Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Top U.S. weather story of 2009: drought hits a 10-year low
Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 07:05 PM GMT em 30 de Dezembro de 2009 +2
The weather gods were unusually kind to the U.S. in 2009, as the nation had no hurricane landfalls, a relatively quiet tornado season, no billion-dollar floods, and the lowest drought footprint of the decade by year's end. According to insurance giant Munich Re, the four costliest 2009 weather disasters in the U.S., not including droughts, were:

$2.5 billion: February 10 - 13 Severe weather and tornado outbreak
$2.0 billion: June 10 - 18 Severe weather and tornado outbreak
$1.7 billion: April 9 - 11 Severe weather and tornado outbreak
$1.5 billion: March 25 - 26 Severe weather and tornado outbreak


Figure 1. Lake Whitney, Texas in February 2009 (left) and July 2009 (right), after exceptional drought conditions gripped South Central Texas. Image credit: wunderphotographer Icheney44.

Costliest U.S. weather disaster of 2009: the Texas drought
The costliest U.S. weather disaster in 2009 was the Texas drought. According to preliminary estimates, the agricultural losses from the Texas drought will cost close to $4 billion. The drought actually began in 2007 - 2008, and at the beginning of 2009 (Figure 2), much of Texas was already experiencing "exceptional drought"--the highest level of drought classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor. By summer, much below-average rainfall and scorching triple-digit heat caused the exceptional drought region to expand over a large region of South Central Texas. However, by September, the southern branch of the jet stream became more active, as it typically does during strong El Niño events in the Eastern Pacific, putting southern Texas in the path of a series of drought-busting rain storms that continued into the winter. By December, just a few spots of moderate to severe drought remained in Texas. While the short-term drought is over, longer-term drought remains in Texas. Area lakes have seen only modest rises, and will take months to show significant improvements. Lake Corpus Christi was just 33% of capacity on December 26, and other South Central Texas lakes and reservoirs were between 59% and 100% of capacity. With El Niño conditions expected to continue through winter and spring, there is a good chance that Texas will enter summer 2010 free of both short and long-term drought, though.


Figure 2. What a difference a year makes: Texas began the year with exceptional drought conditions over a small region, which expanded to cover a large portion of the state in the summer. Fall and winter rains broke the drought, and by December only a few small spots of drought remained over Texas. The Southeast U.S. also began the year with widespread drought conditions, which eased by summer. However, drought conditions developed over the Desert Southwest, including most of Arizona. Image credit: U.S. Drought Monitor.

Top U.S. weather story of 2009: drought at a 10-year low
As of December 2009, the U.S. was free of "exceptional drought" for the first time since June 2008, and had the lowest levels of the two highest drought categories--"extreme" and "exceptional"--since June 2005. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor archive, the 4.24% of the country experiencing severe or higher drought conditions in December 2009 was the lowest U.S. drought footprint of the decade (Figure 3). The previous low was 4.57%, in November 2005. This is very good news, since droughts typically cost the U.S. an average of $6 - $8 billion per year, and are our costliest weather-related disasters, according to FEMA. For comparison, Floods cause an average damage of $2.4 billion per year, and hurricanes, $1 - $5 billion per year.


Figure 3. Areal coverage of drought over the Contiguous U.S. from January 2000 to December 2009. Dark red colors are the highest level of drought, "exceptional"; bright red colors include the the next highest level of drought, "extreme (D3); orange colors include the next highest level of drought, "severe" (D2); light orange colors include next highest level of drought conditions, "moderate" (D1); and yellow colors include the lowest level of drought conditions, "Abnormally Dry" (D0). At the end of 2009, the Contiguous U.S. was experiencing its lowest drought footprint of the decade. Image credit: U.S. Drought Portal, National Integrated Drought Information System.

Drought is not increasing in the U.S.
Global warming theory predicts that although global precipitation should increase in a warmer climate, droughts will also increase in intensity, areal coverage, and frequency (Dai et al., 2004). This occurs because when the normal variability of weather patterns brings a period of dry weather to a region, the increased temperatures due to global warming will intensify drought conditions by causing more evaporation and drying up of vegetation. Increased drought is my number one concern regarding climate change for both the U.S. and the world over the next forty years. Two of the three costliest U.S. weather disasters since 1980 have been droughts--the droughts of 1988 and 1980, which cost $71 billion and $55 billion, respectively. The heat waves associated with these droughts claimed over 17,000 lives, according to the National Climatic Data Center publication, Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters. Furthermore, the drought of the 1930s Dust Bowl, which left over 500,000 people homeless and devastated large areas of the Midwest, is regarded to be the third costliest U.S. weather disaster on record, behind Katrina and the 1988 drought. (Ricky Rood has an excellent book on the Dust Bowl that he recommends in his blog post from January). However, despite significantly warmer temperatures over the U.S. over the past 40 years, drought has not increased, according to the U.S. Climate Extremes Index (blue bars, Figure 4). The portion of the U.S. experiencing abnormal drought and exceptionally wet conditions has remained nearly constant at 10% over the past century. A recent paper by Andreadis et al., 2006, summed up 20th century drought in the U.S.: "Droughts have, for the most part, become shorter, less frequent, and cover a smaller portion of the country over the last century. The main exception is the Southwest and parts of the interior of the West, where, notwithstanding increased precipitation (and in some cases increased soil moisture and runoff), increased temperature has led to trends in drought characteristics that are mostly opposite to those for the rest of the country especially in the case of drought duration and severity, which have increased."


Figure 4. The Climate Extremes Index for January through November for drought (the December stats are not yet available, but the Jan - Nov numbers will not be much different). The worst U.S. droughts on record occurred in the 1930s and 1950s. There has been no trend in the amount of the U.S. covered by drought conditions (blue bars) or by abnormally moist conditions (red bars) over the past century. About 10% of the U.S. is typically covered by abnormally dry or wet conditions (black lines). Image credit: National Climatic Data Center.

References
Andreadis, K. M. Lettenmaier, D. P., "Trends in 20th century drought over the continental United States", Geo. Res. Letters 33, 10, L10403, DOI 10.1029/2006GL025711

Dai A., K.E. Trenberth, and T. Qian, 2004: A global data set of Palmer Drought Severity Index for 18702002: Relationship with soil moisture and effects of surface warming", J. Hydrometeorol., 5, 11171130.

Gleason, K.L., J.H. Lawrimore, D.H. Levinson, T.R. Karl, and D.J. Karoly, 2008: "A Revised U.S. Climate Extremes Index", J. Climate, 21, 2124-2137.

Next post
Have a great rest of the decade, everyone, and I'll be back next decade with a new post on the top global weather story of 2009 (yes, I realize that the end of the decade is really on December 31, 2010, but I'll go with the flow on this! I want to thank all of you who helped out the Portlight charity cause this year, everyone who uploaded a wunderphoto, and everyone who participated in the great community we've built here at Wunderground! I look forward to 2010.

Jeff Masters
Lake Travis 2009 Drought (allford)
Over 30 feet below normal Lake Travis near Spicewood Tx is just a river bed.
Lake Travis 2009 Drought
Drought (GaryVA)
Most of Texas has been under serious drought conditions for about a year and a half. Much of the state is under Extreme Drought conditions. The agricultural/ranching/rural areas of the county are most affected, as the drought has a direct and significant impact on the livelihood of those making their living in a way dependent on nature. The importance of rain to daily life is reflected in this sign at a church in rural George West, Texas, in Live Oak, County.
Drought
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1551. AstroHurricane001 03:55 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting atmoaggie:

Isn't that normal for a Nino? I though Humboldt was always disrupted by all but the weakest nino...hence the importance for the Peruvians with the reduced nutrients near shore.


I doubt it. I'm measuring the sub-20C area at the surface in the past 30 days, and that's about to get completely cut off, even as El Nino in the 3.4 region as basically peaked and the Walker Circulation is returning to the west, as you said. But the warm pool is actually expanding, and this suggests a massive slowdown of the ocean conveyer. At one point in late December, the Humboldt cut-off at the Chilean coast warmed 2C in five days. Now the southeastern end of the El Nino pool is simply advancing southeast, while part of it is pooling into the Ross Ice shelf in Antartica (should be visible in the image on my blog). Also, the Gulf stream meandered in the past week, taking a shortcut and producing a deep cold eddy. The Indian Ocean temperatures have also been fluctuating...dramatically. El Nino Modoki is supposed to be predictable, but this season has been anything but, due to the co-interactions with other oscillations. By the way, does anyone have reliable links that show that an expert meteorologist thinks there is something unusual going on, that preferably is not a blog and does not require subscription?
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1552. gordydunnot 03:55 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Maybe next week the Canadians wont be able to sit outside there trailers in shorts and t-shirts drinking beer from their coolers oh well at least they may not need the coolers for once here in Miami.
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1553. AstroHurricane001 03:57 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting FLPandhandleJG:
I hear ya astro.. but right now this what they think is goin to set up right now..




Holy crap! Another squall front (cold front being fed by snowsqualls)?! And this time they're expecting it to clash with system snow and more humidity?
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1554. presslord 04:01 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting AstroHurricane001:


I doubt it. I'm measuring the sub-20C area at the surface in the past 30 days, and that's about to get completely cut off, even as El Nino in the 3.4 region as basically peaked and the Walker Circulation is returning to the west, as you said. But the warm pool is actually expanding, and this suggests a massive slowdown of the ocean conveyer. At one point in late December, the Humboldt cut-off at the Chilean coast warmed 2C in five days. Now the southeastern end of the El Nino pool is simply advancing southeast, while part of it is pooling into the Ross Ice shelf in Antartica (should be visible in the image on my blog). Also, the Gulf stream meandered in the past week, taking a shortcut and producing a deep cold eddy. The Indian Ocean temperatures have also been fluctuating...dramatically. El Nino Modoki is supposed to be predictable, but this season has been anything but, due to the co-interactions with other oscillations. By the way, does anyone have reliable links that show that an expert meteorologist thinks there is something unusual going on, that preferably is not a blog and does not require subscription?



...now that's the kinda interesting observation that I come here to read...
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1555. FLPandhandleJG 04:05 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Cold Gripping South; Snow to Follow Next Week?
1/2/2010 3:41 PM

Cold air has settled across the South, chilling residents and threatening the Florida Peninsula with a hard freeze. The main question now is whether snow will disrupt travel and school next week.

Cold air has plunged far enough south that much of Florida will have to endure multiple nights of freezing temperatures. This AccuWeather.com Headline has more information.


On the heels of the arctic blast gripping the East is another, set to dive southward around the middle of next week. The storm at the leading edge of this cold shot could spread snow across the South.

This storm will first move into the Northwest Sunday night into Monday. It may then dive southward through the Rockies, then ride along the Gulf Coast before paralleling the East Coast.

During the Wednesday to Friday timeframe, snow could fall from Dallas, Texas, to Jackson, Miss., to Montgomery, Ala., to Charlotte, N.C., to Richmond, Va.

Related to the Story

* More on Next Week's Cold Shot
* Day 1 to 5 Temperatures
* Wind Chill Index
* Southeast Regional Video
* More Stories

There may be enough snow to disrupt travel and lead to school cancellations.

It should be stressed that the area outlined above is not set in stone. The zone could shift to the north or even farther south.

It is also possible that steady snow never even materializes, and there will be nothing more than flurries.

Continue to check back with AccuWeather.com during the upcoming days as more details become clearer.

SouthNews



but i think its too early to tell tho.. soon we will figure it out!
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1556. gordydunnot 04:05 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
I agree enjoyed reading that myself usually elicits a response from our other weather experts. At least I can understand it and follow along nice job Astro.
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1557. FLPandhandleJG 04:13 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

114hours GFS


120hours GFS


126hours GFS


132hours GFS


138hours GFS

but with those runs.. I think the temps will be colder.. I think those runs will change a bit and show the rain/snow line to go further south than the model thinks. but it shall be interesting.. just my opinion right now.. by looking at it.. ;)
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1558. atmoaggie 04:14 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting AstroHurricane001:


I doubt it. I'm measuring the sub-20C area at the surface in the past 30 days, and that's about to get completely cut off, even as El Nino in the 3.4 region as basically peaked and the Walker Circulation is returning to the west, as you said. But the warm pool is actually expanding, and this suggests a massive slowdown of the ocean conveyer. At one point in late December, the Humboldt cut-off at the Chilean coast warmed 2C in five days. Now the southeastern end of the El Nino pool is simply advancing southeast, while part of it is pooling into the Ross Ice shelf in Antartica (should be visible in the image on my blog). Also, the Gulf stream meandered in the past week, taking a shortcut and producing a deep cold eddy. The Indian Ocean temperatures have also been fluctuating...dramatically. El Nino Modoki is supposed to be predictable, but this season has been anything but, due to the co-interactions with other oscillations. By the way, does anyone have reliable links that show that an expert meteorologist thinks there is something unusual going on, that preferably is not a blog and does not require subscription?

It is simply what El Nino does. And interrupting the Humboldt is exactly what ruins the fishing for the Peruvians.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&num=50&q=%22humboldt+current%22+nino+override&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Thousands of results for "Humboldt Current" Nino override...from journals to textbooks to blogs to news to military.

Here is an illustration from the US Army:
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1559. FLPandhandleJG 04:22 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Saturday Update

This what this guy thinks and all.. Do ya'll agree or ?

STORM COMING THE END OF NEXT WEEK. MAINE WILL GET BLASTED BY POWERFUL STORM TONIGHT...


Hey, if you live up in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, please post your observations and pictures of the Blizzard to our Facebook Fan page. Everyone in our operations looks at our fan page for weather information from our users and use your pictures in our news stories. So please post and become a fan.... http://www.facebook.com/AccuWeather


The cold across the East is here to stay all next week. I will not be surprised that some schools close due to the cold weather. It's 19 degrees at my house with winds gusting to 30 mph, so it's very brutal outside.

The blizzard is starting up across Maine and for you folks, it's going to be quite a storm. I know some of the Old Timers may say it was not all the bad, but for many, it will be very bad storms in regards to the wind, snow and cold weather. I expect up to 30 inches of snow across parts of central Maine.

Next Friday, we could be dealing with another blizzard along the East coast. I might be out of my mind to go against the models, but the NAO is predicted to stay very low and trough that comes East will lock off upon hitting the coast. If the storm does come as I plan, it will be cold storm with temps in the teens while it's snowing. I expect this afternoons run of the Euro will have more of a storm. I see the GFS continues to try and pick up the storm, but it's having the normal problems.

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1560. FLPandhandleJG 04:26 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

Map of Australia!
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1561. Orcasystems 04:28 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting FLPandhandleJG:

Map of Australia!


Wouldn't it be easier to post a link to the accuweather website instead of trying to post it all here?
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1562. FLPandhandleJG 04:28 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

Midwest!
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1563. atmoaggie 04:31 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
And here is a detail of the Walker circulation and thermocline under normal conditions and with Nino.



A lot of excellent details here: http://www.sbg.ac.at/ipk/avstudio/pierofun/atmo/elnino.htm

Expected effects of an El Nino:

(Peruvian Current is synonymous with Humboldt Current)

And a part of the discussion (lots and lots more at the link):

The abnormally strong winds originating from the west push masses of warm surface water from the equatorial region against the South-American coast, and are ultimately deflected towards Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador, creating an area of warm water thousands of kilometers in length (fig.14). The mixed layers deepen, and the deeper cold waters are burried underneath. The sun warms the surface layer still further, thus enhancing the effect. The thermocline falls, and along with it the pool of nutrient rich water. In an immediate effect, this warm blob of water blocks off the upwelling of colder, nutrient rich water driving anchovies into starvation (fig.15). In addition to the torpedoed effect of the local fishing industry, these fish do no longer support large population of fish-feeding birds, whose droppings (guano) are mined for fertilizer. With the disappearance of anchovies and other marine organisms, predators like seabirds, further up the food-chain, experience a drastic decline in nutritonal resources. El Nio accounted for severe drops in the seabird populations in 1957 and 1965. In a long-lasting ENSO event, the dissolved seawater oxygen content becomes depleted.
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1564. CybrTeddy 04:40 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Speaking of El Nino, has it weakened any or is it still strengthening?
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1565. Bordonaro 04:41 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting AstroHurricane001:


OK, so North Atlantic Low over Newfoundland, North American high over Greenland, cold air flooding into Northern Europe...if that isn't The Coming Global Superstorm (1999), the inspiration for "The Day After Tomorrow", then I don't know what is. But I highly doubt that with the chaotic oscillations, that this pattern will last that long, but if it does then that means near-continuous on and off snowsqualls for weeks.


Dear friend! I share you enthusiasm concerning the current World-wide events, compliments of this Modiki El Nino. The events are bizarre, warming of the Central Pacific Ocean, warming of the far Western Pacific and the Southern Indian Ocean, near Australia. The Modiki El Nino is creating some wild weather.

The positive PNA, means there is ridging off the West Coast. To the west of the ridge, there is a huge trough in the Eastern Pacific. The Sub-Tropical Jet, from China into the Southwestern US is very, very active, feeding impulses of energy into the Baja California, Northern Mexico into the Southwestern Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, impulses of energy ride up into British Columbia and down into the Great Plains into the Southern Plains and North western Gulf of Mexico.

There is a negative AO and NAO. These 2 features are creating a large upper level trough in the upper atmosphere across the Eastern Two-Thirds of the US, causing a Northwesterly flow aloft, ferrying Arctic Air into the Eastern US into the Southeast US. A Polar Vortex is at 75N/120W, this surface and upper level feature is pulling in Siberian air across the North Pole, pooling this up in Northwestern Canada. The Blocking High off of Greenland is blocking the Low pressure areas from traveling northeastward and out to Northern Atlantic. The 969MB Massive surface Low off of Maine in heading westward into Quebec/Ontario, deepening the upper level trough over the Eastern Two-Thirds of the US in the upper levels and pulling down more Arctic air into Eastern Canada, across the Great Lakes, down the East Coast into the Southeast and Florida.

These events working together are currently pulling a short-wave energy impulse into British Columbia, then down into the Great Plains, deepening the Upper Level trough over the US even further. Combined with the Low off Maine these are going to build up a massive area of High Pressure, close to 1055MB over Montana, and send that, a huge chunk of the Siberian/Arctic air mass down the east side of the Rockies into TX. These events, working together will bring very cold air into the Southern Plains into the Deep South, the coldest air we've seen since 1996, per the NWS Dallas-Ft Worth, TX office. The short-wave will arrive in the Northwest flow aloft, near the Texas Coast on late Wednesday, creating the possibility of a major Gulf Coast/East Coast snow event. Models are still questioning how far the short-wave impulse travels before developing a surface Low over the Gulf of Mexico.

Climate variability is a part of weather. I've been studying weather as a hobby for 41 yrs. This is a very unusual pattern. I would not be alarmed about the ocean currents changing course. The North Atlantic Conveyor Current is functioning just fine, as well as the other ocean current systems around the world. The abnormalities are well within the normal El Nino/La Nina cycle. The Modiki El Nino is not as common, it warms other parts of the Pacific and Indian Ocean than the normal El Nino, creating the wild, weather we're experiencing today. Please remember, "the sky is not falling". By May 2010, things will be near normal worldwide.
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1566. atmoaggie 04:42 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting CybrTeddy:
Speaking of El Nino, has it weakened any or is it still strengthening?

Depends what metric you look at.
By the 3.4, I think it is peaking now. A couple of weeks will tell...

Have to go, G'Nite, all.
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1567. CybrTeddy 04:42 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting gordydunnot:
Are your sure that's not the space shuttle.


Shuttle isn't up, won't be till February 7th.
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1568. Orcasystems 04:44 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
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1570. Bordonaro 05:05 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Get ready North Cental Texas, the Siberian Blast is coming to our neighborhood SOON :0)
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1571. Bordonaro 05:09 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
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1572. KEEPEROFTHEGATE (Mod) 05:10 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
latest model runs are up on my blog

Link
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1573. gordydunnot 05:11 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Sorry Cyber, I meant the International Space Station either why I guess it wasn't that funny.
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1575. TheCaneWhisperer 05:19 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
South Bend, IN

Forecast Low 16° F

Actual Temp Right Now 2.0 °F


Little colder than forecast
1576. TheCaneWhisperer 05:22 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Sorry

1.8 °F
1577. gordydunnot 05:22 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Is that a blob of convection in the western gulf forming?
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1578. TheCaneWhisperer 05:26 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Low to mid 30's for the week in SEFL is rather substantial. Especially since it's to get colder in the near future.
1579. FLPandhandleJG 05:32 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

already.. lol
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1580. Patrap 05:33 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Jan 15th I turn 50,so as expected..hell and NOLA will be freezing over.

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1581. Bordonaro 05:33 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
1574..Btwntx08**According the 0ZGFS Run, "The Siberian Express" will reach TX on 1/6 into 1/7, its going to be extremely cold over North Texas for about 3-4 days, with a S-L-O-W moderating trend. By the end of the 0Z GFS Run on 1-19-10, it will approach 50F.

Can we fast forward to 1-7-10 please :0)
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1582. Bordonaro 05:35 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
1572**KOG, a million thanks :0). Can we fast forward to 1-1-10 please :o)
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1583. TheCaneWhisperer 05:35 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting gordydunnot:
Is that a blob of convection in the western gulf forming?


Soon to be
1585. Patrap 05:39 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
That the Southern jet overriding the Cooler GOM,..notta nuthing forming..

CONUS 24 Hr Forecast Surface Map



THE HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER
CAMP SPRINGS, MD
SHORT RANGE FORECAST DISCUSSION
[Abbreviations and acronyms used in this product]
Geographic boundaries: Map 1- [Color] [B/W Print Version] Map 2 - [Color] [B/W Print Version]


SHORT RANGE FORECAST DISCUSSION
NWS HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER CAMP SPRINGS MD
308 PM EST SAT JAN 02 2010

VALID 00Z SUN JAN 03 2010 - 12Z MON JAN 04 2010

A DEEP LOW OFF THE NORTHEAST COAST WILL ROTATE CLOSER TO THE MAINE
COAST THEN ROTATE AWAY FROM THE COAST TO THE EAST. THE STORM WILL
PRODUCE LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND
THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. AS THE SYSTEM MOVES AWAY FROM THE COAST
... THE SNOW WILL BECOME MORE SCATTERED AND LIGHT OVER THE AREA
THROUGH MONDAY. IN THE MEANTIME ... A REGION OF STRONG HIGH
PRESSURE WILL REMAIN QUASI-STATIONARY OVER WESTERN ONTARIO. WITH
THE DEEP LOW OFF THE NORTHEAST COAST AND THE HIGH OVER THE MIDWEST
... STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE
COUNTRY. WELL TO MUCH BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO
ASSOCIATED WITH THE HIGH OVER THE MIDWEST.

MEANWHILE ... UPPER LEVEL ENERGY AND UPPER LEVEL JET DYNAMICS WILL
TRIGGER SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS OVER PARTS OF THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL
PLAINS INTO PARTS OF THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SATURDAY NIGHT
INTO SUNDAY. IN ADDITION ... WEAK ONSHORE FLOW OVER PARTS OF THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL PRODUCE LIGHT RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION
SNOW OVER THE REGION INTO PARTS OF THE NORTHERN INTERMOUNTAIN
REGION THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. ON SUNDAY ... A PACIFIC SYSTEM
WILL ADVANCE TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST TRIGGERING MORE RAIN AND HIGHER
ELEVATION SNOW THROUGH MONDAY.

ZIEGENFELDER

GRAPHICS AVAILABLE AT WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV


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1586. Bordonaro 05:39 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting Patrap:
Jan 15th I turn 50,so as expected..hell and NOLA will be freezing over.



Well an early Happy Birthday to you Patrap :o). You may get to go "sleet skating" on your birthday. In Arlington, TX in the Thanksgiving Sleet Storm in the early 90's, 3 of my 5 kiddos and I skated down a hill just sliding on our boots. It was fun.
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1588. FLPandhandleJG 05:40 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

hmmm.. something might b brewing.. brewing, i mean maybe a storm system will clash with the cold artic air in the south.. time will tell shortly
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1589. Bordonaro 05:42 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting btwntx08:

lol at least we have a couple of days to prepare it and if u saw the 0C LINE goes all the way to tampico,mx wow!! :0


Yeah, Tampico, Mexico is gonna freak out when their highs are only near 60F when that happens!
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1590. Patrap 05:43 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting Bordonaro:


Well an early Happy Birthday to you Patrap :o). You may get to go "sleet skating" on your birthday. In Arlington, TX in the Thanksgiving Sleet Storm in the early 90's, 3 of my 5 kiddos and I skated down a hill just sliding on our boots. It was fun.


I can Ski Down the Miss River Big Levee's for some fun,..but one has to be wary of River Road traffic.

Dec 11th 2008

Member Since: Julho 3, 2005 Posts: 371 Comments: 111474
1591. Bordonaro 05:45 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting Patrap:


I can Ski Down the Miss River Big Levee's for some fun,..but one has to be wary of River Road traffic


Yes, please beware of traffic. However, if you do have a sleet/snow event, with cold air in place, you may have the roads all to your self.
Member Since: Agosto 25, 2009 Posts: 20 Comments: 6785
1592. FLPandhandleJG 05:45 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting Patrap:


I can Ski Down the Miss River Big Levee's for some fun,..but one has to be wary of River Road traffic

lol.. maybe u will get snow on ur birthday.. or maybe sooner.. its got to happen sooner or later.. ;)
Member Since: Agosto 15, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1997
1593. beell 05:46 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
00Z GFS holds on to the scenario and timing as previously posted from the 18Z. Showing at least a 40 LLJ and a better defined surface low moving ENE from the central Gulf coast. Better lift and moisture wrapping round the backside in this run. At least there is finally something to grab ahold of. Should be a pretty good storm by the time it makes the mid Atlantic coast if these features remain consistent over the next 20 model runs! Not quite a stacked system at that point but workin' on it.

The previous post:

Some better warm air advection setting up in the 18Z GFS model in response to a surface feature in the GOM and some diffluence provided by energy swinging through the base of the mid level trough well N of the Gulf coast. 12Z was much weaker in setting up any kind of warm conveyor belt/isentropic lift. The 30knot LLJ (kind of a new and important feature) shown would do wonders for the snow totals by bringing in moisture-but would push any snow potential north and away from the GOM coast. An interpretation (guess) of this moisture axis penciled in on the 5 GFS frames linked below. All from todays 18Z beginning Thursday morning (114 hrs) and ending Friday morning (138hrs). The northern tip of each arrow would trace a path of heavier snow across the norther part of MS, AL, GA and on into SC and NC. We'll see!
114hrs
120 hrs
126hrs
132hrs
138hrs
Member Since: Setembro 11, 2007 Posts: 125 Comments: 12877
1595. Patrap 05:48 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Its gonna be a interesting next 13-16 days for sure in the Deep South.

Member Since: Julho 3, 2005 Posts: 371 Comments: 111474
1596. Bordonaro 05:49 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Quoting btwntx08:

lol at least we have a couple of days to prepare it and if u saw the 0C LINE goes all the way to tampico,mx wow!! :0


The NWS DFW, TX has blaring, bright graphics up on the NWS sight. In Ft Worth-Dallas, TX, CH 4,5,8,11,21,27,33 are all warning people sounding a lil' like Paul Revere, saying, " The Arctic Blast is coming, the Arctic Blast is coming"!!
Member Since: Agosto 25, 2009 Posts: 20 Comments: 6785
1597. Patrap 05:49 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
GOM IR Loop dee Loop

Member Since: Julho 3, 2005 Posts: 371 Comments: 111474
1598. AllyBama 05:52 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
I sure hate that I got to suffer through all this cold weather this week and not get any snow..well, at least the ground will be cold enough that IF and WHEN it does snow, it should stick for more than 15 minutes - provided it snows this year!..lol
Member Since: Agosto 3, 2006 Posts: 131 Comments: 20499
1599. Orcasystems 05:53 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
Wedding Jokes

A new young bride calls her mother in tears. She
sobs, 'Robert doesn't appreciate what I do for him.'

'Now, now,' her mother comforted, 'I am sure it was
all just a misunderstanding, dear.'

'No, mother,' the young woman laments. 'I bought a
frozen turkey loaf and he yelled at me about the price.'

'Well, that is being miserly,' the mother agreed, 'Those
turkey rolls are only a few dollars.'

The young woman explained, 'No, mother it wasn't the
price of the turkey roll, it was the airplane ticket.'

'Airplane ticket??? What does an airplane ticket have to
do with turkey rolls???' asked her mother, confused.

The young woman quickly responded, 'Well mother, when
I went to fix it, I looked at the directions on the back
and it said, 'PREPARE FROM A FROZEN STATE'.
So I flew to Florida!'
Member Since: Outubro 1, 2007 Posts: 77 Comments: 26077
1600. FLPandhandleJG 05:54 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    

o snap
Member Since: Agosto 15, 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 1997
1601. Patrap 05:54 AM GMT em 03 de Janeiro de 2010    
My walking Video from Dec 11th 2008,up Jefferson Ave from Magazine Street Uptown,

Sleet falling after the Snow.



Member Since: Julho 3, 2005 Posts: 371 Comments: 111474

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Jeff co-founded the Weather Underground in 1995 while working on his Ph.D. He flew with the NOAA Hurricane Hunters from 1986-1990.

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