From the Houston Chronicle
Melissa Phillip Chronicle
Excerpts:
Jose Umana builds a snow ball as he plays with his brother and father in the snow fall at Affordable Cars & Trucks on I-45, where his dad, Mario Hernandez, Sr. works.
Falling snowflakes glimmered in streetlights, so wide that they billowed to the ground like parachutes, and so tantalizing that even awestruck adults reached out their hands or stuck out their tongues to catch one.
By Wednesday evening, the flakes were big enough to hold their shape for a moment on the street before melting into the pavement, and a dusting had collected on parked cars in some parts of town.
The flurries tied a record for Houston’s earliest snowfall ever and warmed the hearts of winter weather lovers who have pined for snow since it last made an appearance on Christmas Eve 2004.
“I’ve got a pot roast in the Crock-Pot, and I’m going to go home, change into my warmest pajamas and eat pot roast and enjoy what may be the only real winter day we have all year,” said Tina Arnold, an Illinois native who took advantage of the wintry backdrop to pick up Christmas presents Wednesday at The Woodlands Mall.
Since 1895, records indicate, snow has fallen this early just once — on Dec. 10, 1944.
Late Wednesday, there were no reports of school or business closings Thursday morning in the Houston area.
Patrick Trahan, a spokesman for the city, said the icy weather was expected to taper off overnight and was not expected to disrupt morning traffic. He added that if conditions did not improve, the Public Works Department would clear the roads this morning.
Forecasters at the Houston/Galveston office of the National Weather Service said clouds and precipitation should give way today to sunshine and temperatures in the upper 50s.
Overnight lows for all areas but those north and west of Harris County were expected to stay above freezing tonight, said the weather service’s Paul Lewis.
Snowfall in the metro Houston area Wednesday caught forecasters somewhat by surprise. A significant chance for snowfall didn’t show up in computer models until about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
“The midnight crew adjusted the forecast at that time,” Lewis said.
Read the entire article and watch video here
has anyone seen this? i can’t wait for he journal publication….
Scientist spells out new theory of world temperature fluctuations
http://co2sceptics.com/news.php?id=2248
Hmmm… sea ice at average of recorded history… sea levels faltering… entering long term PDO cooling… Sun in sleepy time… Glaciers growing… more and more scientists balking at AGW…
The media should be all over this like ugly on an ape… Maybe John Stossel has the cojones to tackle this thing…
I’ve posted this on another thread, but think it fits here too.
(to the tune “Let it Snow”)
Oh the weather outside is frightful.
But to the “skeptics” it’s so delightful.
Temps have dropped down low.
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Al Gore promised Global Warming.
But instead it’s been cold and storming.
Solar activity has dropped way low.
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Since sunspots have dropped out of sight.
A Global Cooling trend has started to form.
Proves the “skeptics” are proven right,
That CO2 does not cause Earth to warm.
The Solar Cycle is still slowly dying,
To Global Warming we are “good-bying”.
So as long as sunspots stay at zero,
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
Mike Bryant says:
When it comes to religion almost nothing, not even the failed second coming, is enough to cause the faithful to leave the flock.
I wish Santa brings us a Dalton Minimum… it should shut off the crazy AGW crowd.
An inch of snow on way to here in Huntsville as well. Knew I should have listened to Dr. Spencer and bought a 4×4…..
Richard deSousa (10:37:08) :
“I wish Santa brings us a Dalton Minimum… it should shut off the crazy AGW crowd.”
But be carefull what you wish for. While I agree it should finally shut off the crazy AGW crowd, however they are already starting to spin it as “climate change”.
The Really Good News is that Global Warming may be over.
The Really Bad News is that Global Warming may be over.
and the anecdotal report from Chicago:
“Chicago recorded its third 2-inch-plus December snowfall Tuesday, propelling the city’s seasonal snow tally to 8.5 inches—the third heaviest early season total here since 1980. ”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/weather/chi-tom-skilling-explainer_1210dec10,0,5442068.story
This is awesome,,, Louisiana has a typically similar climate to ours here in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa… It reminds me of Sept 21 when we had record snow 🙂 The farmers hated it but the people were astounded, hopefully la nina will repeat soon and it might snow again next year.
I agree with Richard, but I think we will need a Super maunder Minimum to convince them, but even that probably won’t, but still snow in the tropics would be fun~!
By the way the new sunspot appears to have decayed somewhat and is rotating out of view. I may be wrong but it also appears that to date there has been only one active cycle 24 region at a time and no simultaneous events?… only a plague region and a spot region some time ago come to mind but nothing else…
I thought that one of the finest comments I have read on this most admirable blog was from davidgmills (07:20:26) 10-12-2008 under “Spotless Days…” – David makes a very succinct analysis of the current state of play and should be a must read for anyone who wants to change the landscape of debate on global warming.
A few cold winters are not going to change anyone’s view if you are wedded to the notion of AGW. It will take a better hypothesis/theory/model/explanation that is readily saleable and then evidence (with a rigorous analysis that people like Steve McIntyre/Anthony Watts apply) that makes the change.
I happen to think this is a good read too. Moreover, it is as equally succinctly put as the comment I refer to above – http://co2sceptics.com/news.php?id=2249
I have the utmost respect for Leif Svalgaard and Bob Tisdale and I do think Stephen Wilde is on to something in his hypothesis.
I do hope one day that scientists (of all disciplines) will return to rigorous analysis backed by sharing of data, approach/methodology and step by step findings so that everyone can challenge, learn and perhaps improve upon our understanding of of the world’s climate.
hernadi-key (09:49:11) :
Is a spammer, I picked up some viruses from his links before. Be careful.
REPLY: Deleted, all thanks Anthony
Winter 2008/9 forecast
“For the winter as a whole, UK mean temperatures are more likely to be near or above average. However, we are likely to have a cold start to the winter with temperatures below average in December.”
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/seasonal/winter2008_9/
This seems to be a forecast after the fact, issued 25 November
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2008/pr20080925.html
“The Met Office forecast for the coming winter suggests it is, once again, likely to be milder than average. It is also likely that the coming winter will be drier than last year.”
Computers rubbish in rubbish out
I’m currently watching the BBC news channel, a supposedly unbiased and informative news channel!
It gives you a bizarre surrealistic feeling these days.
BBC is today, as many of you know, a biased and state controlled propaganda machine for CAGW (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming) indoctrination.
Today they had many reports on Global Warming and reports from the meeting in Poznan.
The former leaders of Germany and Soviet Union of the 19 thirties would have been very impressed of this campaign if they could have seen it.
Each day they have on their web site a weather news snip from some weather event somewhere in the world.
Today they had this report
Severe storms batter the south and east USA by Dan Corbett
In this report we can learn that the storm was created by “unseasonably warm air pushed north from the Gulf of Mexico”. Emphasis on “unseasonably warm air”.
In the next sentence it says “On Wednesday, this warm and moist air met up with colder air coming down from the arctic”. Without any mention on “unseasonably”, related to the cold air.
One wonder if at the BBC some sensor walk around the offices and check so that no doubt or anything that can bee seen as a doubt on the AGW theory is ever released to the public.
Richard,
You clearly don’t understand that AGW is causing AGC. It’s all our fault, ever since cave men caused the last Ice Age. (Hint: it was the CO2 generated by their campfires.)
By the way, the Dalton Minimum would be caused by man made CO2 migrating to the Sun.
Greetings from snowy New Orleans. There is still snow on the ground this afternoon. Some places north of Lake Pontchartrain (the Rhode Island -sized lake that bounds N.O. on the north) got up to 5.5″ of snow today. Makes for interesting driving. Looks like about 2 to 3″ fell outside my office. I think that this is the earliest snowfall for N.O. on record.
OT… Wow, Nickelodeon has a new game for kids…
http://newsblaze.com/story/2008121109230300001.pnw/topstory.html
“…(kids) partner with up to three other players in a face-off against CO2-spewing monsters.”
What happens when the kids find out that they also spew CO2??
OHHHHH NOOOOOO!!!
“I wish Santa brings us a Dalton Minimum… it should shut off the crazy AGW crowd.”
It’s sad the corruption of climate studies for political purpose is such this is needed. A significant, extended drop in temperature would not be good for world food production, etc. However, as an avid skier, I say BRING IT ON!!
“Jeff Alberts (08:25:49) :
They’re calling for snow here in Western Washington before xmas. Hasn’t happened in the 6 years I’ve been here (I know, a very short time). But it rarely happened in Virginia where I grew up, and where it gets much colder in Winter. It’s not a matter of precipitation, either, since it rains pretty often in fall and winter in Western Washington State. It’s a matter of temperature. It’s colder than “normal”.”
Had snow in Seattle for Thanksgiving once when I was a kid, but it is rare before late December. I’m in SE VA now and the winters are about the same temperature as Seattle but a little less snow, we are close enough to the coast for that to influence things, Richmond a little inland gets a lot more snow than us. The storm that dumped on Houston and NO is a little weird on the national weather radar, snow down south and rain up north??
The U. S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has released U.S. Senate Minority Report Update: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims.
The full 231 page printable pdf report is at: http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=37283205-c4eb-4523-b1d3-c6e8faf14e84
I “love” snow too – as long as I don’t have to do the shovelling…
Now, OT – and I hate to spoil the snow party… but for those in power – and with the money – it still isn’t about science as much as it is about more money and more power.
Quote from http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/12/carbon-trading-is-scam.html :
“University of Maryland professor economics professor and former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission Peter Morici writes:
Obama must ensure that the banks use the trillions of dollars in federal bailout assistance to renegotiate mortgages and make new loans to worthy homebuyers and businesses. Obama must make certain that banks do not continue to squander federal largess by padding executive bonuses, acquiring other banks and pursuing new high-return, high-risk lines of businesses in merger activity, CARBON TRADING and complex derivatives. Industry leaders like Citigroup have announced plans to move in those directions. Many of these bankers enjoyed influence in and contributed generously to the Obama campaign. Now it remains to be seen if a President Obama can stand up to these same bankers and persuade or compel them to act responsibly.”
Also worth a read: “UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims” at http://www.wiseupjournal.com/?p=701
The problem here, of course, is that these 650+ scientist will be ignored by the MSM pretty much the same way as the previous 400+ scientist from last year.
Well, (bailout) money talks – unfortunately – and not the scientists…
The Center for Global Food Issues list of Documented Doubts of Man-Made Global Warming Scares.
http://www.cgfi.org/2007/10/04/the-list-documented-doubts-of-man-made-global-warming-scares/
1) Most of the recent global warming has been caused by a long, moderate, natural cycle rather than by the burning of fossil fuels;
2) The sun’s varying radiance impacts the earth’s climate as more or fewer cosmic rays create more of fewer of the low, wet clouds that act as the earth’s thermostats, deflecting more or less solar heat out into space.
3) Sea levels are not rising rapidly nor are they likely to;
4) Wild species are not being driven to extinction but rather are increasing the biodiversity of our wildlands;
5) Fewer humans death are likely rather than more as the current warming continues, since cold is far more dangerous and the earth is always warming or cooling;
6) Food production is likely to thrive during the decades ahead, due both to longer growing seasons and aerial CO2 enrichment, rather than collapsing due to climate overheating; or
7) Our storms are likely to be fewer and milder as the declining temperature differential between the equator and the poles reduces their power.
Sid (09:09:36) :
ughh – not even a hat tip for reporting this in the last thread…. On the other hand, my daughter saw her first snowfall last night, so there’s not much wrong with the world today 🙂
Heck, I reported it when it started two threads ago. The drizzle turned into little flakes, then we began getting the big, fluffy blobs. The ground was too warm, so the only buildups were on cars and bushes, but it was still pretty.
Darn global warming melted it all.
Per Strandberg (11:52:56) :
“Today they had this report
Severe storms batter the south and east USA by Dan Corbett
In this report we can learn that the storm was created by “unseasonably warm air pushed north from the Gulf of Mexico”. Emphasis on “unseasonably warm air”.
In the next sentence it says “On Wednesday, this warm and moist air met up with colder air coming down from the arctic”. Without any mention on “unseasonably”, related to the cold air.”
It is worse than you think. Those of us who live on the Gulf Coast know that warm, humid air from the large bath tub known as the Gulf of Mexico can, and regularly does, come over the coast all 12 months of the year. Warm, humid days are common in December, January and February. There is absolutely nothing “unseasonable” about such air movements at any time of the year. The ONLY thing that is unseasonable in Houston just now is cold air and snow. This is why the story about snow in Houston is newsworthy.
The Boston Globe has a silly weather story on page 1 today.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2008/12/11/winter_easing_its_grip_on_northeast/
this morning’s paper had a typo, claiming a .08 rise per decade in the northeast–in the body of the article it says 0.8 degrees F, which is about equal to the rise of the entire 20th century from what I can gather.
the numbers are: for the Northeast only, beginning in 1965 at the end of 30 year a cooling trend. The story also notes that northern New England does not seem to be warming as much. The numbers also end in 2005, before two cold winters.
I also like that they cite the expertise of man who sells winter apparel.
There’s also a strange caption under the chart in small type: “This chart represents all the data used in the study, but the researchers actually analyzed twelve 30-year increments for their conclusions.”
Can anyone with more expertise comment?