7 February 2010
Some Context to The Historic East Coast Blizzard
Posted by Dan Satterfield
If you live in the Northeastern USA or Western Europe you are living through a very historic winter. Same for those living ,where I write this tonight, in Tulsa Oklahoma. Snow, snow and a lot more snow. Baltimore is buried under at least two feet tonight.
What’s causing it?
The Arctic Oscillation. (AO)
It also goes by other names. Older forecasters like myself prefer the NAO for North Atlantic Oscillation. Younger and brighter meteorologists prefer the Northern Annular Mode. Whatever you call it, the result is the same. This is what you can blame for all the snow.
My friend Bob Henson at the National Centers for Atmospheric Research is an expert at making something complicated easy. If you don’t believe me, read his book the Rough Guide to Climate Change. Click the image below to see his explanation.
It won’t get your car dug out, or your power back on sooner, but you will at least know why you are freezing under the covers!
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.
I am wondering what these current conditions hold in store for the arctic sea ice this summer.
If the AO stays in its current phase through to say, June, will warmer than normal conditions be maintained in the Arctic?
On top of already warming trends up there?
The overriding factor on Arctic Sea ice is that the ice is mainly young and thin so any pattern of above normal temperatures/sea temps. will cause rapid melting. As for the AO on sea ice- not sure. The AO is not as much of a factor in Summer but I will look into that.