the wrath of Manbearpig
Posted on 02/14/2007 10:28:44 AM PST by rface
The Arctic pattern is likely to relax next week, but even average cold would keep us within striking distance of a record cold month.......A reloading of the Arctic air mass could seal the record cold February.....
For the second consecutive Tuesday, I am writing a column for Wednesday's newspaper as a potential winter storm is approaching Southwest Virginia.
And just as with last week's Alberta clipper snowfall, I don't know what the final result will be as I write this. Look out your window and find out. There will probably be many different outcomes at different locations within our circulation area.
So I will write about another topic, but something related to the chilly weather we've been having of late.
It might surprise you that this run of cold has a chance of being something historic.
Through Monday, Roanoke's average temperature for February was 29.2 degrees.
If the month had ended Monday, this would be the coldest February on record at Roanoke, edging out the only other two Februarys with an average temperature below 30 degrees -- February 1978 (29.5 degrees) and February 1979 ( 29.3 degrees).
Many of our coldest month records date to the late 1970s, one of the coldest periods on record nationally, especially in the East.
All but one of the first 12 days of this month have averaged below normal in temperature. Monday was the first day we reached 50 this month, but even it averaged a degree below normal with a low of 24. Normals this time of year are in the upper 40s for highs and upper 20s for lows.
Feb. 5, with a high of 25 and a low of 12, has been our coldest day this winter, averaging 18 degrees below normal. Feb. 6 had a lower minimum temperature, 10, before climbing to 35 to raise that day's average temperature a bit above that of the preceding day.
Compare Feb. 5 to Jan. 14, when the high was 72 and the low was 54, averaging 28 degrees above normal. What a study in contrasts!
We're nearly halfway through the month on a pace to challenge the record for coldest February. And the upcoming weather pattern might give that record a chance of coming to fruition.
The storm system moving through now will whip northwest winds on us the next few days, bringing a new blast of Arctic air. This will last into the weekend, with some nights of very low temperatures and days with highs struggling to reach the 30s.
So we will be nearly two-thirds through the month by early next week with temperatures quite likely still averaging below 30 for the month. The Arctic pattern is likely to relax next week, but even average cold would keep us within striking distance of a record cold month.
It would then come down to the last week of February. A more moderate cold pattern would probably keep this February within the coldest five or so on record, while a warming would lift the averages away from record territory.
But as of yet, this extreme cold snap has had little snow to show for it outside of last week's quick thump. The repeated Arctic air masses have crushed storm systems trying to move through them.
This week's storm found a gap between Arctic air masses, taking most of the snow well north of us and putting us on the fence between rain and freezing rain.
And once again, I'll defer to your observations about which side of the fence that fell on at your house.
This is due to global warming. It's Bush's fault.
We haven't had much snow in the Twin Cities this year.
It's been physically TOO COLD to snow, most days.
Beat me to it!
the wrath of Manbearpig
What a dumb statement. Comparing two weeks worth of numbers versus every other year's FOUR weeks, and saying there's a trend is just stoopid.
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Geez - first global warming, now global cooling. Make up your mind please!
global warming is so yesterday..it's now global climate change so they can account for the record cold, record heat, too many hurricanes, too few hurricanes, no hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, male pattern baldness, michael vick staying out of trouble, low tides, high tides, melting ice, growing ice and a host of other problems..
algore was in town?
Not to mention the leap year days. Those just throw everything out the window!
The East Coast was warm in December, and all we heard about was Global Warming. The East Coast is cold in early February, and now we hear about historic cold. I sense a pattern here, and it isn't Global Warming.
Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" may have come out at an "inconvenient time." It's hard to sell "global warming" during times of record cold. I note that the "global warming" alarmists are now talking about "climate change," rather than "global warming," maybe because there's not a lot of "warming" going on. Bunch of BS.
Dis vill not stop ze varming Nazi's.
We received 5 inches of sleet and then freezing rain on top of that in western Loudoun county. Winds are starting which means electricity out here will be short lived.
Dogs and cats, living together!
To wit: The melting polar ice caps have had huge chunks of ice broken off which have then floated south where they have lowered the temperatures and created colder than normal winters.
Still no word on the warming of the polar caps on Mars - but they HAVE to be working on something just as screwy for an explanation.
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