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

[4wd]

Before you two start hyperventilating by all means let's get some facts. And by the way in case there is any misconceptions here about motives I've almost certainly posted more about the cold in the US than either of you two.

 

 

Exsqueeze me?

I made one six word post, hyperventilation not required but it seems to have got you in a defensive trench as if your *fact* was being challenged by a simple observation made in the article?

It is a bit chilly here again BTW

 

[jonboy]

The point scoring from both sides seems daft to me. Yes we have seen extensive cold and snow on the eastern side of the states this year and we have seen extensive heat on the western side due to the hemispheric patterns that seem to have persisted over the last few years.

We would be better understanding what drives this (yes I know some will say its artic ice levels!!) and if this is going to be a pattern that the US needs to get used to.

Point scoring doesn't help us towards that understanding.

[knocker]

I have intention of taking part in any point scoring contest. But I do feel that the quite extraordinary events in the NE, which quite understandably received much media coverage, have skewed people perspective regarding the winter as a whole in the US. Of course understanding the dynamics behind all this is what research is all about but hardly a subject for this thread.

 

And just for the record I responded to this

 

Lets get some facts a very  cold year across Canada and  the USA

because it is incorrect and misleading.

Edited March 2, 2015 by knocker

[KeithinCali]

I'd say it's mainly the pacific coast (specifically) that's been warmer and drier than usual.  Same for Alaska (at least the warmer bit).  Same for BC/Alberta in Canada.

 

The midwest has seen a colder than avg. February but was having an average winter up until then.

 

The Rockies have seen a winter not too far off avg either though it got off to a mild start.  Unlike the Sierras the Rockies have a decent snowpack.  Especially the southern Rockies.  Albuqurque, NM got 10 inches of snow the last two days. Hopefully a new pattern takes hold next winter.  California has been parched for a few years running.  The Lake Tahoe area has seen around 2ft plus of snow these past few days.  Hopefully a few more storms can add to the snow pack further but it will probably take two strong El Nino influenced wetter winters to pull out of the drought.

 

So if you break it up into time zones rather than generally referencing two halves it gives a clearer picture.  Pacific Time zone--Well above avg temps.  Mountain (Rockies)--Slightly above avg temps.  Central--bit below avg...Atlantic-Much below normal temps.  Even then it's not a perfect illustration.  In the MTN time zone Utah has been above normal on the western flank of the rockies whereas Denver has been about avg this winter with a chillly February.

Edited March 2, 2015 by KeithinCali

[BornFromTheVoid]

Surface air temperature anomaly, December 1st to February 28th.

 

[keithlucky]

50 of the U.S. States expecting snow today

One state without snow cover atm Florida

[Midlands Ice Age]

Maybe we can all agree the U.S. weather has been extreme this year? Maybe we should note that since 2012 we've been seeing such an east west split? Maybe we should focus on why Anchorage is asking Boston for its winter back?

 

Maybe, and this may come as a surprise to some and  is a complete guess -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its just the Weather!!!!!

       

Edited March 2, 2015 by Midlands Ice Age

[knocker]

Ryan Maue â€@RyanMaue 1h1 hour ago

Dec-Feb ... New England 2-3°C below average ... CONUS +0.13°C compared to 30-year average.

 

Edited March 2, 2015 by knocker

[KeithinCali]

 

Ryan Maue â€@RyanMaue 1h1 hour ago

Dec-Feb ... New England 2-3°C below average ... CONUS +0.13°C compared to 30-year average.

 

 

 

Out of curiosity what was the CONUS the previous winter (2013-2014) compared to the 30/yr avg?

Edited March 2, 2015 by KeithinCali

[knocker]

Out of curiosity what was the CONUS the previous winter (2013-2014) compared to the 30/yr avg?

 

I'm afraid I don't know using that model as I usually stick to the official version with NOAA and that was -.99F but they use a different average. I'll ask Ryan Maue or check the web site when I've got a minute.

[knocker]

Spring may be sprung on parts of North America as well. The ECM has a temp anomaly for Minnesota of plus 34F on the  12th.

[keithlucky]

Unprecedented sight on California beach .should be surfing the Waves :DNational Weather Service forecasters say the hail is so unusual, is so rare, that they have no historical data that lists any other instance of hail at the beach.

Edited March 3, 2015 by keithlucky

[knocker]

Temp comparison N. Plains and the SE at !5Z  Could hit near 90F later in Florida;

Charts courtesy weatherbell

 

[knocker]

At the moment in Akron, PA.

 

[ukpaul]

Before you two start hyperventilating by all means let's get some facts. And by the way in case there is any misconceptions here about motives I've almost certainly posted more about the cold in the US than either of you two.

 

Facts.

 

Dec-Jan in the US was the 6th warmist on record. When the Feb details come in this will probably be a bit lower.

 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/climatological-rankings/index.php?periods[]=2&parameter=tavg&state=110&div=0&month=1&year=2015#ranks-form

 

In the meantime

 

Freaky February helps smash records for heat — and cold

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/03/01/weather-february-breaks-heat-cold-records/24223177/

 

Bottom line is no matter how much you two compadres wish to concentrate on the cold aspect ( I've absolutely no idea why) the winter in the US has been extreme for heat and cold but overall it doesn't rank as being that cold.

 

Fact.

 

Whilst the US is being looked on enviously by those who want more wintry winters, it's actually a big issue that it's happened over there for a number of reasons. 

 

http://nation.foxnews.com/2015/03/02/global-warmings-snowballs-chance-hell-senate-floor

 

So, we have to watch from afar but also have to see it being perverted for political ends. 

[knocker]

Looking at some very low temps in the NE this morning. One or two records will be broken.

Chart weatherbell

 

[knocker]

York, PA went from -12 to 43F yesterday. A quite impressive 55 degree jump.

[knocker]

Winter, a tale of extremes: http://bit.ly/1wLPy33  Record hot & dry across the West, cold & wintry in the East.

 

 

[knocker]

I've posted this elsewhere but worth a slot here I feel.

 

The tropics as a prime suspect behind the warm-cold split over North America during recent winters

http://climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/tropics-prime-suspect-behind-warm-cold-split-over-north-america-during

[BornFromTheVoid]

The state of the climate report for the US is out, with info on both February and the past winter.

 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2015/2

 

A few highlights

 

• The winter contiguous U.S. temperature was 34.3°F, 2.1°F above the 20th century average, the 19th warmest winter on record.
• Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and Washington each had their warmest winter on record. In California, the winter temperature bested the previous seasonal record that occurred just last year by 1.5°F.
• Below-average winter temperatures, driven in large part by a frigid February, were observed from the Mississippi River to the East Coast. Due to a mild first half of winter, no state had winter temperatures that ranked among their 10 coldest on record

 

 

 

Temperature anomaly map

 

Temperature Ranks

 

[knocker]

Ryan Maue â€@RyanMaue 4h4 hours ago

Quite a batch of record highs expected today. 90+ in SoCal & 80s in Plains. Denver close to 80°F

 

 

[Summer Sun]

WSI Europe Weather - As of March 15th Boston USA recorded 108.6 inches of snow for the winter 2014-2015. That's 1 inch more than the past record set in 1995-1996

[knocker]

Record-melting heat across western U.S.
From California to North Dakota, a large part of the nation’s northwest half experienced summer-like heat over the weekend. Some of the more ominous reports came from fast-drying California, where the rainy season is limping to a halfhearted end. Many stations around Los Angeles and San Diego set record highs near or above 90°F on each day Friday through Sunday. In the San Francisco Bay area, all-time monthly heat records were notched on Saturday at Salinas Airport (92°F), San José (89°F), Monterey (87°F), and on Sunday in Fresno (91°F). The heat pushed into the northern Rockies and northern Great Plains on Sunday, with the all-time March record falling at Rapid City, SD (84°F). Many other locations saw their warmest day for so early in the season. In North Dakota, both Fargo (75°F; normal high 35°F) and Grand Forks (70°F; normal high 33°F) had their earliest 70°F readings on record--though by just one day, as the Great Warm Wave of March 2012 headed toward its amazing apex starting on March 16. More records appear certain to fall over the central Great Plains on Monday, with even the impressive numbers from 2012 in jeopardy at some locations.

At last: a seasonal snow record for Boston
The snowy onslaught that gripped Boston in late January and February smashed records for the most snow observed there in any single month (64.8â€, besting the 43.3†from January 2005). After a reprieve in early March, a quick shot of snow on Sunday afternoon secured this winter’s place in city history as the snowiest on record. Sunday’s 2.9†pushed the seasonal total to 108.6â€, breaking the record of 107.6†set in 1995–96. In a Sunday article, the Weather Channel’s Jon Erdman highlighted these and many other noteworthy aspects of Boston’s snow siege of 2014–15. The city’s snow records date back to 1891–92.

 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2936

[knocker]

Michael Ventrice â€@MJVentrice 2h2 hours ago

Record heat across the Plains and parts of Southern California yesterday.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2015 by knocker

[knocker]

Records wilt after another day of summer-like heat across Central Plains
The hottest late-winter airmass on record across the central Great Plains sent temperatures on Monday to absurd values for mid-March. As a trough of low pressure strengthened over the northern Plains, westerly winds were driven downslope from the Colorado Rockies. Already very warm for the elevation and time of year, the air mass warmed even more as it descended toward lower elevations. Both Nebraska and Iowa saw the only 90°F temperatures known to have occurred before the spring equinox in more than a century of record-keeping at the states’ major reporting stations. The heat also persisted in California, where downtown Los Angeles endured its fourth 90°F day in a row--the first time any March has produced four 90°F days, consecutive or otherwise, in records going back to 1877.

 

Canada's Charlottetown and Saint John trump Boston in snowiest-winter sweepstakes
The same nor’easter that put Boston over the top for its snowiest winter on record produced the same result--with much more drama--in the largest cities of two Canadian provinces. By late Monday, the paralyzing storm had delivered an estimated 55 cm (21.7â€) to the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown. The city's official total snowfall on Sunday of 47.6 cm (18.7") sent the city’s snow total for the winter to 463 cm (182â€), almost twice the total observed in Boston. Charlottetown’s previous seasonal record, 451.3 cm (177.7â€), had been set just last winter. In the province of New Brunswick, Saint John climbed to a seasonal total of 431 cm (170â€) on Sunday, beating the record of 424 cm (167â€) set in 1962–63. Yet another storm will paste the Canadian Maritimes on Wednesday, bringing as much as 20 cm (8â€) of additional snow to Charlottetown.

 

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2937