Scientists say that the El Nino effect is under way in the tropical Pacific.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology says a “substantial” El Nino event could take place before the end of the year. Forecasters say that the El Nino is in early stages but the potential for extreme weather is real.
U.S. scientists initially said that El Nino had arrived but characterized it as “weak.” Australian officials countered their U.S. colleagues’ claims.
“This is a proper El Nino effect, it’s not a weak one,” David Jones, manager of climate monitoring and prediction at the Bureau of Meteorology, told reporters. He said that El Nino could bring much lower than normal rainfall and enhance the country’s drought conditions.
“You know, there’s always a little bit of doubt when it comes to intensity forecasts, but across the models as a whole we’d suggest that this will be quite a substantial El Nino event.”
After the Australian model was released, U.S. forecasters on Thursday revised their statements and said that El Nino could bring much needed rain to California.
“We’ve seen continued evolution toward a stronger event,” NOAA official Mike Halpert told TIME. “Last month we were calling it weak, now we’re calling it borderline weak to moderate.”
“Stronger El Niños interrupt tropical rainfalls. That rain fall shifts and Indonesia and Austrailia become drier than average,” explained Halpert. “They’re not looking forward to El Niño shutting the tap off.”
Meteorologists say that February 2015 could end up as one of the coldest months in Detroit history with an average temperature of just over 13 degrees.
“I’m doing some calculations but I think we are on track here to have the coldest month ever in Detroit, the way things are looking,” said AccuWeather’s Dean DeVore. “And it’s going to be brutally cold here today.”
“It’s like an open spigot from like Barrow, Alaska down to the Great Lakes. Meantime, they can’t buy a drop of rain on the west coast for the past month or so,” AccuWeather’s Dave Bowers added. “It’s been wicked. It really is quite a contrast. The western half of the country is having an extremely warm winter, and here it really is more like the Northwest Territories in our backyard.
“We’re running about almost 12 degrees below normal his month.”
Other cities across the U.S. have been setting records for cold temperatures. Cleveland fell to -5 on Monday breaking a record set in 1873 and the first time since 1889 it was below zero on February 23rd. The temperature hit -17 on Friday, shattering the previous low and was just 3 degrees short of the all time record for low temperature in the city.
Ann Arbor, Michigan hit -7 on Monday which broke the previous record for the date set in 1900.
Scientists across the Pacific Northwest are investigating a rain that left a residue on cars in two states.
The “milky rain” fell on both Oregon and Washington states, leaving a powdery resident on vehicles and buildings. Samples have been collected by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Benton Clean Air Agency in an attempt to discover what was in the rain.
So far the scientists have competing theories. One is that a volcanic eruption in Japan has resulted in volcanic ash mixing with clouds to create the rain. The other is that dust from central Oregon somehow mixed with a storm.
The National Weather Service has taken a mostly impartial view, stating dust storms were the likely cause but it could not rule out volcanic ash. The NWS says they do not have the equipment necessary to analyze the rain and discover its origin.
Robin Priddy of Benton Clean Air says that air monitoring stations detected nothing during the rain but that they don’t feel it poses a health risk.
“We don’t have any reason to think there’s anything wrong, but there’s no reason not to be cautious if you’re concerned,” she added. “You may want to wash it off your car with water, rather than with your hands, and avoid touching it and breathing it in.”
Hawaii residents dodged one bullet when Hurricane Iselle weakened before making landfall Friday.
Tropical Storm Iselle was still the first named storm to strike the islands in 22 years.
The storm game ashore around 2:30 a.m. local time just outside of Pahala. The storm carried sustained winds of 60 m.p.h. No deaths or major injuries have been reported so far.
Officials say that heavy rain has been falling on the island of Oahu that has been causing localized flooding. Roadways have been impassible and residents have been told to avoid traveling. Downed trees have blocked the H-1 freeway.
Power is out to large parts of the islands. Officials confirmed at least 21,000 homes are in the dark and the total is likely to climb as the storm continues.
Hurricane Julio, which has strengthened to a Category 3 storm, is now tracking to move just north of the islands but could still bring heavy rain from the outer bands to the areas currently being hit by Iselle.
The polar vortex is back…but many Americans are happy to see it arrive this time.
The vortex is bringing cool summer temperatures into the Midwest and south that remind many residents of early September rather than the middle of June. In some areas, record low temperatures are being set and the daily highs are the lowest in history.
Mobile, Alabama, on the Gulf of Mexico, reported a low temperature of 64 degrees Thursday morning, breaking a 128-year-old temperature record. Huntsville, Alabama tied a record low of 59 degrees set in 1945.
Nashville, Tennessee tied a record set in 1886 of 57 degrees. Other cities setting temperature low records included Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska.
Forecasters say the cool air from the vortex is going to expand eastward through the rest of the week and into the weekend, bringing down temperatures from Michigan to southern Louisiana.
The temperature shifts have also caused unusual weather incidents. Waterspouts formed over Lake Erie on Sunday and meteorologists say the other Great Lakes are at risk for waterspouts because of warmer waters mixing with colder air.
A series of severe storms swept through Colorado Sunday spawning a series of tornadoes.
One person was injured when a tornado touched down at country club in Aurora, Colorado that was hosting a junior golf tournament. Officials say the injured man is the father of a tournament competitor who suffered a broken wrist when winds from the storm blew over his golf cart.
Police say it was a miracle no one was seriously hurt because 97 young competitors and their parents were on the course when the tornado struck.
Park County spokeswoman Linda Balough told USA Today that a funnel cloud struck the community of Fairplay about 65 miles southwest of Denver damaging a home’s roof.
“This is amazingly unusual at 10,000 feet,” Balough said. “Very unusual for it to happen up here.”
An RV park about 40 miles from Fairplay was heavily damaged by another twister but no one was injured.
New England is in the path of a major snowstorm that will begin Thursday and continue into the weekend.
Two storm cells are merging in the mid-Atlantic region and moving up the Eastern seaboard. Blizzard like conditions are likely from New York through Boston and into Maine.
Officials say it won’t be one of the worst storms to hit the area but the frigid temperatures combined with the snow will make traveling through the area very hazardous. Residents are being warned that long-term power outages are a possibility from the heavy snow and high winds.
The storm is also expected to cause major headaches for travelers who are returning from Christmas and New Years vacations.
Transportation officials are warning that layers of ice are likely to form on highways after nightfall and are advising people to stay in through Friday if possible.
An epic winter blast has brought temperatures in parts of Canada below temperatures on an uninhabited planet.
The Mars Curiosity Rover reported a high temperature on Mars Tuesday of -20 degrees. The city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada did not reach a high of -20 degrees until after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The temperature in the city was so cold throughout most of the day that exposed skin can freeze in less than five minutes.
Meteorologists in the province said that wind chills in the northern parts of the province made it feel around -50 degrees throughout the day Tuesday.
Surprisingly, the Mars-matching temperature was not the record for coldest day in Canadian history. The historical mark for December 30th is -36 degrees.
The Lord woke me up again with Revelation 18 – it startled me! He said we were close to this time. We’re in a very eventful time right now. We’re in the “coming of the Lord” time. I believe the antichrist is on earth. I know this, the antichrist spirit is in the world. I believe the antichrist spirit is consuming the United States of America.
The weather has gone wild. The Lord has been dealing with me and I’ve said it for several years now; the storms are going to be out of control. They’re going to be more out of control. In the United States of America, they broke 1,000 records for temperatures last week! Is that “cold, cold, cold?’
In the last week, the temperature here has gone from 60 degrees to zero! All of these things are bringing about a warning. Rick Joyner warns that when you see strange and extreme weather (record breaking highs, lows, floods, droughts, tornadoes, storms), it is a prophetic sign that something is about to explode on the scene; the Revelation Days are upon us.
Old people can say, “there’s a storm coming”…but it’s physical and it’s spiritual (what we are feeling right now.) The Bible says the earth will groan (Romans 8:22) Continue reading →
A major winter storm caused horrible weather conditions from Texas through the East Coast over the weekend.
Parts of Texas remain without power and hundreds of thousands from Texas to Ohio were without power as a result of a massive winter storm that brought up to 2 inches of ice in some locations.
Northern parts of the U.S. were receiving heavy blankets of snow resulting in airport closures and fight delays. However, airports in the south were not immune from the problems, as many flights from Dallas, Oklahoma City and Little Rock had to be cancelled because of ice and cold temperatures.
The ice coating in Texas reached levels that were not expected by government officials. Some parts of Interstate 35 had to be scraped by a grader with blades to break up the thick ice.
The storm rolled into the East Coast Sunday evening with one Virginia Emergency Management official saying the storm could bring a “historic ice event” to the state.
Forecasters say that warmer temperatures are coming in the next few days but that ice will likely coat the entire Midwest for the next few days.
