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Friday, February 15, 2008

Proof in the pudding...Climate and snow.

I have now posted 100 blogs since switching over to this new web site and system in November (it was over 1000 on the old site). I would be remiss if I did not point out the latest Climate Report. I know this will anger a few readers, but I have to point out facts that are being shoved aside. On the map below you can see the National Climate Data Center highlights for the globe for January. Click the map for the full report.
It has been a rough winter in terms of cold and snow for many areas, but the extremes have been in the Middle East (Baghdad had it's first snow in at least 40years), and China (record snow and over 1 million travelers stranded before the Chinese New Year.
In the US- the headline seems a little biased:
"January 2008 - Cooler and Wetter than Average in Western U.S., Warmer in Northeast 31st Warmest Globally"
Deeper in the article it mentions the nation was just below the 20th century average, but focused on the global rank. 31st warmest is much cooler than the heat of the past decade, but that is not mentioned. If anything- Since mid 2007 there has been a pronounced global cooling trend.
Also there has been record snowfall:
Boston: December was .2" below all time record snow.
Great Lakes : Chicago, IL has more than 3x it's monthly snow. Almost 2x their seasonal snow.
Madison, WI have about double their normal snowfall. 80.2" snow compared to a normal of 35".
The Rockies: Vail already has the most snow on record, and there are a few more months to go). Below the global map I have posted the Colorado Ski press release from yesterday. So this winter may not look like much to us (so far), but it has been extreme in most of the nation. I hope to see that in the February Climate Report

Happy VAIL-entine's Day: More Record Snow at Vail, Beaver Creek and Heavenly Sweetens the Pot for Spring Ski Season

  - More than 25 feet of snow season-to-date at Heavenly allows resort to
extend its ski season into May
- Since Dec. 1, Vail has received more snow than any other year in its
history and Beaver Creek has experienced its snowiest December and January
since 1996

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- It's official.
Mother Nature has showered the ski slopes of Vail, Beaver Creek and
Heavenly with love -- up to 25 feet of her love in the form of snowfall
this season which has given skiers a truly sweet "VAIL"-entine's Day
present, the best powder skiing conditions in recent memory.

Skiers and snowboarders at Breckenridge and Keystone are celebrating,
as well, with season-to-date snowfall that's up to 33 percent above average
with Keystone reporting its snowiest January in seven years.

It's not just the quantity of snowfall -- it's also the frequency and
timing of the storms. The snowfall at Heavenly, Vail, Beaver Creek,
Breckenridge and Keystone hit at the perfect time of the season, just
before the December holidays and has continued to fall ever since. At Vail,
it snowed 24 of the 31 days in January, the highest number of January snow
days in seven years.

With the deepest snow that's fallen at Heavenly Mountain Resort in
30-plus years, resort officials decided to extend their season 14 extra
days to Sunday, May 4. Heavenly reported its snowiest January on record
with more than 13 feet in just 31 days.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy 5th anniversary.

But... Dr. Berk, you need to start chiming in on the situation late this week!

I've posed a scenario, and this may be trickiest forecast of the season for all of us. I just have strong memories of all the "I'll stay south of DC" business from February 2003. I just can't resolve why an Arctic High would sink so far south in what is supposed to be a positive NAO at the same time. Any ideas?

Justin Berk, AMS CBM said...

Its funny, at first I thought you were referring to my 5 years at ABC2. It was two days before the monster storm hit, that I had put in my notice at WBAL, and they made me sit home during the storm.

I was taking the weekend off, and hoping that a fresh look on Monday would: Show how this storm would behave, establish the cold air to follow, and set up the track for Thursday's event. That darm GFS looked impressive for this storm- 5 days ago. I can't bite on it yet.