On the surface of the Earth hurricanes bring destruction and oftentimes death with a ferocity unlike any other type of weather. Viewed from above however hurricanes seem almost tranquil and in some ways beautiful as is seen in new video of Hurricane Isaac from the International Space Station. Check out the stunning video as well as amazing photos of previous hurricanes as seen from space.
A solicitation on a United States government website seeking hollow point bullets and targets for the National Weather Service caused an online stir today. NOAA was forced to quickly deal with the controversy saying it was a ‘clerical error.’ Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
To listen to the United States’ primary agency responsible for monitoring the climate, one would think the end is near as global temperatures continue to rise at an alarming rate. However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) own monitoring network specifically designed to monitor global warming contradicts these claims. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com to find out why we should be skeptical when we hear claims of record-setting heat.
Sweltering, unseasonably warm temperatures gripped much of the contiguous United States last month breaking many records. In the final analysis of the month, NOAA announced that July was the hottest month ever recorded in the U.S. How hot was it? Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com
The next time severe weather strikes, don’t be surprised to receive a message on your cellular phone from Uncle Sam warning you of the danger. A new service launched by NOAA’s National Weather Service and the nation’s wireless service providers has begun sending out weather warnings to mobile phones. Get more details on this new potentially life-saving system on Examiner.com. Remember too that ThorntonWeather.com offers severe weather alerts via email.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its climate summary for June 2012 showing the United States experienced an unusually warm month. Most notably the U.S. has recorded its warmest first half of the year on record and the warmest 12 month period on record. Climate change? Learn more about the warm weather across the nation on Examiner.com.
Colorado’s deadly and destructive wildfire season continues with as many as a dozen blazes burning in recent days. Smoke from the fires has blanketed parts of the state in recent weeks and new NASA satellite imagery shows the smoke plumes from some of the blazes. Read the rest of this story and view the images on Examiner.com.
NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is called ‘the voice of the National Weather Service’ and provides critical and life saving information when severe weather strikes. ‘Tom’ is one of the latest voices that you hear when listening to it and in the holiday spirit, NOAA had ‘Tom’ sing a classic Christmas carol.
NWR began in the late 1990s and now transmitters for the service allow coverage across most of the nation. When the weather is calm, listeners hear current conditions, forecasts and other weather related news. It is however when severe weather strikes that NWR reaches its real potential.
Many of today’s radios can be programmed to turn on automatically and sound an alert when severe weather or another national emergency occurs. These alerts can make the difference between life and death, particularly when a fast developing situation like tornadoes occur.
We have long extolled the virtues of the system and recommended that all homes should have them, particularly in places like Colorado that are prone to tornadoes. It can also provide critical information during other types of disasters like earthquakes, chemical spills, and AMBER alerts.
‘Tom’ is one of the current text to speech voices of NOAA Weather Radio. He, along with ‘Donna’ and ‘Javier’ are the voices you hear when listening to the system.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released updated outlooks for winter 2011 – 2012 indicating it could be a snowy one for the northern half of Colorado.
The original outlooks from the agency released previously offered a drier picture, primarily based on the influences of La Niña in the Pacific. Given however that the current event is relatively mild, its effects are limited, particularly this far inland.
For the meteorological winter from December 2011 to February 2012, NOAA places virtually all of Colorado in an area that has equal chance of well above, well below, or near-normal temperatures. However, the northern half of the state, including Denver, is given a 33% chance of experiencing above normal precipitation.
NOAA said:
The winter outlook for this winter favors above average temperatures across much of the South, from New Mexico across the Southeast to the Atlantic coast… and also favors below average temperatures across much of the Northern plain, the Northern Rockies, the Pacific Northwest, and a good part of the West as well as the southern half of Alaska.
With regards to precipitation, we see those areas most likely to experience below-average precipitation across the South– in particular Florida and Texas– with a better than even chance of being wetter than average across much of the North– particularly from the Ohio valley and the Northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest.
Last year, Denver experienced second least snowiest snow season on record as the city only recorded 22.8 inches (21.2 inches in Thornton). This season the picture is much improved with 22.2 inches having been recorded so far – nearly as much as all of last season.
On the net:
Strengthening La Niña conditions in the Pacific could lead to another dry winter on the Colorado Front Range according to the winter 2011 / 2012 outlook released by NOAA. However, as we well know, Mother Nature is never consistent and other factors could give us some help.
Last year a relatively strong La Niña made ski areas in Colorado very happy while at lower elevations we were bone dry. The high country saw record-setting amounts of snowfall but Denver endured its second least-snowiest season on record.
While temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean are indeed cooler than normal – and getting cooler – at this point they remain warmer than they were last year at this same time. This does help us hold out some hope that the winter won’t be as dry as last year.
It should also be noted that the effects of La Niña and El Niño in Colorado are much harder to predict and less consistent than in other places in the nation. Our location near the middle of the country with the monstrous Rocky Mountains adjacent to us oftentimes throws a wrench in the works.
From NOAA:
U.S. dealt another La Niña winter but ‘wild card’ could trump it
Devastating drought in Southern Plains likely to continue
The Southern Plains should prepare for continued drier and warmer than average weather, while the Pacific Northwest is likely to be colder and wetter than average from December through February, according to the annual Winter Outlook released today by NOAA.
For the second winter in a row, La Niña will influence weather patterns across the country, but as usual, it’s not the only climate factor at play. The ‘wild card’ is the lesser-known and less predictable Arctic Oscillation that could produce dramatic short-term swings in temperatures this winter.
NOAA expects La Niña, which returned in August, to gradually strengthen and continue through the upcoming winter. It is associated with cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean and influences weather throughout the world.
“The evolving La Niña will shape this winter,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “There is a wild card, though. The erratic Arctic Oscillation can generate strong shifts in the climate patterns that could overwhelm or amplify La Niña’s typical impacts.”
The Arctic Oscillation is always present and fluctuates between positive and negative phases. The negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation pushes cold air into the U.S. from Canada. The Arctic Oscillation went strongly negative at times the last two winters, causing outbreaks of cold and snowy conditions in the U.S. such as the “Snowmaggedon” storm of 2009. Strong Arctic Oscillation episodes typically last a few weeks and are difficult to predict more than one to two weeks in advance.
With La Niña in place Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and parts of surrounding states are unlikely to get enough rain to alleviate the ongoing drought. Texas, the epicenter of the drought, experienced its driest 12-month period on record from October 2010 through September 2011.
Stormy periods can occur anytime during the winter season. To improve the ability to predict and track winter storms, NOAA implemented a more accurate weather forecast model on Oct.18. Data gathered from the model will support local weather forecast office efforts to prepare for and protect the public from weather events. This service is helping the country to become a Weather-Ready Nation at a time when extreme weather is on the rise.
According to the U.S. Winter Outlook (December through February) odds tilt in favor of:
This seasonal outlook does not project where and when snowstorms may hit or provide total seasonal snowfall accumulations. Snow forecasts are dependent upon winter storms, which are generally not predictable more than a week in advance.