Extreme Temperatures
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Windsock

Wild, weird weather: Record cold West, record warm East, and flooding in central US

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 14:16 UTC
snow covered flowers
© Nam Y. Huh, APWinter garden flowers are covered by snow on Feb. 11, 2018, in Chicago.
Wild, weird weather is coming to the U.S. this week with snow and record cold in the West, record warmth in the East, and a threat of heavy flooding rain in the central part of the USA.

Wintry West

Widespread snow will persist through late Tuesday across parts of the western mountains and into the High Plains as a strong cold front slides through the Rockies and into the central U.S., the National Weather Service said. Accumulations will be heavy at times, especially for the central Rockies, where more than 18 inches of snow is possible.

The weather service issued winter storm warnings for much of the higher elevations of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, and for parts of the Plains from western South Dakota to northwestern Nebraska, the Weather Channel said.

Dangerous winter weather conditions, including blowing snow and high winds, are expected in these areas.
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Snowflake Cold

Denver experiences a 72 degree temperature drop within 40 hours

Chris Spears
CBS Denver
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:58 UTC
man standing in cold
© CBS
Sitting at a mile above sea level and in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, Denver is known for having an extreme climate. But the most recent temperature swing ranked as one of the biggest ever observed.

According to the National Weather Service in Boulder, after a high of 69°F at 2:27 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 18) Denver's official low hit -3°F just over 40 hours later at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 20).

The 72 degree drop tied for the 8th biggest swing ever noted in a period of two days or less. It also landed in the top 20 biggest temperature swing events for Denver since records began in 1872.
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Ice Cube

During the Little Ice Age Empires collapsed while the Netherlands flourished

Dagomar Degroot
Washington Post
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 12:00 UTC
To adjust to new weather patterns, the Dutch developed such inventions as the “sailing car” or ”land yacht,” which used wind power to haul people and goods along beaches.
© Rijksmuseum/RijksmuseumTo adjust to new weather patterns, the Dutch developed such inventions as the “sailing car” or ”land yacht,” which used wind power to haul people and goods along beaches.
We are changing Earth's climate with terrifying speed. In the past, natural forces provoked slower climate changes. We now know that they were still big and fast enough to shape the fates of past societies. Climate change then brought disaster to most societies, but a few prospered. Perhaps the most successful of all emerged in the coastal fringes of the Netherlands, and it has left us with lessons that may help us prepare for our warmer future.


Comment: Research has shown previous climatic shifts were not slow: Ice Ages start and end so suddenly, "it's like a button was pressed," say scientists


Based on glacial ice samplings, stalagmites, ocean- and lake-bed sediments, tree rings and other assessments, it's clear that sometime in the 13th century, Earth's climate cooled. Huge volcanic eruptions lofted dust high into the stratosphere, blocking sunlight just as the sun slipped into a less-active phase, sending less energy to Earth. Sea ice expanded, wind patterns changed and ocean currents shifted. In many regions, torrential rains alternated with unprecedented droughts.


Comment: All of those same signs can be seen today: Revision to 400-year sunspot record makes current solar cycle weakest in 200 years


A period called the "Little Ice Age" had begun, reaching its coldest point in the 16th century.

Comment: To read more about our real history, as hinted at in myth and legend, proven through research, and how those same events are happening today, see: Also check out our monthly documentary: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - January 2018: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Ice Cube

NASA: 'Unusually cold winter' causes Lake Erie to ice over while nearly 60% of lakes ice-covered

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC
Great Lakes
© NASAThe Great Lakes
The unusually cold winter in the Upper Midwest has led to a notable buildup of ice on the Great Lakes. Lake Erie is usually the first to freeze over because it is shallower than the other Great Lakes.

On February 14, 2018, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite acquired data for these false-color images of North America's Great Lakes. The images were made from a combination of infrared and visible light (MODIS bands 7-2-1) in order to better differentiate between snow and ice (teal) and clouds (white). Open water appears black, though some of the dark areas likely have a layer of clear ice (without snow cover on it). For a detailed map of ice extent and thickness on the Great Lakes, visit the Great Lakes Ice Analysis page.
Lake Erie
© NASALake Erie covered in ice
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall sets records in Norway, raises concerns


News in English.no
Tue, 20 Feb 2018 14:16 UTC
Bus stop in Gol, Norway
Bus stop in Gol, Norway
Heavy snowfall this winter continues to set new records in the hills around Oslo and throughout Southern Norway. At the same time, it's prompting warnings against over-exertion when it needs to be shoveled away from both driveways and rooftops.

Norway's waterways and energy directorate NVE reported that there hasn't been as much snow in the hills around Oslo, for example, since 1995. In some areas, snow depths haven't been so large since the mid-1960s.

There's been at least 80 centimeters at low elevations this winter and more than a meter at higher elevations, with the hills around suburban Bærum, for example, reporting around 120 centimeters of snow on the ground.

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Info

Puzzling change in Southern Ocean revealed by CSIRO

Peter Hannam
Sdyney Morning Herald
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 18:32 UTC
Dr Steve Rintoul
© Peter MathewDr Steve Rintoul, chief scientist of the RV Investigator voyage, with one of the deep-sea floats.
Researchers aboard an Australian ship undertaking pioneering work in the Southern Ocean have found the "first hint" of a shift in a decades-long trend towards fresher, less dense water off Antarctica.

Teams of scientists on the RV Investigator have been profiling the salinity and temperature of water between Tasmania and Antarctica at 108 locations.

They also released the first batch of deep Argot floats to measure conditions as deep as 4000 metres.

But it is the early analysis of data on salinity in the so-called bottom waters near the seabed that may stir international debate.

"Every time we've measured since the 1970s, [bottom water's] been becoming lighter and fresher," Steve Rintoul, the voyage chief scientist, told Fairfax Media on Monday as the ship took its final ocean profile.

"We've got the first hint now that maybe things are shifting back to becoming saltier and denser in the deepest part of the ocean," said Dr Rintoul, who is a senior researcher at CSIRO and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems (ACE) CRC.

Dr Rintoul said "this increase in salinity still brings levels to nowhere near where they were in the 1970s ... nor even into the 1990s". The trend of warming of those waters has not changed.
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Snowflake

Big Island, Maui summits in Hawaii receive snowfall


Hawaii News Now
Mon, 19 Feb 2018 21:22 UTC
This photo shows snow atop Haleakala on Monday morning
© Don RiceThis photo shows snow atop Haleakala on Monday morning
Snow blanketed Big Island and Maui summits on Monday morning, prompting officials to close off roads due to dangerous and icy conditions.

A winter weather advisory has been posted for the summits of Haleakala on Maui as well as Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island. The National Weather Service said 1 to 2 inches of snowfall is expected.

The advisory is in effect until 6 p.m.

On Maui, officials already reported 1.5 inches of snow accumulation at the summit of Haleakala. The road to Haleakala is closed at the Kalahaku overlook until conditions are deemed safe again.

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Binoculars

Record number of 280 snowy owls counted in Wisconsin this winter

Paul A. Smith
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Sat, 17 Feb 2018 21:14 UTC
Snowy owl
Two hundred eighty snowy owls have been documented in Wisconsin this winter, the highest total on record, according to state birding experts.

The previous high was 253 in the winter of 2013-'14, said Ryan Brady, bird monitoring coordinator with the Department of Natural Resources.

In fact, more than 200 of the big, white owls have migrated to Wisconsin in three of the last five years, all historically large movements.

"We've gotten pretty spoiled in recent years," said Brady.

By teasing through observations entered on eBird, an Internet-based bird reporting tool hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Brady is able to differentiate sightings of individual animals.

Comment: It's perhaps noteworthy that the standard interpretation for these (increasingly large) influxes doesn't seem to be holding true in recent years - that these invasions occur in 4 year cycles because of successful breeding fueled by periodic high numbers of lemming prey in the Arctic. This cyclic pattern looks to have disappeared this decade, see : SOTT Exclusive: Snowy owls flee northern latitudes for unprecedented fourth consecutive year - Sign of impending Ice Age?

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Snowflake

Record snowfall piles up around the world

Marc Morano
Climate Depot
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 10:08 UTC
Snow Spain
Snowfall in Spain
Record snowfall in Windsor, Ontario - February 11, 2018 - A record 18.4 cm of snow fell on Windsor on Friday, according to Environment Canada. Read more

Snow-covered beaches of Barcelona - February 11, 2018

10 Feb 2018 - Snowfall on a good part of Spain. Read more

Comment: The list goes on and on: These past few months have proved to be particularly brutal, and there are no signs of it letting up just yet; its also in line with scientists predictions of what we can expect in the years ahead:

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Snowflake

Snowiest winter in Havre, Montana in 138 years: More snow on the way

Karl Puckett
Great Falls Tribune
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 21:03 UTC
Winter snowfall in Harve
Winter snowfall in Harve
Usually, snow blowers would be in the window display facing the street at Havre Hardware and Home, but it was empty Monday.

"It's been a good winter for business," says manager Scott Stockdill, noting he's sold out of snow blowers, not to mention shovels. Even his stock of toboggans is running low.

It's been a good winter for snow in this community of 9,800, at least to date, as Stockdill can attest.

As of Monday, Feb. 12, snowfall in Havre was 70 inches, with yet another storm expected to hit the snow-battered city Wednesday afternoon.

That's almost 4 feet above normal — and the snowiest it's been in the city at this stage of the winter since 1880, when weather records began in Havre, according to the National Weather Service in Great Falls.
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