California Floods, 'Midnights,' and an Arctic Ascent

California Storms

Roughly 37 million Californians were under flood watches or warnings across the state yesterday as an intense storm system began pushing inland while moving southward from the greater San Francisco region. As of this writing, wind gusts reaching up to 85 mph had knocked out power to at least 860,000 customers up and down the coast, while more than one hundred flights out of San Francisco were canceled. 

Forecasts suggest Southern California may see a month's worth of rain over the course of three days, with officials issuing targeted evacuation orders in areas near recent wildfires (which makes hills more susceptible to landslides and debris flow). The storm is expected to drop between 4 and 8 feet of snow in the upper Sierra Nevada (see forecasts). 

California faced a historic string of nine consecutive atmospheric river systems over the course of three weeks at the beginning of 2023, which helped restore depleted water supplies but left more than 20 people dead. Learn more about the weather phenomenon here. 

Swift's Big (Mid-)Night

The 66th annual Grammys were held last night, with Taylor Swift taking home the show's top prize of album of the year for "Midnights." The win was Swift's fourth in the category, pushing her past Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Stevie Wonder for the most in Grammy history. She announced her next album, "Tortured Poets Society," during her acceptance speech (out April 19). 

Other big winners included Miley Cyrus, who won her first-ever Grammy for "Flowers" (best pop solo performance); Billie Eilish, who won song of the year for the "Barbie" soundtrack's "What Was I Made For?"; and R&B songwriter-turned-singer Victoria Monét, who won best new artist. See the full list of winners.

During the pre-televised segment, rapper Killer Mike was escorted from the venue in handcuffs after winning three awards. A reason had not been made public as of this writing; see updates here.

The awards were hosted by former "The Daily Show" comedian Trevor Noah for the fourth year in a row. See photos from the red carpet here, along with a list of the biggest snubs and surprises. 

Northern Ireland's Government Reopens

Michelle O'Neill became Northern Ireland's first minister Saturday, the first Irish nationalist to hold the position in the nearly 26-year history of the institution. Due to an extended government boycott from the opposition, she assumes power two years after her Sinn Fein party won elections and the right to name the first minister.

Northern Ireland and its six historically Protestant counties remained a part of the United Kingdom when the rest of the island—roughly 80%—became the independent, majority-Catholic Irish Free State (later renamed Republic of Ireland) in 1921. Tensions in the north between British unionists and nationalists seeking Irish unification gave rise to a decadeslong period of violence known as the Troubles, where roughly 3,600 people were killed.

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement established a power-sharing structure requiring members of both sides to hold coequal executive roles of first minister and deputy first minister. Learn more about Northern Ireland here.

O'Neill will share power with the Democratic Unionist Party's Emma Little-Pengelly, the first time women will hold both positions. 

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