Historic Snow Event In South America

In Bahia Blanca, a coastal city in the Southern part of the Buenos Aires, the snow storm is heavy and local authorities describe it as the worst snow event in 50 years. Roads are already blocked by snow and ice in the regional. TN news channel reports some areas of the Sierra de La Ventana could pick up even 3 feet of snow, unimaginable to the region.

From Watts Up With That:

Early this Wednesday afternoon, satellite pictures were showing a band of clouds advancing to the North and snow precipitation could no be ruled out in the capital Buenos Aires. In July 9th and 10th 2007 it snowed in the city of Buenos Aires for the first time in 89 years and it could snow again just two years later. Snow was also reported in the capital of Chile Santiago. MetSul Weather Center is not ruling out snow also in Uruguay.

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Mysterious, Glowing Clouds Appear Across America’s Night Skies

From Wired Science:

Mysterious, glowing clouds previously seen almost exclusively in Earth’s polar regions have appeared in the skies over the United States and Europe over the past several days.

Photographers and other sky watchers in Omaha, Paris, Seattle, and other locations have run outside to capture images of what scientists call noctilucent (”night shining”) clouds. Formed by ice literally at the boundary where the earth’s atmosphere meets space 50 miles up, they shine because they are so high, they are lit by the sun longer than the Earth’s surface.

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PICTURES: New Cloud Type Discovered?

From National Geographic:

An "asperatus" cloud rolls over New Zealand's South Island in an undated picture.

This apparently new class of clouds is still a mystery. But experts suspect asperatus clouds' choppy undersides may be due to strong winds disturbing previously stable layers of warm and cold air.

Asperatus clouds may spur the first new classification in the World Meteorological Organization's International Cloud Atlas since the 1950s, Gavin Pretor-Pinney said.

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NOAA Sees Average 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season

From Yahoo News/Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season will be fairly average with as many as seven hurricanes expected to form, U.S. government forecasters predicted on Thursday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast nine to 14 named storms this season, with four to seven developing into hurricanes. One to three could be major ones of Category 3 or higher with winds above 110 miles per hour (177 km per hour), the agency said in its annual forecast.

Last year was one of the most active seasons on record, with 16 tropical storms and eight hurricanes.

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Edmonton Canada Bests All Time Record Low By -12 Degrees, Columnist Questions Climate Situation

From Watts Up With That?

UPDATE: The author’s (Lorne Gunter) claim of breaking a record by -12 degrees is only partially correct. The phrase “smashing the previous March low” should have read “smashing the previous March 10th low”

The previous March record Tmin occurred in 2003 and was -42.2°C details here (Thanks to reader K Stricker for the link) - Anthony

So why are eco types moaning about record highs while ignoring record lows?

By Lorne Gunter, The Edmonton Journal

So far this month, at least 14 major weather stations in Alberta have recorded their lowest-ever March temperatures. I’m not talking about daily records; I mean they’ve recorded the lowest temperatures they’ve ever seen in the entire month of March since temperatures began being recorded in Alberta in the 1880s.

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My Comment: I live north of Montreal in the Laurentians. The winters for the past 3-4 years have been very hard, and while we have not broken any records, it has been very very cold. Even the summers have been below normal temperatures. So .... while other parts of the world are experiencing "global warming", this definitely has not been the case here.

Why People Don't Heed Tornado Warnings

A house damaged by a tornado that swept through Montgomery Country, Ala. on Feb. 5, 2008, part of the "Super Tuesday" tornado outbreak. Credit: National Weather Service

From Live Science:

When weather alarms go off and tornado sirens begin their baleful wail, some people run for shelter, while others try to ride out the storm. A new report from the National Weather Service sheds light on the reasons why some people don't heed the warnings.

The report focuses on the "Super Tuesday" winter tornado outbreak of Feb. 5-6, 2008, so named because of the presidential primaries held on that Tuesday. During the outbreak, 82 tornadoes tore through nine states across the South, killing 57 people, injuring 350 others and causing $400 million in property damage.

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Bad Weather in 2008, At A Glance

(Click The Above Image To Enlarge)

The National Climatic Data Center has a huge graphic that summarizes the big weather moments on the planet last year.

'Death Map' Shows Heat A Big Hazard To Americans

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Heat is more likely to kill an American than an earthquake, and thunderstorms kill more people than hurricanes do, according to a U.S. "death map" published on Tuesday.

Researchers who compiled the county-by-county look at what natural disasters kill Americans said they hope their study will help emergency preparedness officials plan better.

Heat and drought caused 19.6 percent of total deaths from natural hazards, with summer thunderstorms causing 18.8 percent and winter weather causing 18.1 percent, the team at the University of South Carolina found.

Earthquakes, wildfires and hurricanes combined were responsible for fewer than 5 percent of all hazard deaths.

Writing in BioMed Central's International Journal of Health Geographics, they said they hoped to dispel some myths about what the biggest threats to life and limb are.

"According to our results, the answer is heat," Susan Cutter and Kevin Borden of the University of South Carolina wrote in their report, which gathered data from 1970 to 2004.

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Early Snowfalls In Europe Hit Historic Levels

From Watts Up With That?:

Early snowfalls in Europe hit Historic Levels
Posted Wednesday 3rd December 2008, 2:15 pm by Dunx

* 20 year record snowfall in Dolomites enough to last all season
* Some Swiss train services cancelled due to excess snow
* Still more heavy snow in the Pyrenees
* More snow for Scotland

www.Skiinfo.com is following still more heavy snowfalls across Europe over the past 48 hours, with much more snow in other parts of Europe and many areas of North America too.

The snowfall has been so great that it has closed roads, brought down power lines and even led to the cancellation of some Swiss rail services this week.

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Temps In Most Areas Of Country Below Average In '08