mighty #MELISSA in #Jamaica. High-end Category 5. Possibly the most intense #hurricane to make landfall in North America. And the fiercest of all the hurricanes I've witnessed. WATCH: youtu.be/siq-DdmBUIY

Last weekend, I held my annual #Hurricane Season Kickoff Party at the sacred Hurricane House in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi. Get this: my weather station had its single greatest one-day rainfall total *ever* on the day of the party! (If that’s not poetic justice, I don’t know what is. 😀) But the biblical rainfall and resultant floods couldn’t keep the crowds away. Almost 200 neighbors, friends, stormchasers, TV personalities, reporters, business leaders, artists, and city and state officials braved the storm to get to the party—and have a blast. It meant a lot to this here chaserdude that folks came from around the nation—by plane, train, and car—so we could all be together for this annual tradition. As I always say, my Hurricane Party is not a celebration of hurricanes—it’s a celebration of hurricane awareness and preparedness. This really matters to me—because aside from hunting down the biggest, baddest hurricanes around the planet, my life’s mission is encouraging my neighbors in Hurricane Country to be as prepared as I am. The event’s sponsor, @JamesHardie, shares my deep passion for making homes hurricane tough and climate resistant. It’s why I am such a dogged believer in this brand, and why the exterior of Hurricane House is 100% Hardie siding and other products. At the party I was excited to show off my new TimberTech porch railing—made of an Advanced PVC material that makes the railing at once gorgeous and appropriate to the traditional style of my home and *also* resistant to Coastal Mississippi's wicked bag of tricks: moisture, mold, rot, termites, and impact from flying debris! I want to give big thanks to James Hardie for their deep and abiding commitment to community resilience—and for making the Hurricane Party possible every year. 👊 Everyone: Be safe—and READY—this hurricane season. 👊

NERD POST—DEAL WITH IT: The heaviest one-day rainfall I've recorded since establishing my Campbell Scientific weather station at Hurricane House happened on 06 June—the day of my annual Hurricane Party. My good friend, @wxmeddler—who maintains the station—helped me parse & analyze the data. Day's total was 6.3 in (160 mm). It was not steady rain—came in bursts with high rainfall rates. Here are max totals for various intervals of time: 10 mins: 0.62 in 30 mins: 1.19 in 1 hr: 2.04 in 2 hr: 3.11 in 3 hr: 4.6 in (from 6 to 9 pm) 6 hr: 4.82 in This sexy infographic shows when rain fell (& fell hardest). Fortunately, party's peak (2-6 pm) coincided with a respite. But at 6 pm, while party was still going strong, rain returned—this time with a vengeance. Guests crammed under tents. Back lawn became so waterlogged I was going to name it Morgerman's Bayou. Roads all over Coastal Mississippi—including my own street—were underwater & impassible. The ground underneath a guest's parked car collapsed, sending the car into a ravine. (A tow truck pulled it out, & fortunately, the car still functioned.) Hurricane House became Noah's Ark, with final 30 or so guests lingering for hours into the evening, waiting for rain to let up. (It finally did around 9 pm.) Crazily enough, towns just across Bay—like Pass Christian & Long Beach—had even more rain! I'm lucky I had Campbell Scientific's RainVue 20 to measure this extreme event. It's a tipping-bucket rain gage with special technologies that compensate for errors caused by high-intensity rain. That means I'm getting ultra-accurate measurements, even in extreme events. This aside, shape & design minimizes amount of precipitation lost due to wind. (Wind was not an issue this time, but of course it would be in a hurricane.) #CampbellSci

Weird, messy, potentially dangerous situation setting up. Stalling front is producing heavy rainfall across Gulf states. Also, disturbance over NE Mexico may move out over NW Gulf & develop into TS midweek. (Computer models are mixed.) Either way, TX, LA, & MS are looking at days of heavy rainfall, & maybe wind & storm surge if disturbance spins up. Stay vigilant. We could have our first tropical mischief of 2026.

Up to 3 inches (76 mm) since 2:30 am. The rain is so intense, the pounding on the metal roof woke me up. (A sexy sound, by the way.) We've already blown way past predictions for Coastal Mississippi today.

The expected multiday Gulf Coast rain event has started with a bang in Coastal Mississippi. Storms fired up almost exactly an hour ago, and I'm already up to 0.9 in. I'm having a sense this event is going to overdeliver.

Watching this mess off E coast of Mexico. It'll move just inland or maybe hug coast. Then what? Some models—including Euro ensembles—develop it in NW Gulf—just off TX & LA—next week. Other models show zilch. Something to keep an eye on. 'Tis the season for random Gulf spinups.

It was a busy day going from the NWS media workshop in Slidell to Bay St. Louis to visit with @iCyclone...but it's always great to catch up with Josh. Keep an eye out for a story next week where Josh talks more about his career as a hurricane chaser and the 'Hurricane House' he built to withstand the big storms we deal with on the Gulf Coast.

Flareup near Belize will cross Yucatan & fester in Bay of Campeche. NHC indicates 10% chance of development. Most models bring it NW to near coast of Mexico. From there, Google DeepMind models get mischievous, developing it into TS & moving it ENE, toward US Gulf Coast, Day 5-7.

Perfect night in the Bay. ♥️ Sky crystal clear, air still, Downtown quiet just before the weekend crowds start rolling in. Summertime on the Gulf Coast.

We talked with local Hurricane Chaser Josh Morgerman from @iCyclone about how to identify your home's "weakest link" as the season begins: wxxv25.com/discussing-your-h…

A huge congratulations to @JordanHallWX for winning our Wind Monitor giveaway at @iCyclone's hurricane party! We're so excited to see what you do with it!

Two hot messes in EPAC: TS #BORIS will soon come ashore near Acapulco #Mexico with heavy rain. TS #CRISTINA's future is less clear: models are all over the place. Some kill it over Central America; others bring it across land & into Gulf for redevelopment. Watch & wait.

Desecration of a sacred space. Days later, I keep finding them. #norespect

The 2026 Hurricane party was an absolute banger. Josh had the food dialed and atmosphere pumping while we got over a foot of rain. Josh is a great host and an even better friend. Thank you brother. What a way to kick off the season.

Great seeing @iCyclone at his Hurricane House in Mississippi this weekend! Hurricanes, science, public safety, and building stronger communities… conversations like these are exactly why I love what I do.

Trip to New Orleans and Mississippi this weekend for a Hurricane Season kickoff get-together. A lot of fun meeting old friends and making new ones. Thanks for the event @iCyclone! 🌀

Trouble is heading to Mississippi.

Josh Morgerman @iCyclone is THE legendary hurricane chaser; he holds the world record for the most hurricane core penetrations on the ground. We discuss the 2026 hurricane season, and how you can be ready!