surprising they were, and how warmer temperatures may or may not have contributed to it. yeah, thanks, andrea. normally i d say it s good to be with you, but unfortunately this is a tragedy that we ve seen unfold, and some of the stories that you folks covered earlier just heartbreaking. so what we can say is that we have a very warm planet right now. the gulf of mexico is very warm. it means there s a lot more warmth and moisture because the warmer the ocean, the more moisture that comes off of it, and that moisture and heat have been streaming into the southern half of the united states. we had temperatures in the 70s and 80s fahrenheit over the last week in a large part of the midsection of the country. and so that heat, that moisture provides the energy, the fuel, the turbulent that allows large thunderstorms to form and large squall lines like we saw with