Expect a really ugly day for air travel on Monday as Atlanta’s forecast is not one of encouragement, and we all know just how important Atlanta is an a regional air hub.
From NWS Atlanta/Peachtree City, GA:
Snow hits the south – air travel woes coming
In Northwestern Alberta we had several days of freezing rain last week, followed with 15-20 inches of snow in the past three days, so I’m too busy feeling sorry for myself right now to care too much about our Southern friends. Incidentally, ya’all may need to brace yourselves for the next Alberta clipper, it’s already been sent your way.
thegoodlocust says:
January 9, 2011 at 10:07 pm
No kidding, a Great White!
Current SOI 27 greater than Dec. ave. of 26 which was deepening. I’d think La Nina has legs.
More Global Warming hits the south. I think the MET predicted this event back in October 2009 and communicated secretly to Obama. Or was that Hansen….
We’ve got a couple of inches of white AGW thus far in Charlotte this morning. I have promised to embrace summer more whole-heartedly this year rather than complain about the heat.
Lets see what the history books say about unprecedented winter storms in Georgia. This collection of quotes is from “A Gazetteer of the State of Georgia” by Adiel Sherwood, 1837. (you can look it up on books.google.com)
I only cut a few selections that mentioned inches of snow…not dustings or other anecdotes.
1775, November 25.-Snow fell 18 inches deep.
1831, February 6. Snow 6 to 8 inches. Groound was almost constantly frozen in the morning for near two months.
1835, January 8. At night snow fell 8 inches and 13 in Troup and Pike; seldom known at such a depth.
1835 February 3. Four inches snow
1836, December 5. Snow 4 inches; 6 in Norfolk, but none in Richmond. No snow in Georgia before Christmas for many, many years!
1837, February. Snow 4 or 5 inches, and also in March; not much during the winter
Lest you think this is proof that Georgia is significantly warmer now than during the 19th century, check out all the references to oppressive heat and winters so warm that the cotton never stopped growing. Here’s one on page 77:
“1828-So Warm was this winter that the cotton plant in some places was not killed, and sprouts from the old roots sprung up and produced a new crop, without the labor of planting.”
and in 1830 “June, July, August, September, and October, without rain , except some partial showers. Camp and Tobler’s creeks in Jones and Baldwin, and Richland, in Greene, nearly dry-a little water in holes. Earth not wet one inch in Greenesboro’ from 1st June till 8th Novemeber!”
You get the sense that the weather was all over the place back then…from hot to cold, wet to dry. Droughts and floods, early frosts, late frosts, mild winters, cold harsh winters. But hey, that was weather in the mid 1800’s and it’s weather now.
Huntsville, AL checking in with about 10″ of icy snow.
My last post above was about Georgia weather.. But in the spirit of climate change, what does the gazetteer have to say about climate? On page 76 they describe the climate of Georgia in the mid 1800’s:
“The mercury in Fahrenheit usually fluctuates from 75deg to 86deg between April and October. Governor Ellis says it rose as high as 102deg, in 1757, in Savannah; but it has not in that city been higher than 94deg in several years.”
I searched http://www.wunder.com for the temperature statistics for 2010 (the hottest year on record) in Savannah Georgia. Lets compare them to the climate quoted in 1837
Average = 78. Min. average=67, max. average = 88. Max. temperature = 102. Minimum temperature = 44.
So the maximum temperature in 2010 was 102…and the maximum in 1757 was 102
In the 19th century the temperature fluctuated between 75 and 86, and it fluctuated in 2010 between 67 and 88.
How about winter you say? The gazatteer says “the mercury falls every winter almost as low as to 20deg; sometimes to 16deg.” and “all the winter of 1828-9 was very mild, till the 9th of January, 1829. On the 9th, at 4P.M, the mercury was at 76deg, and on the 11th, at 6A.M., it was down to 16!”
This year, (Dec. 2010 to Jan 10, 2011): Maximum temperature 75F, minimum temperature 21F (compare above to the gazatteer of 1837).
Yep…sounds like definite global warming. Sound the alarms, tax the economy into submission, everyone drive an electric car (except AlGore…you can keep flying around on jets and live in a giant mansion and consume all the energy you want)
Let’s move to Alaska. Barrow was 40 degrees above average yesterday.
Jan. 9 Snow
Actual: 33 | 10
Precip: T
Average: -7 | -19
Precip: 0.00
Starzmom,
I have lived in the South all my life (except for two winters in the frozen tundra of northeastern Maryland), and although the four inches of show and sleet on my back deck are unusual, we get something like this at least once a decade. Find an old Atlanta native and you will probably get the horror stories* without even ponying up a beer!
*At least it starting snowing on Sunday evening so most everybody was at home instead of getting stranded at work…
East side of Atlanta GA – 4 inches or so here
Took a ride on the mountain bike just to see what biking in the snow was like. It was hard. Very hard. Took one fairly nasty fall when the back tire independently went right at a high rate of speed and I found myself bouncing off my left hip in the road. I was only doing about 4 mph at the time but it still happened too fast to save it. Other than that, things are beautiful. Snow is rare enough here (but certainly not unknown) to enjoy it every time it comes.
Please excuse my comment, I had not caught any of the tragic news out of Arizona this weekend while travelling.
Ahh shoot where’s global warming when you want it?
Got about 6-8″ inches of snow in Chattanooga, Tn. Tried to get to a girlfriend’s house. No luck.
My truck could easily pile through the deep snow; but, it could not get a grip on the underlying ice. Made it about 25 feet from my house and had to turn back. Could have put on my chains, as the main roads are clear; but, I figure it would have taken 30 minute to get to a clear road and I would have to take them back off go keep from damaging the tires. I decided to call it quits since I live on a steep hill and wasn’t looking forward to putting on chains while buried in snow (would have looked like a cold drown cat by the time I got there).
Been since the early 70’s since I’ve seen this much snow in the south (North Alabama/ South Eastern Tennessee).
Regards, Kforestcat
gary gulrud says:
January 10, 2011 at 8:34 am
Bastardi says the next 10 days will be the coldest of the season, particularly in the South.
The polar vortex is gearing up (slowing, allowing arctic higher pressure) , this is a result of the sudden warming following the sudden cooling in the stratosphere above the arctic.
The AO is also responding in a neg fashion, Joe will hit the mark on this one.
Also agree with your La Nina comment gary, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a double La Nina this time around.
They actually closed the schools in Fayetteville, AR this morning because of the DUSTING we had last night. hahaha. Being from Michigan, I find this hilarious. I do understand though, since they dont use Road Salt, they use gravel…..even on the interstates….. when springtime comes the cracked windshield business goes crazy.
Geoff Sharp said: ‘Also agree with your La Nina comment gary, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a double La Nina this time around.’
With the subsurface remaining cool, it’s almost a certainty that there will be ‘back to back’ La Nina.