Judge Dismisses Harvard Admissions Suit as El Niño Drenches Southwest

A federal judge in Boston dismissed a high-profile Justice Department lawsuit seeking internal Harvard University admissions data on Monday, even as University of California climate researchers analyzed an El Niño storm pattern that dropped more than 20 trillion gallons of water across the American Southwest and museum curators highlighted immersive wartime science exhibits.

Federal Judge Myong Joun Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Over Harvard Admissions Records

As reported by KCBS Radio (via The Associated Press), U.S. District Judge Myong Joun granted Harvard University's motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed in February 2026 by the U.S. Department of Justice:

• Ruling on False Claims Act Subpoenas: The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, had sued Harvard to compel the production of individualized applicant files, race data, and internal admissions communications to audit compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling barring race-conscious college admissions. Judge Joun ruled that the government failed to identify any plausible violation of the False Claims Act or show how Harvard's undergraduate admissions practices were tied to federal research grant conditions—marking another court victory for Harvard after Judge Allison Burroughs blocked more than $2.6 billion in federal research funding freezes last year.

Strengthening El Niño Drops Over 20 Trillion Gallons of Rain Across the Southwest

In Western climate news, KCBS Radio reported that meteorologists and University of California climate scientist Daniel Swain attribute a series of intense October deluges across the Four Corners states (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) and Nevada to a rapidly strengthening El Niño combined with record global ocean temperatures:

• 20 Trillion Gallons & 1-Foot Rise at Lake Powell: Meteorologist Ryan Maue of Weather Trader calculated that recent Southwestern storms dropped more than 20 trillion gallons of water across the 5-state region—lifting Lake Powell on the Colorado River by roughly 1 foot after a 26-year megadrought—while dropping 2.14 inches of rain in Roswell, New Mexico, and 2.97 inches in ** Capitol Reef National Park**, Utah, where 200 visitors and staff were stranded by flash flooding. Swain and University of Miami researcher Andrew Kruczkiewicz noted that current Pacific subsurface warmth could produce a "super" El Niño by early 2027.

Griffin MSI Highlights Captured 1944 U-505 Submarine and Enigma Machine Exhibit

Meanwhile, in an educational feature published by the Castro Valley Forum, curator Dr. Voula Saridakis of the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI) in Chicago highlighted the museum's underground U-505 Submarine exhibit—featuring the 1 surviving Type IXC German U-boat captured at sea by a U.S. Navy hunter-killer task group on June 4, 1944, along with 2 Enigma cipher machines and 900 pounds of codebooks that aided Allied codebreakers before the vessel became a permanent Chicago memorial in 1954.