Ah, for the days of Snowmageddon and Snowpocalypse back in 2010 and 2011. So far, 2012 is turning out to be a dud as far as getting a snow day or two off from work or school. Even though the Pacific Northwest in the US just got a major snowstorm, on the whole the US isn’t seeing much snowfall this winter. Why such a difference in just one year? In this ScienceCast, JPL climatologist Bill Patzert explains what’s going on.
9 Replies to “Desperately Seeking a Snow Day: Why So Little Snow in 2012?”
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In the winter 2010/11, which was very cold here, I had to pay a lot of money for heating, but luckily this winter 2011/12 is much warmer, saving me money. And I don’t have to get up much earlier in the morning in order to work like a farm horse.
Not just in the US: The UK (from my anecdotal experience) also seemed completely devoid of snow this winter and in fact even morning frosts were so rare as to be counted on one hand!
Anyway we could get Santa Ana winds in the Midwest? As a Malibu expatriate, I miss the days 85 degree winters.
Well here in Saskatchewan Canada we’ve had our 2nd “brown Christmas” in my 53 years with temps above freezing. We got 7 inches of snow last week with temps going down to the low minus 30Cs and next week we are to go up to around 0C.
2 weeks ago it was warmer up here than it was in Tampa Florida
The past 2 winters i experienced in Germany were snowy, starting in Nov. 2011 however, has been very mild, void of snow and windy…
In earth history ocean levels have gone up by as much as 100 meters within days or weeks… I wonder which warning we have to look for?
“ocean levels … 100 meters within days or weeks”? I accept as true, that temperatures are rising cum grano salis. But unfounded, ridiculous, and alarmistic warnings like the above don’t help at all.
The global temperature rise is unequivocal. Even the climate science denialists use to accept that today, which makes the trolls on the other climate thread so funny.
As for sea level rises, cut off an order of magnitude and we are talking tides or tsunamis. Natural short term sea level rise peaks at ~ 2-5 m/century under ice melting at the beginning of interglacials, but makes those ~ 100 m variations. And here we are talking more rapid warming.
Summary:
“Sea level changes are either a response to changing ocean volume or to changes in the volume of water contained in the ocean. The timing of sea level change ranges from tens of thousands of years to over 100 million years. Magnitudes also vary significantly but may have been as great as 200m or more. Estimates of sea level change currently suffer from significant ranges of uncertainty, both in magnitude and in timing. However, scientists are converging on consistent estimates of sea level changes by using very different data and analytical approaches.”
I agree with everything you say, except perhaps this: “sea level” does not mean tides or tsunamis. And I hope you see that I focused on (a) “within days or weeks” (these are “those ~ 100 m variations” in the comment above), which is not supported by facts from earth history, and (b) such claims being counterproductive, if someone really wants to convince others.
Well here in India we’re just emerging from an unusual Cold wave. There’s been snow in some places that haven’t seen snow for 40 years.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-21/india/30650484_1_cold-wave-moderate-snowfall-ladakh-region
And the whole of North India is under unusually cold conditions. According to the article below it’s because of the La Nina effect. Perhaps the weather west of the America’s turns pleasant during a La Nina ?
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-20/india/30646527_1_la-nina-monsoon-rains-surface-temperatures