It was another year of incredible weather extremes unparalleled in American history during 2012. Eleven billion-dollar weather disasters hit the U.S., a figure exceeded only by the fourteen such disasters during the equally insane weather year of 2011. I present for you now the top ten weather stories of 2012, chosen for their meteorological significance and human and economic impact.
Video 1. Hour-by-hour animation of infrared satellite images for 2012. The loop goes in slow-motion to feature such events as Hurricane Sandy, the June Derecho, Summer in March, and other top weather events of 2012. The date stamp is at lower left; you will want to make the animation full screen to see the date. Special thanks to wunderground's Deb Mitchell for putting this together!
1) Superstorm Sandy Hurricane Sandy was truly astounding in its size and power. At its peak size, twenty hours before landfall, Sandy had tropical storm-force winds that covered an area nearly one-fifth the area of the contiguous United States. Sandy's area of ocean with twelve-foot seas peaked at 1.4 million square miles--nearly one-half the area of the contiguous United States, or 1% of Earth's total ocean area. Most incredibly, ten hours before landfall (9:30 am EDT October 29), the total energy of Sandy's winds of tropical storm-force and higher peaked at 329 terajoules--the highest value for any Atlantic hurricane since at least 1969, and equivalent to five Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. At landfall, Sandy's tropical storm-force winds spanned 943 miles of the the U.S. coast. No hurricane on record has been larger. Sandy's huge size prompted high wind warnings to be posted from Chicago to Eastern Maine, and from Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Florida's Lake Okeechobee--an area home to 120 million people. Sandy's winds simultaneously caused damage to buildings on the shores of Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore, and toppled power lines in Nova Scotia, Canada--locations 1200 miles apart! Sandy made landfall near Atlantic City, NJ on October 29, with sustained winds of 80 mph and a central minimum pressure of 946 mb--the lowest pressure on record along the Northeast coast. The Battery, in New York City Harbor, had an observed water level of 13.88 feet, besting the previous record set by Hurricane Donna in 1960 by 3 feet. Sandy also brought torrential rainfall to the Mid-Atlantic, with over 12 inches of rain observed in parts of Maryland. In addition, Sandy generated blizzard conditions for the central and southern Appalachians with more than a foot of snow falling in six states from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, shattering October snow records. Over 130 fatalities were reported and over 8.5 million customers lost power--the second largest weather-related power outage in U.S. history, behind the 10 million that lost power during the Blizzard of 1993. Damage from Sandy is estimated at $62 billion.
Figure 1. Cabs lie flooded on October 30, 2012, in Hoboken, NJ, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. AP photo: Charles Sykes.
2) Warmest Year on Record Spring, March, July, and the annual temperature were all warmest on record in the contiguous U.S. July was the warmest month of any month in the 1,400+ months of the U.S. data record, going back to 1895. The spring temperature departure from average was the largest on record for any season, and March temperatures had the second largest warm departure from average of any month in U.S. history. All-time hottest temperature records were set over approximately 7% of the area of the contiguous U.S., according to a database of 298 major U.S. cities maintained by wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt. Given the very warm December temperatures so far, the final 2012 annual temperature is likely to break the previous warmest year on record (1998) by at least 0.7°F--a colossal margin to break an annual record by. It is likely that 15 states will end up with their warmest year on record in 2012, and 42 states will have a top-ten warmest year.
Figure 2. One of 2012's incredibly hot days: high temperatures on August 1 in Oklahoma from the Oklahoma Mesonet. It was the hottest day in Oklahoma since August 1936, with more than half of the state recording temperatures of 110° or higher. Oklahoma City hit 112°, tied for the city's 3nd highest temperature since record keeping began in 1890. The only hotter days occurred two days later--on August 3, 2012--and back on August 11, 1936 (113°.)
3) The Great Drought of 2012 The Great U.S. Drought of 2012 may well turn out to be the biggest weather story of 2012, since its full impacts have not yet been realized. The area of the contiguous U.S. in moderate or greater drought peaked at 61.8% in July--the largest such area since the Dust Bowl drought of December 1939. The heat and dryness resulted in record or near-record evaporation rates, causing major impact on corn, soybean and wheat belts in addition to livestock production. Drought upstream of the Lower Mississippi River caused record and near-record low stream flows along the river in Mississippi and Louisiana, resulting in limited river transportation and commerce. Crop damages alone from the great drought are estimated at $35 billion. As the total scope of losses is realized across all lines of business in coming months, this number will climb significantly.
Figure 3. Corn in Colby, Kansas withers in the Great Drought of 2012 on May 27. Image credit: Wunderphotographer treeman.
4) Wildfire Season of 2012 The 2012 U.S. fire season was the 3rd worst in U.S. history, with 9.2 million acres burned--an area larger than the state of Maryland. Since the National Interagency Fire Center began keeping records in 1960, only two years have seen more area burned--2006, when 9.9 million acres burned, and 2007, when 9.3 million acres burned. New Mexico had its largest fire in state history, Colorado its most destructive and 2nd largest in state history, and Oregon had its largest fire since the 1860s. More than 3.6 million acres burned in the U.S. during August--the most on record for any August in recorded history.
Figure 4. Wunderphoto of Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire of 2012, the largest fire in New Mexico history. Wunderphoto submitted by AZMountaineer21.
5) March 2 - 3 Tornado Outbreak A massive tornado outbreak of stunning violence swept through the nation's midsection March 2 - 3, spawning deadly tornadoes that killed 41 people. Hardest hit were Kentucky and Southern Indiana, which suffered 22 and 13 dead, respectively. The scale of the outbreak was exceptional, with 70 tornadoes touching down in eleven states, from southern Ohio to southern Georgia. At one point, 31 separate tornado warnings were in effect during the outbreak. An area larger than Nebraska--81,000 square miles--received tornado warnings, and tornado watches were posted for 300,000 square miles--an area larger than Texas. The outbreak spawned two EF-4 tornadoes, one which devastated Henryville, Indiana, and another that plowed through Crittenden, Kentucky. Total damage was estimated at $4 billion.
Figure 5. A school bus mangled by the EF-4 Henryville, Indiana tornado of March 2, 2012. Image credit: NWS Louisville, Kentucky.
6) June 29 Multi-State Derecho A violent line of organized severe thunderstorms called a derecho swept across the U.S. from Illinois to Virginia on June 29, damaging houses, toppling trees, bringing down power lines. The storms killed 22 people, and left at least 3.4 million customers without power. The thunderstorms in a derecho (from the Spanish phrase for "straight ahead") create violent winds that blow in a straight line. The derecho was unusually intense due to extreme heat that set all-time records at ten major cities on the south side of the derecho. This heat helped create an unstable atmosphere with plenty of energy to fuel severe thunderstorms. At least 38 thunderstorms in the derecho generated wind gusts in excess of hurricane force, making the derecho one of the most severe derechoes on record. Total damage was estimated at $3.75 billion.
Figure 6. Turbulent clouds gather over Mettawa, Illinois on June 29, 2012, as the historic 2012 derecho begins to organize. Image credit: Wunderphotographer LarrySmit.
7) Hurricane Isaac Hurricane Isaac slowly lumbered ashore near the mouth of the Mississippi River on August 28 as a Category 1 Hurricane with 80 mph winds. Isaac's large size and slow motion caused a storm surge more characteristic of a Category 2 hurricane--up to eleven feet--but New Orleans' new $14.5 billion levee upgrade held against Isaac's surge. The surge moved up the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish near Port Sulphur, causing overtopping of the levees and flooding of homes in the mandatory evacuation areas behind the levees. These levees were not part of the $14.5 billion levee upgrade. Isaac brought torrential rainfall, with more than twenty inches observed in some areas of New Orleans. Isaac also provided some drought relief to the Lower Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Isaac dumped up to 18" of rain in Florida, and disrupted the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa. Isaac did $2 billion in damage.
Figure 7. Tropical Storm Isaac on August 28, a few hours before it intensified into a hurricane.
8) The Non-Winter of 2011-2012 "Flowers are sprouting in January in New Hampshire, the Sierra Mountains in California are nearly snow-free, and lakes in much of Michigan still have not frozen. It's 2012, and the new year is ringing in another ridiculously wacky winter for the U.S. In Fargo, North Dakota yesterday, the mercury soared to 55°F, breaking a 1908 record for warmest January day in recorded history. More than 99% of North Dakota had no snow on the ground this morning, and over 95% of the country that normally has snow at this time of year had below-average snow cover." That was the opening of my January 6, 2012 blog post, called "Remarkably dry and warm winter due to record extreme jet stream configuration." The contiguous U.S. saw its 3rd lowest snow cover on record during both winter and spring, and the winter of 2011 - 2012 was the 4th warmest and 24th driest winter in U.S. history, going back to 1895. A primary cause of this warm and snowless winter was the most extreme configuration of the jet stream ever recorded, as measured by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO index was +2.52 in December 2011, which was the most extreme difference in pressure between Iceland and the Azores ever observed in December (records of the NAO go back to 1865.) The positive NAO conditions caused the Icelandic Low to draw a strong south-westerly flow of air over eastern North America, preventing Arctic air from plunging southward over the U.S.
Figure 8. Flowers sprouting on January 1, 2012 in Keene, New Hampshire, thanks to unusually warm December temperatures and lack of snow. Image credit: Wunderphotographer lovne32.
9) April 30 - May 1 Severe Weather Outbreak A severe weather outbreak in the Ohio Valley April 30 - May 1 caused 38 tornadoes and $4 billion in damage.
10) Late-Spring Freeze: Northeast/Midwest After the record-warm "Summer in March" weather in the Great Lakes and Northeast, an April freeze damaged crops across the region. New York's fruit production was the lowest since 1948, and it was the worst fruit season for Michigan since 1945. Damage in Michigan alone was estimated at $500 million.
Honorable Mentions (text courtesy of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, with damage estimates from AON Benfield):
Severe Weather Outbreak (May): A strong cold front moving through the country on May 25 - 30 spawned 27 tornadoes from Texas to the Northeast. Damage was estimated at $2.5 billion, much of it from hail.
Severe Weather Outbreak (April): A tornado outbreak on April 13 - 14 in the Plains spawned 98 tornadoes and caused at least 6 fatalities. Damage was estimated at $1.75 billion.
Severe Weather Outbreak (June): Several days of severe storms across the Southwest spawned 25 tornadoes from June 6 - 12. Significant hail damage occurred across the Rocky Mountain Front Range, with total damage estimated at $1.75 billion.
Tropical Storm Debby/Wet Florida (June): Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Debby in early June caused damage estimated at $310 million, but Debby's rains helped break a drought in Northern Florida. Florida had its wettest summer on record, partially due to Debby.
Duluth Flooding (June): Training thunderstorms caused record flooding in and around Duluth Minnesota on June 20, with over 8 inches of rainfall observed in 24 hours in parts of the city. Two rivers in the Duluth area, the Nemadji and St. Louis, reported their highest flood heights on record. Damage was estimated at $175 million.
Pacific Northwest Winter Storm (January): A massive winter storm impacted the Pacific Northwest on January 18 - 23. Huge amounts of rain and snow fell, and hurricane-force wind gusts knocked out power to 250,000 customers. Damage was estimated at $100 million.
Hawaiian Hail Storm (March): On March 9, a cut-off low pressure system impacted the Hawaiian Islands, bringing heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms. A rare EF-0 tornado hit the towns of Lanikai and Kailua on Oahu, causing minor damage. Another storm dropped a hailstone measuring 4.25 inches long, 2.25 inches tall, and 2 inches wide--the largest hailstone on record for Hawaii. Damage from the storms was estimated at $37 million.
Near-Record Low Great Lakes Levels (by end of 2012): Record warm temperatures throughout 2012 combined with low precipitation and low winter ice cover created high evaporation rates across the Great Lakes. In December, Lakes Michigan and Huron had fallen to within inches of the all-time record low lake levels set back in 1964. Low lake levels have a significant impact on recreational and commercial boating as well as tourism.
Slow Tornado Year (annual): Despite an active March, 2012 saw relatively low tornado numbers compared to recent history.
Mount Evans Tornado (July): A high elevation tornado was observed along the slope of Mount Evans at 11,900 feet--the second highest observed tornado in the U.S.
Alaska Cold Winter/Snow Record (winter): Several Alaskan locations had their coldest January on record. The monthly average temperature at Bettles, AK was -35.6°F. The statewide average January temperature was record cold--14°F below average. Record snow (134.5 inches) fell in Anchorage during the winter season, breaking the previous record set in 1954 - 55.
Alaskan Storms and Flooding (September): Several large extratropical cyclones impacted Alaska during September. Significant flooding occurred along the Sustina River and along its tributaries, causing the worse flooding in 30 years. Over 800 structures and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. The storms also brought early snowfall to southern portions of the state.
Death Valley sets world record for highest minimum temperature On Thursday morning, July 12, 2012 the low temperature at Death Valley, California dropped to just 107°F (41.7°C), after hitting a high of 128° (53.3°C) the previous day. Not only did the morning low temperature tie a record for the world's warmest low temperature ever recorded, the average temperature of 117.5°F was the world's warmest 24-hour temperature on record. According to weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera, the only other place in the world to record a 107°F low temperature was Khasab Airport in the desert nation of Oman on June 27, 2012.
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center will release their top-ten list of U.S. weather events of 2012 on Tuesday, January 8, 2013.
Have a great holiday, everyone! I'll be back on December 26 with a new post.
maybe someone here will know the answer to this...we here in florida endure mid 90 temps and high humidity for many months on end and we do..get used to it..like its normal..our blood thins out i guess...now my question....in the far north..where temps go minus 29 or so for a long time....do people who live up there..get used to that cold also?..like its normal?
Member Since: August 6, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 22511
Why does everybody keep saying the mayans were wrong?
They didn't say the world would end. That's like you buying a calendar from a street vendor and at the end of the year wondering why the world didnt end and blaming the street vendor.
Mayan shamans take part in a ceremony celebrating the end of the Mayan cycle and the start of the Maya new age at Tikal, 560km north of Guatemala City. Photograph: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images
Today the Maya Long Count calendar reads '13.0.0.0.0' ('thirteen b'aktun') for the first time in 5,125 years
Member Since: February 11, 2012 Posts: 0 Comments: 7525
Quoting LargoFl: maybe someone here will know the answer to this...we here in florida endure mid 90 temps and high humidity for many months on end and we do..get used to it..like its normal..our blood thins out i guess...now my question....in the far north..where temps go minus 29 or so for a long time....do people who live up there..get used to that cold also?..like its normal?
The USAF stationed me in cold weather climate twice. At both locations I froze the first winter and coul not wear enough clothes to get warm but the other winters didn't seem as bad.
Member Since: September 20, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 235
Quoting PakaSurvivor: The USAF stationed me in cold weather climate twice. At both locations I froze the first winter and coul not wear enough clothes to get warm but the other winters didn't seem as bad.
thank you, so maybe over time you do get used to that cold a temp..thanks for the answer
Member Since: August 6, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 22511
What I do not understand is, I get used to the summer heat here as the summer progresses, even though I spend 95+ % of my time in air-conditioned spaces (I hate the heat and humidity). How does my body get adapted to the hot weather in this case?
Beautiful sunny, breezy day here in Orlando, with temperatures in the 50s.
Member Since: July 13, 2007 Posts: 0 Comments: 604
Quoting PakaSurvivor: The USAF stationed me in cold weather climate twice. At both locations I froze the first winter and coul not wear enough clothes to get warm but the other winters didn't seem as bad.
As somebody with primary Raynaud's Disease, I would last a minute in temperatures that cold.
Member Since: August 19, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 260
Quoting PakaSurvivor: The USAF stationed me in cold weather climate twice. At both locations I froze the first winter and coul not wear enough clothes to get warm but the other winters didn't seem as bad.
Quoting LargoFl: maybe someone here will know the answer to this...we here in florida endure mid 90 temps and high humidity for many months on end and we do..get used to it..like its normal..our blood thins out i guess...now my question....in the far north..where temps go minus 29 or so for a long time....do people who live up there..get used to that cold also?..like its normal?
Largo, I don't know if or what the medical reasoning is but here is my experience... I grew up in Ohio my first 18 years of my life. I endured the cold and it really didn't bother me too much. Then I got married. My ex hubby was in the military. He was station at Eielson AFB, Alaska about 25 miles outside of Fairbanks. I saw -40, -50, and -60+ temps. Now I have been in south Florida for 28 years. I travel to Ohio to see my big brother who still lives in Ohio. I usually go in the winter around Christmas... If the temperature is in the 20's I am absolutely miserable... I hate it. I tell my brother "I don't know how I ever lived here".
Member Since: October 3, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 3124
We got your 1/2" ILwthr, that wind was something else though! Old open shed at nearby lumber yard blown over on Rte 16. Felt sorry for the volunteer firemen that had to be out there last night! Many semi trailers were getting blown over on I-55 as well.
Member Since: August 23, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 505
Quoting LargoFl: maybe someone here will know the answer to this...we here in florida endure mid 90 temps and high humidity for many months on end and we do..get used to it..like its normal..our blood thins out i guess...now my question....in the far north..where temps go minus 29 or so for a long time....do people who live up there..get used to that cold also?..like its normal?
Yes. Well, at least I did during my first 33 years in Michigan. The funny thing is that my first summer in Tampa didn't bother me at all, but the one after that did.
Quoting LargoFl: rain gauges were way off last nights..the rain came in almost horizontal with that awful wind..`in seconds i had a river flowing down my street..way more than .60 ..my guess is over 2 inches..could be way more..but your right..didnt last long at all
Well keep in mind it has been dry for weeks, so the water did pool very quickly. The rain just did not last long enough to really accumulate, it did rain hard but only for several minutes. I would say the rainfall rate was around 2 to 3 inches per hour... But only for about 10 minutes at most, after that it quickly died down to pretty much light rain for about 30 min and then the colder NW winds arrived.
That line of storms was just moving too fast and wasn't thick enough to dump more than an inch of rain. To get 2 or 3 inches we would have needed a slower moving and thicker line of deep convection with a larger return flow of deep moisture ahead of it. Moisture return was actually decent right ahead of the line, but we have seen much bigger moisture plumes from the tropics ahead of strong winter fronts before. Also the upper level energy was also departing as the front moved through, which is why it was a thin line of thunderstorms and not a tall deep convective line.
Member Since: August 21, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 5420
Our northern counties here in Florida will be colder than Baltimore the next couple of mornings, kinda funny :)
Florida soil is actual more ideal for leasing heat because its sandy, especially in the nature coast up through Tallahassee and the rest of the Panhandle. If northern states had soil more like Florida, they would have colder nights than they do. Also, its much more urbanized, the urban heat island effects things more than people realize. The more we urbanize the world, the warmer human dwelling areas will become, that's not including added co2.
For example you'll notice that St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Tampa reporting sites do not report as cold of nights as they used to, but inland more rural areas still get as cold as they always did,
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To get a gulf snow event, you would need a deep low centered over georgia, and a very Very VERY deep trough.
Just a footnote for you, Northern parts of Georgia are mountainous and I have seen beautiful snowfalls there.. I spent years in nearby South Carolina and would drive around when I could to places that I had never been before as I am a wanderer so to speak.. Georgia has quite a spectrum of land differences running the gammet from the lowlands to the south,middle lats are quite warm,ex. Atlanta, and to the north as I said the Hill country.. To drive it from the south from the Atlantic coast to the northern parts is actually quite an adventure.. Take a camera.. :)
Member Since: August 13, 2009 Posts: 13 Comments: 4098
There was a landslide. The mountain did not collapse into a giant void. You can see the video of the landslide by doing a google search for it.
Any blackholes produced by the LHC are so small they evaporate in tiny fractions of a second. When they say micro blackholes, they're are talking about blackholes that are as small (if not smaller) than sub-atomic particles. They can easily fall straight through the Earth and not hit anything, nor get close enough for the gravitational effects to matter.
That's debatable.
Hawking Radiation is still a hypothesis, and has never been confirmed by observation. The black holes that have been observed in nature have radiation from their accretion disks and polar jets, which makes them too bright for other reasons, so that we can't detect Hawking Radiation, if it exists at all.
While micro black holes are also a hypothesis, the mechanics behind them should be the same as all other black holes, so if they exist, we already understand most everything about them. Therefore, if the Hawking Radiation hypothesis is wrong, then a micro black hole would live long enough to eventually start colliding with things (even neutrinos interact eventually).
If a real micro black hole was created, we'd all be dead by now, because once they get large enough to collapse a mountain it only takes a few more minutes before it would consume the entire planet. You can prove this using only the Earth's own gravitational characteristics, and treat the event horizon as a "Drain" into which the Earth dumps it's own mass. You can totally ignore the black hole's own gravity and still prove this. The fact the black hole would grow exponentially and the gravity well would be exponentially more dense only makes the real number much faster.
I did a rough calculation and believe the Earth would be consumed by a micro black hole in less than 40 minutes after first contact.
Member Since: January 25, 2012 Posts: 27 Comments: 1044
Quoting LargoFl: thank you, so maybe over time you do get used to that cold a temp..thanks for the answer
@Largofl: I am in southern Ontario. Winter cold even affects one's perception of what a comfortable indoor temperature is. In winter, I keep my house at about 67 degrees F. If I am spending a long time being still, I may bump up the room I am in to 70, but 71 is way too hot. I can hardly breathe. Overnight, the furnace runs at about 64. Warmer than that and I don't sleep well.
Member Since: September 18, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 603
I have noticed that there are those that will question as to when the next world ending event will take place. I cannot say with any degree of accuracy as to when that day will come. I only know that it will happen 24 hours after my winning the Lotto. There is a certainty that just as I win the Lotto there will be an announcement over the world intercom, "OK, folks. The party is almost over. You now have just 24 hours left until all the doors are closed forever.". .... I can give you a 24 hours "heads up", but that is the best I can do.
Member Since: August 24, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 4138
Please be careful with those x-rated posts there, Grothar...we don't want you to get banned again. ;-)
You know, I'm still sort of wondering about that end of the world thing...my juice bottle says use by Dec 21, 2012. Do you think the grapefruit bottlers know something we don't?
Member Since: September 4, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 716
Quoting Some1Has2BtheRookie: I have noticed that there are those that will question as to when the next world ending event will take place. I cannot say with any degree of accuracy as to when that day will come. I only know that it will happen 24 hours after my winning the Lotto. There is a certainty that just as I win the Lotto there will be an announcement over the world intercom, "OK, folks. The party is almost over. You now have just 24 hours left until all the doors are closed forever.". .... I can give you a 24 hours "heads up", but that is the best I can do.
Thats really funny !!!
LOL !!!
Are you that unlucky ?
Member Since: March 1, 2012 Posts: 0 Comments: 3091
I do not know for certain. I have never been lucky enough to win the Lotto so I have never been able to fully test this theory. But, yeah, that is pretty much how my luck runs.
Member Since: August 24, 2010 Posts: 0 Comments: 4138
ATLANTA -- Did your weather app tell you it was snowing in Atlanta this morning? For hours Friday, the current weather conditions at Fulton County Airport-Brown Field read "Light Snow and Breezy."
The National Weather Service (who is in charge of this particular observation station) believes the faulty report was either due to wind or spiders.
Huh? When spiders try to build a web on a weather sensor, the weight of the spider/web confuses the sensor into thinking it is snowing.
Another option is that since it is such a windy day, some thick dust particles were blown very far up into the sensors, and again due to the similar weight and texture of flurries, they caused the sensor to believe it was snowing.
The funny part of this is, since so many GPS-related weather apps use this site more than the sensor at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to report weather conditions to Atlanta residents and users (since it is closer to the downtown area than Hartsfield), thousands of people received reports of "Light Snow and Breezy" in Atlanta on their smart phones and computers Friday morning.
The National Weather Service is checking the device to determine whether a spider really was the cause of the malfunction, and will report the results of their investigation later Friday.
The only snow in Georgia Friday was a report of flurries in the extreme northeast corner of the state.
Member Since: August 1, 2011 Posts: 12 Comments: 4278
186. Skyepony(Mod)5:17 PM GMT on December 21, 2012
@Largofl: I am in southern Ontario. Winter cold even affects one's perception of what a comfortable indoor temperature is. In winter, I keep my house at about 67 degrees F. If I am spending a long time being still, I may bump up the room I am in to 70, but 71 is way too hot. I can hardly breathe. Overnight, the furnace runs at about 64. Warmer than that and I don't sleep well.
Hi and thank you..so i guess as we down here have our blood thinner in the heat you folks may have your blood thicken so you feel the 70's as too hot indoors..its funny how the human body adapts to high and low temps.
Member Since: August 6, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 22511
Quoting LargoFl: Hi and thank you..so i guess as we down here have our blood thinner in the heat you folks may have your blood thicken so you feel the 70's as too hot indoors..its funny how the human body adapts to high and low temps.
Not all of us adapt this much. I have family members who do keep their homes in the winter in the mid to high 70s. They tend to be older and be in accommodations where they don't pay for their heat on the basis of usage. I also own a lot of sweaters!
Member Since: September 18, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 603
Not all of us adapt this much. I have family members who do keep their homes in the winter in the mid to high 70s. They tend to be older and be in accommodations where they don't pay for their heat on the basis of usage. I also own a lot of sweaters!
oh yes good sweaters come really in handy, even down here in florida
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...HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON. THE WIND ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* LOCATIONS...GREATER CAPITAL REGION INCLUDING THE SARATOGA AREA...WASHINGTON COUNTY...SOUTHERN TACONICS...THE MID HUDSON VALLEY...THE SOUTHERN BERKSHIRES AND LITCHFIELD COUNTY.
* HAZARDS...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS.
* WINDS...SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
* TIMING...STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THIS MORNING.
* IMPACTS...STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL BRING DOWN SOME TREES OR TREE LIMBS...WHICH COULD RESULT IN SOME POWER OUTAGES. ALSO LOOSE OBJECTS MAY BE PROPELLED.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.
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URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1023 AM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
MDZ501-VAZ503-WVZ501-503-505-212330- /O.CON.KLWX.BZ.W.0002.000000T0000Z-121222T2300Z/ EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-WESTERN HIGHLAND-WESTERN GRANT- WESTERN MINERAL-WESTERN PENDLETON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FROSTBURG...HIGHTOWN...BAYARD... MOUNT STORM...ELK GARDEN...CIRCLEVILLE 1023 AM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST SATURDAY...
* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES.
* ACCUMULATIONS...8 TO 12 INCHES.
* TIMING...THROUGH SATURDAY. THE WORST CONDITIONS FROM SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...THEN TAPERING OFF SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
* TEMPERATURES...IN THE MID 20S.
* WINDS...WEST 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
* IMPACTS...STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED AT TIMES...WITH VISIBILITIES OF ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. DOWNED TREES AND POWERLINES COULD RESULT FROM THE STRONGEST GUSTS ON SATURDAY. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF BY LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.
&&
$$
Member Since: August 6, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 22511
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS EXTENDED THE
* FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS IN... MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...
* UNTIL 345 PM EST
* AT 1228 PM EST...AT 1221 PM EST...THE PERKIOMEN CREEK AT EAST GREENVILLE REMAINED ABOUT FLOOD STAGE, BUT HAD CRESTED. THE WISSAHICKON CREEK AT FORT WASHINGTON ALSO HAD CRESTED, BUT REMAINED ABOVE FLOOD STAGE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
DRIVING INTO FLOOD WATERS COULD PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK AND COST YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN VEHICLE REPAIRS. FLOOD WATERS MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK. TURN AROUND AND FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE.
URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1211 PM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...STRONG WINDS WITH PERHAPS SOME ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID AFTERNOON...
MAZ022>024-RIZ008-212000- /O.EXT.KBOX.HW.W.0006.000000T0000Z-121221T2000Z/ BARNSTABLE MA-DUKES MA-NANTUCKET MA-BLOCK ISLAND RI- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CHATHAM...FALMOUTH...PROVINCETOWN... VINEYARD HAVEN...NANTUCKET...BLOCK ISLAND 1211 PM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...HIGH WIND WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON...
* WINDS...SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 50 AND 60 MPH.
* TIMING...STRONGEST WINDS THROUGH MID AFTERNOON.
* IMPACTS...WINDS OF THIS MAGNITUDE COULD DOWN A FEW TREES AND POWERLINES...LEADING TO ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES. THESE WINDS ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF CAUSING SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HIGH WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OF 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR...WITH GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER AT ANY TIME. DAMAGE TO TREES...POWER LINES...AND PROPERTY ARE POSSIBLE WITH WIND OF THIS MAGNITUDE. POWER OUTAGES ARE LIKELY. TAKE ACTION NOW TO SECURE ANY LOOSE OUTDOOR OBJECTS.
&&
$$
Member Since: August 6, 2011 Posts: 0 Comments: 22511
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About JeffMasters
Jeff co-founded the Weather Underground in 1995 while working on his Ph.D. He flew with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters from 1986-1990.
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Per @NWSMKX, 2-day #snow total in #Madison is heaviest in over 18 years...4th heaviest on record: http://1.usa.gov/VUrPo3 #draco
They didn't say the world would end.
That's like you buying a calendar from a street vendor and at the end of the year wondering why the world didnt end and blaming the street vendor.
Mayan shamans take part in a ceremony celebrating the end of the Mayan cycle and the start of the Maya new age at Tikal, 560km north of Guatemala City. Photograph: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images
Today the Maya Long Count calendar reads '13.0.0.0.0' ('thirteen b'aktun') for the first time in 5,125 years
A nice clear night here. Goodnight all.
Beautiful sunny, breezy day here in Orlando, with temperatures in the 50s.
Wouldn't matter anyway, snow would just melt on contact, unless it snowed several inches in a very short period.
Ground is too warm and wet with all those 75 degree days we've had in December so far.
I live in south Louisiana, so I guess it's a lot easier to snow in parts of Georgia due to being more to the interior and higher elevation.
As somebody with primary Raynaud's Disease, I would last a minute in temperatures that cold.
Thank you for your service.
12Z GFS Christmas day
It's not going to amount to much with CAPE values this low...
Well keep in mind it has been dry for weeks, so the water did pool very quickly. The rain just did not last long enough to really accumulate, it did rain hard but only for several minutes. I would say the rainfall rate was around 2 to 3 inches per hour... But only for about 10 minutes at most, after that it quickly died down to pretty much light rain for about 30 min and then the colder NW winds arrived.
That line of storms was just moving too fast and wasn't thick enough to dump more than an inch of rain. To get 2 or 3 inches we would have needed a slower moving and thicker line of deep convection with a larger return flow of deep moisture ahead of it. Moisture return was actually decent right ahead of the line, but we have seen much bigger moisture plumes from the tropics ahead of strong winter fronts before. Also the upper level energy was also departing as the front moved through, which is why it was a thin line of thunderstorms and not a tall deep convective line.
All we need is 500 j/kg
With a low so close and backing winds anything is possible.
Still no GA snow coming, and the GFS left out NC now too
Our northern counties here in Florida will be colder than Baltimore the next couple of mornings, kinda funny :)
Florida soil is actual more ideal for leasing heat because its sandy, especially in the nature coast up through Tallahassee and the rest of the Panhandle. If northern states had soil more like Florida, they would have colder nights than they do. Also, its much more urbanized, the urban heat island effects things more than people realize. The more we urbanize the world, the warmer human dwelling areas will become, that's not including added co2.
For example you'll notice that St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Tampa reporting sites do not report as cold of nights as they used to, but inland more rural areas still get as cold as they always did,
Just a footnote for you,
Northern parts of Georgia are mountainous and I have seen beautiful snowfalls there..
I spent years in nearby South Carolina and would drive around when I could to places that I had never been before as I am a wanderer so to speak..
Georgia has quite a spectrum of land differences running the gammet from the lowlands to the south,middle lats are quite warm,ex. Atlanta, and to the north as I said the Hill country..
To drive it from the south from the Atlantic coast to the northern parts is actually quite an adventure..
Take a camera.. :)
That's debatable.
Hawking Radiation is still a hypothesis, and has never been confirmed by observation. The black holes that have been observed in nature have radiation from their accretion disks and polar jets, which makes them too bright for other reasons, so that we can't detect Hawking Radiation, if it exists at all.
While micro black holes are also a hypothesis, the mechanics behind them should be the same as all other black holes, so if they exist, we already understand most everything about them. Therefore, if the Hawking Radiation hypothesis is wrong, then a micro black hole would live long enough to eventually start colliding with things (even neutrinos interact eventually).
If a real micro black hole was created, we'd all be dead by now, because once they get large enough to collapse a mountain it only takes a few more minutes before it would consume the entire planet. You can prove this using only the Earth's own gravitational characteristics, and treat the event horizon as a "Drain" into which the Earth dumps it's own mass. You can totally ignore the black hole's own gravity and still prove this. The fact the black hole would grow exponentially and the gravity well would be exponentially more dense only makes the real number much faster.
I did a rough calculation and believe the Earth would be consumed by a micro black hole in less than 40 minutes after first contact.
They are actually feeling relieved I think.
@Largofl: I am in southern Ontario. Winter cold even affects one's perception of what a comfortable indoor temperature is. In winter, I keep my house at about 67 degrees F. If I am spending a long time being still, I may bump up the room I am in to 70, but 71 is way too hot. I can hardly breathe. Overnight, the furnace runs at about 64. Warmer than that and I don't sleep well.
Please be careful with those x-rated posts there, Grothar...we don't want you to get banned again. ;-)
You know, I'm still sort of wondering about that end of the world thing...my juice bottle says use by Dec 21, 2012. Do you think the grapefruit bottlers know something we don't?
Thats really funny !!!
LOL !!!
Are you that unlucky ?
I do not know for certain. I have never been lucky enough to win the Lotto so I have never been able to fully test this theory. But, yeah, that is pretty much how my luck runs.
www.11alive.com/news/article/269210/40/Snow-in-At lanta
ATLANTA -- Did your weather app tell you it was snowing in Atlanta this morning? For hours Friday, the current weather conditions at Fulton County Airport-Brown Field read "Light Snow and Breezy."
The National Weather Service (who is in charge of this particular observation station) believes the faulty report was either due to wind or spiders.
Huh? When spiders try to build a web on a weather sensor, the weight of the spider/web confuses the sensor into thinking it is snowing.
Another option is that since it is such a windy day, some thick dust particles were blown very far up into the sensors, and again due to the similar weight and texture of flurries, they caused the sensor to believe it was snowing.
The funny part of this is, since so many GPS-related weather apps use this site more than the sensor at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to report weather conditions to Atlanta residents and users (since it is closer to the downtown area than Hartsfield), thousands of people received reports of "Light Snow and Breezy" in Atlanta on their smart phones and computers Friday morning.
The National Weather Service is checking the device to determine whether a spider really was the cause of the malfunction, and will report the results of their investigation later Friday.
The only snow in Georgia Friday was a report of flurries in the extreme northeast corner of the state.
Central FL is opening the shelters tonight. Highest gust today has been 24mph here but it's blowing almost 20 steady.
I-95 is snarled in Brevard & Volusia.
We are seeing water levels over 4 feet above normal in some areas along the East Coast. See here http://wxug.us/vejr
Please anyone knows why???
Not all of us adapt this much. I have family members who do keep their homes in the winter in the mid to high 70s. They tend to be older and be in accommodations where they don't pay for their heat on the basis of usage. I also own a lot of sweaters!
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 PM EST THIS AFTERNOON. THE
WIND ADVISORY IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* LOCATIONS...GREATER CAPITAL REGION INCLUDING THE SARATOGA
AREA...WASHINGTON COUNTY...SOUTHERN TACONICS...THE MID HUDSON
VALLEY...THE SOUTHERN BERKSHIRES AND LITCHFIELD COUNTY.
* HAZARDS...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS.
* WINDS...SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
* TIMING...STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE THIS MORNING.
* IMPACTS...STRONG WIND GUSTS WILL BRING DOWN SOME TREES OR TREE
LIMBS...WHICH COULD RESULT IN SOME POWER OUTAGES. ALSO LOOSE
OBJECTS MAY BE PROPELLED.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED
OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS
OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
1023 AM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
MDZ501-VAZ503-WVZ501-503-505-212330-
/O.CON.KLWX.BZ.W.0002.000000T0000Z-121222T2300Z/
EXTREME WESTERN ALLEGANY-WESTERN HIGHLAND-WESTERN GRANT-
WESTERN MINERAL-WESTERN PENDLETON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FROSTBURG...HIGHTOWN...BAYARD...
MOUNT STORM...ELK GARDEN...CIRCLEVILLE
1023 AM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST SATURDAY...
* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW...HEAVY AT TIMES.
* ACCUMULATIONS...8 TO 12 INCHES.
* TIMING...THROUGH SATURDAY. THE WORST CONDITIONS FROM SNOW AND
BLOWING SNOW WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...THEN
TAPERING OFF SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
* TEMPERATURES...IN THE MID 20S.
* WINDS...WEST 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
* IMPACTS...STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW
WITH BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED AT TIMES...WITH VISIBILITIES
OF ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. WIND
CHILL TEMPERATURES IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.
DOWNED TREES AND POWERLINES COULD RESULT FROM THE STRONGEST
GUSTS ON SATURDAY. THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO TAPER OFF BY LATE
SATURDAY AFTERNOON.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS...MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF
YOU MUST TRAVEL...HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.
&&
$$
The counterclockwise motion around the low pressure area is causing the water to pile up towards the coast.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS EXTENDED THE
* FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS IN...
MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...
* UNTIL 345 PM EST
* AT 1228 PM EST...AT 1221 PM EST...THE PERKIOMEN CREEK AT EAST
GREENVILLE REMAINED ABOUT FLOOD STAGE, BUT HAD CRESTED. THE
WISSAHICKON CREEK AT FORT WASHINGTON ALSO HAD CRESTED, BUT REMAINED
ABOVE FLOOD STAGE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
DRIVING INTO FLOOD WATERS COULD PUT YOUR LIFE AT RISK AND COST YOU
THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN VEHICLE REPAIRS. FLOOD WATERS MAY BE DEEPER
THAN YOU THINK. TURN AROUND AND FIND AN ALTERNATE ROUTE.
&&
LAT...LON 4044 7553 4015 7503 4014 7501 4005 7510
4009 7522 4006 7526 4001 7521 3998 7527
4007 7536 4006 7539 4011 7547 4013 7547
4014 7551 4016 7551 4015 7553 4024 7560
4022 7561 4024 7570
$$
KRUZDLO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1211 PM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...STRONG WINDS WITH PERHAPS SOME ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH MID AFTERNOON...
MAZ022>024-RIZ008-212000-
/O.EXT.KBOX.HW.W.0006.000000T0000Z-121221T2000Z/
BARNSTABLE MA-DUKES MA-NANTUCKET MA-BLOCK ISLAND RI-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CHATHAM...FALMOUTH...PROVINCETOWN...
VINEYARD HAVEN...NANTUCKET...BLOCK ISLAND
1211 PM EST FRI DEC 21 2012
...HIGH WIND WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM EST THIS
AFTERNOON...
* WINDS...SOUTHEAST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS BETWEEN 50 AND 60 MPH.
* TIMING...STRONGEST WINDS THROUGH MID AFTERNOON.
* IMPACTS...WINDS OF THIS MAGNITUDE COULD DOWN A FEW TREES AND
POWERLINES...LEADING TO ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES. THESE WINDS ARE
ALSO CAPABLE OF CAUSING SOME PROPERTY DAMAGE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A HIGH WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OF 40 MPH ARE
EXPECTED FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR...WITH GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER
AT ANY TIME. DAMAGE TO TREES...POWER LINES...AND PROPERTY ARE
POSSIBLE WITH WIND OF THIS MAGNITUDE. POWER OUTAGES ARE LIKELY.
TAKE ACTION NOW TO SECURE ANY LOOSE OUTDOOR OBJECTS.
&&
$$
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