After a relatively quiet first three weeks of April weather-wise, the past five days have made up for lost time. Top of the list, of course, has been the deadly tornado outbreaks on April 27-28. In addition, heavy snow in the Rockies and Black Hills has also occurred as well as some extreme heat and amazing rainfall and hail events.
weatherhistorian, • 7:50 PM GMT on April 29, 2014
A late season snowstorm deposited up to 13.5” in northeastern Minnesota (near Gunflint Lake) yesterday April 24th, with 4.3” accumulating at the official NWS site in Duluth. This brings Duluth’s seasonal snowfall total up to 129.6”, 3rd greatest total on record and just shy of the 135.4” measured during the winter of 1995-1996. However, several cities have already broken their seasonal snowfall records. Here’s a brief recap.
weatherhistorian, • 8:20 PM GMT on April 25, 2014
NOAA released its global March 2014 summary today (April 22nd) which stated that it was the 4th warmest March on record over global land and ocean surfaces since 1880. The global average temperature for the month was 12.3°C (54.1°F) which was 0.71°C (1.28°F) above the 20th century average.
weatherhistorian, • 6:59 PM GMT on April 22, 2014
In contrast to much of the contiguous U.S., the National Weather Service (NWS) in Alaska noted in a post this week that Alaska has enjoyed its third warmest ‘winter’ on record for 2013-2014. The period of time they are calling ‘winter’ is for the six months of October 2013 through 2014. Here are a few details.
weatherhistorian, • 7:27 PM GMT on April 18, 2014
March featured a number of anomalous extreme weather events such as the floods in portions of Egypt and New Zealand, a freak hailstorm in Asmara, Eritrea, record warmth in much of Europe, severe cold and snow in the eastern half of the U.S. and heavy rainfall in the Pacific Northwest that culminated in a deadly landslide in Washington. Preliminary data from NASA indicates that globally (land-ocean temperature index), it was the 4th warmest March on record (since 1880).
weatherhistorian, • 8:45 PM GMT on April 15, 2014
Although much attention has (rightly) been focused on the extreme drought in California, it seems that we’ve almost forgotten about how intense and long-lasting the drought has been for much of central and northwestern Texas. This drought developed a long three and half years ago and, in some localities, it is far and away the worst drought on record. That’s the case in Lubbock.
weatherhistorian, • 8:32 PM GMT on April 11, 2014
So far it has been a relatively quiet tornado year across the U.S. with no EF-3 or stronger tornadoes yet reported, the latest in the year for such since at least 1950. However there are almost three weeks left to go in what historically has been one of the deadliest months for tornado outbreaks.
weatherhistorian, • 8:33 PM GMT on April 09, 2014
The U.N. WMO (World Meteorological Organization) recently announced that a ‘new’ world record for a 48-hour (or two day) period has been confirmed following an investigation by a group of climatologists from around the world. The figure is said to be an amazing 2,493 mm (98.15”) at Cherrapunji, India that fell on June 15-16, 1995. However, this may not be what was truly the greatest 48-hour precipitation record.
weatherhistorian, • 9:02 PM GMT on April 07, 2014
March precipitation was near normal for most of central and northern California following a couple of big rain/snow events between March 29-April 1 that helped boost the ground moisture and Sierra snowpack (at least in the northern two thirds of the state). Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the most recent, and last, important snow survey for the season conducted on April 1st has shown. Here are the details.
weatherhistorian, • 7:39 PM GMT on April 03, 2014
A late season blizzard has pounded the northern Plains with snowfall of up to 20” in North Dakota. How unusual is this and when can the last measurable snowfall be expected across the country? Here are some interesting maps on the subject created by climate scientist Brian Brettschneider and some examples of incredible late season snowfalls from the pre-USWB era.
weatherhistorian, • 7:21 PM GMT on April 01, 2014