Luckily, the nation hasn't had that many tornadoes this year, compared to normal at least, and we hope the trend continues.
However, there have been lots of big hail storms this year.
Watch this one in Texas to prove you really don't want to get hit by the worst of these hailstorms. The guy who filmed said the hail reduced the resale value of his car, and I believe it:
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Cool Photos Show Effects Of This Year's Delayed Early Spring
Via Twitter, I found these two photos taken two years apart in the same spot in Richmond, Virginia.
The two pics, by William T. Hark of harkphoto.com shows a street scene on March 28, 2012, after one of the warmest early springs on record.
The same spot, exactly two years later after one of the coldest early springs on record, shows things are far behind that of two years ago.
As always, click on the images to make them bigger and easier to see.
Hark, the photographer, usually concentrates on storm, tornado, wildlife and butterfly photography, but this is an interesting snapshot of how two springs can be totally different from one another.
(By the way, it's worth checking out Hark's work. Excellent images for all you nature and weather geeks out there.)
April so far has seen temperatures much closer to average along the East Coast, so spring is now progressing nicely.
The cherry blossoms in Washington DC should be nearing their peak soon, and even in my icy cold location way up in northern Vermont, most of the snow has finally melted off my yard.
And are those green shoots coming up in warm, sunny corners? Bring it on!
The two pics, by William T. Hark of harkphoto.com shows a street scene on March 28, 2012, after one of the warmest early springs on record.
The same spot, exactly two years later after one of the coldest early springs on record, shows things are far behind that of two years ago.
As always, click on the images to make them bigger and easier to see.
Hark, the photographer, usually concentrates on storm, tornado, wildlife and butterfly photography, but this is an interesting snapshot of how two springs can be totally different from one another.
(By the way, it's worth checking out Hark's work. Excellent images for all you nature and weather geeks out there.)
April so far has seen temperatures much closer to average along the East Coast, so spring is now progressing nicely.
The cherry blossoms in Washington DC should be nearing their peak soon, and even in my icy cold location way up in northern Vermont, most of the snow has finally melted off my yard.
And are those green shoots coming up in warm, sunny corners? Bring it on!
Wild Conspiracy Theory Of Week: El Nino Predictions To Screw India Economy?
A lot of climate forecasters are saying that a strong El Nino might be brewing in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
An El Nino is an area of warm water that develops off of South America, and can have worldwide effects on the weather and climate.
It can boost global temperatures and cause severe storms on some areas of the planet, along with drought in places like Indonesia, Australia and India.
The forecast of an El Nino is still uncertain, but more and more signs are developing that this could be a strong one, like the El Nino of 1998 that caused all kinds of weather disasters around the world.
Some people in India aren't buying this El Nino prediction. The India Meterological Department, says the prediction is bogus and is a plot by rich investors to get richer at the expense of India, according to the Economic Times.
"'It is in the U.S. and Australian interests that agri commodities and stock market in India come down. They are spreading rumors. People will start hoarding and might start creating artificial scarcity of commodities. Don't heed their advice,' said Laxman Singh Rathore, director general, IMD"
Of course, that conspiracy theory is ridiculous, since many of the meteorlogists and climatologists making the El Nino predictions work for private firms and don't have a stake in international commodity prices.
And I don't think these scientists are conspiring among themselves to get bought off by commodities traders. Jeesh!
So we'll see if the El Nino starts later this year and whether that would cause agricultural problems in India.
And yes, not all commodities traders are wonderful people, but let's face it. Not every climate and weather event is a conspiracy.
 |
| No, predictions of an impending El Nino are not an effort to screw over India, despitew what the head of that country's meteorological office says. |
An El Nino is an area of warm water that develops off of South America, and can have worldwide effects on the weather and climate.
It can boost global temperatures and cause severe storms on some areas of the planet, along with drought in places like Indonesia, Australia and India.
The forecast of an El Nino is still uncertain, but more and more signs are developing that this could be a strong one, like the El Nino of 1998 that caused all kinds of weather disasters around the world.
Some people in India aren't buying this El Nino prediction. The India Meterological Department, says the prediction is bogus and is a plot by rich investors to get richer at the expense of India, according to the Economic Times.
"'It is in the U.S. and Australian interests that agri commodities and stock market in India come down. They are spreading rumors. People will start hoarding and might start creating artificial scarcity of commodities. Don't heed their advice,' said Laxman Singh Rathore, director general, IMD"
Of course, that conspiracy theory is ridiculous, since many of the meteorlogists and climatologists making the El Nino predictions work for private firms and don't have a stake in international commodity prices.
And I don't think these scientists are conspiring among themselves to get bought off by commodities traders. Jeesh!
So we'll see if the El Nino starts later this year and whether that would cause agricultural problems in India.
And yes, not all commodities traders are wonderful people, but let's face it. Not every climate and weather event is a conspiracy.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Huge Flooding In Deep South
The weather news today concerns some severe flooding in the Deep South where three to as much as eight inches of rain fell yesterday and overnight.
Dangerous flooding was occuring this morning near Birmingham, Alabama and other cities in the South with many water rescues.
A nine year old girl is believed drowned in the flooding in Mississippi
There were some overnight tornadoes as well, adding to the danger in that part of the country. Several homes in Mississippi were damaged or destroyed by the suspected twisters.
More tornado warnings popped up this afternoon in Georgia amid flood alerts there.
The storm is expected to sweep northward toward the eastern Great Lakes, but only minor flooding is expected in New England, where rainfall will range from less than an inch across much of Vermont to more than 1.5 inches near the coast.
In northern New England, some ice jams might form along some still-frozen waterways, so watch out for that.
But the storm will become a quick mover once it really gets going to the north. Because of that, it won't rain for too long a period in the Northeast, meaning there won't be inches and inches of rain like in the South. Plus, there will be few if any thunderstorms in the Northeast to produce downpours.
Warm air riding north ahead of the storm brought temperatures in Burlington, Vermont to 60 degrees Monday afternoon, the first time it's been that warm since November 18, 2013.
Maybe spring is coming after all.
 |
| Water rescues in Alabama, via @bailes32 on Twitter |
Dangerous flooding was occuring this morning near Birmingham, Alabama and other cities in the South with many water rescues.
A nine year old girl is believed drowned in the flooding in Mississippi
There were some overnight tornadoes as well, adding to the danger in that part of the country. Several homes in Mississippi were damaged or destroyed by the suspected twisters.
More tornado warnings popped up this afternoon in Georgia amid flood alerts there.
The storm is expected to sweep northward toward the eastern Great Lakes, but only minor flooding is expected in New England, where rainfall will range from less than an inch across much of Vermont to more than 1.5 inches near the coast.
In northern New England, some ice jams might form along some still-frozen waterways, so watch out for that.
 |
| On Twitter, @RyanMooreMS captured this tornado damge in Mississippi. |
But the storm will become a quick mover once it really gets going to the north. Because of that, it won't rain for too long a period in the Northeast, meaning there won't be inches and inches of rain like in the South. Plus, there will be few if any thunderstorms in the Northeast to produce downpours.
Warm air riding north ahead of the storm brought temperatures in Burlington, Vermont to 60 degrees Monday afternoon, the first time it's been that warm since November 18, 2013.
Maybe spring is coming after all.
 |
| Again, from Twitter, @Jay_Reeve photographed Alabama flooding |
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Van Almost Blown Off Bridge
This video is from late December, during one of those huge storms the British Isles got all winter.
In it, a van is nearly blown off a Scottish bridge. Goes to show those warnings about being careful while driving high profile vehicles in strong winds is true.
It took the protection of a big, fat fire truck to carefully get the van off the gusty bridge. Looks like it really disrupted traffic.
Pretty wild to watch:
In it, a van is nearly blown off a Scottish bridge. Goes to show those warnings about being careful while driving high profile vehicles in strong winds is true.
It took the protection of a big, fat fire truck to carefully get the van off the gusty bridge. Looks like it really disrupted traffic.
Pretty wild to watch:
Saturday, April 5, 2014
A Porta-Potty Tornado In Texas
Severe weather raked parts of Texas last week, and a possible tornado blustered through McKinney Texas.
A surveillance camera caught something that will prove a possibly awkward claim to an insurance agent. Watch a flying porta-potty hit a car. Pretty interesting:
A surveillance camera caught something that will prove a possibly awkward claim to an insurance agent. Watch a flying porta-potty hit a car. Pretty interesting:
Friday, April 4, 2014
Northern New England Flood Threat Continues For The Next Few Weeks
The deep, late winter snow on the ground is finally starting to melt across northern New York, and in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, which means now we have to start watching out for flooding.
The National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont did its biweekly flood potential update last evening, and meteorologists there continue to say there's an above normal risk of spring flooding in the region.
And if flooding happens, it could easily occur starting now and the risk would continue for at least the rest of the month.
At first, the biggest threat is ice jams, as some rivers, particularly more to the north, have thick ice on them. It's going to rain tonight, and again early next week, and that might be enough to start moving the ice and forming ice jams.
(And yes, there is a winter weather advisory up for tonight for most of central and eastern Vermont because of the risk of freezing rain and sleet, but it's still going to rain, too)
Ice jams can form quickly, and flooding behind those jams can form quickly, so be on the alert, starting tomorrow for this risk.
Another rain storm is due early next week, which could also set off the ice jams and low land flooding.
If we get a big period of very warm weather and heavy rain, it would combine with snow melt from the hills and mountains to contribute to some potentially nasty river flooding.
Don't let the bare spots in the snow on valley floors fool you. There's plenty of water locked up in the snow in the woods, and if you go up in elevation only a tiny bit, you get even more water locked up in deep snow.
In the Champlain Valley, there's up to four inches of rain within the remaining snow, says the National Weather Service. At elevations of between 1,000 and 2,500 feet, theres four to eight inches of rain locked up in the snow pack.
If flooding happens in Lake Champlain, and minor flooding is a good bet, it won't happen for awhile yet. In the past week, the lake level has risen from 94.9 feet above sea level to 95.66 feet. So the rise has started, but we've got a long way to go before the lake reaches minor flood stage, which is 100 feet.
It's still, of course impossible to say whether we will get much flooding. The weather pattern for most of the rest of April looks cool, which would be good because we'd get a gradual snow melt to minimize the flood risk.
On the other hand, the weather pattern looks like it will be active, with a parade of mid-sized rain storms, which might raise the flood risk. Long range forecasts indicate the region will get one to two inches of rain, total, over the next week or so, which would be somewhat wetter than normal.
And there's no telling if one of these storms in the parade of systems might drop an unusually heavy amount of rain, or squirt a shot of very warm air into Vermont. That would be the worst case scenario for flooding.
So, if you live in a flood prone spot, there's no guarantee you'll get high water, but I'd prepare for it, just to be on the safe side.
 |
| Spring flooding near Enosburg, Vermont in April, 2011. Similar scenes are possible in northern New England over the next few weeks. |
The National Weather Service in South Burlington, Vermont did its biweekly flood potential update last evening, and meteorologists there continue to say there's an above normal risk of spring flooding in the region.
And if flooding happens, it could easily occur starting now and the risk would continue for at least the rest of the month.
At first, the biggest threat is ice jams, as some rivers, particularly more to the north, have thick ice on them. It's going to rain tonight, and again early next week, and that might be enough to start moving the ice and forming ice jams.
(And yes, there is a winter weather advisory up for tonight for most of central and eastern Vermont because of the risk of freezing rain and sleet, but it's still going to rain, too)
Ice jams can form quickly, and flooding behind those jams can form quickly, so be on the alert, starting tomorrow for this risk.
Another rain storm is due early next week, which could also set off the ice jams and low land flooding.
If we get a big period of very warm weather and heavy rain, it would combine with snow melt from the hills and mountains to contribute to some potentially nasty river flooding.
Don't let the bare spots in the snow on valley floors fool you. There's plenty of water locked up in the snow in the woods, and if you go up in elevation only a tiny bit, you get even more water locked up in deep snow.
In the Champlain Valley, there's up to four inches of rain within the remaining snow, says the National Weather Service. At elevations of between 1,000 and 2,500 feet, theres four to eight inches of rain locked up in the snow pack.
If flooding happens in Lake Champlain, and minor flooding is a good bet, it won't happen for awhile yet. In the past week, the lake level has risen from 94.9 feet above sea level to 95.66 feet. So the rise has started, but we've got a long way to go before the lake reaches minor flood stage, which is 100 feet.
It's still, of course impossible to say whether we will get much flooding. The weather pattern for most of the rest of April looks cool, which would be good because we'd get a gradual snow melt to minimize the flood risk.
On the other hand, the weather pattern looks like it will be active, with a parade of mid-sized rain storms, which might raise the flood risk. Long range forecasts indicate the region will get one to two inches of rain, total, over the next week or so, which would be somewhat wetter than normal.
And there's no telling if one of these storms in the parade of systems might drop an unusually heavy amount of rain, or squirt a shot of very warm air into Vermont. That would be the worst case scenario for flooding.
So, if you live in a flood prone spot, there's no guarantee you'll get high water, but I'd prepare for it, just to be on the safe side.
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