Storms
S


Attention

Now It's Snowing -- in Phoenix

Philip Haldiman
AZCentral.com
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:33 UTC
With plunging temperatures and lingering cloud cover, Valley residents caught a rare glimpse of what many thought were brief periods of snow flurries Thursday.

Sightings were reported in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, Carefree, Peoria, Glendale and Anthem, Apache Junction, Mesa and parts of Phoenix.

However, National Weather Service officials said that what people actually saw was a phenomenon called graupel -- soft hail that freezes higher in the atmosphere and as it comes down, warms and melts a little, much like a snowflake.
Read More...
Igloo

US: Western states blitzed with storms, snow and rain


The Arizona Republic / Associated Press
Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:33 UTC
Image
© Rob Schumacher / The Arizona Republic via AP Brian King of Cypress, Calif., scrapes snow and ice off his pickup truck Thursday morning in Flagstaff, Ariz. King, trying to return home from a Christmas trip, was trapped in Flagstaff due to the blizzard that closed Interstate 40 and Interstate 17.
New Mexico and Colorado in path of storm that closed roads, cut power in California, Arizona and Nevada

Phoenix - Blizzard conditions were moving across the West on Thursday after shutting down major roads in Arizona, blasting California and Nevada with frigid winds and leaving an area of western Washington in a white-out on Wednesday.

Heavy snow fell in some mountainous regions on Wednesday and rains soaked lower elevations, cutting power to thousands and causing numerous traffic tie-ups and accidents.

A blizzard warning was issued in parts of Arizona on Wednesday, and forecasters warned the system would move into neighboring New Mexico on Thursday. Colorado's mountains could see up to two feet of snow by Friday.

Below is an overview by state.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Winds, cold blast slam California after storm

John Antczak
MSNBC.com
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:30 UTC
Image
© Christopher Chung/Associated Press Safari West staff members Brian Jellison, left, and Cervando Cornejo work on removing a fallen oak tree on Wednesday. The tree crushed a wood-frame canvas tent and killed a visitor at the wildlife park, east of Santa Rosa, on Tuesday evening.
Cold blasts of wind hit California on Wednesday in the trail of a storm that dumped more rain and snow on the soggy state but failed to trigger significant new mudflows.

One person was killed by a falling tree and a snowboarder was missing, power outages were scattered around the state and some roads and highways were closed, but the region escaped widespread problems in the two-day round of foul weather.

Chilly wind gusts of more than 40 mph hit northern Los Angeles County as the low pressure system that brought the storm moved east, and forecasters warned that the night would allow even colder air and higher winds that could down power lines and topple trees rooted in saturated soil.

An expected drop of snow levels to low elevations also posed a threat to highway travel over mountain passes.

Meanwhile, communities east and south of Los Angeles that were hit hard by runoff in a dayslong series of storms last week were able to focus on cleaning up without additional new damage.
Read More...
Igloo

Berlin Sees Most Snow in December Since 1900s


Xinhua
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:29 UTC
German capital Berlin has experienced more snow this month than any other December of past 110 years, as more bitter cold is expected in the country's east, the German Weather Service (DWD) said Tuesday.

Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg have never seen such a thick snow in December for more than a century, as some places received 40 centimeters of snow since Dec. 1, the weather agency said.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

More Rain, Possible Mudslides for Los Angeles, San Diego Areas

Kristina Pydynowski
accuweather.com
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:24 UTC
LA rain chart
© accuweather
Rain spreading over Los Angeles and San Diego today could trigger new mudslides and flooding problems as many residents are still cleaning up from last week's barrage of storms.

The rain will continue to spread from northwest to southeast across Southern California this morning, falling heavily at times.
Read More...
Igloo

Europe's difficult Christmas continues


Euronews
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:55 UTC
Image
© euronews
Awful weather conditions have returned to Poland, with frozen roads and railway lines. More than 20,000 people in Pomerania are without electricity after power lines snapped under the weight of ice.

Several roofs have collapsed under the snow.

Moscow has been hit with freezing rain which has made roads and pavements dangerously slippery.

It has also caused traffic chaos, with 2000 kilometres of traffic jams reported around the capital as people try to go shopping for next weekend's Orthodox Christmas.
Read More...
Igloo

Snow-bound Danish island of Bornholm calls for help


The Danish Wire
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 17:45 UTC
bornholm,snow
© ScanpixFront-end loader clears snow on Bornholm
Copenhagen - Authorities on the Baltic Danish island of Bornholm called for help to clear the roads on Tuesday as some of the island's 43,000 snowed-in inhabitants are running short of fuel and medicine.

"You can't even imagine how bad this is. The roads are closed, and they are digging and digging, and they just can't get through," said Helle Skov Olesen, who lives on the island nestled between Sweden and the northern coasts of Germany and Poland.

"They don't even know where to put the snow," she told daily Politiken.

Denmark's meteorological institute (DMI) measured 140 centimetres (55 inches) of snow on Bornholm, "the equivalent of the amount of snow at various ski resorts," Steen Rasmussen of the institute said.
Read More...
Igloo

US: Massive Winter Storm Could Bring Snow Flurries To Phoenix!

Amber Sullins
ABCNews 15
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 11:01 UTC
Valley residents may be saying goodbye to 2010 with rain and even snow! A massive winter storm will move in Wedneday bringing rain, snow and a huge blast of cold air to Arizona. Snow levels will start out around 5000 feet on Wednesday before dropping to 2000 feet by Thursday after the cold front arrives. That means some spots in the foothills surrounding the Valley could see snow including places like Cave Creek, Carefree and New River. Globe could even pick up as much as 6" of snow.

Up north, Winter Storm Watches are now in effect from 7 a.m. Wednesday through 12 noon Thursday above 5000 feet. Right now, we are expecting anywhere from 8-16" of snow above 6000 feet and about 4-10" from 5000 to 6000 feet. That cold front will be bringing some very strong winds (gusts near 40 mph) to Northern Arizona too. So, blowing/drifting snow will make travel in the high country very difficult Wednesday and Thursday. As our skies clear out late Thursday, temperatures will plummet!

Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Snowstorm from Space: Satellite Image of the US Blizzard


Live Science
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:48 UTC
The great blizzard of December 2010 is winding down today (Dec. 27), and a new satellite image shows the powerful storm from space. On Monday, Dec. 27 at 12:31 p.m. ET, the GOES-13 satellite captured this visible image of the powerful low pressure system that brought a blizzard to the Northeast and snow from Georgia to Maine. Some of the snowfall can be seen over South and North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and southeastern New York. The clouds of the low obscure New England in the image.

Image
© NOAA/NASA GOES Project
The powerful low-pressure system brought blizzard conditions from northern New Jersey to Maine over Christmas weekend. The GOES-13 satellite captured an image of the storm's center off the Massachusetts coast and also shows the snowfall left behind.

As of 1:30 p.m. EST, all blizzard warnings were canceled as the low has pulled much of its snow and rain away from land areas and into the North Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA. Winds behind the system are now causing more problems for residents along the U.S. East coast. Gusts were recorded as high as 80 mph.
Read More...
Saturn

Giant Storm On Saturn


Space Weather
Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:13 UTC
Got a telescope for Christmas? Point it at Saturn. A giant storm even brighter than Saturn's rings is raging through the planet's cloudtops. "I've never seen anything like this," says veteran planetary photographer Anthony Wesley. "It's possible that this is the biggest storm on Saturn in many decades." Here it is recorded by Wesley's 16-inch telescope on Dec. 22nd:

Image
© Anthony Wesley
Instruments on NASA's Cassini spacecraft are picking up strong bursts of radio static. Apparently, lightning is being generated in multiple cells across the storm front. Cassini's cameras are also beaming back fantastic images of the tempest.

"At it's current size and brightness, the storm should be visible to anyone with a mid-size scope under steady seeing," continues Wesley. "This is a great time to be a planetary photographer." [Sky maps: Dec. 29, 30, 31]
Read More...