In this, we agree: SHOUTING the title was just a weak distraction away from science based, observations such this from the National Snow and Ice Data Center about Antarctica: Source: Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis | Sea ice data updated daily with one-day lag Curious "several daily temperature records set at the South Pole", which of course is 'weather' that only becomes 'climate' if it is repeated. But let's see: Source: The Antarctic Sun: News about Antarctica - Sizzling September So I'm sanguine about a SHOUTING subject line as it usually indicates an attempt to hide something. For example, an Antartic polar heat wave or Arctic ice. But these dove-tail with the current Arctic ice cover: We've had some reports of oceans absorbing the excess heat by warmer water columns. This is abstract to most until one notices the eastern and western approaches to the Arctic have slow ice growth this winter. We've passed the winter solstice and soon enough the longer days in the Northern hemisphere and the sea ice will once again retreat followed by commercial shipping. Bob Wilson
Please, somebody send some of that cold and snow to my corner of the country. We didn't get any part of Winter Storm Hercules that is blasting all the national news headquarters. Our ski season is off to a rocky start. My group's New Years ski trip to Mt. Hood ended up with more hiking and biking than skiing. Stevens Pass has a thin base, Snoqualmie Pass isn't even open yet. I want to run a moonlight trail ski next weekend, but the intended trail is currently bare. While Cliff Mass is dangling some hope for skiers at the end of the coming week, the slightly shorter term official forecasts are showing more rain than snow. BTW, I'm not trying to blame this on AGW. It is just weather, which has rarely been 'normal' enough to drop out of the news my whole life.
That's a bummer. We got snow but whenever the JS sends the polar blast south, we end up with warmer wetter weather here. Even had a little rain on New Years Eve. I dislike snowshoeing in that wet stuff! I feel your pain.
The jet stream is clearly a major factor in our regional weather. Its typical geographic wavelength is such that we are mostly on the opposite side of the jet stream than are the national news headquarters on the other coast. We tend to get equatorial weather when they get polar weather, and vice versa. Occasionally they will make reference to our conditions, particularly when it reinforces 'the sky is falling!' theme, but mostly we get ignored.
That's what typically occurs; an upstream ridge will induce an downstream trough. There's currently an amplified ridge that's built along the western CONUS coast, and an amplified trough is "digging" over the central plains in response. It's interesting that 500 mb heights in Eastern Alaska and Northwestern Canada are currently about the same are they are in North Central Texas!
Cool, I just noticed your handle, weather man. That is the field I thought I was going into when I was young one. Didn't quite work out that way. Cheers
Keeping the Arctic ice levels low enough that the summer shipping season should be a little longer and more predictable. Bob Wilson
