Weather

[cx]

Originally Posted by Jim

No NW passage likely as at the time, the sea levels were much lower because a bunch of the water was locked up in ice...

Well, if I understand your comment, Jim, that was my point. If there's a lot of ice melting, and the sea levels are rising, there might be a Northwest Passage now, or soon to come?

As for alla beavers, seems time for our Alaskan brethren to rekindle the old art of beaver trapping! Lady's fashion designers could get back into real furs, non?

Meanwhile, in south central Texas it's 71 degrees and cloudy. Never seen higher than about 85 degrees this time of year, I don't think, but that was 30 years ago. 'Course, I've also seen 5 degrees as a low on Christmas eve back then.

[jadnashua]

What I was thinking was the land bridge that (we think) allowed people to migrate into North and South America from Asia...

People have been able to cruise across the Arctic for the past couple of years, and there's planning to consider using it for cargo transport for at least part of the year. Ice breakers are able to keep the passage open for quite a time, and saving the costs of going either through the Panama canal or around the tip of South America could make that worth building cargo ships with a reinforced hull to handle some occasional ice.

As to trapping beaver, I'll leave that discussion to others. I'm sure some of that is happening now, but we're a long ways from what it was centuries ago where the fashion peaked with its use.

[cx]

Speaking of warming, Jim, how much snow you got in your yard? Understand there's a bit of winter wonderland up there just now.

Got 'lectricity?

[smifwal]

This is our 10 day forecast, some North Dakota type nonsense for a few days. I made a vow to not turn the furnace on this year and only use the buck stove but with these temperatures I may have to rethink that idea. Kinda like the vow to never drink again as the room is spinning and you are staring at the toilet. But the next weekend you are doing the same thing hahaha

[jadnashua]

Weather and climate are related, but not the same thing! Climate change seems to indicate more variability, but if you look at the record highs noted around the world versus the record lows, in the last 20-30 years, we've had an increasingly greater number of record highs noted than record lows. Warmer air also holds more moisture, so more precipitation can be expected, and we've seen that, but where it happens has tended to shift, and become more common, so that 100-year record now seems to be happening much more often, exposing people to more violent weather.

[cx]

Mmmmm, Jim? The question was, do y'all got snow?!

C'mon, Shawn, you live in Kansas City, man. You should be happy whenever the temperature is above 0 degrees inna winter time. And your forecast there doesn't show the wind, which I'm sure ain't likely to be calm. More miserable place than Ft. Worth, in my experience. Last time I was there (KC) in the winter it was -17 degrees and the wind was blowing about 30mph from the north. Your forecast looks positively balmy!

[jadnashua]

In the last storm, all I got was lots of rain...30-miles away, they got 21" of snow, about right when you take the average amount of snow versus rain. While it's going to be cold, it appears that the next storm may pass me by as well but the ski areas up north are all ready for the holiday season, as between the natural snow and being cold enough, they could make snow as well.

[cx]

That's interesting. I've passed through your fair state a number of times, and spent a few days up north in the Dixville Notch area, but not in the winter. Have spent time west of you, snomobiling in the Lake George area of New York in the winter, and they certainly had no shortage of snow. But there are some hills between you and that area, I think?

Hope your rain turns into snow.

[jadnashua]

Mountains in the New England area and upstate NY some out west would consider hills...but, yes, there are some 'mountains' west of me. Given that the air temperature typically drops as the elevation goes up, it doesn't always take much of a change to determine the rain/snow line. The taller mountains are further north, though. Peterborough is about 600' higher than my place, and there's higher hills around it as it sits in a valley. The adiabatic lapse rate varies by the humidity levels, but typically ranges somewhere between 2.5-5.5 degrees/thousand feet. It doesn't take much to switch between rain and snow.

It's supposed to get cold here by the weekend, but most of the precipitation will have passed by, so no snow for Christmas. Rain predicted on Friday, with a high of 57, then dropping about 25-30 degrees after the front passes and things dry out.

[Mathman]

Mountains block moisture in the air because of the cooler temperatures as you increase altitude. The air can no longer hold moisture at the lower temperatures as it rises over the mountians so the leeward side of the mountain is usually much drier.

[jadnashua]

Mountains block moisture in the air because of the cooler temperatures as you increase altitude. The air can no longer hold moisture at the lower temperatures as it rises over the mountians so the leeward side of the mountain is usually much drier.

Yes, but as the air cools going up, it typically dumps all of that moisture. You've seen the recent reports of lake effect snow, especially around Buffalo. What's often worse, though, is the area at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The wind comes across that lake, because it's so deep, rarely freezes over in the winter, then hits the Tug Hill Plateau, and really dumps snow...often more than Buffalo. Actually, where I grew up near Rochester, NY, that city regularly gets more snow than Buffalo. I was far enough south of the lake that it was often sunny, but if you looked north, it could be really dark skies, and if you drove sometimes even just a mile or two, it could be snowing hard while sunny where I lived. You get used to it...it all depended on the wind direction and speed. Right on the lake, if the wind was from the north, it might snow a little every day.

Anyway, as things warm up, the air can hold more moisture, so things can become worse.

The storm this week is predicted to slow a little bit, so it will still be raining as the temperature drops we might get a little snow overnight, but right now, it just looks like windy and wet, then just cold and windy. We don't often see strong easterly winds, but those can cause ocean effect snow.

[cx]

"Storm" forecast in my area calls for 13 degrees and 20 mph winds from the NW. No precip. And it ain't gotta cross no steenkin' mountains to get here! Kinda like bein' in Kansas, eh?

[Davy]

I bout as well move up to yankee land. 12 degrees now with a crazy strong north wind. This ain't right.

[cx]

19 here, Davy. Same wind. Lookin' for 13 by morning. Was still well above 50 about three o'clock this afternoon. Front came and temperature dropped like a Simonized rock. Unpleasant, to say the least.

And you're right. This should only happen to Yankees!

[Edit]

Originally Posted by WX Service Forecast Late Tonight

Clear skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 12F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

It just keeps gettin' better!

[Tool Guy - Kg]

I might have to put on a coat if it drops too much more. It’s -6°F at the mo.