too much snow

[n5wd]

Argh! Once again, winter came to North Texas and paralyzes the region! It started snowing about 3am Thursday morning on the Fort Worth side of the metromess... it slowly ventured eastward till getting into Dallas about drive-time.

By the time it quit some time this morning (Friday) we had about 18 inches of fresh snow at our house -- the official count was something like 14 inches. Snapped power lines all over the place - we lost power last night about 9pm and finally got back electricity about 6pm today... cable (internet) came back a bit after that. Thank goodness for natural gas heaters. We'll try and cut up the large (about 9") limb from the tree that fell onto my Ford Freestyle tomorrow when more of the snow melts and we can can get to the ladders out back in the tool shed. At least the small limbs that fell onto the power line drop weren't big enough to do any damage - just brought the cables down to about the 4' level, and were thus easily cleared.

All in all, I'm tired of this white stuff... winter in Texas is supposed to be one or two days of freezing weather, maybe a day of ice, and then 50's and 60's for the highs.

 

[Pantherjon]

Well, we got some of that stuff down here tonight! Weather gurus were saying we were to get 1-3"(yeah, big whoopty doo to you guys), but it HAS been 20 YEARS since the Savannah area has gotten snow in any measurable amount..Was coming down pretty hard in a few places..Only saw one wreck, and this was when it was raining!..

 

[MarkII]

Oh, I agree, Wayne. This isn't supposed to happen. We need the South to be warm during the winter, so that we can have someplace to flee to in order to get a break from cabin fever. But right now everything is all out of whack. See if you can send that snow up to Angelo in Toronto. And for all of you on the coast who are wondering where your cities are going to dump their snow, I have an idea... If Mother Nature has forgotten where the snow is supposed to go, maybe we can help her.

MarkII

 

[Handeman]

The whole weather system is screwed up. Global warming has 49 of 50 states with measurable snowfall, Hawaii is the hold out, no snow on the big island volcanoes.

Here in Washington DC, we set a new all time record for snowfall, and we've had more snow then Buffalo NY. And we're getting more tonight!

 

[MarkII]

The whole weather system is screwed up. Global warming has 49 of 50 states with measurable snowfall, Hawaii is the hold out, no snow on the big island volcanoes.

Here in Washington DC, we set a new all time record for snowfall, and we've had more snow then Buffalo NY. And we're getting more tonight!

Blame El Niño.

"The strange snowfall pattern is produced by the El Nino weather phenomenon and its Arctic counterpart, Robinson and Petersen said.

During moderate to strong El Ninos like the current one, more moisture is pumped into the subtropical jet stream across the South, increasing precipitation, Robinson said. Then there's the Arctic Oscillation, the Northern cousin to El Nino, which shifts cold polar air south. That cold air can turn a rainstorm into a snowstorm.

A snowy winter doesn't disprove — or prove — global warming, Petersen and Robinson said. This is weather, which is variable, not long-term climate, and there is a huge difference.

'This has nothing to do with long-term trends," Petersen said. "This is just a several-week period.' "
​

MarkII

 

[sunward]

The whole weather system is screwed up. ..... and we've had more snow then Buffalo NY. ...

Yep.

No snow in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics (raining yesterday!) and we have had hardly no snow this year around here.

Climate change. Get used to it.

 

[MarkII]

Yep.

No snow in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics (raining yesterday!) and we have had hardly no snow this year around here.

Climate change. Get used to it.

I repeat...El Niño ("Hello, [TAP, TAP] is this thing on...?")

MarkII

 

[sunward]

I repeat...El Niño ("Hello, [TAP, TAP] is this thing on...?")

MarkII

Yes, saw that.

 

[n5wd]

I repeat...El Niño ("Hello, [TAP, TAP] is this thing on...?")

We hear you, but... I'm old enough to remember quite a few winters affected by El Niño. The question that was asked of one of our local weather-guessers was "is the El Niño pattern regular, increasing in frequency, or decreasing in frequency over the last 100 or so years". His reply was that it seems to be increasing in frequency over that number of years, but we don't know enough to tell whether that ebb and flow is naturally occurring or not.

Now, THAT may be climate change instead of just weather change.

 

[MarkII]

We hear you, but... I'm old enough to remember quite a few winters affected by El Niño. The question that was asked of one of our local weather-guessers was "is the El Niño pattern regular, increasing in frequency, or decreasing in frequency over the last 100 or so years". His reply was that it seems to be increasing in frequency over that number of years, but we don't know enough to tell whether that ebb and flow is naturally occurring or not.

Now, THAT may be climate change instead of just weather change.

Yes, at some level they would have to be related. From what I have read, the El Niño phenomenon is still not well-understood yet, and the quote that you mention sums it up: at this point, no one knows for sure what to make of it or what to conclude about it.

MarkII

 

[RocketsNorth]

Yep.

No snow in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics (raining yesterday!) and we have had hardly no snow this year around here.

Climate change. Get used to it.

Yup, CTV said it was going to be 16C (61 F) today in Vancouver today.

But then again, last year this at this time I had snow piles 7 feet high and 4 to feet deep on both sides of my driveway. This year I've actually shoveled "snow" twice (maybe 4 inches total).

 

[MarkII]

Yup, CTV said it was going to be 16C (61 F) today in Vancouver today.

But then again, last year this at this time I had snow piles 7 feet high and 4 to feet deep on both sides of my driveway. This year I've actually shoveled "snow" twice (maybe 4 inches total).

Yep - when we don't get a decent amount of it here in the snow belt, we miss it. (Seriously!) Our snow shoveling muscles atrophy, our snow blowers rust out, and our cobwebby skis and snowshoes look forlorn and lonely. Bummer! Plus a brown winter usually leads to drought in the spring and summer. We need the snow pack for water!

Being that Hogtown is on the windward side of the lake (more or less), do you actually ever get much LE in a normal winter? 16C in mid-February? Sheesh! (OK, it's Vancouver, but still...) As long as it stays cold enough in the mountains, though....

MarkII