Thus spake Cantore, bringer of sky doom: "Nat Wordell is throwing in the white flag. He wants winter over ! Chatham, MA in Blizzard Warning for the 4th time! "
Last Monday was the three year anniversary of the iconic video of that insane lady in Utah spraying her backyard with vinegar to rid the sky of "chemtrails" and making her son videotape the occasion as proof for the internet. The lady truly believes that spraying vinegar at the sky will magically ascend 35,000 feet to dissipate some clouds she doesn't like.
Doppler weather radar is one of the most useful tools available to track the weather in almost real time. Since the technology came into regular use in the 1950s, researchers have made incredible advances in the abilities of basic weather radar. Not only does weather radar track precipitation, but it can also detect bugs, bats, dust, road traffic, tornado debris, and even the setting sun.
The impressive nor'easter that's slated to develop on Tuesday and Wednesday and rake parts of New England with heavy snow and strong winds will likely prove devastating to the Atlantic provinces of eastern Canada. The storm is expected to drop to a barometric pressure equivalent to that of a category 3 hurricane as it approaches Nova Scotia on Wednesday, bringing with it the potential for two feet of snow, winds well over hurricane force, incredible waves, and a fair amount of coastal flooding.
The Weather Channel published an article on Saturday touting the fact that the recent cold weather suppressed this March's number of tornadoes to almost nothing, with just four tornadoes confirmed through March 20. While this is an interesting bit of information from a weather geek standpoint, and one I've seen many weather enthusiasts Tweet and write about lately, it's risky to make a big deal about "tornadoes at a record low!" this close to the climatological ramp-up of tornado season.
Satellites are an integral part of life these days, from meteorologists tracking storm systems to spying on your neighbors in Google Earth. When Malaysia Airlines 370 went missing a few weeks ago, investigators turned to satellite imagery to aid search and rescue teams spot any possible wreckage in the ocean. While crews are using the blurry images as possible leads to search for debris, people on social media want to know why we can't see the objects more clearly from space.
For one glorious moment this afternoon and for the first time in what seems like forever, the National Weather Service's nationwide watches/warnings/advisories map was virtually clear of any major watches, warnings, or advisories.
The explosive (hype) bomb of a nor'easter that's slated to form in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean in a couple of days continues to teeter on the edge of being no big deal and a decent snowstorm for heavily populated areas along the I-95 corridor, but it's leaning more heavily towards not being that big of a deal for that many people.
This satellite image shows strong extratropical cyclone (pressure of ~960 millibars) as it swirls south of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the northwestern Pacific Ocean on March 21, 2014. A very long, well-defined front extends from the low over 3,500 miles southward towards the Philippines. The front is mostly a cold front, but it transitions into a stationary front as it starts to take on an east-west orientation at lower latitudes.
Since the media can't report on the weather without turning it into a hashtag or using a scare term to get people to click, many major weather events over the last few years were spun to sound a lot more disturbing than they really are. One of these includes the "bomb" that might happen near New England next week. It's not as rare or scary as you would think.
As March marches on and warmer weather attempts to filter into the United States, plants are reproducing like crazy and making millions of people miserable in the process.
For the past few days, numerous weather models have signaled at the possibility of a significant nor'easter sometime early next week that could bring snow to places from North Carolina to Canada. At this time, it's still a very fluid situation with lots of uncertainties, but there is enough risk right now to warrant mentioning.
Today is the first day of spring, an occasion when the sun's rays shine almost evenly between the northern and southern hemispheres (just before 1:00 PM Eastern, if you were wondering) before shining more directly on the Northern Hemisphere for the next six months. Did you think that would mean warmer weather? You poor soul.
A strong cold air damming event took place early this week, leading to dangerous ice accumulations from freezing rain and sleet in areas from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. Cold air damming is one of the most interesting weather events in the United States, and can be one of the hardest to accurately predict.
