Polar vortex outbreak creates 90 degree difference from one end of Texas to the other
Look at the cold plunging from the latest polar vortex incursion:
Notice the difference between Houston and Dallas, or New Orleans and Wichita now take a look at this map. WeatherBell’s Ryan Maue reports that the coldest state in Lower 48 was Iowa, with an average of -1.0°F
Look at the gradient across the front in Texas, note how sharp it is; a 90 degree difference from the southern tip of Texas to the Texas panhandle.
Former AMS president Marshal Shepard remarks:
Marshall Shepherd @DrShepherd2013 2h
Even better depiction of temperature difference with this front..90 deg difference.. Wow via Jared rackley pic.twitter.com/FDRZZvEtGb
See the WUWT Polar Vortex page for more
UPDATE: Greg Carbin of NOAA produced the 24 hour animation of surface temps:
Today is my area of Virginia:65 F.
Tomorrow: Winter storm warning and 6″ of snow.
Tomorrow night: 10F.
Go home winter, you’re drunk….
Maybe we can turn some of those blue states into red states. Go vortex go!
Here in Dallas, I had my AC on this morning and now we have sleet falling.
Excuse me being ignorant are you C or F on the map?
[When many people are reading and writing comments, as well as the original author, you need to designate who the “you” who may (or may not) be C or F on the map. Mod]
@Sam Hall: correlation is not causation. 🙂
Cold is not the only thing that is heading further south this year. I don’t have a link but apparently the “northern lights” have been seen as far south as central England this year. May have been an effect of the recent solar flare.
The rough correlation to topography is striking. It looks like the high ground of the Rockes and Appalachians are containing a flood.
I’m from Texas that lived all over Texas and must admit that is impressive. I don’t recall it being that cold this late. I’m hearing that it could be as low as 14*f at the old house in Dallas area. Wow. I think it is supposed to get down to 22*f at the new house in Austin area and I don’t think I ever saw that in Dallas area while living there for 10 years in March.
Cool!!!
Northern lights in UK, they do see them in North Scotland and off sea islands. In the olde days sudden appearance of the Northern lights was considered a bad omen?
Is it worse than we thought? The polar bears in Canada, where I live, are knocking on our doors wanting to get in from the cold.
JimS, don’t let them in they are AGW alarmists? LOL
In like a lion, out like a lamb. aka March
SASKATCHEWAN
AWCN13 CWWG
Weather summary for Southern Saskatchewan issued by Environment
Canada at 12:54 P.M. CST Sunday 2 March 2014.
Bitterly cold Arctic air associated with a ridge of high pressure
centred over Southwest Saskatchewan resulted in a few
Record low temperatures early this morning.
Location (record low)
Rosetown -38.0, old record is -33.3 set in 1960.
Swift Current -35.9, old record is -34.4 set in 1972.
Assiniboia -35.3, old record is -32.2 set in 1916.
In addition, a couple of locations were close.
Leader -38.3, record is -38.9 set in 1972.
Maple Creek -31.9, record is -33.3 set in 1962.
A gradual warming trend will now begin, with temperatures expected
To be at or above seasonal normals by the weekend.
Please note that this summary may contain preliminary or unofficial
information and does not constitute a complete or final report.
End
These records probably only go back a very short time. Toronto’s started 1937.
Yes – the polar vortex. So y’all getting our message we’re not real happy with the XL lack of progress now?
Well, here in the Chicago suburbs the snowfall is such that it has become almost comical.
You run out of places to throw it…. at least it been light powdery snow due to the cold temperatures.
There might still be snow piles left in April ??
In Manhattan, KS, the high here today was about 10* F. ‘Normal is 51*F for a high and 25* F for a low.
It will be interesting to see the new low high Temperatures records. (I think I got that right….)
And we are supposed to plant potatoes in 2 weeks.
@bushbunny: 100 Celcius is when water boils, so it’s F. Celcius maps never go much above 40C.
monday supposed to be high of around 11 F and low of -12 F
yay
In The Woodlands, Texas, north of Houston, we went from 72 degrees F at 3 PM to 36 degrees F at 7 PM, an amazing 36 degrees in 4 hours!
Looks like a typical summers day from 20,000 years ago
Didn’t realize there were so many of us Canadian prairie folk here on wuwt! We farm 40 miles from one of those Saskatchewan record lows. Does anyone know if Environment Canada “adjusts” the older records?
This is no longer entertaining and mildly amusing. Now we are on the edge of this with single digit temps and a foot of snow! Stay tuned though…it will soon be announced that it was the warmest February on record.
“Notice the difference between Houston and Dallas”
Well at the moment it is cold, raining and miserable in Houston, so it will probably be listed as the hottest and driest February in a century.
We were bicycling late this afternoon when the first blast of air hit our part of Houston.
It went from pleasant cycling weather to chilly and uncomfortable in about 5 minutes.
We live in the thumb of Michigan near Lake Huron. It is now -2 and forecast for -14, originally -4. Friday morning it was -17. We had a short warming break in January, and a day or two over 35 in February. Long range for March it looks like 10+ deg below normal through the middle of the month. Ok, we’ve had enough already. Overall this is the coldest winter I can remember in my short lifetime of 52 years.
Fortunately (for us) the heavy snow falls have been south, but I suspect we’ll get a big storm before winter’s end.
I like the minus zero in Minot, Canada.
For a good part of the north we have had only 1 day above freezing since jan 3.
When the thaw comes it’s going to be flood land in the Midwest.
Meanwhile, just another day in paradise. Warm with a clear blue sky, slight southerly breeze. Went to the Venice jetty this morning, relaxing with a cup of coffee, watching the boats move out into the turquoise waters of the Gulf. Later off to Snook Haven along the Myakka River for some outside drink and live music. Watched a fat guy slip off the small dock and splat into the water. Went home, lit up the grill and put down a couple of fresh chuck burgers. Did I mention there is no state income tax in Florida?
Yes, look at the New Scientist, Feb. 10th…”As a result of climate change 2014 is likely to be one of the hottest years on record. If El Niño does develop this year, it will make 2014 even hotter – maybe the hottest ever…” I told you so! (I wasn’t going to say that.)
Pamela Gray “Maybe we can turn some of those blue states into red states. ”
I don’t know about that. But looks like the Montana and Dakota s are turning purple
“This is no longer entertaining and mildly amusing”
Well, I’m having a chuckle here in Brisbane.
Any sense on where the pressure readings are for the high pressure system dumping the cold air into the south?
I think it was in 1988. Hurricane Gilbert set the record for the lowest pressure for a hurricane. Then the next winter in early 1989 a high formed in Alaska and dropped south. It produced a polar outbreak similar to this one and set the record for the highest pressure measured from a high pressure system.
It was 77F at 3pm where I live WSW of Houston. By 8pm it was 34F with a howling wind. That’s impressive in my book.
Did anyone notice that jet stream is following the Rockies southward [and] the Appalachian Mountains north?
Can someone tell me why there are no severe storm cells along this front?
bushbunny says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Rankine.
bushbunny says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:16 pm
Excuse me being ignorant are you C or F on the map?
*******************************************
Remember, when it’s “C” it’s climate…
“F” is just weather.
Tom in Florida says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:01 pm
============
I’ve heard, and want to believe, that the insects will walk off with anything not tied down in Florida.
Any truth to these rumors ?
albertalad says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Yes – the polar vortex. So y’all getting our message we’re not real happy with the XL lack of progress now?
*******************************************
Canada’s WMD?
Aw, jeez – here we go again…. >:-(
Tom in Florida
March 2, 2014 at 6:01 pm
You just had to do that to everybody didn’t you? You cruel, cruel man!
bushbunny says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:16 pm
“Excuse me being ignorant are you C or F on the map?”
when puerto vallarta hits 81 centigrade, I think we are all in trouble….
dont you?
@Box of Rocks,
That is cold for this time of year. I remember Manhattan, KS (The Little Apple) well. Got my BS and MS in Computer Science at K-State in early 80’s (Go Wildcats!). Grew up in Atchison. My Mum still lives there. Cold, but not “un-precedented”.
Now living in Australia. Moved from The land of Oz to Oz (down under), but there ain’t no Dorothy or Toto here…
Take Care and Be Well and Warm!
AussieBear.
All this weather is getting old … can’t we go back to climate?
It was 72 today. It is going down to below 10 tomorrow. This is Virginia and it is coming.
The vortex this year has been really interesting ..
The new Earth Wind Map has become a great tool for watching the vortex progression.
The pacific counter-rotating vortex is strengthening and slowly over weeks time is pushing the polar vortex across the cap.
The vorticity that forms in the lower levels of the atmosphere, off from the higher levels is quite cool, Follow the vortex centers from10 hPa (16.466 miles) down thru the in the wind map tool layers. A daily rotation rolls some of the vertical vortices over through the layers.
As we get closer to Equinox, with more daylight reaching northern lats. and some occasional solar energetic particles, (some last week) that vortex should freaking go go go away somewhere.
The wind map might even show the daily variation pecking away at the polar front..flat sides and eddys..hey
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/10hPa/overlay=temp/orthographic=-90.73,90.80,483
In the view window I pull the cross hairs of the N. Pole to the center of my PC screen and zoom to fill.
Set the control panel (click on the word Earth, on bottom left side of open window) for Temp. Automatically keeps wind, so you can see wind and temp throughout the layers as well..
California’s pineapple or not, had a counter rotation to it.. Most of the vortices through out the N. Pole are clockwise, after a twist a counter flow starts along the path ..you can see them as they appear as horizontal logs rolling, with a vortex peaking out the side..on an angle..
Don’t forget to check the S. Pole .. as we approach Equinox..
Sam Hall says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:08 pm
Here in Dallas, I had my AC on this morning and now we have sleet falling.
===============
When that happened in Dallas when I lived there in the late 70’s we called them ‘Blue Norther’s’ or ‘Canadian Express’. 75 F at noon with light winds from the south, then the wind direction changed to come from the North and the temp would drop into the 40s in an hour or less.
u.k.(us) says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:30 pm
I’ve heard, and want to believe, that the insects will walk off with anything not tied down in Florida.
Any truth to these rumors ?
=========================================================================
Only those things that have not been eaten by pythons, alligators or cougars. You eventually get desensitized to the fire ant bites and love bugs, well, they are just a messy nuisance. Now palmetto bugs on the other hand can get quite large and even fly but they rarely get in your hair if you keep it short.
Found what I was looking for –
From Weatherunderground.com
“…U.S. High Barometric Pressure Records
Alaska holds this honor with a reading of 1078.6 mb (31.85”) on January 31, 1989 at Northway during one of the state’s greatest cold waves. Temperatures fell below -70°F at several locations (-76°F at Tanana and -75°F at McGrath). Northway reached -62°F on January 31. Many ‘bush’ aircraft (a principal form of transportation in this region) were grounded in central Alaska since their altimeters were not capable of calibrating to such an extreme pressure reading. That January was the coldest single month on record at Juneau with a 6.8°F average and Nome recorded its coldest temperature on record with -54° on January 27th and 28th.
This high-pressure figure is often erroneously referred to as the highest ever measured in North America. In fact, this is not true since at Dawson City, Yukon, next door to Alaska, but in Canada a higher reading of 1079.6 mb (31.88”) was measured a few days later on February 2, 1989. …”
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/world-and-us-anticyclonic-high-barometric-pressure-records
So where do all this air come from to support such a movement of cold dense air across thousands of miles?
[Snip. More such profanity will get your entire comment deleted. ~ mod.]
A storm … to become a N’oreaster is set to shut down Washington DC on Monday. Brilliant move!
Putin Wins. Obama receives blame for the ‘U.S. major foreign policy failure’ and the ‘stupendous failure of the G8 Summit!’
Outcome
November 2014: Republican Party and Tea Party gain control of U.S. House. Senator Harry Reid resigns. Dies within hours. Obama Cabinet Secretaries Rout! All Resign En-mass except John Kerry, who still hopes to be the Democratic Presidential Nominee, except for the fact that Kerry was in Keiv when the Russian/Crimeran Forces entered the city and was arrested and charged as a War Provocateur. Then sent to Siberia to … Cool a bit .. by personal order of Putin.
Monday, “This will be Good!”
We set a record where I live in S Minnesota today. For the first time in recorded history (130 years) we had a below zero high in March (-2F). Supposed to set a record low tonight as well (-20F).
Hunkered down here in Houston, waiting for the cold front. JimB
Remember severe cooling is the surest sign of warming. LOL.
On his WeatherBell blog Joe Bastardi noted that some Texan town, up in the northern panhandle, which ordinarily has a March 2 high temperature of 67, today only had a high temperature of 7.
Hmm. Only sixty degrees below normal. Obviously it is only weather, and does not refute the idea of Global Warming. /sarc
Joe also noted that particular north Texas reading of seven degrees represented an 80 degree difference between north Texas and south Texas, at 2:00 in the afternoon. He could not recall, (without checking records,) ever seeing such a clash in Texas temperatures, before.
Hmm. That would make it 87 degrees in south Texas. Now THAT would be proof-positive of Global Warming. /sarc.
I myself can’t recall, in my 61 years, seeing an airmass this cold plunge south this late in the winter, and be this widespread. I myself don’t mind it, as it shunted a storm south from New Hampshire to Washington DC, and I figure it is high time those dreamers shovel some honest snow, rather than the brown stuff they usually shovel to us “ignorant peons.”
I think we will be lucky if we get out of this clash, between air like January’s with Gulf-of-Mexico warmth, without a storm that could get ugly resulting from the clash.
Pippen Kool said: “I like the minus zero in Minot, Canada.”
Beat me on the minus zero. So it is colder than we thought.
But not cold enough yet to move the border south, so I expect that North Dakota still claims Minot.
RE: MattN says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:05 pm
“…Go home winter, you’re drunk….”
Well put.
I fully intend to say, “Go home winter, you’re drunk,” at suitable occasions during the next week, and to pretend the statement is my own. The benefits of this plagiarism will be twofold. I will gain respect, (which I need more than Rodney Dangerfield,) and you will learn to copyright your cleverness.
@ Ed MacAulay 7:38,
-0 is perfect.
As for moving the border south to match the temperature, well thats one way to get the pipeline built.
I’m with alberta lad, keep stalling that pipeline and sniping at our fine environmental record and we canadians will sent you more cold air.
Canada is cleaning up the largest oil spill know to man, why are those eco-nasties trying to impede our fine work.
Especially the ones from California, who need to get out to sea and plug up that oil seeping out of the ocean floor.All the chosen one needs is goodwill and lead boots.
perhaps we need to up the sarcasm, cold records,even with the adjusted past, are just weather.
Any hot day,0.001C over the past high temp is catastrophic climate.
Anyone have information on the sensing lag time of a mercury thermometer?
How long must a temperature persist to be recorded?
As for how a mercury thermometer would have recorded todays record of xx.002 C, a new record over xxC of 1936.
Digital recordings; more an more useless data at evermore detailed delusions of accuracy.
“Excuse me being ignorant are you C or F on the map?”
It’s the consensus average of C and F?
Yep, “move right along folks, nothing to see here, the climate is fine, just a small glitch, the climate is in good shape, all will be well, never mind the pollution, it’s all part of progress, so move along please, nothing to see here, nothing to worry about . . . . . . ”
It all boils down to the same old problem, and that is “Those with expertise have no authority, and those with authority have no expertise”.
I know I’ve posted the link to this cartoon before, but it still remains pertinent . . . . .
http://cartoonmick.wordpress.com/editorial-political/#jp-carousel-775
Cheers
Mick
“You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”
We only have a 20° spread here at the moment, but most of the state is in single digits: http://www.mesonet.org/index.php/weather/map/air_temperature/air_temperature
And the mollusks still believe . . . . maybe the cold will freeze some of their tentacles off.
Oh, and watch all that water freezing into ice as you heat it to boiling point!
Back in the good old days we used to call that an Arctic cold front. Who knew?
Just talked to my brother in central Wisconsin. They have dropped below 0F….. again and are expecting a low of -16F. That will make it 50 days with temps below 0F. The deep, persistent cold is taking its toll.
Frost depths in the soils are now deep enough (4 feet) that buried utilities are being affected. The water and sewer utilities of many small communities are experiencing problems with water supply and waste pipes freezing. Not good. In response, they have asked their customers to leave water taps trickling continuous flows to try to keep some heat in the underground pipes.
Rural residents with individual drilled wells are experiencing similar pipe freeze ups in their buried water supply lines and septic systems. Portable generators/welders are attached to the metal pipes (at well head and at the house) to resistance heat the pipes and get them thawed out again.
Unless the septic lines are metal, that trick doesn’t work for them. It’s getting real serious out there now.
The unflagging spirit of the Wisconsin fishermen is being challenged similarly, if less seriously. Most areas are reporting lake ice thicknesses of 30 inches or more, requiring extensions to be added to the powered ice augers to assure penetration into the water below.
Now, compare that temperature distribution with the ice at the LGM. Not saying were headed for an ice age. Saying it is the pattern. Signal for various patterns seems to exist all the time. What seems to change is meta conditions that favor one pattern over another.
Joel says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:13 pm
Can someone tell me why there are no severe storm cells along this front?
—————
There are, actually, down in Louisiana to Tennessee and thereabouts.
colder than a well digger’s witch
I am guessing most folks on this blog are fans of “big weather” & this certainly qualifies ! Fun & exciting stuff to follow !
It would be interesting to see how deep some of the cold weather over TX is (or isn’t ). For perspective, yesterday here in the Denver area , it was quite shallow. At our full time house (elev 6100 ft), it was 13 deg mid-afternoon. At our mtn house (also east of the continental divide, elev 9400 ft) , the temp was 38 deg at the same time – fronts can very very 3 dimensional , although not always evident unless you have some topography around.
Actually this was very interesting in that we had the Pacific cold front blow through but only effect the higher elevations as it actually swept over the arctic front at lower elevations without perturbing that airmass significantly.
Very interesting stuff!
Carla mówi:
Wir w tym roku został bardzo ciekawe ..
Carla thank you that you have a cool mind. I’m counting on you, because I do not know the language.
In Australia where I live it was 33 C today. We were told it was going to a long hot drawn out summer, because of AGW. Reality! Summer has been halted. The temperature is now in Autumn mode! Gee, they are accurate in their predictions. Following up the mention that AGW being taught in schools as fact! Propaganda of L.
albertalad says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Yes – the polar vortex. So y’all getting our message we’re not real happy with the XL lack of progress now?
=============
Don’t like our oil? How about Canad-Air? Eh!
The quickest way for the US to solve global warming is to switch to Celsius. Instead of 100F summers, you get a nice cool 38C. But when its cold, no difference. -40F is -40C.
@ferdberple – Are you a politician? If not, you missed your calling! LOL
John Robertson wrote: I’m with alberta lad, keep stalling that pipeline and sniping at our fine environmental record and we canadians will sent you more cold air.
Canada is cleaning up the largest oil spill know to man, why are those eco-nasties trying to impede our fine work”. I live in Minnesota and I have said the same thing for years! The way I put it was, you would think the loony libs would love that man is cleaning up all that oil fouled Alberta sand!!! LOL. Been a brutal winter in central MN and wind power isn’t going to keep us from freezing. Thank God for the Canadian energy we are importing with infrastructure built decades ago, before we discovered that Canadian energy is killing us!!!! LOL Waterlines are freezing in MN but not widespread – yet! About ten years ago the ski hills were complaining that it was too warm to stay in business. Now they are complaining that it is so cold, ticket sales are down! It isn’t cold everywhere though. A relative of mind who lives in Australia told me it was a warm summer there. Warm is good! Better than cold!! Someone tell the libs!!!
Our new record cold two days ago was -29.9 C. Tonight it is -24 with a wind chill value of -32. We have been running 20 degrees C below normal for weeks. Sure glad it is only the weather. I don’t think I could deal with a climate this cold.
A classic, night/day front as I like to call them. We get this a lot in April in MN where if will be 80s or 90 in srn MN and 30s northern MN. But this winter is top 5 for below zero days at MSP…49 and counting
Reminds me of when I drove from Utah down to Arizona to buy a boat. My daughter was sun-bathing in the 80 degree weather in Arizona in the afternoon. It was 10 degrees when we got home that night.
Jeff L says:
March 2, 2014 at 9:04 pm
“I am guessing most folks on this blog are fans of “big weather” & this certainly qualifies ! Fun & exciting stuff to follow ”
You’re right. I’ve always been a fan of big weather. Dad had to drag me into the house every time a thunder storm blew up as I wanted to see every lightning strike and hear the kind of thunder it would generate. Funnel clouds! Thunder snow in January! Always loved the way big weather could humble us all.
But now it sadly seems all these wonderful displays of the immense power and complexity in the atmosphere can’t simply be watched in wonder like they were when I was young, but must always be seen through the disgusting supposedly explanatory prism of “climate change” or “disruption” or whatever. Goodnight everyone.
By the way, it’s 16 below F here in Saskatchewan and heading for -20.
If you’ll pardon a sneaky topic drift, it appears that this massive cold wave may have been dwarfed in scope as compared to the cold shoulder afforded to CAGW at the Oscars. Unless I missed it (I did have a few lapses in viewing), not a word from the notoriously green and in-your-face glitterati to be heard about CAGW ! Not a good sign at all for the warm-mongers.
The anomaly in the the zone of the ozone began in September. Just running solar activity.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/sbuv2to/archive/nh/2013/sbuv19_30_nh_130930.gif
Box of Rocks says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:56 pm
So where do all this air come from to support such a movement of cold dense air across thousands of miles?
—————————————————————————————–
There were several years of a strong El Nino at that time. Could that have caused large scale air movements to push north?
@ Lil Fella…compared to last year the sst anomalies patterns in different places around Australia are significantly different from last year, to the cool side. The hot cycle could well be over for Australia.
JimS says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:22 pm
Is it worse than we thought? The polar bears in Canada, where I live, are knocking on our doors wanting to get in from the cold.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Useless fact of the day: Local bylaw in Churchill Manitoba requires that vehicle doors remain unlocked so that they can be used as a means of protection by pedestrians in the event of a polar bear encounter.
””””””””””””””””””””””””””””’
Trouble is, those big adapted Grizzly Bears can smash the windows if they are really hungry.
Reprise of?? ….1816…”Year Without a Summer”. “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
Dear Winter,
It’s been fun, but our relationship has been growing cold lately. I hope you don’t take this too hard, but I want to break up with you and see other seasons.
Love always,
Too Blue Lou
Obama do not have time or patient to listen to denier reality or denier temperature facts. The debate is over!
Again, thank you WUWT, very happy not to be in Canada this winter. Does anyone think this is the start of the next glaciation or is this our 30 year cool down? I guess it will take a few more winters to tell. If it is the start of the next glaciation, I am not far enough south.
IC/DC. Pronunciation makes sense.
Could be interesting this year. Maybe new record.
http://www.yukonriverbreakup.com/statistics.html
Well this winter makes me glad I told my daughter she couldn’t go to University of Michigan. Very fine snow started at 3 a.m. here on the south shore of Long Island.
bushbunny
“sudden appearance of the Northern lights was considered a bad omen?”
yes it was a sign storms were coming. which correlates with the sun as the driver of weather.
as the magnetic shield is weakening at a fast rate some say this will be great because u can see the lightrs very far south but what they seem to miss is there will be consequences too.
if the magnetic shield is weakening due to magnetic reversal it can fall by 90% . one good x flare pointing at the earth then would blow out the power on earth for months maybe years never mind having wild storms too. Cancers would rise. Latest evidence i seen suggested that when the pole does start to move it can move 6 deg a day and not the slow movement over 100s of years that some say now.
if the co2ers really want to munch scream magnetic shield weakening is a better one lol
All that money wasted looking for the ‘God particle’ (Higg’s boson) when CO2 can have so many effects on the weather in so many different ways, and all at the same time. All hail CO2.
Actually here in the middle of South America its pretty cold as well LOL
http://wxmaps.org/pix/sa.00hr.html
Its called weather …it comes… it goes
Coldest winter ever (evah, evah evah, in living memory, etc. etc.) !!!
Global warming is not working out quite as planned, SO :..
Blame Canada!
I was actually worried about an invasion after we won four golds in hockey and curling…
Sorry…. 🙂
Around the globe:
– 7 stations have broken their daily high record
– 95 stations have broken their daily low record
at least one has broken its all-time lowest recorded temperature. Manistee Michigan which is on Lake Michigan and at -22F, is not much of an all-time low but proximity to the Lake probably impacts that.
http://coolwx.com/record/
Being an avid Weather Channel viewer when on vacation in Florida (during the UK winter) – enjoying 75-80 degrees – I’ve always thought: ‘Why would ANYONE live in Great Falls…?’
@ Tom in Florida “Meanwhile, just another day in paradise.”
Just a quick tip from an old man. Once you find a place that you really like, never talk well of it. Once word gets around about how nice it is, you will be deluged by people moving there and it will change very quickly — and not for the better. Only praise where you live when you are talking with your neighbors or with your nearest and dearest friends.
Try this when speaking with any out-of-towners: “Yeah, I guess where I live is OK… at least if you like mosquitoes and cockroaches. Of course they are worse after a hurricane, and believe me, I’ve seen some doozies! We still have water marks on the sheet rock in the living room. But usually, they get the water and sewage systems back up and running pretty quickly after a big storm. It hardly ever takes more than a couple of weeks.”
At first it will be difficult saying bad things about where you live. Practice until you are good at it.
Yeah, work is cancelled today in little Rock because there is a sheet of ice on the ground and its 18 degrees. This has never happened in march. (Apparently of it doesnt get over 30 it will be an all time cold record for today and its predicted to get to 25 or so). Insanity!
We’ll be flirting with -9 F tonight in western New Hampshire. Not quite a record low, but nearly…
Doug Scott says:
March 3, 2014 at 3:13 am
“Its called weather …it comes… it goes”
You are correct. However, the delusional CAGW scientists/advocates of today would interpret ANY weather-related **warm spell** as a sure sign of global warming. This is why WUWT does these posts on cold weather events – to counter the CAGW scare-spin bilge we see in the modern media.
davideisenstadt says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:37 pm
bushbunny says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:16 pm
“Excuse me being ignorant are you C or F on the map?”
when puerto vallarta hits 81 centigrade, I think we are all in trouble….
dont you?
When Puerto Vallarta hits 81 C I’ll believe in Global Warming.
Old time Texans call this a “Blue Norther”. 2 days ago it was 77 degrees, spring flowers were starting to come out. Yesterday, in East Texas, we got hit with 3 inches of ICE in 3 hours. Looks white like snow, but it is hard as a rock – took me 15 minutes with a pitcher of hot water this morning just to get my truck door thawed out enough so it would open!.
And now this morning it is 19 degrees, with a high of 29 projected for the day. This ice is gonna be here a while.
Pippen Kool says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:58 pm
I like the minus zero in Minot, Canada.
======
Minot is in North Dakota. The red dot below and left of the M is the give away.
I say we all crash at “Tom in Florida’s” place until spring. 🙂
In Northern Indiana we’ve only had a few days since New Years when the temperature has gone above 32 deg F. With the current surge of polar air, our high went from 22 to 14; the lows from 10 to -5 deg F. It’s been so cold so long, most people around here really didn’t notice.
Bill Illis says:
March 3, 2014 at 4:54 am
Around the globe:
– 7 stations have broken their daily high record
– 95 stations have broken their daily low record
at least one has broken its all-time lowest recorded temperature. Manistee Michigan which is on Lake Michigan and at -22F, is not much of an all-time low but proximity to the Lake probably impacts that.
=======
Where I live in the UP of Michigan we set a new low with minus 20 F on Friday. The old low was minus 17 F. The tire low pressure warning light came on in my truck last month and would not go out until the temp got above 20+ for two days.
if you like your polar vortex, you can keep it
In a ‘burb to the north of Dallas saw 14 Deg. F this morning (Monday) … this has been a horrendous winter that began around Thanksgiving 2013! Between the ice and snow and cold, we’ve had events (ice storms, temps in the teens, etc.) that might have been normally spread out over 3 to 5 years in one year! And we have had ‘repeats’ of these events to the tune of a three-peat!
.
Pippen Kool says:
March 2, 2014 at 5:58 pm
When the thaw comes it’s going to be flood land in the Midwest.
That would depend on a number of various factors, including depth of the snowpack, rapidity of the warmup, and any rainfall.
One sure thing though is that any flooding will be attributed to “climate change” by the CAGW proponents and their faithful followers.
Thunder bay is the only named place without any temperature in the first picture.
To cold to measure? Or just unbelievable cold?
We ‘solved’ that problem (in a rural Calhoun County, MI township) by putting out ‘straw’ over the ground where the lines ran as winter approached (this preserves ‘ground heat’ in the earth rather than allowing ‘extraction’ from colder air) .. and it works! Of course, one has to actually ‘plan’ this, then execute the plan (acquire the straw, get it out before the first snow fall) …
.
This point is mostly myth; the system operators are a LOT more informed on this issue than they were even thirty years ago …
For instance, in this training material check out the section on “geomagnetic disturbances” beginning on slide 6:
http://www.pjm.com/training/~/media/training/core-curriculum/ip-ops-101/ops101-weatheremer.ashx
Note slide 17 which indictes: “Areas of North America of concern due to possible increased GIC (geomagnetic induced current) flow”
Note beginning slide 20 indicates the ‘safety’ procedures they implement upon receiving notice of potential geomagnetic events.
BTW, “PJM” is the ‘power system operator’ (historically) in charge of power system ‘dispatch’ (generation and transmission) in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland area.
.
In the southern hemisphere is already blockade creates a vortex over the South America.
http://oi60.tinypic.com/hrla9j.jpg
http://oi59.tinypic.com/8xivsw.jpg
I remind the geomagnetic field.
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/data/WMM2010/WMM2010_F_MERC.pdf
Perhaps as this is a science blog, we should all know how to spell Celsius, named after a Swedish astronomer, Anders Celsius.
Overnight lows around -10F last night (Monday, March 3) in the Kansas City area. This is about 40 degree below the seasonal average.
Take a peek at the Skew-T diagram here (obtained via a balloon or Radiosonde):
http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/upper/fwd.gif
I’ll admit I’m a little rusty at interpreting these diagrams, but, it looks like the temp climbs to about 16C at the 750 mb level …
.
bobbyv says:
March 3, 2014 at 6:54 am
if you like your polar vortex, you can keep it
***********
Will the polar vortex save us on average $2500.00 too?
Jason Calley says:
March 3, 2014 at 5:35 am
@ Tom in Florida “Meanwhile, just another day in paradise.”
Just a quick tip from an old man. Once you find a place that you really like, never talk well of it. Once word gets around about how nice it is, you will be deluged by people moving there and it will change very quickly — and not for the better. Only praise where you live when you are talking with your neighbors or with your nearest and dearest friends.
=====================================================================
Not to worry, industrial/manufacturing jobs are scarce and wages are low (but then so are prices which is why it is a great place to retire.). In addition, with the majority of people being older, the population needs to be replenished constantly in order to keep the economics of the area viable.
Eliza, those look like model outputs (i.e. “predictions”) from the “GFS” model, as the webpage states: “The latest GFS forecast issued by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction is presented in seven panels. See Image Titles for Initial and Valid Times” and no surface temperatures are shown, only temps for the 859 mb (height) level …
.
Yes, this is a hard winter. But I have seen far worse. In St. Louis, the winters (beginning in) 1976-1982 were unbelievable.
Eliza says March 3, 2014 at 2:27 am
Actually here in the middle of South America its pretty cold as well LOL
It starts with blocking.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/blocking/real_time_sh/500gz_anomalies_sh.gif
I have a weather data question:
Is there an official weather metric tracking snowcover? Specifically, does the NWS track the number of days the ground is covered in snow for the winter season? Does it track the number of consecutive days with snowcover?
If you are going to post links that are not safe for work at least have the decency to post NSFW.
Anthony,
I met my wife in December of 1983. Its a date that I must remember if I’m to keep the peace in the house. What is interesting about that time frame is the local weather here in Dallas, Texas that winter. I have lived in the area for most of my 57 years. To attest, I have lived north of Dallas about 25 miles for the last 45 years. What’s special about this time? In the winter of 1983/84, a lake north of Dallas froze over for the first time in its history. We had brutally cold weather for about 2 weeks. The lake was built and completed in 1956. The lake is named Lake Lewisville. So I thought I would go have some fun and get on the ice. A big mistake. At the shore line the ice was at least 2″ thick and I wanted to see if I could break the ice. Low and behold, I took a large rock, walked on the ice and slipped. I had the rock in my hand and when I landed on the ice, the rock crushed my hand. So, here is a weather phenomenon that I will never forget as the memory was indelibly pounded into me. Pun intended! Not to worry, I grew up to be an airline pilot and what I observe now is incredible. The last ten years I have seen more snow coverage of the 48 contiguous states than the previous years of flying. But here we are 30 years later and the cold is back with a vengeance. Please send us some sunshine!
Say…. Tom in Florida, didn’t Hooters come from your neck of the woods by chance?
Box of Rocks says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:56 pm
“So where do all this air come from to support such a movement of cold dense air across thousands of miles?”
Santa Claus! Earth has a really big fat waist where air warms and goes up. It has a small top – like the white ball of fluff on Santa’s hat — where a portion of that air comes down.
The up part is often called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and when functioning well will show on satellite view as a band of bright white clouds. Currently this is south of the Equator.
http://www.atmos.washington.edu/cgi-bin/latest.cgi?wv-moll
Much of that air comes down in areas pole-ward of the Tropics, and will be labeled as Sub-Tropical High Pressure (STHP). Some air continues pole-ward. Simple diagrams will also show a “Ferrel Cell.” The ‘web’ has simple cartoon-like drawings of all these parts, and more.
Everyone ought to have a real globe. Find one. Put you fist over the Polar Region: 1 fist = 90 to 60 degrees of Latitude. Now put your fist along the Equator repeatedly (about 30 degrees of Longitude each). That requires about 12 fists to go around. That’s a lot of air going up, and what goes up has to come down. It comes down in a smaller space. Fat waist. Tiny top.
Box of Rocks says:
March 3, 2014 at 9:38 am
Say…. Tom in Florida, didn’t Hooters come from your neck of the woods by chance?
=========================================================================
A little farther north in Tampa. Also famous for cigars and Mons Venus.
When will the USA do as the whole other world : warm up and give their temperature in Celcius degrees ?
Tom in Florida says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:01 pm
My weather calendar says in 1980 it was 32 in Miami on March 3.
A weather map from http://www.lib.noaa.gov/collections/imgdocmaps/daily_weather_maps.html
shows 0700 temps of 23F in Mobile AL, 36F in Brownsville, TX, and 18F in Washington DC.
Helped out with the Army Marathon Sunday morning. 6AM 67 degrees, 6:30 50 degrees, 7AM (RACE START) 40 degrees, 8AM 33 degrees. Hats off to all that ran in that temp with the strong wind.
fritz says:
March 3, 2014 at 10:24 am
When will the USA do as the whole other world : warm up and give their temperature in Celcius degrees ?
*******
Never.
The real question is when the rest of the world going to catch to the US and get rid of the metric system?
I, for one, am grateful for the wave of cold air that descended on my little part of South Central Pennsylvania. It kept most of the snow South and East of me. It had the beneficial side effect of increasing the snowfall in the D.C. region, therefore causing the shutdown of the Federal Government.
“New Orleans and Wichita”
Yeah, thanks for pointing that out Anthony….
But our Shocker basketball team is HOT!!
Ric Werme says:
March 3, 2014 at 10:47 am
Tom in Florida says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:01 pm
“Meanwhile, just another day in paradise. Warm with a clear blue sky, slight southerly breeze….”
My weather calendar says in 1980 it was 32 in Miami on March 3.
===========================================================================
Ah ha! Further proof of (choose one)
a. global warming
b. climate change
c. climate chaos
d. weather
e. a, b & c
f. all of the above except a, b, c and e.
Robert Bissett says:
March 2, 2014 at 6:05 pm
Yes, look at the New Scientist, Feb. 10th…”As a result of climate change 2014 is likely to be one of the hottest years on record. If El Niño does develop this year, it will make 2014 even hotter – maybe the hottest ever…” I told you so! (I wasn’t going to say that.)
I would not count on it. RSS for February just came in. It dropped to 0.162 from 0.262 in January. As a result, the average for these two months is 0.212. If it were to stay this way, 2014 would rank 11th. That is no way to set a record being in 11th place after two months. Furthermore, the ENSO meter now dropped to -0.6.
wbrozek on March 3, 2014 at 4:52 pm
Thanks for the update. Judging by the east Pacific subsurface temperatures we are shaping up for a big La Nina right now.
I’m replying to wws “Looks white like snow, but it is hard as a rock –” . I’ve seen freezing rain that becomes ice, sleet, fairy dust, grapple, and something that looks like well doggy waste. lived in NJ almost all my life. A few years ago we had something like that fall. I have no idea what that is, but it won’t go away either. It took a long time for it to melt. Even with temps in the 50’s and 60’s.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to discover that this whole AGW scare was nothing but the natural effects of the Polar Vortex.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/daily_ao_index/JFM_season_ao_index.shtml
It’s been colder, good people.
I’ve worked outdoors at about -45C (-49F). The snow makes a very high-pitched squeak when you walk on it, and the boogers freeze inside your nose. Believe me, warmer is better.
But I think Earth is entering a cooling period.
Regrets, Allan
__________
Canada’s coldest day ever: Snag, Yukon, hit -63 °C in 1947 — without wind chill
National Post Staff | February 3, 2014 5:53 PM ET
As Snag, Yukon, locals stepped outside, their breath hissed as it froze mid-air before falling to the ground as white dust. It was -62.8 C (-81.0 F) in the tiny village exactly 67 years ago today — the coldest day in Canadian history.
Frigid air from northeastern Siberia had blown, creating a deep freeze on Feb. 3, 1947.
“The boys are glad that we’ve got Snag on the map,” weather officer Gordon Toole told The Gazette in Montreal when a reporter called for comment. Decades later, the village is still on the map, so to speak. Monday, Google paid tribute to the town — and it’s very chilly day — in a doodle.
At that temperature, exposed skin would freeze in less than three minutes, drastically increasing the risk for frostbite, hypothermia and death.
The 16 men at weather station had other problems on their minds though. The nearest women were 465 kilometres away — in Whitehorse, Toole said.
Lighthearted as the response was, it was a difficult day for Snag.
“Residents seemed to move like zombies, afraid to work hard enough to breathe the frigid air too deeply into their lungs,” according to an excerpt from The Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar.
Adding to the strange day, locals discovered that sound can travel much farther in the cold, dense air.
__________
The 10 coldest places in Canada — ever
Or at least since they’ve been keeping weather records
• -62.8 C — Snag, Yukon — February 3, 1947
• -60.6 C — Fort Vermilion, Alberta — January 11, 1911
• -59.4 C — Old Crow, Yukon — January 5, 1975
• -58.9 C — Smith River, British Columbia — January 31, 1947
• -58.3 C — Iroquois Falls, Ontario — January 23, 1935
• -57.8 C — Shephard Bay, Nunavut — February 13, 1973
• -57.2 C — Fort Smith, Northwest Territories — December 26, 1917
• -56.7 C — Prince Albert, Saskatchewan — February 1, 1893
• -55.8 C — Dawson City, Yukon — February 11, 1979
• -55.6 C — Iroquois Falls, Ontario — February 9, 1934
Raleigh 64 °F???? That is a load of CRAP. It is currently 31.3 °F and I am south of Raleigh about 50 miles and currently 27 °F
Polar Vortex = Mobile Polar High?
(cf. Marcel Leroux, 1993, etc)
Thank you.
JAIA
Please note the map bears a date which appears to be 3-3-2014 00:00 UTC as seen in the upper right-hand top, making it sometime yesterday …
.
I don’t think so minus 40 F when freezing point is 32 F. I don’t know really anyone see my point. C is 0 freezing point. I don’t think many places would get that minus 40 C other than the arctic or antarctic. Never good at sums.
@ bushbunny, Alberta can.So to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the norther sections of Ontario and Quebec.
Hence the Rodeo songs universal appeal across Canada, with slight misunderstandings on the two southerly coastlines.
This cooling reminds me of the movie The Day After Tomorrow. You never know, maybe the Earth will correct itself!