UPDATE: The East coast snowstorm seen from space
The Mid-Atlantic states were completely white on Sunday, December 20, 2009, in the wake of a record-breaking snow storm. The storm deposited between 12 and 30 inches of snow in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. on December 19, according to the National Weather Service. For many locations, the snowfall totals broke records for the most snow to fall in a single December day.
The storm shut down the federal government in Washington DC, stranded travelers, left hundreds of thousands without power and sharply cut holiday sales the weekend before Christmas.
From the “weather is not climate” department here’s interesting news from the National Operational Hyrdologic Remote Sensing Center. While certainly not unprecedented or unusual, it is interesting, especially when comparing years past:
Indeed, it looks like a white Christmas for much of the USA. Here’s the data:
December 21, 2009
| Area Covered By Snow: | 51.7% |
| Area Covered Last Month: | 8.0% |
| Snow Depth | |
|---|---|
| Average: | 3.8 in |
| Minimum: | 0.0 in |
| Maximum: | 887.0 in |
| Std. Dev.: | 6.4 in |
| Snow Water Equivalent | |
| Average: | 0.7 in |
| Minimum: | 0.0 in |
| Maximum: | 435.0 in |
| Std. Dev.: | 1.4 in |
Their weather summary indicates more snow on the way:
One to 3 feet of snow fell in the western Plains yesterday, while up to 1/2 inch of freezing rain fell in the central Plains. The precipitation was in response to a potent upper low in the Southern Plains and an associated surface low, which caused upslope flow conditions. The heaviest snowfall amounts were observed in the Colorado Front Range and in the Sangre de Cristo mountains of New Mexico. Strong surface winds in these areas caused much blowing and drifting snow.
Most of the snowpack across the West and western Plains is cool, with cold conditions at the lower elevations of the Great Basin. In the central Plains, where rain and snow fell yesterday, the snowpack there is warm, but snowmelt occurred along the southeastern edge of the central U.S. snowpack. Very warm conditions exist on the windward side of the Cascades where warm onshore flow occurred yesterday; slow snowmelt occurred there. Strong surface winds caused high blowing snow sublimation in the Western Plains from southeastern Wyoming and the Nebraska panhandle southward to northeastern New Mexico.
The upper low, currently over the Central Plains, will move slowly northeastward during the next three days, passing through the Great Lakes region by Sunday. A surface low will accompany the system. Little additional deepening of the system is expected since it appears that dry air is wrapping around the system. But on the cold side of the low, about 1/2 foot of snowfall is expected today in northeastern Colorado through southwestern Minnesota today. Heavier amounts are expected in orographically-favored areas of the Western Plains and northern Front Range. Snowfall is expected in the eastern part of the Upper Midwest and south of western Lake Superior. Up to 1/2 foot of snowfall is possible in this band with higher amounts snowfall likely in northwestern Wisconsin and the Michigan Upper Peninsula.
A deep surface low just off the central British Columbia coast has a cold front extending southward through the Northwest. Onshore flow behind the cold front and midlevel dynamics associated with the front will bring up to a foot of snowfall to the Cascades, Intermountains, Northern Rockies, and northern Sierra Nevada today and from northwestern Wyoming through southern Utah tomorrow. Another front will bring 4 to 8 inches of snow to the Cascades on Saturday.
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New info on the Eurostar train problems.
The problem, it was the “wrong type of ‘fluffy French snow.'”
Very fine, very dry…
Long range models are showing a massive cold outbreak with much of the South below freezing for several days straight right after Christmas.
Michael (16:15:56) :
Report on the Weather Channel; over 80 people froze to death in Europe. That’s what happens when you don’t prepare for global cooling.
Mother Nature is showing the world global warming isn’t happening. No matter how many times they are told ‘there is a consensus among scientist’ they are going to believe what’s really going on in the world.
If record snow falls all over the world can the UN hear it?
Ha! Booted from Desmogblog for responding to the allegation that James Inhofe had been at Copenhagen only to spew disinformation and having done so, burned another tank of jet fuel to get back to Washington. Because, as you all know, Al Gore, Hugo Chavez and Robert Magabe all traveled on the fumes of humanitarian good intentions.
denier (16:59:19) :
I SWEAR to GOD, my Dad told me “People don’t understand this global warming”.. I said, oh, how so. He said “Well, cold places will get warm and warm places will get cold”. So, really, this snowfall, the fault of AGW. Period. I don’t know what to do.
It’s kinda easy—-where are the warm places that are supposed to be happening??? They don’t exist! The ‘cold places will get warm’ part isn’t happening.
The earth is cooling and has been for years.
The easiest way to get a roaring laugh out of a customer when they walk in the store shivering is to exclaim “Don’t you know? Global Warming causes Global Cooling”. They all think that’s about the most assinine thing they have ever heard.
It’s so stupid it makes people bust up.
I’ve tried it on about 50 people so far.
Works every time.
Try it yourself.
Austin (19:46:42) :
Long range models are showing a massive cold outbreak with much of the South below freezing for several days straight right after Christmas.
December started with record cold. Now record snow. It will end in record cold?
There was some talk of where could it snow 800 inches or something like that, the coldest, snowiest place in the continental U.S. I think is a place called Mount Washington, NH., about 6,288 feet MSL. It receives an average of 102 inches in precip a year and almost 600 inche of snow. It also blows like heck with a max wind speed of 231 mph.
I really think that Joe Romm has acquired Mad Gore Disease. I also think that it has disseminated to his brain already. The things that he is claiming nowadays are amazing. I think he even gave out kudos to the Detroit Lions for winning last years Super Bowl against the Cleveland Browns!
http://www.weather.gov/alerts/us.html#COZ040.BOUWSWBOU.025300
“THE HEAVIEST SNOW AND STRONGEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR FROM THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS OF COLORADO INTO KANSAS AND NEBRASKA.”
Enduser (19:17:17) :
Monday, Dec 21; Colorado Springs; Fair, dry, 60 degrees F.
There is no such thing as “normal” weather along the Front Range.
I think it’s more likely that the winter’s snows simply fail to melt one spring because of insufficient irradiance, and the next winter’s snows pile up on top of that,
Indeed, it is something of a myth that climate change happens slowly.
A likely scenario is a cold snowy winter followed by a major volcanic eruption in the spring. Snow persists late into summer and even through summer in many places with increased albedo due to the snow and volcanic clouds. The following winter is very severe with snow down to very low latitudes. Earth’s albedo is permanently increased by the snow cover and rapid ice accumulation starts. In the 2nd or 3rd year another volcanic eruption continues the cooling trend.
The albedo tipping is passed and the ice advances until the next Milankovic Cycle warming starts in a 100,000 years or so.
JMac (16:39:33) :
We have about 12 inches of snow over North Yorkshire, most I have seen in over 30 years.
30 years – Inline with the PDO cycle.
kadaka (19:44:40) :
New info on the Eurostar train problems.
The problem, it was the “wrong type of ‘fluffy French snow.’”
Very fine, very dry…
Hmmm “fluffy” not “rotten”… It is just as I suspected it would be…
Some Ethiopian Australian friends of mine who have never seen snow are currently visiting family and friends, in Washington DC. One goal was to see and expereince snow. Well they certainly got that.
Outstanding image, thanks NASA.
Larry Weitzman (20:36:18) :
Donner Summit, I-80, 1982-83 El Nino event – 880 inches of snow.
Snow traps people.
Larry Weitzman (20:36:18) :
No, not at Mount Washington. I think you need to look to the North Cascades where they wring out the moist feed from the Pacific Ocean.
There are no glaciers on Mt Washington. While it can snow any day of the year, the summit melts pretty readily. Being above tree line, a lot of the summit blows into Huntington and Tuckerman’s Ravines. Snow there lasts into June and July.
http://www.mountwashington.org/weather/normals.php says 314.8″ (800 cm) snow on average, 566.4″ record (1968-69). Precip ranges between the extremes of 71.34″ (1979) and 130.14″ (1969), mean is just over 100″ (260 cm).
Mt. Washington’s claim to “The World’s Worst Weather” comes from the ease of access to the summit and how several common storm tracks pass nearby. I think many more people die each year on Mt Blanc in France, but that’s much taller and a longer hike. A typical hike up Mt Washington is only a 3000’/1000m climb vertically.
I suspect that 800″ you’re looking for is a snowfield that should become a glacier. I don’t know where it is, but would like to know.
Graeme From Melbourne (21:29:45) :
The PDO cycle is about 60 years. However, we were in a cooling period too
over 30 years ago.
Ric Werme (21:58:22) :
Graeme From Melbourne (21:29:45) :
JMac (16:39:33) :
We have about 12 inches of snow over North Yorkshire, most I have seen in over 30 years.
30 years – Inline with the PDO cycle.
The PDO cycle is about 60 years. However, we were in a cooling period too
over 30 years ago.
Which is the meaning that I intended – the earlier observation from JMac could be correlated to the last “Cold” PDO phase. Which may well be sufficient to explain the current NH weather. The 60s and 70s had some extreme cold periods.
When was the last time the Arctic Ice Cap connected with Iceland?
“Weather” is that word which is used to describe natural events, quite unpredictable, which have and will cause large destruction of human constructions, and which have and will cause extremely large numbers of people to die.
“Climate” is that word which is used by charlatans to frighten people who have little or no knowledge of history and/or science.
kadaka (19:44:40) :
New info on the Eurostar train problems.
The problem, it was the “wrong type of ‘fluffy French snow.’”
Very fine, very dry…
Chablis snow?
@Dodgy Geezer (14:35:14)
Quite right about the dangers of freezing when drunk.
Last time I was in Russia (2001) I was reading some statistics (I think they were American?) and they claimed that in Russia there were more fatalities from drunks falling down and freezing to death than fatalities from traffic accidents.
I bet that more old people in the UK in 2009/2010 will die of hypothermia than will die from the over-hyped Swine flu.
Nothing to do with the 80% hike in energy bills due to carbon trading and building wind (=subsidy) farms, of course.
how long is an extreme event to be called an event??
say the temperature drops 3 degrees for a year, is that still an extreme event.. or if the weather drops for 50 years.. is that still classed as an extreme event..
How long does an event last to become normality?