Two cold storms from the Pacific over the weekend have dumped snow on the Sierra Nevada, causing road closures due to heavy snow and whiteout conditions.
I-80 is closed in both directions from Colfax to the state line due to spin outs and zero visibility. Snow is going to continue into the overnight. Get the latest road conditions at: https://t.co/if6ShiTCCf #CAwx pic.twitter.com/d17Hj4ieRO
— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) January 6, 2019
Here is a view from a CalTrans Camera at Soda Springs:
A winter storm warning remains in effect today until noon.
The NWS says that rain and mountain snows are expected to continue across parts of the Intermountain West and the Rockies today. The next round of precipitation is likely to arrive on the West Coast by Tuesday as a deep low pressure system moves into the eastern Pacific. Locally heavy rainfall is possible in the lower elevations of northern California and the Pacific Northwest, with snow in the higher elevations of the Cascades and mountains of northern California.
UPDATE: I-80 has re-opened as of 8AM Monday 1/7/2018. Live webcam here
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My #1 grandson drives snow plow in the area for Caltrans. Loves it. 12 hour shifts brings in lots of money. He lives in Colfax.
Closing I80 for storms is quite common and happens many times per winter. Either Caltrans can’t keep up, land slides are blocking it or there were many accidents by people who don’t know how to drive in snow. Some people think 4wd is a license to go fast in the snow. Yes, you can accelerate, but the problem is stopping.
Squaw valley has gotten > 4′ of snow in the last 2 days with more on the way, so I suspect more road closings are in the cards.
But…but…but…there was record snow fall in South Carolina just a few weeks ago but now it’s too warm…….
Don’t know when the rain actually happened, but yesterday on the radio we got the usual, when we have lots of rain. We had rain over the weekend in San Diego and Southern CA, but the Sierra snow pack is only at 69%.
They always look for the worst thing to report. Granted, Sierra snow impacts water availability in Northern CA, and for the Valley farmers.
Report from Incline Village. Been here for 11 years. Haven’t really noticed much change. Heavy snow years 2019 and, of course the atmospheric river winter of ‘16-‘17.
Summer of 2018 was hot, but no other noticeable changes.
Don’t forget 2011.
For the NH Long term
” Projections of the NH spring snow covered
area by the end of the 21st century vary between a decrease of 7%
(RCP2.6) and a decrease of 25% (RCP8.5), with a pattern that is fairly
consistent between models.”
not gunna lose all the snow, despite what Vinter feared.
Short term
“Anthropogenic climate change may also bring systematic cold-season
precipitation changes. As with previous models, CMIP5 projections
generally agree in projecting a winter precipitation increase over the
northern half of NA (Figure 14.18 and AI.19). This is associated with
increased atmospheric moisture, increased moisture convergence, and
a poleward shift in ETC activity (Section 14.6.2 and Table 14.3). The
change is consistent with CMIP3 model projections of positive NAO
trends (Table 14.3; Hori et al., 2007; Karpechko, 2010; Zhu and Wang,
2010). Winter precipitation increases extend southward into the USA
(northern portions of SREX regions 3 to 5; Neelin et al., 2013) but
with decreasing strength relative to natural variability. This behaviour
is qualitatively reproduced in higher resolution simulations (Figure
14.18). “
And yet spring snow cover, far from declining, has increased.
It all has to do with oceanic oscillations and nothing at all with four (in 2019) rather than three (in 1919) molecules of plant food per 10,000 dry air molecules.
Depending upon when you start, but basically unchanged during the interval of satellite observations, with excursions associated with oceanic oscillations:
http://www.climate4you.com/SnowCover.htm#Northern%20hemisphere%20weekly%20snow%20cover%20since%201966
Last week, Mike Mann said we might see 20 feet of sea level rise over the next 80 years.
Do you think people like Mike are stupid or are they knowingly lying and pushing a fear-mongering agenda or is there some other explanation?
Albert: “Do you think people like Mike [Mann] are stupid or are they knowingly lying and pushing a fear-mongering agenda . . . ?”
Yes.
Scientists predicted in 2000 that kids would grow up without snow. 18 years ago UK climate scientists argued that global warming would make snowfall a “a very rare and exciting event”.
“Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” Dr. David Viner, a scientist with the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia, told the UK Independent in 2000.
At least seven people have died in the Alps during a weekend of heavy snow, with skiers facing a high avalanche risk in Austria, Germany and Italy.
More heavy snow is expected in the coming days – as much as 120cm (4ft) of fresh snow in Austria by Thursday.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46780856
Massive snow falls all over Europe too, as far south as Greece. More global warming it seems.
Snow needs H2O as well as temps ~0C.
Atmospheric H2O increases as T increases.
IE: It’s not a proxy for temp (coldest surface temps occur when dry).
So yes “More global warming it seems.”
The current pattern of the polar vortex in the middle stratosphere indicates the influx of Arctic air to Europe.
Moderator:
“UPDATE: I-80 has re-opened as of 8AM Monday 1/7/2018. Live webcam here
”
This year — 2019?
It’s ok. For some reason people forgot it’s 2019. Even here in Sydney, local oganisers of fireworks had “Happy New Year 2018!” splashed all over the harbour bridge.