A ferocious blizzard likely to be even more intense that last weekend's crippling Mid-Atlantic "Snowmageddon" snowstorm is rapidly intensifying off the Northeast U.S. coast, just south of New York City today. Blizzard conditions with heavy snow, high winds, and near zero visibility have hit or are expected to hit portions of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, including the cities of New York, Newark, Wilmington, Atlantic City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. The storm responsible tracked across the center of the country yesterday, leaving a wide swath of snow amounts of 4 - 16" across Texas, Tennessee, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Alabama, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. The storm is now centered over Lake Erie, with a new 989 mb low pressure center developing off the coast of Delaware. This new low is predicted to "bomb" into a mighty Nor'easter with a central pressure below 970 mb, the kind of pressure typically found in a Category 1 hurricane. This will bring strong winds, gusting over 40 mph, to a large portion of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. today, causing a larger region of blizzard conditions with blowing and drifting snow than was experienced during last weekend's "Snowmageddon" Nor'easter. Fortunately, today's Nor'easter will be far enough from the coast during its peak intensity that coastal flooding from storm surges will not be a concern. In addition, today's blizzard has a lower moisture content than "Snowmageddon", and the snowfall totals will not be as great. The storm has also wrapped in some warmer air from the south, resulting in a change-over to freezing rain and sleet near the coast this morning, which will limit accumulations. Nevertheless, most of the Mid-Atlantic that received two feet of snow from "Snowmageddon" last weekend will receive another foot of snow today, and there is a significant risk of roof collapses from the weight of all this snow.
Figure 1. The Nor'easter of February, 11, 2010 in a visible satellite image taken at 9:01 am EST. Image credit: NASA GOES project.
Snowiest winter on record for Baltimore, Wilmington, and Dulles
The snow from this latest blizzard have pushed snow totals for the 2009 - 2010 winter season to a new record for Baltimore, Wilmington, and Dulles Airport, and will likely set a new seasonal snowfall record in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, and Washington National Airport later today. As of midnight last night, here are the snowfall numbers so far for the 2009 - 2010 winter, and the records they have broken:
Baltimore, MD, 64.4". Old record: 62.5", winter of 1995 - 1996.
Washington Dulles Airport, VA, 65.7". Old record: 61.9", winter of 1995 - 1996.
Wilmington, DE, 59.5". Old record: 55.9", winter of 1995 - 1996.
Cities close to breaking their seasonal snowfall record:
Philadelphia, PA, 62.3". Current record: 65.5", winter of 1995 - 1996.
Washington D.C. National Airport, 48.8". Current record: 54.4", winter of 1898 - 1899.
Atlantic City, NJ, 45.5". Current record: 46.9", winter of 1966 - 1967.
All this comes with the end of winter still more than a month away. The latest runs of the GFS and ECMWF models show yet another Nor'easter hitting the D.C./Baltimore/Philadelphia region next Monday. However, next Monday's storm is likely to be much weaker than the last two Nor'easters, with perhaps 4 - 8 inches of snow falling. It is too early to be confident of this prediction, and a Mid-Atlantic snowstorm may not materialize at all on Monday--or the storm could grow stronger than currently forecast, with more than a foot of snow falling.
Heavy snow events--a contradiction to global warming theory?
As I discussed in my previous post, record-breaking snowstorms are not an indication that global warming is not occurring. In fact, we can expect there may be more heavy snowstorms in regions where it is cold enough to snow, due to the extra moisture global warming has added to the atmosphere--an extra 4% since 1970. Snow is not the same as cold, and we have to look at global temperatures, not snowfall, to evaluate whether global warming is occurring. Heavy snow can act to bring down global temperatures, as occurred in December 2009, when the Northern Hemisphere experienced its second greatest snow extent on record (only 1985 saw greater December snow cover since reliable snow records began in 1967). Global average land temperatures, as a result, were just 31st warmest on record, even though global ocean temperatures were the 2nd warmest on record. It will be interesting to see what global temperatures did in January, when the statistics are released next week. The global temperature of the lower atmosphere as measured by satellites was the warmest on record in January, and by a considerable margin. I'll discuss this finding in more detail once the blizzard is over. It's also of interest to note that December temperatures in the U.S. were the 18th coldest in the historical record, but January temperatures were 0.3°F above average, according to the National Climatic Data Center. As a whole, it's been a colder than average winter in the U.S., but not greatly so. However, December snow cover was the greatest on record in the contiguous U.S., and January's ranked sixth. Snow cover records go back 44 years, to 1967.
Portlight continues relief efforts in Haiti
Portlight.org disaster-relief continues to be more effective than some of the traditional large aid agencies in getting much-needed crutches, walkers, and other medical supplies to disabled victims of the Haitian earthquake. So, please visit the Portlight.org blog to learn more and to donate. Floodman's blog has the latest info on Portlight's plan for Haitian relief. A few highlights from his blog:
The latest shipment arrived at Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince on Friday morning; the shipment was unloaded and a portion of the supplies distributed to the St Nicholas Hospital in Sainte-Marc north of Port-au-Prince. This shipment included wheelchairs, crutches and canes in addition to clinical supplies. It was a busy day at Quisqueya; Susan Eitel, representative of USAID met with Richard this morning and Dr. Amy Nguyen of ACTS World Relief took delivery of DME at the Quisqueya campus.
We have several additional shipments queued up for transport, one of which shipped on Saturday; these shipments include the remainder of the donation from H&H Wholesalers. We are hoping to have another shipment out in the next few days.
We are concentrating on distribution for the next few days as storage is currently at a premium at Quisqueya; we are also concentrating on expanding our storage capabilities to allow for larger shipments to be handled, allowing us to help a larger segment of the disabled community.
Figure 2. The Portlight Relief Team unloads crutches shipped from Portlight's warehouse in Atlanta to a staging area at University Quisqeya, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The relief team consists of ten Haitians being coordinated by Haitian-American Richard Lumarque, Portlight's on-site coordinator in Haiti. The relief team has been working full-time over the past week doing aid work.
Next post
I'll have a new post on Thursday.
Jeff Masters
Woohoo, another day of "No School". The kids will be crying about it in the Summer when they have to make up the Snow Days, lol.
We have whiteout conditions in the Annandale area of Fairfax County. The wind is picking up at a fast pace. We are now under a blizzard warning.
Little car in a big storm
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This is my daughter's first winter up there. Think she's getting cabin fever already. Her oldest son hasn't been to school for a almost a week now and they are already closed for the rest of the week.
And unless you have a PhD in meteorology and studied environmental pollutants for 20 years, then I'm going with the opinion of someone who has. And he says the following:
...Record-breaking snowstorms are not an indication that global warming is not occurring. In fact, we can expect there may be more heavy snowstorms in regions where it is cold enough to snow, due to the extra moisture global warming has added to the atmosphere--an extra 4% since 1970. Snow is not the same as cold, and we have to look at global temperatures, not snowfall, to evaluate whether global warming is occurring. Heavy snow can act to bring down global temperatures, as occurred in December 2009, when the Northern Hemisphere experienced its second greatest snow extent on record (only 1985 saw greater December snow cover since reliable snow records began in 1967). Global average land temperatures, as a result, were just 31st warmest on record, even though global ocean temperatures were the 2nd warmest on record. It will be interesting to see what global temperatures did in January, when the statistics are released next week. The global temperature of the lower atmosphere as measured by satellites was the warmest on record in January, and by a considerable margin. I'll discuss this finding in more detail once the blizzard is over.
Goodnight.
Looks like dc is in for another winter storm again next week. Pretty soon they will have more snow then the rockies.
LOL. Kinda like pdan's daughter in reverse.
Ok kinda figure it would be.. since we dont c this to often.. should be interesting.. cant wait to snap sum photos..
Hey JG, I sent you a WU mail a few minutes ago, any question, you now have my contact info, feel free to use it!
Thanks Bob! will look at it in moment.. how are u doing?
Well, it is time for another Southern Plains/Deep South and FL Panhandle Snow/Sleet potpourri, for Th 2-11 through Sa 2-13-10.
It's supposed to start after the 2-3AM CST on Th 2-11 timeframe and get heavier throughout the day and end around Midnight early on Fr 2-12-10. We are gonna get it good this time!
I sure hope so.. i guess i need to get my jacket out again.. lol
00Z GFS 850MB temps, for Th 2-11-10 around Noon CST, looks like we gotta a few inches of wet, heavy snow!! We had some light sleet about 9:40PM CST tonight here in Arlington, TX.
My daughter asked the question at a Focus The Nation local on January 31 2008, "What is your carbon footprint and what are you doing about it"?
While I didn't have the same credibility with the "emporer has no clothes" question from a 10 year old...
Well, reduced it by 80%. 55% home electricity. You know what added to it? Going solar... the turkey backup is so inefficient that solar has actually ADDED to my family's carbon footprint. Yup. And seriously reduced the families net cash flow.
Don't get me wrong, insulation, windows, ductwork (a real biggy and that was DIY on the belly in insulation in the attic), metal roof with reflective coating, and outdoor cooking here in the south (other reasons to do this but the payout would be quicker than a working as advertised solar system!) hybrid SUV (35.3 MPG last time I checked) all GREAT INVESTMENTS.
606, don't ask what government can do, what are you doing?
NPR had an excellent series on how the Waxman Markey bill subsidized COAL.
Hey Bob.. How would i get that type map for my area? or where to go? just wondering, Thanks!
No, they don't because there is colder air in tne mid and lower levels of the atmosphere over N LA, N MS, N AL, into GA and SC. The emphasis or bigger push of colder air this time has been E of the Mississippi River!
slidell la .70458 zip code
Lol not a chance ;)
Thanks!
Naw, that wasn't the point I was trying to make. There is no continuity between the snow amounts between the two CWAs. The axis of the heaviest snow is in different locations and aren't in agreement with each other. Aka, at least one of them is going to be wrong.
I know lol I was being sarcastic ;)
Forecast precipitation, 00Z NAM @ 30 hours.
Sounding Forecast for College Station, 00Z NAM @ 30 hours.
AHH, grasshopper! Remember, the atmosphere is a fluid, it is dynamic and constantly changing. It is entirely possible that the both forecasts are correct. As the storm gets better organized and taps into deeper Gulf moisture, expect heavier snows the further east you go!!
Still looks fishy to me. Some areas under the 1-2 inch category in the Fort Worth graphic are in the 4-6 inch category in the Shreveport graphic.
hey Scott, how you doing?
Hey, how are you?
hey man, oh just planning to build a snow fort on campus tomorrow lol you?
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