Weird winter weather: Want snow? Head south

[Ought Six]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...now-head-south

[Jackpine Savage]

45 degrees here in central Minnesota today. No snow on the ground. I went out and did some shooting, it was great!

[dyrt]

That was a fairly small area of snow in West Texas yesterday. My clan out there reported almost 12 inches of snow by the time it ended early this morning. Today the temperature warmed to about 50 F so it melted about as fast it fell. Tomorrow will see 70 F temps. This roller coaster weather is not unusual but it normally happens in early spring, not January. Anyway, we welcome the moisture.

[Sonny]

Nome Alaska got Iced-in this year before their needed diesel, fuel oil and gasoline could be delivered.

A Russian tanker the Renda with 1.3 million gallons , and the US Coastguard icebreaker the 'Healy. the US's only functional icebreaker, have been trying for some time now to deliver the life sustaining fuel.. BUT, they may not make it. They only made 50 feet yesterday but still have about 100 miles yet to go..

A Russian tanker's historic effort to deliver fuel to Nome has slowed to a crawl.


A day after traveling more than 50 miles through thick ice, Monday, the 370-foot Renda was stopped in its tracks, advancing only about 50 feet Tuesday. The Renda and its escort, the U.S. Coast Guard’s ice-breaking cutter Healy, remain about 100 miles from their destination, the ice-locked town of Nome, which is awaiting about 1.3 million gallons of fuel.


“A tough day for all,” said Capt. Carter Whalen, president of Alaska Marine Pilots said in an email Tuesday afternoon. “Tough sledding. Healy is trying to free Renda right now from an ice ridge.”

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/articl...ume-crawl-nome

[Sonny]

Heavy rains, snows, and season's first tornadoes hit Texas
By Dr. Jeff Masters
9:41 AM EST on January 10, 2012
The nation's first major winter storm rumbled through Texas yesterday, bringing much appreciated heavy rains. The storm set also spawned the year's first two tornadoes, and brought record-setting heavy snows to West Texa... Continue Reading


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Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Remarkably dry and warm winter due to record extreme jet stream configuration
Posted by: JeffMasters, 4:06 PM GMT on January 06, 2012

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Jef...?entrynum=2010

Flowers are sprouting in January in New Hampshire, the Sierra Mountains in California are nearly snow-free, and lakes in much of Michigan still have not frozen. It's 2012, and the new year is ringing in another ridiculously wacky winter for the U.S. In Fargo, North Dakota yesterday, the mercury soared to 55°F, breaking a 1908 record for warmest January day in recorded history. More than 99% of North Dakota had no snow on the ground this morning, and over 95% of the country that normally has snow at this time of year had below-average snow cover. High temperatures in Nebraska yesterday were in the 60s, more than 30° above average. Storm activity has been almost nil over the past week over the entire U.S., with the jet stream bottled up far to the north in Canada. It has been remarkable to look at the radar display day after day and see virtually no echoes, and it is very likely that this has been the driest first week of January in U.S. recorded history. Portions of northern New England, the Upper Midwest, and the mountains of the Western U.S. that are normally under a foot of more of snow by now have no snow, or just a dusting of less than an inch. Approximately half of the U.S. had temperatures at least 5°F above average during the month of December, with portions of North Dakota and Minnesota seeing temperatures 9°F above average. The strangely warm and dry start to winter is not limited to the U.S--all of continental Europe experienced well above-average temperatures during December.

Figure 1. Flowers sprouting on January 1, 2012 in Keene, New Hampshire, thanks to unusually warm December temperatures and lack of snow.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Jef...?entrynum=2010

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Nome Alaska got Iced-in this year before their needed diesel, fuel oil and gasoline could be delivered.

A Russian tanker the Renda with 1.3 million gallons , and the US Coastguard icebreaker the 'Healy. the US's only functional icebreaker, have been trying for some time now to deliver the life sustaining fuel.. BUT, they may not make it. They only made 50 feet yesterday but still have about 100 miles yet to go..

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/articl...ume-crawl-nome

No way! There is no ice in the Arctic. Al Gore told me so.