Weather Update
January 13, 2014
An ancient story tells of Damocles and a sword.
Damocles was a nobleman who exclaimed how fortunate his king was. The annoyed king offered to allow the nobleman to sit on his throne. Damocles scrambled onto the throne and found himself surrounded by luxury. Then he looked up. Gulp!
Overhead was a sword, held by the single hair of a horse's tail! With power came great danger and worry. Damocles left the throne and crept away.
The Sword of Damocles by Richard Westall. 1812
Look north. Hanging... more
January 6, 2014
It's been a cold one! Take Saturday, January 4. The the Earth’s orbit around the Sun put the globe the closest it gets to the Sun each year.
During the next two days, it was so cold that …
It was so very cold on January 6! (shiver)
Wind chills brought temperatures in parts of the Midwest to -70˚F! Without the winds, temperatures were a balmy -30˚F in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.
An Arctic vortex—yes, air that normally lurks around the North Pole—swirled its way around the Midwest... more
December 15, 2013
As I write this, another storm is sweeping through the nation.
Heavy snow and ice left tens of thousands without power, grounded air flights and made driving a misery. Does it help to know that the storm is female—Winter Storm Electra? Of course, any storm named after an ancient Greek who helped kill her mother and gave her name to a sexual hang-up is bound to be unpleasant.
US snow cover—Winter Storm Electra didn’t feel like a girly storm!
In the past, only tropical storms were named.... more
December 9, 2013
Even as Arctic air is freezing us this December, the North Pole is moving farther away!
If you think that is puzzling to you, imagine how bewildering it is for Santa to have his workshop racing towards Russia.
Of course, it is not the real poles that are moving; it is the North and South Magnetic poles. The North Pole is the top of the axis that the solid Earth spins around. The Magnetic North Pole is the axis that the dense liquid core of the Earth spins around. It is currently in Northern... more
November 24, 2013
Crashes are messy. When it is crashing weather systems during the Thanksgiving Holiday it becomes unbelievably messy. Welcome to the holiday mess of 2013.
When cold air crashes into warm, wet air, it creates a mess, like the weather during the Thanksgiving travel week.
What is happening is simple. A cold front marched across the United States during the last week of November. On Thursday, November 21, it brought high winds and blackouts to Southern California valleys and snowy whiteouts to the... more
November 17, 2013
This Thanksgiving Day, 200 tons of cosmic dust will slam into the Earth’s atmosphere!
While most sky watchers are excited about the two meteor showers that will flame through the skies before the holiday, it’s what you won’t see that is impressive. According to scientists, micro-meteors, cosmic dust, pour down on the earth every day. They may even be changing the climate.
The galaxy is messy, filled with debris from novas, melting comets and colliding asteroids. Scientists are studying how much... more
November 13, 2013
Once again, South Dakota has had record-breaking snowfall, although, fortunately not the four to five feet dump that it saw in October.
Don’t be surprised—so far 18 states, from Washington to Pennsylvania, have broken snow records. For drivers, snow is a nuisance, but in the Western US and on ski slopes, the cold stuff is white gold!
There’s been even more rain than snow. In October, states broke more than 2500 precipitation records and November shows signs of also being active. Notice, a lot... more
November 4, 2013
Have you heard the saying, “It’s an ill wind that blows no good”? It must be about hurricanes.
There are times when these terrible storms can bring both good and bad news. We can see this with Tropical Storm Sonya in the first week of November.
As I write this, Tropical Storm Sonya is approaching Mexico. It is the eighteenth storm to roar through the East Pacific. Most of these storms swung out to sea but Sonya will be the fourth storm of the season to swing east and land in Mexico. Fortunately... more
October 14, 2013
Days are getting shorter. Temperatures are getting cooler. Leaves are falling. And appetites are growing.
You see squirrels gathering nuts and expanding their little gray waistlines. Bears and badgers are putting on the pounds preparing for winter hibernation. Admit it – even you probably feel it as you lose your zest for summer salads and begin to lust for a big slab of pumpkin pie.
This autumn surge in appetites is vital for the survival of many animals. Unable to migrate to warmer climates,... more
October 6, 2013
October arrived with a bang! For the first time in modern records the US experienced a simultaneous threat from tornadoes, blizzards, extreme wildfires and—oh yes—an approaching tropical storm.
Ugh! Everywhere you looked, the US faced rotten weather.
On October 4, the NOAA hazard map warned of Blizzards, Severe Weather, High Winds, Wildfires, and Tropical Storm Karen!Click to enlarge picture above.
The problem is that the Arctic air mass is unusually cold. It was the coldest Arctic summer on... more
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Mike Steinberg is Senior Vice President for Special Initiatives at AccuWeather Inc in State College, Pennsylvania. He is also a member of the National Weather Association and the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
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