That’s from the avalanche center in the Tetons, and here is a current web-cam view up Yosemite Valley towards still-closed Tioga Pass (in the left background):
AP has a nice roundup of late snow and snowpack news (including the Teton quote). Just weather. No mention of climate. Nothing this time about snow and cold being caused by global warming. Now if we could just get the press to do the same when there is a regional hot spell. Still, it’s progress. Remember the spinning on last winter’s snowzilla?
Most amusing was Al Gore’s quote from “the scientific community“:
A rise in global temperature can create all sorts of havoc, ranging from hotter dry spells to colder winters, along with increasingly violent storms, flooding, forest fires and loss of endangered species.
A click on Gore’s link showed “the scientific community” to be Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page. Gore should also have quoted Page’s credentials, which Page listed in his next line:
That’s simple science even for me, a guy whose scientific education pretty much ended with the old “Watch Mr. Wizard” TV show and a subscription to Popular Mechanics.
Unfortunately, Gore could have quoted some actual scientists to the same effect, as Andrew Bolt quoted the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research:
The overall warming of the earth’s northern half could result in cold winters… Recent severe winters like last year’s or the one of 2005-06 do not conflict with the global warming picture, but rather supplement it.
But as Bolt also quoted, the Potsdammer’s IPCC bible had predicted the opposite:
Fewer cold outbreaks; fewer, shorter, intense cold spells / cold extremes in winter” as being consistent across all model projections for Europe
What, are there no takers this time around? Are they tiring of the ridicule?
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Uneditable history on the Internet is our best friend in this war.
In view of the fact that global warming is accelerating, and is already running at about 0.2C per decade, we can expect the long-term trend of warmer winters to continue. This is especially true at high latitudes where polar amplification means that the warming trend is 2 or 3 times greater than the global average.
The magnitude of global warming is still exceeded by interannual variability, especially on local and regional scales, and the same applies to metrics of snow depth, snow cover etc., but the warming trend in the data is undeniable. It would unfortunate if people lost sight of this fact in focusing on localised and short term weather phenomena.
Very off-topic…but very forgivable if you’ve eaten there….(Anthony, you have, haven’t you?)
When Tioga Pass opens, and you’ve got the opportunity to hit the Mobile gas station at highways 120 and 395, next door to Lee Vining and overlooking Mono Lake…Don’t pass up eating at the Whoa Nellie Deli at the gas station. Seriously.
Where else could you feast on lobster taquitos and mango margaritas after witnessing the majesty of this year’s waterfalls in Yosemite?
http://www.whoanelliedeli.com/
Icarus says:
May 29, 2011 at 6:20 am
In view of the fact that global warming is accelerating, and is already running at about 0.2C per decade,
0.133 from where I’m sitting:
http://woodfortrees.org/plot/uah/from:1980.5/plot/uah/from:1980.5/trend
but the warming trend in the data is undeniable
Data from when? The flatness of the decadal trend is undeniable:
http://woodfortrees.org/plot/uah/from:1997.5/plot/uah/from:1997.5/trend
Too bad the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t know about all this snow out west. If they had, they could have started releasing water from the Missouri river dams much sooner. Now when they get an unusually heavy rain, the scramble begins. Reservoirs on the river are nearly at capacity, releases are approaching, and will soon exceed, record flows and flooding is guaranteed. Flooding and high water levels are predicted to remain for several months. 150,000 cubic feet per second release from these dams is nearly double previous records.
Icarus says:
“In view of the fact that global warming is accelerating, and is already running at about 0.2C per decade” ….. “It would unfortunate if people lost sight of this fact in focusing on localised and short term weather phenomena.”
Are you saying the 0.2 C tend in warming is due to the addition of human CO2?
If yes, please show your proof.
If not, what is your point?
It would be good if this was a Berlin Wall coming down moment.
They have probably realized the public is not as stupid and gullible as they thought and are now pausing to figure out a new approach to sell the fraud.
Advertisers are still keeping it going but selling something because it is advertised as green will soon wear off as the economy tanks and people avoid the pitch.
The attribution of global warming/climate change is dead in the water; but the sinister fact remains that AGW chiefs have gotten their people to the top of the greasy pole in education, environment and economics posts, often unelected ones. How do we get them out?
The pro-AGW set has done their best over the past two decades to ignore the effects of the ENSO (they do bring it up all the time when it is convenient but they never take into account the large climate effects that it has).
Temperatures are down over the past year (due to the La Nina).
Water vapour levels are down over the past year (due to the La Nina).
More rain occurred in Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Amazon, south-east Asia, the mid-east US and more rain and snow in north-western North America (due to the La Nina).
Drought occured in equatorial Pacific and the south and south-east US (due to the La Nina).
http://imageshack.us/m/692/5586/ensovstcwv1948apr11.png
http://imageshack.us/m/221/9702/ensotempsvstcwvapr11.png
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/impacts/cold.gif
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/images/content/209479main_elnino1_080128_HI.jpg
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/images/olr/olr.anom.90day.gif
Ah, the next Ice Age! I remember back in the Sixties when an Ice Age was the climate threat du jour! I didn’t believe we were doomed then, and I don’t believe we are doomed now. But it might be fun to see the climate consensus do a 180 so I can return to the days of my youth.
First R Gates says “greater snowfall and rainfall are generally associated with warmer, not cooler climates”. Then he says “as it stands, this snowfall is just variations in weather more likely related to ENSO than any long term cooling”.
In other words, greater snowfall comes from warning except for this particular snowfall which comes from temporary ENSO cooling. Did I get that right?
To R.Gates:
Replace “snowfall” with “AGW” and “cooling” with “warming” (above the long term trend) and I’ll believe your logic, What’s the old saying? “Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander?”.
Here on Vancouver Island people are openly wondering what happened to spring.
Warm causes cold we learn that in that movie, An Inconvenience Day After Tomorrow, floods, hurricanes, droughts, fires, ice ages, and tornadoes, all at the same time and same place are the inevitable result of humans increasing CO2 past 360 ppm.
In 1999, Tioga pass didn’t open till July 1st. I drove it that day. It was glorius.
Back then, that record setting winter was just known as an EL Nino weather event. To the warmists’ point, that was a very warm year, however, this one is not.
R. Gates says:
May 29, 2011 at 5:38 am
“As noted many times here on WUWT, greater snowfall and rainfall are generally associated with warmer, not cooler climates. ”
Is the 25% sceptic in your head gaining or losing ground? You sound pretty ultra-orthodox today. Somebody show me a warmer climate that gets more snow than a cooler climate. Maybe you wanted to say “Moister/dryer” but that’s not the same thing.
R. Gates, once again you are wrong. Anthropogenic climate change cannot be THE cause of current conditions. The historical ENSO record is quite clear on this. La Nina and neutral Pacific winter conditions leads to more winter moisture (picks up water vapor from choppy seas and left over El Nino warm pools), more snow, and lower temperatures over much of the upper states and along the length of the Cascades.
While NOAA drinks warm-aid, their ENSO models (statistical and dynamical) are pretty good at forcasting these conditions, and some without the need for CO2 contributions. They forcasted lots of snow precip and lower temperatures using similar year comparisons and nailed it, based on similar years. The colder/neutral conditions will lead to a mixed bag of dry/wet and cold/warm this summer depending on on-shore flow of weather systems. Maybe you could keep track of it better if you read the ENSO update posted every Monday.
While you attribute these conditions to CO2, the natural systems are entirely capable of driving these conditions. Therefore your statement is unprovable, no matter how often you state it. However, if you wish to continue to stick to your guns, go right ahead.
The North Cascades Highway in Western Washington remained closed more than a month later than “normal”, due to incredibly heavy snow and avalanches. I’ve heard reports that snow was as high as 75 feet in some places.
Some pics of the clearing effort: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/sets/72157626170712679/
Other passes, Stevens, Snoqualmie (I-90), were similarly affected, requiring studded tires or chains well past the usual April 1 date.
@RGates.” As noted many times here on WUWT, greater snowfall and rainfall are generally associated with warmer, not cooler climates. ”
I don’t know about that dude, here in Sarasota Florida (a warm climate to be sure) there wasn’t any snow at all this winter (or any other winter that anyone or their great great great grandparents can remember) . Up in Vermont (a cold climate, ask anyone) there was plenty of snow and often is. I think you ‘ll tend to find that the tropics (warm) tend to have less snow than the non-tropical areas (cold).
What you are talking about are at the very extremes. The difference between say -30°F and -45°F Yeah there you might see less snow the colder it gets. but it does take ice core records to see that it snows more in Vermont where it is colder than it snow in Washington DC where it is warmer. It doesn’t take ice core records to see that it snowed more in Vermont in the 60s and 70s than in the 90s and 00s, colder more snow.
I want some of the global warming to come back to my location. It must be warmer somewhere on the planet by about 15 degrees F as it’s that much cooler in my location this month! My propane fueled furnace is cranking away at the end of May. In terms of useful metrics I prefer looking at Heating and Cooling Degree Days- vs the rather forced metric of global average temperature.
Data from my area is as follows-
Heating Degree Days:
Today: 5.6
May: 239.4
2011 to Date: 2341.5
Cooling Degree Days:
2011 to Date: 11
Snow on the ground this am here in Utah, and still snowing in the higher elevations
Oh and R.Gates:
How many years does a pattern have to repeat for it to be interesting to you? Is no warming since 1998 starting to get a bit interesting to you? If you have anything like an open mind it should.
R. Gates May 29, 2011 at 5:38 am
Snow doesn’t last into May because it’s warmer. Snow doesn’t fall in areas where it’s normally not cold enough because it’s warmer.
Eric (skeptic) & Sam Glasser:
I go by what the long term data tell us and could care less about any taking points on either side of the AGW issue. Ice core date unequivocally show greater accumulation of snowfall during warmer, not cooler climates. Why this fact bothers some people I just don’t fully understand. I have no problem with seeing the phases of the ENSO cycle as having all sorts of effects around the globe, as surely there are, just as I have no problem with seeing the multiple inputs to create earth’s climate, from the long term astronomical Milankovitch cycles to short term ENSO cycles, volcanoes, long and short term solar changes, GCR flux, and yes, even anthropogenic factors such as GHG’s, urban heat islands, black carbon, land use, etc.
A few years do not a trend make – This said, from what we can see here in Japan, the last 2 winters have been rather cold and the summers hot as they usually are, but more importantly spring is almost gone. April was rather very cold and May is… different. A very early typhoon today followed by an early rainy season. It is actually rather unpleasant. Conversely, in Europe is seems to be very nice this year if rather dry.
Is that change? Hard to say. Still, changes made by humans, as far as I have seen, are more and more obvious, massive forest burnings in Indonesia, permafrost melting in Russia, unbelievable levels of pollution in China… all of which scale is huge. Difficult to think there will be no global effects in the end since mankind is relentless; we probably simply won’t give up until there is but by then, it will be late and we will have to live with the mess we created… think radioactivity, for example.