Our Weather Extremes: Flooding and Drought

Storm Surge Summer Presentation Focuses on Weather Extremes

Storm Surge will host its second speaker series program on Tuesday, June 29 at 7:00 pm at Cashman Park. Dr. Stephen Young, Salem State University and Wayne Castonguay, Ipswich River Watershed Foundation, will share the podium for a presentation titled Our Weather Extremes: Flooding and Drought. Panelists Jon-Eric White, Newburyport City engineer and resident Bill Mullen will join Young and Castonguay for questions from attendees.

The presentation is part of this year’s Storm Surge’s speaker series that puts a special emphasis on the issues and ideas presented in the City’s 2020 Climate Resiliency Plan. The June presentation is focused on how shifting weather patterns, heavy rains and severe drought, will create challenges for local infrastructures and draw on our community’s resources.

Dr. Stephen Young is a professor in the Geography and Sustainability Department at Salem State University where he uses remote sensing (satellite imaging) to analyze climate change and deforestation. During the April and May King Tides, Young and his students took aerial photos and video footage in Newburyport and Newbury. He will discuss how present King Tide water levels can help us predict future high tides influenced by sea level rise and how they will change our local geography.

Wayne Castonguay is the Executive Director of the Ipswich River Watershed Association where he advocates for the Ipswich River, one of our many local rivers suffering from the consequences of human activities and climate change. Castonguay will discuss the causes and implications of drought in our area and the changes planned for water regulation at the state and local levels. 

Storm Surge asks community members to register in advance for the event, though registration is no longer required now that statewide COVID-19 mandates have been lifted.  By registering, you will be informed in the event of a venue or rain date change. 
Link to register.

The Newburyport Parks Department is co-sponsoring this and other monthly Speaker Series events to follow this summer. Please bring a chair or a blanket. A rain date has been planned for 7 pm, Wednesday, June 30, at Cashman Park.