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| Giant Hurricane Lorenzo in the central Atlantic Ocean this morning. |
There's a couple videos at the bottom of this post.
So let's get going:
WILD HURRICANE LORENZO
Yesterday, I joked a little about Hurricane Lorenzo, in relation to ex-tropical storm Karen. But Hurricane Lorenzo really wowed the weather world last night.
Lorenzo is way out over the central Atlantic, and is no threat to land with the very notable exception of the Azores, which are really under the gun from this storm.
At the end of the week, Lorenzo was a high-end category 4 hurricane, and it was arguably the furthest east in the Atlantic Ocean for such a strong storm. Water temperatures are usually cooler in the eastern half of the Atlantic Ocean than in the western half, at least in the northern hemisphere.
That means those eastern hurricanes tend not to get as strong as those more to the west, since hurricanes crave the warmest water possible to thrive.
Last night, Lorenzo pulled a fast one on everybody. It was expected to slowly weaken as it moved northward over the open water. And it was weakening Friday night and the first half of Saturday.
Lare Saturday night, though, Lorenzo blew up into a category 5 monster with 160 mph sustained winds. Luckily it wasn't near land. This is easily the strongest hurricane on record in the eastern half of the Atlantic. Also the furthest north we've seen a category 5 hurricane.
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| Meteorologist Phil Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) posted this map. The dot in blue is where Category 5 Hurricane Lorenzo was. The red dots are where all other Category 5 hurricanes developed. You can see ho far east Lorenzo is |
As Dennis Mersereau notes in Forbes, and citing meteorologist Eric Blake, the previous record for the furthest east Category 5 was Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which was a good 600 miles west of Lorenzo's position. (Mersereau is @wxdam on Twitter.)
A number of weather experts I've seen on line say this could easily be another sign of climate change. The water in the eastern Atlantic is now warmer than it used to be decades ago, so this region can support more intense storms.
There certainly has been an uptick in unusually strong Atlantic hurricanes in recent years. As Mersereau writes:
"Lorenzo is the second category five hurricane we've seen in the Atlantic Ocean so far this year, and the sixth such storm to form in the Atlantic in the last four years."
As Lorenzo moves north into cooler waters, it will finally weaken and transform into a regular mid-latitude storm. It could bring strong winds and heavy rain to the British Isles toward the end of the week, we'll have to wait and see.
ROCKIES SNOW
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| A lovely September day in Choteau, Montana Saturday |
Some areas, especially in the mountains, can expect a good three feet of snow by the time things taper off Monday night or Tuesday.
Since leaves are still on the trees in many areas, the heavy wet snow is causing a lot of damage to forests, street trees and powerlines. Livestock is suffering and crops are being ruined.
According to meteorologist Jonathan Erdman (@wxjerdman on Twitter), Great Falls, Montana has 9.7 inches of snow Saturday. That's the snowiest September day on record there. It also would have been the snowiest October day in Great Falls. Erman said you'd have to go to November 8, 2012 to find a snowier day in Great Falls.
Over in Spokane, Washington, they had their first September snowfall since 1926. And it was quite a bit considering the season - 1.9 inches.
Cut Bank, Montana has been snowy, with temperatures in the upper 20s and wind chills in the lower teens since Saturday morning. That would be rather unpleasant by January standards here in Vermont.
CALIFORNIA SUPERCELL
A relatively rare supercell thunderstorm developed about midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, California Saturday evening. It produced a possible tornado near Davis, and dumped several inches of hail on one area, including a stretch of major highway.
There was also a smattering of severe storms in the mid-Atlantic states, and in and around Missouri yesterday. One especially strong storm hit a Christian music festival in Pennsylvania Saturday, blowing tents around and injuring six people.
RECORD HEAT
Intense heat continued in the Southeast Saturday, with many more records being set. This state of affairs will continue into the middle of the week. I expect several cities in the East and Ohio and Tennessee Valleys to set all-time records for the month of October.
Several cities in the Southeast and Deep South are having their hottest September on record.
VERMONT IMPACTS
The Green Mountain State will mostly miss the wild weather over the next couple of days. But things will still be interesting. And very changeable.
Yesterday actually felt humid in Vermont ahead of a cold front. Now that front has gone by, and it's cool and sunny. It's going to be a gorgous Sunday for leaf peepers (though most places aren't at peak yet.) Look out tonight, as there will be scattered frost around, especially away from Lake Champlain.
After another nice day Monday, a warm front will come in with some rains for Tuesday. If skies clear enough briefly before a cold front approaches, highs in some parts of Vermont could top 80 degrees
It appears this cold front will give us a good slug of rain especially Wednesday.
Then it will cool down dramatically. It won't be anything too out of the ordinary for October, but it will come as a shock because it's been rather mild lately. By the end of the week and next weekend, highs will only be in the upper 40s to mid 50s. A hard freeze is beginning to look like a fairly good bet next weekend. It could even snow on the mountain peaks.
Yeah, I just said the "s" word.
Some videos:
Possible tornado in Davis, California Saturday:
Incredible amounts of hail on a highway near Davis, California Saturday after a tornado-warned
supercell thunderstorm went by:
And a bit of time spent outdoors in Montana Saturday:
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