UPDATE: The map and data have been updated from NOHRS. We now have added to yesterday’s total with new overnight snows, bringing the CONUS coverage to 70.9%. KGMB-TV in Hawaii reports, that with snowfall on Mauna Kea, 49 out of 50 states have snow on the ground, with Florida the exception. -Anthony
Meanwhile, New York City declares a weather emergency due to snow.
Data from the National Weather Service National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center in Minnesota show that nearly 70 71% of the USA has snow cover.
January 12, 2011 Data:
| Area Covered By Snow: | 70.9% |
| Area Covered Last Month: | 35.1% |
| Snow Depth | |
|---|---|
| Average: | 6.9 in |
| Minimum: | 0.0 in |
| Maximum: | 895.5 in |
| Std. Dev.: | 11.3 in |
| Snow Water Equivalent | |
| Average: | 1.4 in |
| Minimum: | 0.0 in |
| Maximum: | 435.1 in |
| Std. Dev.: | 3.0 in |
January 11, 2011 data:
| Area Covered By Snow: | 69.4% |
| Area Covered Last Month: | 33.1% |
| Snow Depth | |
|---|---|
| Average: | 6.9 in |
| Minimum: | 0.0 in |
| Maximum: | 897.2 in |
| Std. Dev.: | 11.4 in |
The map above is done from snow reports from COOP stations and other observers. Here’s the map done by satellite:
The 70% value may be exceeded tomorrow as the area around Washington DC has picked up a couple of inches of snow, which is shown as no snow cover in Jan 11 maps above. See this from NWS Baltimore/Washington:
At the time of this post, the Northeastern USA was getting hammered with significant snowfall:
Earlier today, NYC mayor Bloomberg declared a snow emergency:
This from Notify NYC, a city email messaging service:
The Mayor has issued a Weather Emergency Declaration for NYC. The public is urged to avoid all unnecessary driving for the duration of the storm and use public transportation. For info on MTA service visit http://www.mta.info. Any vehicle found blocking roadways or impeding ability to plow streets will be towed at owner’s expense. Alternate Side Parking, payment at parking meters, and garbage collection are suspended citywide until further notice.
The NWS has issued this:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1054 PM EST TUE JAN 11 2011 ...WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ072>075-176-178-121200- /O.CON.KOKX.WS.W.0002.000000T0000Z-110112T2300Z/ WESTERN PASSAIC-EASTERN PASSAIC-HUDSON-WESTERN BERGEN- EASTERN BERGEN-WESTERN ESSEX-EASTERN ESSEX-WESTERN UNION- EASTERN UNION-NEW YORK (MANHATTAN)-BRONX-RICHMOND (STATEN ISLAND)- KINGS (BROOKLYN)-NORTHERN QUEENS-SOUTHERN QUEENS- 1054 PM EST TUE JAN 11 2011 ...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST WEDNESDAY... A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST WEDNESDAY. * LOCATIONS...NEW YORK CITY...AND NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY. * HAZARDS...SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES. * ACCUMULATIONS...8 TO 12 INCHES...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. * WINDS...GUSTS 20 TO 25 MPH. * VISIBILITIES...LESS THAN 1/4 MILE AT TIMES. * TIMING...HEAVIEST SNOW OCCURS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT THROUGH DAYBREAK WEDNESDAY. * IMPACTS...HAZARDOUS TRAVEL TONIGHT AND THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD... AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.
Looks like a fun day tomorrow in NYC.
Yet tonight on one of the Fox Business channel shows there was a visiting Warmer who was going on endlessly about this being “The Warmest Year EVVaaah”…
WHO you going to believe, the computer video game or the snow on the ground?
Cue in massive albedo feedback.
It will be even colder tomorrow.
Ice Age next week ….
More federal aid needed immediately, women and minorities affected most.
/sarchasm – That gaping whole between a liberal/socialist and the truth.
Well, we have nearly a quarter inch here at the Southern tip of Vancouver Island…I blame “climate challenge” and, of course, Sarah Palin.
I was rather hoping that somebody would confirm that this has happened before 30 years ago or something like that! Just like the floods in Australia, although they are at least confirmed as having happened 30 years ago & more & that greenie influence on weak politicianans have effectively caused the devastation through the cancelation of necessary flood defences, note all the homes are built on flood planes, deja vu?
I wish we had snow, it is freezing rain here in Beaverton, OR. They predict spring weather for the rest of the week. One can only hope.
Jay Currie says:
January 11, 2011 at 10:49 pm
I blame “climate challenge” and, of course, Sarah Palin.
I thought it was the Tea Party.
Jay, I’m in Powell River and we have 3 inches and blizzard conditions
makes me laugh because I grew up on the Alberta prairies….
And I just bought new boots…..
Only 70%? Here in Canada it’s about 99.9% coverage….get used to it!
John :-#)#
REPLY: Bragging or complaining? 😉 Anthony
Request from NJ to everyone in America:
We are sick of snow. Please put your electric room heaters outside, point them towards Jersey, and turn them to high. Thanks in advance!
Lucky the AGW/CC efect isn’t stronger because warming causes cooling and the other 30% would be covered, unless.
E.M.Smith says:
January 11, 2011 at 10:43 pm
me, or your lyin’ eyes?
Mark
Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that CO is about 100% covered right now, nearly all of the snow has been going to the mountains. Wait, I guess that’s not “unfortunate” since the skiing has been epic. It is, however, unfortunate that the front range (particularly Colorado Springs and Denver) has seen record low snowfall totals this year and we really, really, really need some moisture. Three inches of snow once a month when the ratio is as high as 40:1 (snow to water) doesn’t help much.
Mark
My current view on climate follows John Mayned Keynes:
As I learn more about the climate, my view changes.
At present I would class myself as a denier rather than a skeptic.
(Denying that humans have any perceptable effect on the climate, that is).
BUT
We must not blame everything on alarmists or on incompetent governments.
My perception is that members of the public have freely chosen to buy houses in known flood plains and that local government has not been prepared to stand up to complaints that they were being bureaucratic in attempting to resist individuals desire to live close to a pretty river bank, or in a shaded low lying corner of our fair land.
Oh yes, we must not forget “Greedy” developers, estate agents and farmers, wanting to sell their flood prone properties in their old age and retire to the coast and relax.
We are all human.
Flood plain maps are available for all areas in Australia.
The problem is that the climate cycle is long and eratic.
People just do not understand that the next “one in 100 year” flood could occur tomorrow and that the following one could just follow next week.
Most people have become imune to the fear of floods, believing that the earth was warming and that Australia was drying up.
The climate of Australia is very eratic, unless like me, you are interested in trends spanning a century or more.
(A good friend of ours was drowned a year or so ago, trying to cross a flooded creek on his way home, in his high chasis four wheel truck. His wife had crossed successfully fifteen minutes earlier in her low slung small car. Things change. Sometimes quite rapidly. Plans for new dams and improved flood levies often follow major floods, but are forgotten when the next drought takes a hold on the country).
Ah, but its not all 50 states as FLA seems to be left out. That must mean all the global warming has gone there for some oj and a tan!
“Alan the Brit says:
January 11, 2011 at 10:52 pm”
There is a very good reason why a “Queenslander” (Type of house built in…errrmmm…Queensland) is built on stilts/posts, typically 2m above the ground level. And most of the central Brisbane CBD in 1974 was dockland, now its residential. Someone at the local planning office needs to be hauled over hot coals for residential building approvals, that are not above ground level, on a floodplain.
Tell me about it! This better turn to rain tonight!!!
http://thevirtualbarandgrill.com/wordpress/images/SnowFall.mp4
Snowed under, I suppose……………;-)
Al Gore must have spread himself all over the US of A these last few days.
Only Florida (& Hawaii) seems to be snow-free if I’m not mistaken…
AusieDan says:
January 11, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Patrick Davis says:
January 11, 2011 at 11:29 pm
Common sense seems to still rule parts of Australia, please lend us Brits some as we have substituted ours with PC governance from the PDREU/EUSR. Interesting reversion to lake people building technique using stilts! My sincere condolences to you, Dan, at the loss of a friend in such tragic circumstances. To Patrick, you are far too lenient, a wall up against which they should be stood, is far more appropriate imho, I’ll design it & build it for you if you want!
Everytime it rains here & floods occur, the ecostalinists jump on the AGW bandwaggon. However, almost without exception, every flooding occurrence is the result of poor investment in flood defences, poor management of the catchment area, outrageous permitting of construction on flood planes without due consideration, other than arrogantly presuming that it won’t happen again, & if it did those responsible will be long gone retired on taxpayer funded pensions, or dead! The typical respones is that “we were following the best available advice” when they were not doing anything of the kind, other than giving in to nutters (a Structural Engineering expression although not restricted to use by SEs) who “believe”. Vive la nouveau age noir!
OT. I watched one of the annual traditional Royal Institution Seasonal lectures over the holiday period. Forgive if alread mentioned elsewhere, but I was disturbed to watch someone lecture school children on the wonders of carbon technology & what a wonderful thing carbon was!!!! I have no idea if CO2 was talked about in the other lectures. How screwed are those kids gonna be when they are bombarded about the dangers of carbon at school, day in, day out?
AtB
My sister and her 2 kids in Manila had their Christmas vacation in Florida and were disappointed to have below zero C temperature there, they they not bring thick jackets :-). I mentioned this article of US snow here, http://funwithgovernment.blogspot.com/2011/01/time-magazines-global-warming-part-2.html
“Volt Aire says:
January 12, 2011 at 12:38 am
Only Florida (& Hawaii) seems to be snow-free if I’m not mistaken…”
Just Florida apparently:
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13826342
All lies Anthony, the met office commodore 64 (in between playing games of Daley Thompson’s decathlon), tells us the cold is not global, but limited to parts of England and a small pig farm in northern France.
How many times do we need to go through this guys? As we’ve seen over and over for the past couple decades, heavy, extensive snowfallls and bitter cold are the direct and unequivical results of a warming planet! Many expensive computer models have predicted this and they been well documented in only the finest peer reviewed journals. Have you not all heard of the Hockey Stick graph? Where is hockey played? On ice!! That’s what the graph’s been about all along. But the skeptical contrarian deniers have been too ignorant to figure that out,
Isn’t it clear to everyone by now that we need to stop emitting CO2, reverse the warming trend, and get back to a warmer climate? /sarc off (in case you couldn’t tell!)
I was hoping to be able to brag and say that Kamloops in south central BC had almost no snow and that there should be a little green dot there, but a look out my front window just now reveals that there’s another inch or so of snow that seems to have appeared last evening.
We were lucky last winter in that many February days were warmer here than Florida and I hardly had to shovel my driveway. This year has been an interesting one of cold weeks followed by above freezing temperatures which melt the snow and then it freezes again leaving very annoying widespread ice. Fortunately sublimation of ice from the roads is a rapid process on sunny days but I’m wondering if the 400 lb of MgCl2 I got in the fall is going to be enough to keep me from sliding down my driveway for the rest of the winter.
Was hoping to sleep in today but it looks like I get to engage in the Canadian winter ritual of shoveling snow off my driveway before heading off to work. Is there anywhere in the northern hemisphere at 45 degrees latitude or above that doesn’t have snow now?
I would like to see a third reference page showing global albedo. When the warmists insist that the lack of ice cover in the artic causes warming, and cooling to the south of the artic regions, causing snow. They seem to be implying that negative feedback exists (but they don’t know they are saying this). But it does seem silly to say the sun is heating the ice free artic, when the artic is cast in 24 hour darkness, and only has marginaly less ice than up to 30 years ago.
A square mile of snow cover in the south is like 25 square miles of snow cover in the north.
A global albedo number could be calculated and normalized to a number between 0 and 1, for example. 0 could represent the maximum albido possible (earth an ice ball), and 1 would be minimum (no ice/snow/glaciers at all). This calculation would include the intensity of the sun at each spot on earth that has ice/snow/glacier, a simple calculation based on the angle of the sun upon the earth surface. Add these all up and subtract from the minimum possible to come up with a number (then normalize to get your number between 0 and 1).
Is anyone doing this type of calculation? I could do it as I now have the math (calculus) skills and I have the computer programming skills. The hardest part for me would be to write an algorithm to take an image and figure out the geographical location of the snow cover it represents. But I’ve been working on far more difficult software projects.
AGW -> more precipitation, in winter more snowcover especially during low NAO-index.
In March snowcover will be about record small again <- AGW.
And more is coming, watch the accumulation in Connecticut:
http://www.meteoexploration.com/snow/snowmapsUS.html
AussieDan 11th Jan 11:22:
Aussie, sixty years ago or more there were suggestions put forward to divert some of Queensland’s rivers by means dams, cuts and tunnels to turn west and irrigate the area to the West of the dividing range. This enormous area only gets rain every few years, when Lake Eyre fills up, then evaporates. Is it time to dust off those plans, maybe – given that Queensland has a surfeit of water?
Last communication received by South African family recent emigrated to Canada.
Settled in to our new home in Canada, still amazed by the politeness and the way everybody follows the rules. Also cannot get over the new sense of security – no more burglar bars, razor wire etc. We had our first snow fall last night and in the morning the whole landscape was like a Christmas postcard – absolutely beautiful.
Day 2) White crystal flakes are still falling all around. This really is a winter wonderland. Ha ha, you guys are baking in the heat back home.
Day 3) Had to dig the SUV out of the driveway – hard work, but fun as it was our first “snow dig”. We also made a snowman and the kids had a great snowball fight.
Day 4) Had to dig the car out again, then nearly had three accidents on the way to town to fit snow tires. Another 5 inches today.
Day 5) Have been stuck inside for almost a week now, except for the near disastrous trip into town yesterday – can’t even see the bloody car now. Not going to dig again.
Day 6) I keep thinking about that movie “The shining”.
Day 7) It’ still F##king snowing – “all work and no play, all work and no play, all……………play”.
PS. only joking, you Canadians are great.
It’s coming down hard here in western New Hampshire, expecting 6 – 10″ total. Schools are closed. The skiers will be out in force this weekend!!
John Robertson says:
January 11, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Only 70%? Here in Canada it’s about 99.9% coverage….get used to it!
John :-#)#
With the solar minimum well under way, eaxpect that 99.9% in July!
That looks like 48 out of 50 state with some snow cover (all except FL & HI).
Last February, Patrick Marsh collected snow photos from all 50 states that were taken on the 11th (I think that was the day). That month Hawaii was tough, but people found some sad little snow patches on Mauna Kea that are likely the most photographed and views sad little snow patches ever.
http://www.patricktmarsh.com/snow-shot-of-america/
Nice one KPO – I think I know that family!
On a more serious note – why can’t you bloody Yanks give us our snow back? Here in Ottawa we are on our second winter with barely enough snow to go skiing while New England has got loads! It’s nice and cold (the Rideau Canal is open for skating already), but the snow is patchy on the cross-country trails. They had lots of snow in southern Ontario and Quebec seems OK, but it is just wrong when DC has more snow cover than Ottawa!
None here in Florida, we feel so left out…hey! I guess Hansen’s right!!!
What’s that map of the USA doing covered in global warming white? I remember some global warming boss ( was it Chu) saying that we should paint all our roofs white to help save the planet. I never realised that we could actually paint the map itself. Sarc off.
Suppose this AGW thing was not on, and our brains were not washed by the AGW gang, suppose we were to format the climate hard disk inside our brain, and analyse the last three years winters, both NH and SH. What would one start to think? The end of the Holocene?A new LIA? Another glaciation? The mainstream media would have a field day telling us we would all freeze to death in a decade or two and that our children would not know water melt-water is and the only colour they need to recognise is white and the only animals alive would be seals and polar bears.
Here’s a beautiful example of cognitive dissonance, a True Believer who is just beginning to notice that the world didn’t end when his Prophet said it would end:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jan/11/heavy-snow-fall-tonight-wednesday/?comments#c243210
Note the special shrillness of his characterization of infidels….. always a good indicator of CD.
There is a reason why we live in Florida.
Look at the maps above.
That’s why we live in Florida.
Spock: Status Report.
“In Search of Revists the Coming Ice Age. I thought I was wrong, but it turns out I was right in the 1st place”.
Rob Potter @January 12, 2011 at 6:01 am
“why can’t you bloody Yanks give us our snow back?”
As someone in New England who currently has a surfeit of snow, I hereby invite you to come to my house and take as much of it as you’d like. Preferably this morning.
David L says:
How many times do we need to go through this guys? As we’ve seen over and over for the past couple decades, heavy, extensive snowfallls and bitter cold are the direct and unequivical results of a warming planet! …
Isn’t it clear to everyone by now that we need to stop emitting CO2, reverse the warming trend, and get back to a warmer climate? /sarc off (in case you couldn’t tell!)
Sometimes, it seems rather difficult to tell…
I am sure that all here sympathise with the people in Queensland and wish that the peak passes with as little further inundation as possible.
It is however ironic that the desalination plants, constructed to ameliorate the intense droughts forecast to result from a warming planet, are now being fired up to provide drinking water for the populace whose reservoirs and treatment plants have been polluted by the floods.
The top map is not correct in Illinois. Quincy,IL (western border of IL) had much more than 0.39 inches of snow. NWS listed it as 5 inches. Surrounding area likwise.
Help me put this in perspective…does 70% snow coverage of the Lower 48 represent typical winter maxima, or is it bordering on a record of sorts?
Is your naximum depth of snow 897.2 inches(74’11.4″) a typo, if not where did it fall?
LarryT says: “With the solar minimum well under way, eaxpect that 99.9% in July!”
Where I am in Northwestern Alberta we have had snow in every month of the year, including June, July and August. On occassion it is cold enough that we have some accumulation on the ground for a day or so when this happens. The first traditional camping weekend here is the end of May and 99.9% of the time it snows. Last year I was planting out seeds in my garden during a snowstorm, but it was the first weekend of June so it was getting late in the year and it had to get done.
I honestly think most people in this area are sceptical of climate change because we are still used to “weather.” It seems like people have forgotten what weather is.
Is the maximum depth 897.2 in (74′ 11.4″) a typo, if not can one know where and when it fell?
Funny how all this fits into the commonly held 30 year rule by to hose of us live in rural subrural/suburbia area. This remind me of 30 year ago living in southern Alabama playing in two feet of snow in a once in a generation/lifetime event.
Another thing, this one for the GW nuts. Notice how the map looks like the freeze coverage from the end of “The Day After Tomorrow”.
Honestly, I wish global warming were a reality. I’ve scheduled a mid-January vacation to the Bahamas, but temperatures there have been running well below the 77-degree average. I may have to pack a sweater instead of a bathing suit!
I stand corrected. Make that 49 out of 50 states. Hawaii has snow.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13826342
REPLY: Thanks, added – Anthony
David L says:
January 12, 2011 at 1:45 am
I like that. David Manne and his Ice Hockey Stick.
Here in NE Oregon we are expecting a Pineapple Clipper- or so they say-supposed to
warm up and rain. Good time for the January thaw and reboot-I knew it when I
bought that bag of De-icer… tired of using the old monster(and quite ancient)
snowblower.. Put my back out trying to dig out a neighbor…
North Alabama is still largely at a stand-still due to the ice and snow from Sunday. We’re moving around OK in central AL, but it’s cold as {insert appropriate metaphor}, and supposed to get colder tomorrow morning.
I wonder what the guys up at UA-Huntsville are thinking about their commute to work the last couple of days? 🙂
The CBC was trumpeting “Canada’s warmest year Evaar!” today. 2010 will be remembered out west as the year without a summer. I was snowed on in May, June, Aug, Sep, etc. Feb/March was very warm but “Least Cold Winter” isn’t as scary I guess.
If anyone has major metropolitan Canadian city average temps by month calculated I’d love to see it. (UHI notwithstanding)
January 11, 2011 at 11:01 pm
“Only 70%? Here in Canada it’s about 99.9% coverage….get used to it!
John :-#)#
REPLY: Bragging or complaining? 😉 Anthony”
…Anthony, we who live up north… I would seriously say it’s BOTH bragging and complaining…Love-hatred of the darn/beautiful thing… The snowmountains are NOW about
5 meters high, street snow down at Huvudsta field, snowcover not much more than 40 cm/16 inches now down to 33/13…or so. Härnösand, a coastal town of northern part of south
Norrland had 131 cm/52 inches some days ago, now down to 105/42…
I talked to my uncle the other day about GW, climate, cold… Among other things, he told me that since around 1996 (he said since the war ended – Bosnia) he had to use more and more wood for heating his house in winter and that winters are definitely getting colder and longer. I think many people are waking up – you can not ignore cold.
You know, Rod Serling couldn’t have written a better scenario where hot is really cold and cold is really hot. Oh, wait. I think he actually might have — “Twilight Zone” Season 3, Episode 10 starring Lois Nettleton entitled “The Midnight Sun.” Rod Serling, a man ahead of his times. We are truly now living in the twilight zone.
John Robertson says:
January 11, 2011 at 11:01 pm
So John, what .1% of Canada does not have snow?
About a foot, in southern New Hampshire, with a snowband still over us, though the storm is moving away.
The AO blocking pattern has put us at the southern edge of the kicked-back warmth, for the past two winters. At times it has been colder in Virginia, or even in Georgia, than up here. However five degrees above normal only puts us at a daily mean of 26 F in January, so we still can get plenty of snow. Some old-timers even go so far as to say a really cold winter has less snow.
I feel warmer is better. Snow and cold don’t get me any time off, and just make life more rugged.
Larry Geiger says: (January 12, 2011 at 6:46 am)
“There is a reason why we live in Florida.
Look at the maps above. That’s why we live in Florida.”
Plus there is no state income tax.
Boris said, Is there anywhere in the northern hemisphere at 45 degrees latitude or above that doesn’t have snow now?
Yes, Portland ,Oregon. We are just above the 45th and no snow. We like a bit of snow here, about a weeks worth then we get sick of it.
So is 71% unusual ? How unusual ?
Tom in Florida says:
January 12, 2011 at 11:50 am
Larry Geiger says: (January 12, 2011 at 6:46 am)
“There is a reason why we live in Florida.
Look at the maps above. That’s why we live in Florida.”
Plus there is no state income tax.
We will get snowfall and snow cover here in Florida before this winter is done.
Remember that last year when 49 out of the 50 states had snow cover it was Hawaii that was the lone exception, not Florida.
1.RR Kampen says @ January 12, 2011 at 2:52 am “AGW -> more precipitation, in winter more snowcover . . .”
Rather than mindlessly repeating talking points that essentially say that the CAGW theory can never be wrong regardless of developments, please investigate and analyze the real world.
For years, the CAGW cry was that we would have less precipitation and more droughts. Now in the middle of significant snowstorms, CAGW is saying more precipitation because of AGW. However lame that claim is, it does match reality. These storm systems over the last two years are getting laden with water vapor from ocean waters that have negative anomalies, not positive anomalies. We are getting these snowstorms because it is cold over land, not because the oceans are warm.
It did snow in Florida in the last Southern snowstorm, but it did not stick.
Florida not only no snow or income tax but 1/3 the property taxes as here in Stowe Vt, and 1/2 the electric bill, largely because in Vermont they like to get their electricity from “renewables”. In Florida most of our power comes from nuclear (although there are some idiots in Sarasota city who are trying to change that). Sure we pay a bit more to register our cars, but the first two items more than make up for it.
Martin Andersen says:
January 12, 2011 at 12:18 pm
So is 71% unusual ? How unusual ?
I feel pretty sure the same thing happenend last winter but it was in February.
Warm globally, cool locally.
Wow! 49 out of 50 states have snow! That hasn’t happened since…oh…last February. Ah, but the last time the U.S. was 70% covered with snow was…oh…wait…also last winter.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/02/13/49-states-covered-with-snow-1180-new-snowfall-records-set-in-the-usa-this-past-week-is-february-headed-for-record-snowfall/
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.html?region=National&year=2010&month=1&day=31&units=e
“Alan the Brit says:
January 12, 2011 at 1:26 am”
Sadly, common sense departed the Australian shores many many years ago. Australia isn’t too far behind the UK, and literally just one step behind New Zealand, in its climate craziness are taxes to save the planet. Every single “extreme” weather event is, not always driectly but the underlying view is there, spun as proof we humans are destroying the planet with emissionsof C02. Yes, once, houses were built in Queensland to suit conditions there (House on stilts/posts). However, urban planning these days seems to not requite any sense at all, just greedy desires. I read recently that after the 1974 flood in Brisbane, plans were drawn up to “prevent” similar floods from happening again. Apparently, that plan was stuffed in a drawer somewhere and forgotten.
It’s like the bush fires in Victoria in 2009. There have been many bush fires before, and two previous Royal Commissions (RC). All the recommendations in the two previous were ignore. The last RC, after “Black Saturday” many of the recommenadtion are being adopted, like property owners being able to clear fuel sources from around and near property.
Both of the events I describe have been directly affected by policies imposed by The Greens.
DaveF – you suggest building dams and other facilities to store excess storm water for use during prolonged drought.
Queensland is covered with water at present, an extent greater than combined France and Germany, I am told.
Where would we store all that water?
Where could we build such a large dam?
The Ivanhoe dam which is now spilling over and adding to the floods in Brisbane, was designed after the last major flood in 1974, to protect Brisbane.
Actually, the experts say it is helping a little and without it, the flooding of homes would be even greater.
I’m sure when the floods are over and clean up completed, that governments will once again turn their attention to flood mitigation work.
But that costs money.
Now Australia is in a far better financial position than most western nations, but our economic resources are still finite.
To find extra money for flood mitigation, we would have to stop wasting it on fruitless efforts to stop CO2 rising and that would never do /sarc off (this sentance only).
Here in the greater seattle area, we had about an inch and a half of wet stuff last night with a temp of about 33F. Sometime during the night, it had turned to rain and warmed back up into the 40’s. it was pure wet slush this morning, with nothing left by the end of the day.
I like the quiet of the sound absorbant snow.
Martin Andersen says:
January 12, 2011 at 12:18 pm
So is 71% unusual ? How unusual ?
According to the Rutgers Snow Lab Dec 2010 ranked 7th
Meanwhile….from the “Is it Nome, Alaska….or North Carolina” department…I give you this webcam link:
http://www.highcountrywebcams.com/webcameras_Beech_Charlies.htm
Wow.
Chris
Norfolk, VA, USA
AussieDan 6:51:
No, Aussie, I’m not suggesting permanently storing excess water. The plans I read about many years ago were about building a system whereby water could be diverted around, through or under the mountains to the ususally dry western side of the dividing range for irrigation purposes, as well as taking the occasional excess. I haven’t the faintest idea whether they’re feasible or not, but I believe they were seriously considered at the time. (1940’s)
Mind you, I should think that any massive engineering scheme like that would upset the enviro’s as there is bound to be a rare centipede that might be drowned, so that’s another good reason to consider it. Best wishes, Dave.
Nothing the climate does will change big government’s, along with their nodding dupes, grab for power. Alarmism is the fuel and the present “climate change” just the vehicle their using at the moment. If the climate thing doesn’t work out then on to something else and the mainstream media will promote that 24/7-there’s no end to it because lust for power/control was there in the beginning and will be there when the last human takes his/her last breath-probably on a frozen planet.