Winter Outlook

I was in Texas during Thanksgiving break, and I definitely noticed some of the effects of El Nino. The weather was colder than it was in West Virginia, and there was a lot of rain. I looked up the winter weather for the next few months, and it looks like the south will continue to experience cooler than normal temperatures, and the north and northeast will experience above average temperatures. This will be due to a strong southward dip in the jet stream.

Unlikely Fall Snowstorm Hits China

In China this past week there was an early fall snow storm seemingly unconvinced many people except the skiers. 300 flights were cancelled and bus passengers were stranded as the storm passed. Icy and slush made it extremely difficult for people to get because of the storm. This storm caught China off guard and even forced it to close down schools (a very rare thing in China) for a few days. The one benefit came to skiers where over 17,000 headed out to the slopes for the first ski of the year.

Winter Storm in China

Global conference in Paris today

In Paris today, world leaders are meeting to come to agreements to fight global warming.  The last time they met was in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan. The earth has changed drastically since then. I found some of these changes to be amazing. 1997 was only 18 years ago. It's not so long in Earth times.

Since 1997...

-The West Antartica and Greenland ice sheets have lost 5.5 trillions of ice.

-The five-year average surface global temperature for Jan to Oct has risen by nearly two-thirds of a degree F between 93-97 and 2011-15, according to NOAA. In 97, Earth set a record for the hottest year and then records were set again in 98, 2005, 2010 and 2014, and is expected to happen again in 2015. 

-The average glacier has lost about 39 feet. 

-Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels climbed nearly 50 percent between 97-2013. The world is spewing more than 100 million tons of carbon dioxide a day.

-The seas have risen nearly 2.5 inches on average. 

-At its low point during the summer, the Arctic sea ice is on average 820,000 square miles smaller. 

-The five deadliest heat waves of the past century have come in the past 18 years. 

-The number of weather and climate disasters worldwide has increased 42 percent, though deaths are down 58 percent.

President Obama, French President Hollande, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates will announce a new initiative today, to develop clean energies, committing to spend 10 billions of dollars for a technological fix to the planet's climate woes.

Wild Weatherh in the West

California has been having some windy weather of late, with a tornado hitting the town of Denair in the Central Valley, damaging 21 homes. It has been categorized as a category 1 tornado (the weakest level), but since these are unusual in California it is still cause for notice.


The tornado uprooted trees, took down power lines, and attacked homes with debris at least a mile through town.  The wind speeds were from 86 to 110. Though this is nothing if you live somewhere like Tornado Alley, it is surprising to come across when you are from California.


Thankfully, no one was injured in this unusual weather instance.




http://www.latimes.com/local/weather/la-me-ln-california-wild-weather-20151116-story.html

Menu Recommendations Based on the Weather

Soon you'll be able to see new "smart" digital menus at McDonald's that will change based on the weather.  If it's snowing outside, these menus will promote hot drinks, but if it's warm and sunny, the menus may recommend salads or iced tea. When the menu boards were tested in Canada, customers ended up spending more than they did before the new menus were installed.

Winter Storm Ajax

While we are still experiencing mild weather, the first major winter storm of the season, which has been named Winter Storm Ajax, is spreading through the Rockies and High Plains today and tomorrow. This storm is causing blizzard conditions. However, the warm side of this storm will produce severe thunderstorms and tornados in the South this week.


http://www.weather.com/storms/winter/news/winter-storm-ajax-snow-plains-rockies-denver-november-2015

Earthquake triggers tsunami

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about earthquakes and their relation to the weather. This past Friday there was an earthquake that registered 6.5 on the Richter scale in Japan. This earthquake caused a small tsunami. In 2011, a similar tragedy happened in Japan but that tsunami caused much devastation. A tsunami is a seismic sea wave that is caused by the displacement of water. In this instance, the displaced water came from the earthquake.

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/magnitude-65-earthquake-strikes-southwest-japan/59812/

Thanksgiving Weather

http://www.almanac.com/blog/weather-blog/first-thanksgiving

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner I thought it would be interesting to look at the first Thanksgivings weather.  Though we do not have a newscast of what the weather was. An accurate guess can be made.  The pilgrims were very interested in the weather and made lots of mentions of the weather in the diaries according to the article. They did not talk about the conditions on the day of Thanksgiving which would lead one to believe it was a normal New England day.   It probably was a partly sunny with temperatures around 60 according to the article.  This would be something to be thankful for after the stormy trip, followed by the harsh winter and spring.

How EL Nino affects snowfall this season.

Scientists have been studying snowfall during La Nina, El Nino, and neutral years. No two systems are alike. For that reason, they searched further into studying moderate and severe El Nino years weather patterns. These scientists studying 51 locations were they had 23 El Nino, 20 La Nina, and 22 neutral seasons of snowfall. They looked further into El Nino and La Nina by studying the cold air that travels from west to east.

The results may surprise you. La Nina seasons had heavier snowfalls in the cascades, northern Rockies and lower elevations.  While El Nino seasons had less snowfall in the Northern part of our country including New England. And El Nino is snowier in the great plains and the Ohio Valley. Does that mean more snow for the Huntington area? According to the map... it depends! Huntington lies just in between the mild and snowier seasons. Depending on the course of the Jet steam, it seems that we may have a snowier winter than in other years.

El Nino Story

Where is that November chill?

In the past couple years we've  had cold weather by now here in the Tri-State area.  Maybe not severe snowstorms, but we've experienced weather that is common to the Fall season.  While the cold seems to continue to evade the Huntington area this year, that isn't true for the western portion of the nation.  San Fransisco is expected to stay below 50 degrees today, while the Sierra Nevada area and eastward could end up with 6 to 12 inches of snow.  It's not that I wish that were the case here, but some colder weather would make it feel like we were as close as we are to Thanksgiving...  The snow will have a positive impact on the drought situation in the western portion of the U.S. hopefully the jet stream will continue to play a role in delivering cold weather for a while, because they need it desperately.

It would be nice if the cold air carried by the jet stream will make it's way to the eastern portions of the country, but according to weather forecasts, this seems unlikely.



image via: weather.com/maps/planner

The 10 Worst Blizzards in US History

The 10 Worst Blizzards in US History recounts the 10 worst blizzards in U.S. history. The Great Blizzard of 1888 had the worst death toll with 400 dead and 200 boats sunk. The Children's Blizzard was a surprising blizzard since children in Nebraska and North Dakota went to school without coats and by the time they were sent home it was -40 with wind chill. 235 died in this storm.  Finally the Super Bowl Blizzard that started in the Pacific Ocean and crossed the Rockies. It had a record low of 961 millibars. Forty seven tornadoes were caused by this storm. Only 60 died from this storm but farm animals were not so lucky.

The Perfect Storm

Most people are familiar with the mediocre movie starring George Clooney an Marky Mark, and to a lesser degree the excellent book of the same title, but few probably understand what made the 1991 storm "perfect."  The storm, which surprisingly had no official name, began as a low pressure area off the coast of Canada, and quickly grew into a nor'easter just before Halloween.  A nor'easter is a massive storm that develops in the Northeast, and gets its name from the direction its winds blow.  At this time, the remnants of Hurricane Grace had made their way into this location, and when they got absorbed by the nor'easter, an enormous storm developed that eventually redeveloped into another hurricane.  The storm caused extensive flooding and damage from immense seas along the coast of New England.  When it was all said and done, the storm amassed over $200 million in 1991 dollars, and resulted in thirteen deaths.  This storm also coincided with a low pressure system in the Midwest which formed the infamous Halloween Blizzard of 1991.  Due to the size and power of the nor'easter, the blizzard was trapped, causing it to dump even more snow and ice on the affected areas, killing 22, and injuring more than 100.

Worst Winter Storms In U.S. History

I was curious as to the worst snow storms that have been seen in the United States. The link below is a list of the 11 worst winter storms to hit America from Time.


http://time.com/3583572/worst-winter-snow-storm/


The list includes storms as recent as last winter's storm that bombarded the Northeast, paralyzing places like Buffalo, NY with the enormous amount of snow that fell. This storm left people stranded and tragically resulted in life lost.





This list goes as far back as the 1800s as well. It includes the storm of 1888, where the east cost was hit with almost 50 inches of snow from March 11-12! The storm was so bad that they had to haul snow out of the streets of places such as New York and dump them into rivers. And of course back then that meant putting horses to work pulling carts.

Weather in November

I couldn't remember a particular winter storm from previous years, so I researched the weather we will be looking forward to this month. Tony Cavalier has quoted this month as being a "November to remember." Last year we experienced a top 10 coldest November on record, and this year may be a top 10 warmest November. This may be due to the strong El Nino pattern. These warmer temperatures may extend the growing season, lower heating costs, and allow people to travel safely during Thanksgiving break. Since my school has recently started  growing vegetables in our new grow tunnel, I am thankful that we have more time to focus on our fall crop. This November forecast does not predict the weather for the rest of winter, but Cavalier mentions that El Nino has the potential to keep our area warmer than usual.
http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/November-to-Remember-Weather-wise-Ahead-340017462.html

1913 Severe Weather

I had never even heard of this before. Interesting...
1913 - The freshwater fury , a rapidly deepening cyclone, caused unpredicted gales on the Great Lakes. Eight large ore carriers on Lake Erie sank drowning 270 sailors. Cleveland OH reported 17.4 inches of snow in 24 hours, and a total of 22.2 inches, both all-time records for that location. During the storm, winds at Cleveland averaged 50 mph, with gusts to 79 mph. The storm produced wind gusts to 80 mph at Buffalo NY, and buried Pickens WV under three feet of snow. (9th-11th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)

First snow!

So, it would seem that we have seen the first snow fall in the US now. A storm is passing through the Midwest and though I'm sure people aren't looking forward to the snow, the Midwest definitely needs some form of precipitation.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/rain-snow-to-return-across-west/53478920

The year we lost Kroger

The snowstorm I remember the most was the one we had in March of 1993. I lived in Beckley and we had a record snowfall of 30 inches. The roof of our Kroger caved! I learned how to play Spades and Rook. We finished a game of Monopoly.

What made this storm the "storm of the century"? "The Blizzard of '93 is a good example of a 'snowicane'," AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski added. "It was granddaddy of 'em all." There was an extrememly strong jet stream over the Gulf of Mexico. The polar, Pacific and subtropical jets combined forced to create 170 mph winds. The storm hit quickly and strongly.





Images from http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/blizzard-of-93-the-storm-of-th/62671

Blizzard that shut down Interstate 77

There was a blizzard warning for southern WV in the winter of 09. Luckily, for me I was in Huntington when it hit opposed to Princeton, WV at the time. The Huntington area saw two inches from this snow storm. My plans were to travel back on Saturday evening but ended up staying until Sunday. The storm got so bad that it shut down interstate 77 overnight, leaving many people stranded.  Headed back home over the weekend, I never thought it was so bad until I got just past Charleston. Mile by mile the amount of snow kept getting deeper and deeper and abandon cars where all over the road. By the time that I got to my home I spent the next 4 hours shoveling my small driveway. I was able to stay waist deep in snow. The storm left our country out of school for nearly 3 weeks. 

Public information about storm

Post for Katy Jones

The worst blizzard in Cleveland history, also known as the White Hurricane hit Thursday, 26 Jan. 1978. There was low pressure from the Mississippi Valley that met over southern Ohio with low pressure from the western Great Lakes. A cyclone occurred as high winds swirled around low pressure as the temperature dropped 39 degrees in just a few hours. There were extreme winds that blew 53-mph with 82-mph gusts as the wind chill went below -100 degrees.

http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=B14 

Storm of the Century (or at least my lifetime)

The first, and I believe biggest, snow storm I ever had to deal with was the blizzard of 1993. I was in 9th grade and we were out of school for several days. I remember having to go with my dad while it was still snowing to pick mom up from work. We slid all over the place, and later that night the governor actually closed all roads except to emergency vehicles. This was the first time I had ever heard that you could get a ticket for driving on the streets! I know we got well over a foot of snow, but don't remember just quite how much. I had to go outside and shovel a little area for my dog to go to the bathroom because it was up to my thighs! Hills Department store sold t-shirts that said "I survived the blizzard of 93." You can google '93 blizzard to see footage of this massive storm that affected over 25 states.

Antarctica Gaining Ice??

There has been a lot of talk about the Antarctic losing ice in the western part and on the Antarctic Peninsula. However, studies have shown that it is also gaining ice in the east. So does this mean that there is a rise in the sea level due to the amount of ice that Antarctica is losing or is it from some other source? Or is the Antarctic taking away ice from other, northern locations. Scientists are not in agreement about all of this, however, they all do agree that either way, it can cause problems. Watch the video and read the article to see more.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/world/antarctica-ice-gain/index.html

Edmund Fitzgerald

http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/wxwise/fitz.html

This is a story on the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  I first heard about this disaster from a song.  I did not realize that the Great Lakes had storms and could produce waves that would sink a freighter.  This article tells about the weather reports telling of a storm coming and the captain trying to alter his course so that it would not wreck his ship.  Unfortunately the storm became worse and the ship went down with all on board not surviving

The Dust Bowl

Picture by NOAA

I remember times in Arizona when we would have sand storms. Sometimes they would be little ones, but I remember one specifically that was so bad we were stuck in a restaurant for a while till it settled down. Being young, I was scared because the sand just engulfed you.
The Dust Bowl that happened in the 1930s was on a whole different level. As you can see in the pictures, it just covered towns with a mess. It is thought that poor land use, drought, and sea surface temperature created these massive sand storms. The storms then in turn, created a greater drought. The sand cut off the evaporation process, drying out the atmosphere. This drought carried all the way across the great plains of the United States. After this, some new rules were put into play to help with soil erosion and keep this catastrophe from ever happening again. However, other countries are not as fortunate. In fact, China may be seeing this type of weather event soon.

Pumpkin Shortage

We have definitely been hearing numerous stories about atypical weather conditions caused by changing climate; anything from droughts and wildfires to flooding and mudslides. One thing that surprised me recently was a possibility of a pumpkin shortage this year that may even affect supplies of pumpkin pie filling.  The so-called pumpkin capitol of the world, Morton, Illinois received above average rainfall during the peak growing season in June, severely affecting pumpkin yields.  Libby's Pumpkin, who supplies 85% of the world's pumpkin filling is predicting half the supply they have had in past years, so if you have your heart set on pumpkin pie this holiday season, it might be advisable to stock up now.

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-and/climate-pumpkins

Blog Post for Katy Jones

November weather pattern change is bringing warm September-like conditions to the east and snow to the mountains in the west for early ski fever. The midwest, south, and east are experiencing a high pressure system this week to bring in warmer weather while the west is getting a jet stream to deliver cold air. 

http://www.weather.com/forecast/national/news/november-pattern-change-west-snow-east-warm

The Atmosphere on Mars

I plan to discuss the layers of the atmosphere this week with my students, and I was looking on Newsela for articles related to the atmosphere. I found an article that was posted last year about a spacecraft that is orbiting Mars and measuring its atmosphere. The measurements will be used to understand its past atmosphere. Scientists believe that Mars was warm and full of water long ago, and it may have had a thicker atmosphere in the past. The atmosphere of Mars is currently 100 times thinner than Earth's atmosphere. NASA's website has articles and images of the spacecraft Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN). The website mentions that there will be a news briefing this Thursday, November 5th at 2pm to discuss the ongoing exploration of Mars. I may use the Newsela article to allow students to compare and contrast the atmospheres on Earth and Mars. They can then use the NASA website to research current findings.

https://newsela.com/articles/mars-maven/id/5323/

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-announce-new-findings-on-fate-of-mars-atmosphere

Cyclone Chapala

A cyclone is close to hitting the coast Yemen in Arabian Sea. It is rare that a cyclone moves this close to land from sea and it is carrying hurricane strength. Although the wind is a concern, than main concern is the amount of rainfall that is going to take place. Weather centers are calling for life threatening flash floods to occur. The last time a cyclone of this magnitude took place in this area was 1922. Cyclone Chapala was a category 3 cyclone last week and changed to category 4 over the weekend. This is the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea to date. The warm, dry desert air of Yemen usually dissipates storms like these. However, these this storm isn't complying. For an area that doesn't get much rainfall, these storms could be detrimental to a desert land.

Cyclone Chapala

Is this November going to be warmer than average?

As November begins, it is looking like this month will be warmer in many areas then is typical.  The following image shows the chances of there being a higher then normal or warmer than normal November this year.























The chances of warmer temperatures in Michigan are extremely high at about 70%. While in are area we only have a chance of warmer weather in the 30% range, at least it is predicting warmer and not colder than normal!


What does this prediction of warmer temperature say about rain and snow chances? It seems likely that the precipitation amounts will be around normal. Snow on the other hand, seems unlikely till late in the month. Even late in the month, it is currently a very slim chance of having a measurable snow.


http://www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2015/11/michigan_weather_may_make_this.html

Bretagne

Today my students are learning about the Bretagne (Brittany) region of France. See map.



Bretagne is on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel. So I thought I would look at their weather for the month of November. Their average daily temperature is 48 Fahrenheit. Today's temperature is 58. They have an average of 17 rainy days in November and the forecast for this week calls for some rain. The temperatures will dip in the last week of November. Overall, its not very interesting. It looks like a typical November that we experience.