Saturday evening the stage was set for severe weather across the nation’s heartland and Mother Nature came through in spades. More than a dozen tornadoes were reported as were scores of significant hail events.
Despite the number of events most resulted in little damage. However one tornado, by some accounts as big as three quarters of a mile wide, struck the town of Mapleton, Iowa. This massive wedge tornado struck at 7:21 CDT and caused significant damage in the town.
The video below was captured by storm chasers as they tracked the dangerous tornado.
Forecasters are warning of a very active hurricane season and an increased potential for landfall in the United States. (Natural Disasters Examiner)
Forecasters at Colorado State University released an updated 2011 Atlantic hurricane forecast that if it holds true, portends a very eventful season. The forecast warns of a 175 percent above normal level of activity and most troubling warns that the United States is overdue to get struck by a major hurricane.
CSU forecasters are calling for 16 named storms during the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season. Of those they expect nine will become hurricanes and five of those will be major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher).
These estimates far exceed the historical 1950 to 2000 average. During that period the Atlantic averaged 9.6 named storms per year, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major hurricanes.
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The team warned that whether a hurricane forecast calls for above or below normal activity, residents should always be equally prepared. Dr. Phil Klotzbach said, “It takes only one landfall event near you to make this an active season.”
Breaking down the team’s analysis further, they gave a 72 percent chance that at least one major hurricane will make landfall along the U.S. coastline. By comparison, the long-term average probability is 52 percent.
This recent 9 of 11-year period without any major landfall events should not be expected to continue.
~ Dr. William Gray
By region CSU forecasters put a 48% chance on the probability that a major hurricane will strike the East Coast. Nearly matching that they said there was a 47% probably a major hurricane would hit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Dr. William Gray noted that overall the Atlantic Basin is primed for significant hurricane activity. He said that since 1999, only the 2004 and 2005 seasons saw a major hurricane make landfall in the U.S. and this scenario is not likely to continue. Gray warns, “This recent 9 of 11-year period without any major landfall events should not be expected to continue.”
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According to the National Weather Service the tornado initially touched down at about 9:00am local time yesterday as an EF1. As it tracked to the northeast the tornado increased to EF2 strength packing winds up to 120mph. At its maximum size it was 150 yards across.
Four people suffered injuries from the tornado and 25 residential and commercial structures were damages. Cars in a strip mall were tossed about like toys and a gas station awning collapsed.
Alexander Hardware and Small Engine was in the path of the tornado when it was at its strongest after it passed over Theodore Dawes Road. The store sustained a near direct strike from the twister.
Video captured by Alexander’s surveillance cameras provide video proof of the power and fury of the twister. In one video, employees are seen tentatively looking out the front door before running for cover as the tornado struck. The second video provides an overall view of the store interior as the tornado hits sending shelves and merchandise flying.
NASA satellite imagery reveals that at one point in January 2011 the nation saw its fifth largest snow cover extent. Click the image for a larger view. (NASA)
How much snow has fallen this season in Colorado all depends on where you are. The high country has continued to see snowfall far in excess of normal while here on the Plains we remain mostly dry. For the nation, a new NASA satellite image reveals that 71 percent of it was covered in snow at one point last month.
The new image (right), taken by NASA’s Terra satellite using its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), reveals a snow covered contiguous United States in January.
The image uses false colors to show the snow extent and the length of time it was on the ground. White areas were completely covered with snow for most of the month whereas the pale green areas had snow for part of the month or were only partly snowy.
On January 12, 71 percent was covered in snow – the fifth largest amount of snow cover in the past 45 years. In fact, 49 of the 50 states had snow thanks to a significant winter storm that pummeled the Gulf Coast states with Florida being the only hold out.
Despite the expansive snow cover, the National Climatic Data Center said that January 2011 was the ninth-driest January in the United States since 1894. Further, while snow reached the Gulf Coast states, the southern half of the nation has been very dry with a large area from stretching Arizona to Virginia considered in various stages of drought.
Eastern Colorado is now seeing areas of moderate to severe drought as the lack of snowfall we have seen takes its toll. In Denver we have recorded only 18.1 inches of snow so far this season – 21.5 inches below what we would normally see through the end of February. Thornton has barely fared better recording 18.5 inches so far.
Did you know there is no such holiday as "Presidents Day?" The holiday is technically titled "Washington's Birthday" per Section 6103 (a) of Title 5 of the United States Code.
The holiday began with an Act of Congress in 1880 and was for government offices in Washington DC. It was expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices and was celebrated on George Washington’s actual birthday of February 22.
Then, in 1971 the Uniform Monday Holiday Act shifted the celebration to the third Monday of each February so now the date can range anywhere from the 15th to the 21st. An early draft of that act would have renamed the holiday to Presidents Day but it failed in a Congressional committee in 1968.
So there you have it. When someone says something about Monday’s holiday being Presidents Day, you can correct them and tell them there is no such holiday.
Q. Why did the National Weather Service (NWS) change its weather forecast references from Presidents Day to Washington’s Birthday in 2011?
A. Weather forecast references were changed because the holiday is officially designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in Section 6103 (a) of Title 5 of the United States Code, which is the law that specifies holidays for Federal employees. Although other institutions such as state and local governments and private businesses may use other names, it is NWS policy to refer to holidays by the names designated in the law.
Q. Wasn’t the holiday changed to Presidents Day when it was established by Congress to be observed on the third Monday in February?
A. No. The effort to rename the holiday Presidents Day, intended to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln, failed in Congressional committee. The bill, which was then signed into law on June 28, 1968, specified that the Federal holiday would retain the name Washington’s Birthday. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of January 1, 1971, established its observance on the third Monday in February.
Q. What changes did the NWS implement to make this change?
A. The NWS changed the software on all its Internet web pages and at all local Weather Forecast Offices so that forecasts which include Washington’s Birthday will show the officially designated name for the holiday this year and into the future.
Snowfall totals from the latest snowstorm to strike the northeastern United States. Click the image for a larger view. (Examiner.com)
Yet another major snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States yesterday and last night, their third in less than a month. Snow totals in many areas from this single storm have far exceeded what Denver has received for its entire snow season thus far.
Snow began falling on Wednesday snarling evening commutes from Virginia to New York and picked up in intensity overnight.
Snowfall totals this morning include 18.9 inches at Newark Airport, 19.0 inches at Central Park and 15.1 inches in Philadelphia (click here to view the latest totals from across the region). These all dwarf Denver’s official seasonal total thus far of 12.1 inches!
Even President Barack Obama was not immune to the storm as Marine One, the presidential helicopter, was grounded due to the weather Wednesday. Returning from a trip to Wisconsin, the president took a motorcade back to the White House instead and spent an hour stuck in traffic.
As many as 400,000 residents across the northeast are without electricity as the unusually wet snow wreaked havoc with the utilities. Public schools are closed Thursday and many government offices followed suit with the only exception being emergency personnel.
New York area airports shuttered Wednesday causing flight delays and cancellations across the nation. The FAA reports that most should open late this morning or this afternoon.
Virtually every major city has reported seasonal snowfall totals so far this year far in excess of normal. New York City, Boston, Worcester and Providence all have accumulated more than a foot of snow above average.
Click the image to the left to view a slideshow of images of the snow around New York City (Examiner.com).
A 'super storm' like one that struck California 150 years ago would flood an area hundreds of miles long. (USGS / Google Earth)
California and earthquakes go together like coffee and a cup but a new study suggests that an entirely different kind of disaster may have a bigger impact. The U.S. Geological Survey gathered 117 scientists to evaluate a hypothetical – but possible – “super storm” and its impact on the Golden State.
At the end of 1861 and into the beginning of 1862 a very wet Pacific storm inundated California with rain. This storm turned much of the Sacramento Valley into an inland sea and flooded an area hundreds of miles long.
Today, California is the United State’s most populous state and it has the equivalent of the eighth largest economy in the world. The study shows that if a similar storm were to occur today the result would be disastrous.
The implications of this disaster scenario are tremendous and stretch far beyond California’s borders. Further, one has to wonder ‘what if’ Thornton and the Denver area were presented with a similar scenario?
Snow cover across Colorado as imaged by NASA satellites on January 12, 2011. View a larger image below and images of snow elsewhere in the nation.
Snow cover across the lower 48 states jumped to more than 70% in recent days as a number of snowstorms dumped a blanket of white. NASA satellites took some extraordinary images of not only Colorado but also the South and the northeastern U.S.
Here in Colorado our recent storm brought nearly 6 inches of snow to Thornton and deposited a pretty solid layer across most of the state. Warm weather today and in the coming days will make short work of it though, particularly on the eastern half of the state.
Little Rock, Arkansas reported 5.6 inches of snow, Atlanta 3.0 inches and 7.0 inches fell on Tupelo, Mississippi, Asheville, North Carolina and New Boston, Texas. Adding to the problems was ice which coated some places up to an inch and a half thick.
The same storm system that wreaked havoc in the south moved to the northeast and brought snow from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. The region was buried by a major snowstorm right after Christmas and while this storm wasn’t near as bad, it added to the misery.
The images below were taken yesterday by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites and are impressive testaments to the powerful winter weather. For more on all of these storm systems, be sure to visit the Natural Disasters Examiner.
Snow now covers nearly three quarters of the lower 48 states and 47 of the 48 have at least some snow. (NOAA)
For much of the lower 48 states of the United States the 2010 to 2011 winter season has been a rough one. Blizzards and snowstorms have stretched into the Deep South and this morning data shows that nearly three quarters of the nation is covered in snow.
The latest analysis from NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center shows 69.4% of the lower 48 states covered in snow as of this morning. This is a significant increase over the 33.1% cover seen in December and bests the previous snow season’s highest number.
Perhaps most interesting is that 47 of the lower 48 states and 49 of all 50 states including Hawaii have at least some snow with the only exception being Florida. Even the Deep South reaching nearly to the Gulf of Mexico is covered in a blanket of white today after ice and snow pummeled the region yesterday. Early this morning only five of the 48 did not have some sort of a winter weather warning or advisory in effect.
The housing areas of Fort Leonard Wood were devastated by a New Year's Eve tornado. View more images in the slideshow below. (4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade)
An unusual New Year’s Eve tornado outbreak brought on twisters across Arkansas and Missouri causing widespread destruction. Seven lives have been reported lost and one tornado struck Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army base in northwestern Missouri.
Strong thunderstorms spawned the tornado outbreak that included 44 tornado reports although the actual number of twisters is likely much lower once duplicates are removed. Three fatalities were recorded in Arkansas, four in Missouri.
Preliminary damage assessments from the National Weather Service indicate the two most significant tornadoes were EF-3 twisters packing winds as high as 150 mph.
Slideshow: Fort Leonard Wood Army base devastated by New Year's Eve tornado
At the Army post in Pulaski County, images show extensive damage to structures at the base, many of which were part of the base housing and training areas. Officials said that only four minor injuries were sustained at the base.
View images of the destruction at Fort Leonard Wood in the slideshow to the right. For more on this story, visit the Natural Disasters Examiner and these stories:
