Earmuffs Optional
Unless you're a wayward snowbird, ready &
willing to hop the next flight south, chances are you've developed
defensive maneuvers, COPING SKILLS, when the coldest winds of winter
howl into town.
Although it makes me look like Princess Leia (on
a very bad day) earmuffs work wonders. When your ears, neck & toes
are toasty - you're a step ahead. Undershirts, wearing socks to bed, and
remote car starters are all a Godsend when the mercury flirts with
zero.
Welcome to The Tundra: highs near 10 F. today,
but a brief thaw is still expected midweek. Next weekend looks tolerable
(20s), maybe a couple inches of snow late Sunday as Nanook air drills
south of the border. A week from today we'll be feeling the burn again, a
couple degrees colder than today, but not even close to record-setting.
Long range guidance shows the brunt of bitter
air pouring into the Great Lakes and New England within 1-2 weeks,
grazing Minnesota with a couple nights below zero. This may be the worst
of it. Then again I am a naive optimist.
My blog includes freeze warnings for Phoenix (we
feel their pain huh?) and mounting evidence that dry weather (low dew
points) may be a factor in the spread of the flu.
Why Most People Are Scared Of Minnesota. Today
should be the coldest day of the week, highs near 10 (but the sun should
be out, thank God). We warm up into the low 30s Wednesday morning
before another wave of Canadian air pushes south, but next weekend looks
reasonable/tolerable, with highs in the 20s, pretty close to average
for mid-January. A coating of snow is possible Wednesday into Friday; a
stronger clipper marking the leading edge of what
may be the coldest air of winter setting off a couple inches late Sunday? Stay tuned. ECMWF highs above in Celsius.
Snowfall By Midday Friday. A series of clippers may
drop a few inches of new snow on northern and northeastern Minnesota and
northern Wisconsin this week; maybe an inch for the north metro.
January Golf. My father sent me this photo from Bent
Creek Golf Course in beautiful Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
yesterday. Golf on January 13? Check out how green the greens were.
Highs were stuck near 50, with 60s just south over Maryland and
Washington D.C. Big changes on the way later this week though. Thanks
Dad.
Windchill In Los Angeles. We certainly feel their pain, don't we? Cue the crickets. The
NWS map
above shows observed daytime highs yesterday in the L.A. basin, mostly
mid-50s, but 20s and 30s in the mountains north and east of the metro
area. All those partially-frostbitten actors and actresses. Tragic.
Freeze Warnings For Phoenix. The Germans have a word for this: "
schadenfreude".
Many of us have friends and family in Arizona. Hmm. I realize the
weather drifting over our heads is no treat, but today might be a great
day to call, text, tweet or e-mail that special someone in Scottsdale -
the one who's always bragging about how great the weather is down there.
Do it.
Looks Like Winter. "Grandpa Wally" snapped this photo up in Crosby, North Dakota, where nearly a foot of wind-whipped snow fell Friday.
Snowy Work Of Art. Matt Dux, down
at the Kansas City, Missouri office of the National Weather Service,
captured this remarkable photo of snowflake over the weekend. Nicely
done.
Sun Pillar. Thanks to WeatherNation TV meteorologist Todd Nelson who captured this shot of a "
sun pillar" near his home in St. Michael.
Climate Stories...
China, Mexico Leading Fight On Climate Change With New CO2 Laws.
Bloomberg News has the story; here's an excerpt: "
China, Mexico and other emerging economies are leading the fight against climate change by passing laws to cut carbon and raise energy efficiency,
the Globe International alliance of lawmakers said today. A study of
energy and climate laws in 33 economies showed 18 made “significant”
progress in 2012, Globe said today in an e-mailed statement. The
alliance, which brings together lawmakers from 70 nations, is meeting in
London
today and tomorrow to discuss ways in which governments can contribute
to the international effort to contain global warming. “This is a
game-changing development, driven by emerging economies,” said John
Gummer, president of the group and a member of the U.K. upper chamber
known as the House of Lords. “The tide is beginning to turn decisively
on tackling climate change...”
Let's Do The Right Thing By Our Kids And Our Planet. Here's a portion of an Op-Ed at
The Australian: "
ATTEMPTS
to link the frequency of extreme weather events such as this week's
catastrophic bushfire conditions with climate change are usually
greeted with derision. But this time it's highly reputable scientists
who are making the link. We should take notice. Pointing out this week
that Australia's heatwave is unprecedented since records have been
kept, the Bureau of Meteorology has concluded that the climate system
is responding to a background warming trend. It says it doesn't make
sense to try to disentangle it from climate change. The US has just
experienced its hottest year on record, with NASA concluding that
"there is virtually no explanation other than climate change" for the
extreme hot weather of America's recent past..."
Heatwave Exacerbated By Climate Change: Climate Commission. More fallout from historic levels of heat in Australia this month. Here's an excerpt of a story from
ABC Radio Australia: "
A
new report from the Federal Government's Climate Commission says the
heatwave and bushfires that have affected Australia this week have been
exacerbated by global warming. The report - Off the Charts: Extreme Australian Summer Heat
- warns of more extreme bushfires and hotter, longer, bigger and more
frequent heatwaves, due to climate change. It says the number of record
heat days across Australia has doubled since 1960 and more temperature
records are likely to be broken as hot conditions continue this
summer..."
Photo credit above: "
In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided
by the Holmes family, Tammy Holmes, second from left, and her
grandchildren, two-year-old Charlotte Walker, left, four-year-old
Esther Walker, third from left, nine-year-old Liam Walker,
eleven-year-old Matilda, second from right, and six-year-old Caleb
Walker, right, take refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages near-by
in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart,
Australia. The family credits God with their survival from the fire
that destroyed around 90 homes in Dunalley. Record temperatures across
southern Australia cooled Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, reducing the danger
from scores of raging wildfires but likely bringing only a brief
reprieve from the summer’s extreme heat and fire risk." (AP Photo/Holmes Family, Tim Holmes)
