Winter In The USA 2012-2013.

[Mark]

MISSOULA - Missoula residents sure are seeing white...lots of white.
 
The National Weather Service reports that Friday's snowfall set a record for the day.
 
NWS says 7.7 inches was recorded at Missoula International Airport, shattering the old record of 3.5 inches set in 1971.
 
Heavy snow fell all across Western Montana, including in Flathead County.
 
The National Weather Service reports nearly two feet of snow has fallen in the last 24 hours near Essex. That has U.S. Highway 2 down to one lane one mile north of Essex.
 
Around 10 inches of snow was reported near Libby, about eight inches of snow was reported near Creston and five inches was recorded near Condon and Heron.


http://www.kaj18.com/news/record-snowfall-seen-in-missoula/

[Rwood]

Chicago snow scanty and late...

http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/

[Mark]

Parts of South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota were digging out this morning  after high winds, frigid air and heavy snowfall pounded the Upper Midwest on Sunday.
 
Parts of Minnesota received more than a foot of snow, prompting the Minnesota Department of Transportation to close some highways due to blizzard conditions.
 
A record daily snowfall of 10.2 inches was set at Twin Cities, Minnesota, on Sunday, breaking the old daily record of 7.4 inches set in 1961.
 
The Minnesota State Patrol reported more than 600 crashes by Monday morning, and at least 1,140 spinouts. One person was killed in a crash near Red Wing and injuries were reported in 63 other accidents, the patrol said.
 
The heaviest snowfall was reported in Sacred Heart, Minn., with more than 17.3 inches.
 
Bone-chilling winter temperatures were forecast to spread into much of the country in the early part of the week.
 
Amazing photos:
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2245898/Twin-Cities-weather-Massive-snow-blizzard-leaves-1-dead-causes-600-crashes-Minnesota.html
 
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/10/15812394-heavy-snowfall-blankets-upper-midwest-and-northern-plains?lite
 
http://news.yahoo.com/storm-clobbers-midwest-snow-wind-frigid-air-180928133.html

[Mark]

December17, 2012 – SEATTLE – Up to 12 inches of further snowfall is forecast for parts of northern New England – and a second wintry storm is crossing the U.S. in its wake, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth. The current snowfall in northern New York state and New England will continue through Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with as much as 15 inches possible in some areas. Meanwhile, another cross-country storm – Winter Storm Draco – was expected to bring heavy snow to the Northwest on Monday. The higher elevations of the Cascades will see as much as 2 to 3 feet of snow above 7000 ft, Weather.com reported, with significant accumulations below 3000 ft. The National Weather Service said the probability of “large amounts of snow remains high across the majority of windward facing slopes of the Pacific Northwest and portions of the Northern Rockies.” King5.com reported that the storm is expected to bring high winds to Western Washington and whiteout conditions to the west slopes of the Cascades and passes. The system is expected to move to the Southwest and Rockies Tuesday and Wednesday before bringing snow to the eastern half of the country later Wednesday through Friday. Roth added there would likely be a lake-effect snow threat behind the storm on Thursday and Friday. -NBC
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/17/15966601-snow-storms-forecast-for-parts-of-new-england-northwest?lite

[Mark]

Chicago could end up being buried by snow if the storm tracks through central Illinois, a path that cannot be ruled out, says Accuweather.com
 
Beginning today, the snow will spread from the Sierra to the southern Rockies, reaching Denver Wednesday. Snow will also streak eastward to the central Plains, potentially dropping as far south as the northern Texas panhandle.
 
Blizzard conditions are possible across eastern Colorado and western portions of Kansas and Nebraska on Wednesday, moving into Northeastern Kansas to Iowa by Wednesday night with the harshest conditions spreading from Iowa to Wisconsin on Thursday.
 
Snow amounts will steadily increase northeastward from Kansas and eastern Nebraska to Michigan with the highest amounts likely to be in the 6-to-12 inch range.
 
Winds on the storm’s backside could fuel severe weather across the South Wednesday night into Thursday.
 
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/denver-to-chicago-green-bay-sn/2816377


   

[Mark]

December 20, 2012 – CUMBERLAND. Md — The first official day of winter Friday may bring a real taste of seasonal weather with several inches of snow, gusting winds and wind chill readings in the single-digit range. And, to no surprise, the higher elevations are expected to bear the brunt of the storm. AccuWeather meteorologist Paul Walker said Wednesday that a winter storm will be moving into the area Thursday afternoon. “The storm will be starting off with warmer temperatures and rain and then change into snow showers Thursday night and into Friday. There will be a few inches of snow and windy with some pretty cold air moving in,” said Walker, who has been a professional weather forecaster for 35 years. Six to 12 inches of snow could be expected in far Western Maryland and 3 to 6 inches in the lower elevations of the region. The National Weather Service posted a winter storm watch for Garrett County and extreme western Allegany County for the period from Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon. Tim Thomas, local observer of the National Weather Service, said, “This will be a wind-driven event and we will have snow showers but we don’t really expect any snow accumulations in Cumberland.” But for Frostburg and points west, the weather may be much worse. The forecast also calls for wind gusts from 40 to 50 mph, temperatures with high readings in the lower 30s and upper 20s. Wind-chill readings are expected to hover in the 8- to 12-degree range. “The coldest period will be Friday night into Saturday,” said Walker. To the east, precipitation will begin as rain before colder temperatures bring flurries and a possible ground covering of snow into the weekend. The winter storm watch indicates snow could be heavy at times. In Garrett County, public officials warned of possible power outages from the storm. “The National Weather Service has upgraded the weekend weather event to a potential blizzard warning. Extremely high winds and heavy snow accumulations are expected from Thursday night through much of the weekend,” said Brad Frantz, director of the county’s emergency management and 911 operations, Wednesday morning. “Significant power outages are a distinct possibility once again, especially with the many limbs and branches still hanging from Hurricane Sandy,” said Frantz. –Times News
 

[Rwood]

From the Chicago weather centre:

December 2012’s running 9th warmest on record; 2012 just days away from closing as Chicago's warmest year on record

2012 comes to an end in a little more than a week and it appears on a path to become Chicago's warmest year of the past 142.

Contributing to that average has been Dec. 2012’s stunningly mild average temperature of 40-degrees—the 9th warmest on the books here since 1871.

Saturday is to be the 25th consecutive day at/above normal.

Despite all the snow around us, the lack of snowfall here has been matched or exceeded only twice before in 128 years

Only 2 snow seasons have produced as little or less snow than 2012-13's paltry 0.3" to date: 1943 (0.3") & 1993 (0.2"). But, the snow scene here can change quickly. An average of 80% of Chicago's snow falls from this date forward!

[Mark]

Midwest digging out from up to 20 inches (51 cm) of snow.
 
Much of the Midwest is digging out after a major snowstorm dumped more than a foot of snow in some areas.
 
Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights on Thursday as the storm dumped up to 20 inches of snow across parts of the Midwest, caused blizzard conditions that led to seven deaths and left more than 400,000 people without electricity.
 
According to weather forecasters, in some locations a single storm dumped over a month’s worth of snow.
 
The heavy snowfall was accompanied by strong winds which downed hundreds of trees.
 
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16063767-storm-lashes-northeast-with-wind-rain-hundreds-of-flights-disrupted?lite
 
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_12_21/US-hit-by-blizzards-massive-blackouts/

[Mark]

Will spread from the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes and Northeast. Travelers beware!
 Beginning Tuesday, snow will intensify as it spreads from the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles to the Red River and western Arkansas, then move northeastward into the Ohio Valley, the eastern Great Lakes (perhaps even the central Great Lakes ) and the Northeast, says Accuweather.com.
 
Some snow could even press as far south as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Tuesday and northern Louisiana Tuesday night.
 
The storm has the potential to unleash more than a half of foot of snow in Arkansas. Totals may even top a foot, especially farther north across the eastern Great Lakes and interior Northeast.
 
The snowstorm is sure to create a nightmare for travelers.
 
All residents and visitors from the southern Plains to the central Great Lakes and East should closely monitor this impending storm for updates by AccuWeather.com.
 
http://local.msn.com/WeatherArticle.aspx?cp-documentid=255296118

[Mark]

For the third Christmas holiday in the past four years, we have a major winter storm to track in the U.S.

Winter Storm Euclid, by the time it departs New England Friday, will have deposited snow from California's Sierra to New England.  Unfortunately, this occurs not only during the Christmas holiday, but also in the peak travel period after Christmas Day in the South, Midwest, and East.

After leaving behind up to six feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada on Saturday and Sunday, Euclid brought the Rockies a fresh blanket of snow on Christmas Eve. Amounts of 1 to 3 inches fell around Denver and Salt Lake City with higher amounts in the mountains.

Then, Euclid brought heavy snow to the South on Christmas Day, with up to a foot of snow in Arkansas and blizzard conditions reported in parts of Oklahoma and north Texas.

Now, Euclid is spreading its tentacles into the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, and Northeast. Let's step through the next phases of Winter Storm Euclid, starting with the mess in the Midwest.

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http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-euclid-forecast

[Mark]

A wicked winter storm swept east across the United States Wednesday, dumping more than a foot of snow in places, knocking out power to tens of thousands, and leaving hundreds of planes grounded.
 
“Blizzard warnings stretch for 730 continuous miles,” The Weather Channel’s Tom Niziol reported.
 
The storm socked Albion, Illinois, about 300 miles south of Chicago, with 18 inches of snow.
 
In Indianapolis, seven inches of snow fell in three hours Wednesday morning, the Indianapolis Star reported.
 
Snowiest day EVER in Little Rock, Arkansas
 
Little Rock, Arkansas, had its snowiest day ever, with nine inches on the ground.
 
The storm is now headed northeast, where more than a foot of snow is forecast for parts of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and up to a foot for New England.
 
By the time it leaves the New England coast on Friday, the storm will have left snow from coast to coast – with still more on the way.
 
Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton said another winter storm is poised to enter the West Coast on Wednesday, move through the Rockies on Thursday, then head for the lower Mississippi Valley, then the Southeast, and hit the Northeast on Sunday.
 
See entire article:
 http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16162773-holiday-travelers-stranded-as-snow-and-wild-weather-head-east?lite

[Mark]

The powerful winter storm that swept through the nation’s middle on Wednesday dumped record snowfall in Arkansas, where ice and ten inches of snow snapped power poles and dropped lines.
 
Some of the nearly 200,000 people who lost power could be without it for as long as a week, said the state’s largest utility, Entergy Arkansas.
 
Snow hadn’t fallen in Little Rock on Christmas since 1926, but the capital ended Tuesday with 10.3 inches of it.
 
As the storm, blamed for 12 deaths,  moved Northeast, forecasts called for a foot or more snow in some locations.
 
http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/27/news/doc50dc4b7bbef87764066980.txt

[Rwood]

Refer page 14. Will take more than some snowfalls to reverse this (or the 2012 result).

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf

[Mark]

“Last year it wasn’t like this at all, now it’s catching up to us,” said Eric Cruz of Rochester.
 
Thursday’s snowfall caught up in a record breaking way. Some parts of the city saw more than 10 inches (25 cm) of snow and some parts of the county up to 14 inches.
 
“We saw it last night but I wasn’t expecting it to be quite this bad this morning when I got out here,” said Sara Granger of Rochester.
 
When the snow hits, it’s business as usual at the City’s Operations Center. Norman Jones, the director, says this time with the record breaking snowfall, they had to use additional resources.
 
The city’s snow removal efforts started Wednesday night and will continue until all roads are clear and safe for everyone.
 
http://rochester.ynn.com/content/top_stories/625321/rochestarians-dig-out-after-record-sno wfall/

[Mark]

A fast-moving storm is expected to dump several inches of snow on big cities and up to a foot in other areas of the Northeast.
 
We’ll see the heaviest of the snow from Boston back into Rhode Island, said NBC meteorologist Dylan Dreyer.
 
New York City could see 3 to 5 inches of snow.
 
Several hundred flights were canceled and several thousand delayed by midday Saturday as the storm moved in.
 
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/29/16236065-snowstorm-disrupts-hundreds-of-flights-across-northeast?lite=

[Mark]

More snow so far this winter than ALL of last winter.
 
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29 Dec 2012  - “Apparently we are making up for last years lack of snow,” says this article on wdtn.com. “Today we had a record snowfall of 2.2 inches which puts us at 10.6 inches for December.  We’ve already seen more snow than we did last year.”
 
“This morning accumulations varied with a few spots in Mercer county picking up five additional inches while most locations saw about 2 to 3 inches.”
 
http://blogs.wdtn.com/2012/12/29/record-snowfall-today-helped-us-surpass-last-year-total/

[Mark]

Heavenly ski area in California
 
“Kick off 2013 the right way with concerts, parties and snow in South Lake Tahoe! Tahoe has been receiving a lot of snow over the past couple weeks, and so far this season Heavenly has received over 11.5 FEET to 16 FEET of snow. Tear up the slopes on your skis and snowboards all weekend long, the conditions have been absolutely incredible! Heavenly has 4704 acres open – the most in California, you can ski/ride between 2 different states, and there’s everything from beginner to double black diamond terrain to choose from.”

http://blog.skiheavenly.com/2012/12/27/new-years-eve-at-heavenly-2012/

[Mark]

As of January 1, 2013, we have more snow on the ground in the U.S then in the past 10 years.

And records only go back 10 years calculating the percentages.
 
January 1 2013: 67%
 January 1 2012: 20%
 January 1 2011: 50%
 January 1 2010: 61%
 January 1 2009: 39%
 January 1 2008: 47%
 January 1 2007: 43%
 January 1 2006: 29%
 January 1 2005: 25%
 January 1 2004: 29%
 
More interestingly, while there were only a few local spots below normal for the month of December, most of the nation was ABOVE normal. Snow cover went from 13% on Dec 1 to 66% of the U.S covered with snow on Jan 1.
 
http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.html?region=National&year=2003&month=1&da y=1&units=e

[Mark]

Next time you’re bombing down the Bomber Run at Mission Ridge Ski & Board Resort, consider that you’re cruising through history,” says this article in the Wenatchee World.
 
The popular ski run, along with every other inch of the 6,820-foot-high ski facility, has received a near-record snowfall this season.
 
“We’ve had historic, near-perfect snow conditions,” said Jordan Lindstrom, the Ridge’s marketing and sales director. “Early wet snow gave us a good, solid base, and lots of powder came soon after. It’s one of the best starts since we began keeping records 42 years ago.”
 
Second best, in fact. Through November and December, 124 inches of snow fell at the Ridge for a 62-inch snowpack at the summit with 41 inches at the base. The only season to beat it was back in 1996-97, when 133 inches blanketed the mountain.
 
And it just keeps on coming. On Monday, a morning storm dumped another 4 inches on Ridge slopes with more snow forecast for Tuesday, Wednesday and the upcoming weekend.
 
Last season, it took until around Jan. 21 when the mountain’s snow reached optimal ski conditions, said Lindstrom. This season, February conditions arrived in December.
 
SNOWFALL’S A WINDFALL IN METHOW VALLEY, TOO
 
Meanwhile in Winthrop, James DeSalvo sat in his office last week and marveled as the snow kept coming down.
 
The executive director of the Methow Valley Sport Trails Association said some storms this winter have brought an inch an hour and, in one wintry week, 2 feet of new snow in four days.
 
Across North Central Washington, cross-country and downhill ski operations have benefitted from an early-winter weather pattern that funneled a series of storms through the region in November and December.
 
At Stevens Pass, that weather pattern has brought some of the deepest snow in the last five years. So far, 282 inches have fallen this season, producing a 90-inch snowpack at the summit and 83 inches at the base. Four inches of new snow fell Monday night, 9 inches in the last 24 hours and 16 inches in the last two days, according to the facility’s website.
 
http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2013/jan/08/historic-snow-favors-ridge-and-crowds-follow/?a


   

[Mark]

Blizzard for the Dakotas and Minnesota
 
There is the potential for close to a foot of snow covering thousands of square miles of the West, including portions of Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, northwestern Nebraska, the Dakotas and  northwestern Minnesota. Heavy snow will also graze Canada from southern Alberta to Northwest Ontario.
 
Very difficult, if not dangerous travel unfolded over portions of I-90 in western South Dakota and I-94 over much of North Dakota Friday.
 
In some areas temperatures were 40 to 50 degrees lower than highs experience Thursday, with a push of much colder air to follow.
 
The storm will drive freezing air into Southern California and Arizona.
 
The latest snow map for is available on AccuWeather.com’s Winter Weather Center.
 
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/week-ending-snowstorm-utah-to/3832305