Extreme Temperatures
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Igloo

Snow, ice, and severe gusts of wind cripple Great Plains, leaving tens of thousands without electricity (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

snow covered road
© Lucas Jackson / Reuters
Snow, freezing rain and up to 50 mile an hour winds continued into Monday in the Great Plains, as the harsh winter weather forced airport closings, power outages, and shut off long stretches of highway in the Dakotas.

In North Dakota, weather conditions and near-zero visibility compelled a no-travel warning, as the National Weather Service said a blizzard warning would remain in effect for much of the state through Monday afternoon.


Comment: Christmas storm forecast to dump heavy snow, blizzards in U.S. West, Plains


Igloo

Wikipedia fakes news and global cooling

Annual Mean Temperatures
© Journal of Atmospheric Sciences
There is an excellent new post up at notrickszone.com on the global cooling scare of the 1970's and the efforts to erase it from the record by the climate alarmists at realclimate.com. For some the scandal at Wikipedia over William Connolley deliberately posting false articles and altering factual ones on climate is old news. This is for those who missed the story. William Connolley created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles. "Fake news" is an old story, used extensively by radical climate alarmists and environmentalists. Indeed, Greenpeace seems to be based on the concept of fake news.

The following anecdote by author Lawrence Solomon is instructive. He tried to correct an article that stated Naomi Oreskes infamous 97% paper in Science had been vindicated and Dr. Bennie Peiser had conceded that she was correct. He had spoken with Dr. Peiser and confirmed he had said no such thing.
"Of course Oreskes's conclusions were absurd, and have been widely ridiculed. I myself have profiled dozens of truly world-eminent scientists whose work casts doubt on the Gore-U.N. version of global warming. Following the references in my book The Deniers, one can find hundreds of refereed papers that cast doubt on some aspect of the Gore/U.N. case, and that only scratches the surface.

Naturally I was surprised to read on Wikipedia that Oreskes's work had been vindicated and that, for instance, one of her most thorough critics, British scientist and publisher Bennie Peiser, not only had been discredited but had grudgingly conceded Oreskes was right.

I checked with Peiser, who said he had done no such thing. I then corrected the Wikipedia entry, and advised Peiser that I had done so.

Peiser wrote back saying he couldn't see my corrections on the Wikipedia page. I made the changes again, and this time confirmed that the changes had been saved. But then, in a twinkle, they were gone again. I made other changes. And others. They all disappeared shortly after they were made."

Snowflake Cold

Christmas storm forecast to dump heavy snow, blizzards in U.S. West, Plains

A woman stands in high snow in Tieton Dam, Wash. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016.
© @ciaraschultz / instagramA woman stands in high snow in Tieton Dam, Wash. on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016.
A major holiday winter storm packing heavy snow and the threat of blizzard conditions is bearing down on the northern-tier states from the Rockies to the upper Midwest and is likely to shut down major highways in parts of the northern Plains as it rolls eastward Christmas Day and Monday.

The stretch of northern states can expect blowing snow and drifts from strong winds, possibly in excess of 60 mph, making travel hazardous, the National Weather Service warns.

In addition, snow and a wintry mix is possible from the Great Lakes to the Northeast, with rain and a few thunderstorms likely from the lower/mid-Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday, the weather service says.

map storm

Ice Cube

Flagstaff, Arizona expects foot of snow by Christmas morning

Flagstaff Winter storm warning
© NOAA
The National Weather Service says Flagstaff can expect the heaviest snowfall between 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday.

The winter storm warning includes nearly a foot of snow for Flagstaff starting around 11 a.m. and winds blowing 20 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 36 mph. To the east of Flagstaff along Interstate 40 to the New Mexico border, winds will blow 45 to 55 mph. Travel will be extremely hazardous in the afternoon and evening and should be avoided if possible.

Snow could fall down to 3,000 feet as temperatures plummet by evening before tapering off Christmas morning. Doney Park can expect 5 to 9 inches of snow, Williams 7 to 11.

The high temperature Sunday will be just 28 degrees in Flagstaff and the overnight low 8 degrees.

Areas above 8,000 feet could see up to 20 inches of snow, prompting the Coconino National Forest to close most forest roads for the winter. Check its website for full details.

Friday 5 p.m. update: Hazardous travel warning issued for Saturday in Flagstaff region

The National Weather Service is warning of hazardous travel conditions amid blowing, heavy snow across much of northern Arizona Saturday afternoon and evening.

Snowflake

Heaviest December snowfall for 50 years causes transport chaos in Hokkaido, Japan

Snow at airport
Nearly 100 airline flights, hundreds of trains cancelled

The heaviest December snowfall in Hokkaido in 50 years forced the cancellation on Saturday of nearly 100 airline flights and hundreds of trains, according to transport companies and authorities.

New Chitose Airport, a main gateway to the northernmost main island of Japan, struggled to bring business back to normal after around 6,000 people spent Friday night there due to the cancellation of more than 280 flights.

The number of people stranded overnight at the airport's passenger terminal was the most since its opening in 1992, airport operator Hokkaido Airport Terminal Co. said.
snow airport

Igloo

Record snow falls in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia; 27 inches above normal

Snowfall in Krasnaya Polyana
© Via Instrgram/janet_panova
An unusually snowy start to the season.

As a rule, in the middle of December snow depth in Krasnaya Polyana rarely reaches 30 cm (12 inches).

This year, it had already recorded 99 cm (39 inches) by 12 December!

Snowflake

First snow of the season covers war-torn Aleppo as evacuations continue

Snow in Aleppo
© Ruptly
The first snow has settled on the smithereens of an Aleppo district as the last remaining militants depart the city they had inhabited for years.

The drone footage captured on Wednesday shows piles of rubble and partially destroyed houses covered with snow in the heavily-damaged Aleppo district of Seif Al-Dawla.

The district reportedly remains one of the last areas of the city to be partially controlled by militants. Syrian Arab Republic flags, however, can still be seen flying on a couple of ruined buildings.


Militants and civilians reportedly gathered to be evacuated.


Comment: There are also a countless numbers of road closures in Syria due to snow accumulation.


Snowflake Cold

Biting cold below minus 60C recorded in western Siberia

Such temperatures happen in eastern Siberia, but in the west they are more rare.
© Elina KadochnikovaSuch temperatures happen in eastern Siberia, but in the west they are more rare.
The freeze is so deep that horses - and even Rudolph - is brought indoors to warm up.

This is not a week when there was any evidence of global warming in western Siberia, with thermometers plunging to the minus 40s and minus 62 Celsius. Meteorologists say it may get colder still.

At Bolshoe Olkhovskoe oilfield there was a new record for the Khanti-Mansi region with a bone-crushing temperature of minus 62C. The village of Kazym in the same district of Beloyarsky hit minus 58C.

Eyelashes got frosty extensions from nature's own cosmetics, as our amazing pictures show. Beards turned prematurely white.

A video was posted entitled: 'Surgut men are so hardy they only ride on a swing and eat ice cream at minus 51C.'

In Nadym, it nudged minus 50C, and all schools were closed. In Tyumen, school classes were cancelled from grades 1 to 9, with minus 36C the trigger for children to stay home, although elsewhere in Siberia - for example Yakutia in recent weeks - students are still expected in school at below minus 52C.

Nizhnevartovsk hit minus 50C, the coldest winter in ten years in the city. School classes were cancelled today - and for the rest of the week.

Such temperatures happen in eastern Siberia, but in the west they are more rare.

Cold Siberia

Snowflake

First snow in over 2 decades engulfs Antalya, Turkey

Snow in Turkey
Antalya, one of the rare year-round sunny spots in Turkey, was taken over by snowfall yesterday and Wednesday, the first such precipitation since 1993.

The snowfall in the Turkish Riviera, a popular vacation spot, blocked roads and led to the closure of schools in four districts.

Tourists and locals were surprised by the sudden snowfall that has already paralyzed daily life in other parts of the country. Temperatures dropped as low as 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit), although the area was still hotter compared to the minus 20 degrees Celsius temperatures in eastern Turkey.

The snowfall particularly affected the higher areas in the city, Kepezüstü district in particular, which is located some 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from central Antalya. Traffic on the road connecting central Antalya to the Korkuteli district also came to a halt due to heavy snowfall, which blanketed the natural and man-made beauties the city boasts, from the ancient city of Thermessos to the forests north of the city, which are situated along the Mediterranean coast.

Ice Cube

Wall of 'icy fog' appears at Lake Superior in Duluth, Minnesota

Wall of 'sea smoke' at Lake Superior
Wall of 'sea smoke' at Lake Superior.
In a rare atmospheric phenomenon, an enormous wall of icy fog has been filmed billowing over Lake Superior in Minnesota.

The fog was filmed by local photographer Levi Drevlow on December 18, and it looks like something out of a disaster movie, dwarfing a freighter in the port of Duluth as it fearlessly steers straight towards the snowy fog bank.

While scary-looking, the cloud is actually quite natural, the result of a quick temperature drop to -18 Celsius (about -0.4 Fahrenheit). The difference between cold air and warm water is what sent the dense vapor hundreds of feet upwards above the largest of North America's Great Lakes.

Comment: This is actually the second time it has happened there this year. (No, it doesn't normally happen there.)