Readers may recall our story from Dec 15th, 2013: Over half the USA covered in snow, the most in 11 years
Now, it’s even more. See the map and the 3D image:
February 7, 2014
| Area Covered By Snow: | 67.4% |
| Area Covered Last Month: | 48.1% |
The map is from NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
The 3D image is from this KMZ file and Google Earth:
h/t to Joe Bastardi of WeatherBell
UPDATE: Values of snow cover for this date show this is the highest in a decade.
February 7, 2014
Area Covered By Snow: 67.4%
February 7, 2013
Area Covered By Snow: 34.8%
February 7, 2012
Area Covered By Snow: 25.5%
February 7, 2011
Area Covered By Snow: 48.9%
February 7, 2010
Area Covered By Snow: 60.8%
February 7, 2009
Area Covered By Snow: 33.2%
February 7, 2008
Area Covered By Snow: 51.1%
February 7, 2007
Area Covered By Snow: 38.9%
February 7, 2006
Area Covered By Snow: 26.6%
February 7, 2005
Area Covered By Snow: 26.4%
February 7, 2004
Area Covered By Snow: 53.4%
Great Lakes all on one slide with thicknesses added.
Interesting that some areas less than 100% covered still have pieces of ice 12-24 inches thick.
http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/special/great_lakes/2014/uscg_district_9_support/combined_slide/glslide140206thick_ct.jpg
All the sarcastic posts warm my heart. LOL
But, but, but,……. Obama says there isn’t any snow. Only global warming.
Libs – What a bunch of SUCKERS!
How certain are we exactly that co2 is causing all this warming?
Anthony Watts
This means less for eventual global warming or not.
We have had that discussion here in Norway relating to glaciers, on whether you can judge from growth or shrinking of glacers on waming of climate. Which you can not, but the principle is rather easy and elementary glaciology.
If there is high percipitation in the winter and dry in the summer, the glaciers will grow, given unchanged temperatures.
The opposite no snow in the winters however cold and cool and warm pissing in the summers,… that takes on the blue ice and reduces the glaciers.
Then you can both understand and discuss it, but those things must be seen together as a whole.
We also have the very important situation of no glaciers in Sibir and hardly in Ural however ice ages, but Folgefonni and Svartisen right where the warm atlantic winds come in. And on your side extreemly dry and rainshadow west and northwest of Grønland.
It is as easy as that, and Spitzbergen Svalbard with another ice age history than the mainlands in Europe and North america, because Svalbard is in the arctic “high” and “arctic easterlies”
Snow is to be discussed the same way.
In Sibir, the Reindeers go down on the icy lakes and permafrosts in summer to avoid insects and up on the green hills to eat. Here they withdraw to the high glaciers to avoid insects and down to the green slopes to eat. .
But tell them over there that they should be glad for snow, because it means water, and that summer sure will come. That is a quite certain meteorological longtime forcast.
The rule here is: “Mai Kulde gjør Bondens lader fulde” (That you grasp)
Cool and even snow in Mai means water, and because of the western European Monsune, there is danger of springtime draught. June with those very long days give light enough for photosynthesis.
Thus the Sun Halo in April is the very old and heathen symbol of wealth and luck, later christianized as the sun cross.
Tell them also that the sun Halo is a most certain signal of rain tomorrow, On Haloes, forget the meteorological institute and the weather forecasts.
Fimbulvinter is 3 winters on a row without summer and then comes Ragnarokk.
Thor will then kill the big snake, the polar vortex, but the snake wil breathe so much poison into his face that also Thor dies at Ragnarok.
If that is certain, I don`t know.
something to amuse while u remain indoors to escape the cold:
7 Feb: NYT Dot Earth: Andrew C. Revkin: A Conversation on Tobacco and Coal Exports and Moral Responsibility
I sent my recent post on exports of life-shortening tobacco and dirty fossil fuels to a variety of climate and energy scientists and analysts and the result was an interesting email conversation that is excerpted below…
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/a-conversation-on-tobacco-and-coal-exports-and-moral-responsibility/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Opinion&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0
What “could” happen is an uptick in severe weather and violent tornadoes in Springs that follow cold Winters like this. With almost absolute certainty, if/when this happens, it will be blamed on climate change from humans………..even as some of us note that last year had the least amount of tornadoes since accurate records have been kept.
Strong to violent tornado numbers were highest during the modest global cooling in the 50’s-60’s-70’s. A mainly isolated big exception occurred in the Spring of 2011, but then we had conditions similar to the period of the 50’s to 70’s which featured more La Nina’s and cold Winters/Springs.
A negative PDO is also more frequent during these periods that seem to repeat every 60 years or so(around half of them negative, half positive PDO)
The Pacific Ocean and atmosphere seem to be in the same part/mode of this natural cycle as we were back in the 1970’s for instance. This Winter has been more like a Winter from the 1970’s than one in the 80’s/90’s, when the same cycle, on the flip side, had a warming influence.
The Super Outbreak in early April 1974, for example, occurred less than 2 weeks after a piece of the “Polar Vortex” had dropped as far south as Northern Minnesota.
There are numerous ingredients needed for an outbreak of violent, long lived tornadoes with a powerful jet stream near the top of the list. These powerful jet streams tend to coincide with the boundaries of strongly contrasting air masses.
During our Springs, when violent tornado frequency is highest, the Gulf of Mexico is always there with its warm, humid air. Air of Pacific origin that has moisture wrung out traveling over the mountains is often available with a “dry line” existing in the Plains and becoming a significant feature in outbreaks.
One of the elements that is often a key to the potency of the jet stream, development of a deep surface cyclone and intense, veering wind fields(sheer) is the amount of cold air available.
The longer that Winters cold lingers(and snow cover lasts) the more explosive it can be when combining with heat and humidity that build in the south in response to the suns increasing angle/strength.
Regarding the near future, we have some moderation in store for temperatures in the hard hit Midwest next week. Hopefully, the end of Winter will be more kind to us. One thing that has been fairly persistent is, not only the cold but the models consistently UNDER forecasting it and the pattern that has been causing it most of the Winter.
At the moment, we still have a mind boggling upper level ridge in Eastern Siberia and down stream an upper level trough with the cold air connection for us. The models say this ridge will weaken and retrograde(move west) and a strong Pacific jet stream(tops winds over 150 mph at times) will slam into the West Coast and flood much of the country with milder oceanic air.
A deep snow pack will keep things from warming up too fast but if this pattern kicks in, the weather will improve greatly. Oregon and Washington would get some welcome precip too.
Anyone know what this means for the California Drought?
Anthony?
I am a California Boy, born and bred.
REPLY: Not much, our storm this weekend may bring us to 20-25% of normal snowpack from the 15% we are at now – A
Regarding the End of Snow at the Olympics article in the NY Times. I would say the Rutgers Snow Lab data suggests the Northern Hemispheres last 4 years were the snowiest in the last 47 years.
http://sunshinehours.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/the-ny-times-thinks-it-is-the-end-of-snow-for-the-olympics/
FEB. 7, 2014
NYTimes
Sunday Review
The End of Snow?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/08/opinion/sunday/the-end-of-snow.html?emc=edit_tnt_20140207&tntemail0=y&_r=2
Grandpa Delight says: @ur momisugly February 7, 2014 at 5:07 pm
…. No wonder the NYT is going under, they print garbage such as Porter Fox.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The NYT was the home of:
http://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Apologist-Walter-Duranty-Timess/dp/0195057007
You would think they would have learned…. or at least the readers would have voted with their feet.
Did anyone else notice in Obama’s State of the Union Address that he said “climate change” is real
NOT global warming?? Of course “climate change” is real. The earth’s climate has been changing for 3 billion years.
Actually find your Headline misleading.
If you count the states that have snow covered ground you will find that only two states lack snow cover are Florida and Hawaii and I bet their is snow on the top of the mountains in Hawaii!
Huh! When Dallas freezes over! Oh wait………
This is what I’ve got bookmarked, it auto-updates.
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/glcfs.php?lake=l&ext=ice&type=N&hr=00
Lake Michigan might freeze-up yet ?
The 5 day forecast (in Chicago) never gets above freezing even for high temps.
“One thing that has been fairly persistent is, not only the cold but the models consistently UNDER forecasting it and the pattern that has been causing it most of the Winter”
That would mean OVER forecasting temperatures which have consistently come in colder than what the models “thought”
Cold waves dropping south have been colder than expected much of the time this Winter. Also, once you get a huge area of snow pack, it is like being locked into the freezer.
Cold air masses traveling over it are not modified as much as they would be over bare soil.
During a sunny day, albedo is much higher over snow of course and at night, with clear skies and calm winds its incredible how much colder we get with deep snow (being a good emitter of radiation).
I wonder how much total heat this massive snow pack over the US radiates out and how much heat is lost during the day from it reflecting sunlight?
The wheat farmers here at the base of the Blue Mountains in Oregon have this to say to “climate change” scientists: Change it back! The winter wheat roots indicate that Hell has officially frozen over!
Paging Dr. Viner….paging Dr. Viner….
Regarding the Sierra snowpack…we got about 1-2 feet out of the storm last week, the first real precipitation since Dec 2012. Before that there was no snowpack to speak of.
Current water survey at Mammoth Pass, 5th driest year:
2014 = 8.5 in. H2O (currently at 22% of full winter precip ave.)
1977 = 4.3 in. H2O ….end of winter result = 20.5% of average
1991 = 4.7 in. H2O ….end of winter result = 67.4% of average
1987 = 7.3 in. H2O ….end of winter result = 51.0% of average
2012 = 8.7 in. H2O ….end of winter result = 48.3% of average
2007 = 8.8 in. H2O ….end of winter result = 41.9% of average
1976 =10.1in. H2O ….end of winter result = 44.8% of average
1948 =10.2in. H2O ….end of winter result = 60.2% of average
1994 =10.3in. H2O ….end of winter result = 57.2% of average
Current forecast:
AS A RESULT, MOST SNOW BELOW 8000 FEET WILL FALL TONIGHT. WITH QPF AMOUNTS THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING ON THE ORDER OF 3-5 INCHES NEAR THE SIERRA CREST, SNOW TOTALS ABOVE 8000 FEET WILL BE ON THE
ORDER OF 2-3 FEET OF SIERRA CEMENT…
forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=REV&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1
hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/p120i12.gif
john robertson says: @ur momisugly February 7, 2014 at 5:26 pm
… At least snow melts in the spring, political BS, senseless regulations and lying stealing weasels never seem to go away.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I have good news. Obama is shutting down 10% of the US electrical generating capacity by 2015 but it is not evenly spread out. Most of it is in a three state circle around Washington DC….
The shut down is not only coal but up to 1/3 of the nuclear plants and some Hydro.
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2012/08/01/generating-companies-are-shuttering-coal-plants-at-record-rates-eia-reports/
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2013/10/14/several-u-s-nuclear-plants-retiring-early-others-at-risk/
The NYT should rename itself Voelkischer Beobachter, to better describe its divorce from truth and fact. The end of snow? In the middle of a winter like this? The writer of this article needs to have his head examined. Art what point does delusion reach the point of incompetence to manage one’s own affairs?
Looks like all our efforts to fight global warming are really working!!! Yay!! Saved humanity again!! (tee hee /end sarcasm)
But the NYT just reported “This is no longer a scientific debate. It is scientific fact.” with regards to climate change / global warming. Funny how they wouldn’t allow comments on that article online… wouldn’t want anyone to debate the “scientific facts” now would we.
Carbomontanus says: @ur momisugly February 7, 2014 at 5:47 pm
…. discussion here in Norway relating to glaciers….
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A new approach for reconstructing glacier variability based on lake sediments recording input from more than one glacier
A discussion of the paper Norway Experiencing Greatest Glacial Activity in the past 1,000 year
It snows in winter; go figure.
It was global warming until Al Gore sold his interest in the Chicago Carbon Exchange for millions of dollars then it became Climate Change which has led to $3.00 incandescent light bulbs becoming an endangered species forcing average U.S. citizens to purchase $15 mercury filled CFL bulbs, further filling Gore’s wallet via his interest in the manufactures of CFL bulbs and the smart meters utility companies are installing at homes around the nation. All this while Al Gore uses 20 times the electricity of the average U.S. citizen and buys “carbon credits” from his own company to offset his waste. A total inconvenient hippocrit