North American Weather (U.S.A & Canada)

[knocker]

The longest interstate in the United States is at a standstill. Snowmobiles patrolling on i90.

 

[keithlucky]

The longest interstate in the United States is at a standstill. Snowmobiles patrolling on i90.

My favorite picture

[4wd]

Impressive cold... Coldest November morning since 1976

image.jpgimage.jpg

And people in this country complain about the Cold...

On here they complain about lack of cold, a couple of months of real winter would show them how lucky we (usually) are in most of the UK to avoid the costs and disruption of real winter conditions. 

[knocker]

Time-Lapse of Buffalo Lake Effect Snow - Nov 18 2014

[knocker]

Polar blast: Record lows at Dulles and BWI join dozens of others in eastern U.S.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/11/19/polar-blast-record-lows-at-dulles-and-bwi-join-dozens-of-others-in-eastern-u-s/

[Summer Sun]

Parts of New York state hit by 5ft of snow with more due

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30118783

[Northernlights]

Time-Lapse of Buffalo Lake Effect Snow - Nov 18 2014

 

I have photos from late November 2010 which just look exactly like this only its coming off the North Sea onto the south side of the Moray Firth

[Martin R]

Round 2 in about 2 - 3 hours,another 3 foot expected. Winds are going to be around 60mps when the Low moves east

https://tvnweather.com/live  Dominator 2 cam still broadcasting live from inside a Hotel 

Edited November 19, 2014 by Martin/Baldie

[Blessed Weather]

Interesting blog from Dr. Jeff Masters' posted today on Weather Underground about the incredible snowfalls of the last 36 hours. Extracts:

 

Buffalo Belted With Five Feet of Snow; Is Jet Stream Weirdness to Blame?

America's remarkable mid-November Arctic blast continued Wednesday morning, with hundreds of daily record low temperatures falling again. Charlotte, North Carolina bottomed out at 14°F, the coldest temperature ever measured so early in the season...

....Is the jet stream getting weird?
This week's intense cold blast is being triggered by an unusually extreme jet stream pattern.... If Arctic changes are truly to blame for wacky jet stream behavior, losing the remaining 50 percent of the Arctic sea-ice coverage between now and 2030 will bring even greater antics.

 

Full blog:  http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2863
 

[jonboy]

Interesting blog from Dr. Jeff Masters' posted today on Weather Underground about the incredible snowfalls of the last 36 hours. Extracts:

 

Buffalo Belted With Five Feet of Snow; Is Jet Stream Weirdness to Blame?

America's remarkable mid-November Arctic blast continued Wednesday morning, with hundreds of daily record low temperatures falling again. Charlotte, North Carolina bottomed out at 14°F, the coldest temperature ever measured so early in the season...

....Is the jet stream getting weird?

This week's intense cold blast is being triggered by an unusually extreme jet stream pattern.... If Arctic changes are truly to blame for wacky jet stream behavior, losing the remaining 50 percent of the Arctic sea-ice coverage between now and 2030 will bring even greater antics.

 

Full blog:  http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2863

 

As arctic ice is on the increase year on year at present and the likelihood of an arctic free of ice by 2030 is zero I have to question Masters understanding of what drives the jet stream!!!

 

[Blessed Weather]

 

 

As arctic ice is on the increase year on year at present and the likelihood of an arctic free of ice by 2030 is zero I have to question Masters understanding of what drives the jet stream!!!

 

 

Hi jonboy,

 

Not sure you are correct with what you are saying. Here's the latest bulletin from NSICD National Snow and Ice Data Center for Oct 2014:

 

Overview of Conditions

Sea ice extent in October averaged 8.06 million square kilometers (3.11 million square miles). This is 850,000 square kilometers (328,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average of 8.91 million square kilometers (3.44 million square miles) and 1.29 million square kilometers (498,000 square miles) above the record low for the month observed in 2007. 

....Arctic sea ice extent for October 2014 was the 6th lowest in the satellite record. Through 2014, the linear rate of decline for October Arctic ice extent over the satellite record is -6.9% per decade.

....Projections of climate change through the rest of the century show amplified warming in the Arctic compared to the rest of the planet.

 

Full bulletin: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

[Summer Sun]

Now this is what you call snowed in!!!

 

 

Incredible amounts of snow going to be a lot of water around parts of New York state when the snow starts to melt

[Hocus Pocus]

Hi jonboy,

 

Not sure you are correct with what you are saying. Here's the latest bulletin from NSICD National Snow and Ice Data Center for Oct 2014:

 

Overview of Conditions

Sea ice extent in October averaged 8.06 million square kilometers (3.11 million square miles). This is 850,000 square kilometers (328,000 square miles) below the 1981 to 2010 long-term average of 8.91 million square kilometers (3.44 million square miles) and 1.29 million square kilometers (498,000 square miles) above the record low for the month observed in 2007. 

....Arctic sea ice extent for October 2014 was the 6th lowest in the satellite record. Through 2014, the linear rate of decline for October Arctic ice extent over the satellite record is -6.9% per decade.

....Projections of climate change through the rest of the century show amplified warming in the Arctic compared to the rest of the planet.

 

Full bulletin: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

But what caused the same pattern in 76/77 and countless other winters gone by?

[BornFromTheVoid]

But what caused the same pattern in 76/77 and countless other winters gone by?

A combination of factors, much like now. With the temperature gradient between between the Arctic and lower latitudes now reduced (because of enhanced Arctic warming largely due to melting summer sea ice), several studies suggest that this is causing the jet stream to slow, with larger ridges and troughs, especially in Autumn and Winter. This results in an increased risk of stuck and extreme weather.

There are, of course, a few that disagree with this theory.

[knocker]

Another storm forecast for Monday/Tues centred around Wisconsin. Quite intense for the midwest.

Charts weatherbell.com

 

[feb1991blizzard]

I just wish we could get those stonkers that they get over there, we are higher latitude as well, that bloody pesky Jetstream, Gulfstream and direction  of rotation of the Earth mess it up for the UK.

[Heisenberg]

Hi guys can someone who knows how to look at this help me. I am off to Orlando in 3 weeks from the 14th December. To  my untrained eye it looks like a warm sub tropical airmass is being pushed down from the mid states by the advancing cold into Florida just at the right time for me. is this right?

 

http://www.wsi.com/blog/energy/sub-seasonal-u-s-temperature-outlook-through-mid-december/

 

I also assume its going mean warmer but wetter weather? If so what temps could be expected?? Please help thanks

Edited November 20, 2014 by No Time like Snow Time

[Hocus Pocus]

A combination of factors, much like now. With the temperature gradient between between the Arctic and lower latitudes now reduced (because of enhanced Arctic warming largely due to melting summer sea ice), several studies suggest that this is causing the jet stream to slow, with larger ridges and troughs, especially in Autumn and Winter. This results in an increased risk of stuck and extreme weather.

There are, of course, a few that disagree with this theory.

Also to counter that there is a lot of empirical evidence to suggest the output of the sun also effects the jet stream, there are so many differing theories around that I think a combination of them all would sum up the state of play, plus end any arguments in here.

[knocker]

Hi guys can someone who knows how to look at this help me. I am off to Orlando in 3 weeks from the 14th December. To  my untrained eye it looks like a warm sub tropical airmass is being pushed down from the mid states by the advancing cold into Florida just at the right time for me. is this right?

 

http://www.wsi.com/blog/energy/sub-seasonal-u-s-temperature-outlook-through-mid-december/

 

I also assume its going mean warmer but wetter weather? If so what temps could be expected?? Please help thanks

 

I'm not sure where you got that from as MV doesn't say it. Sticking to what he does indicate and that is a probability of warmer than average temps in Florida for the period. Any further detail at this range is out of the question.

 

You may be lucky because at the moment the temps are way below average.

[Heisenberg]

I'm not sure where you got that from as MV doesn't say it. Sticking to what he does indicate and that is a probability of warmer than average temps in Florida for the period. Any further detail at this range is out of the question.

 

You may be lucky because at the moment the temps are way below average.

Just looking at those maps? What does the Orange blob going over Florida represent?

[knocker]

Just looking at those maps? What does the Orange blob going over Florida represent?

 

Temps 3deg. F. above average. You can find the climate average easy enough by googling.

[Heisenberg]

Thanks Ian

[knocker]

New Lake Effect Snowstorm Pounding Buffalo With an Additional 2 - 3 Feet of Snow

 

A new lake effect snowstorm is pummeling snow-weary Buffalo, New York once again, where over a foot of new snow has fallen over regions that received five feet of snow on Tuesday. Once again, a persistent band of heavy snow coming off of the relatively warm waters of Lake Erie has settled over the southern and eastern suburbs of Buffalo, delivering prodigious snows of 3 - 5" per hour. The Buffalo Airport reported a heavy thunderstorm with snow at 4 am Thursday morning, and the band had dumped 10.7" of snow there as of 7 am EST. Buffalo radar shows that snow band then shifted to the south, and had set up about 10 - 20 miles farther south than Tuesday's band, over the southern suburbs of Buffalo. Lancaster, which was paralyzed by 63" of snow on Tuesday, has received another 12" so far today, giving them an astonishing 75" of snow--over six feet--this week. The snow band will move little until Thursday night, allowing up to 2 - 3 feet of snow to fall over some of the same regions that received 4 - 5 feet of snow on Tuesday. Extreme atmospheric instability due to relatively warm waters in the lake and near-record cold temperatures aloft are responsible for the intensity of the storm. Water temperatures are 45 - 54°F over the eastern end of Lake Erie, and were 45°F at the Environment Canada Port Colborne buoy at the east end of Lake Erie on Thursday morning. Temperatures at 5,000 feet altitude (850 mb) were 7°F (-14°C) Thursday morning, resulting in a phenomenal 45°F temperature difference between the surface and air aloft--a huge amount of instability.

 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2864

[Summer Sun]

Another 60cm or so of snow if forecast for Buffalo by the start of tomorrow but for the weekend another problem will be developing with warmer air and heavy rain giving the potential for flooding

[keithlucky]

Dramatic drone view of Buffalo snow