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15 December 2017
Take Three Minutes and Study These Two Graphs
One of the biggest science meetings on the planet is underway in New Orleans right now. The AGU meeting is huge and a LOT of newsmaking science comes out of it. This year is no different. The AMS published a special edition of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) to coincide with this conference and the AMS annual meeting that I’m looking forward to attending in Austin next month. …
14 October 2016
Hurricane Force Winds Coming to Oregon/Washington
The last time that the NWS office in Portland,Oregon issued a tornado warning was in November of 2014, but they issued one today as an intense low moved through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and brought gusts over hurricane force on the aptly named Hurricane Ridge at Olympic Nat. Park. Winds are gusting to 44 mph south in Astoria,Oregon and this is just the first storm. The storm tomorrow will be …
15 September 2015
2015 Temperatures Head for the Record Book
So how does 2015 compare with the warmest year on record (last year). Hat tip to Sou at Hot Whopper for this. (FYI: AUG. was second hottest on record behind last year (.01C difference). and this info map from NWS Fresno on the biggest fire in California history: How dry is it? New paper in Nature Climate Change shows this is the lowest snow pack in the Sierra in 500 …
31 May 2015
Will El Nino Break the California Drought? The Odds Are Not Good
I‘ve been doing a little research into the coming El Nino and how it might relieve the epic California drought. The news isn’t very good, but the short of it is this: California needs to beseech Mother Nature for a supersized El Nino, because a regular size will probably not do the job. Look at the image above from a blog post by Tom DiLiberto last fall (on the excellent …
2 April 2015
The California Drought from Space
The animated GIF image below shows the snow pack on the Sierra on April 3 2013, and today April 2, 2015. Keep in mind that California was in serious drought even in 2013 but it’s a whole lot worse now.
9 December 2014
Beware the Juice of Freshly Picked California Cherries
There has been some talk about a report on the California drought that was released this week, and it’s worth talking about the reaction to it. One thing that seems to have gotten particular attention is the following statement: “The current drought is not part of a long-term change in California precipitation, which exhibits no appreciable trend since 1895. Key oceanic features that caused precipitation inhibiting atmospheric ridging off the …
2 December 2014
Seems It Finally Rains In Southern California (and it snows too!)
Heavy rain and snow is moving into California tonight, as an intense surface/upper level low pressure system taps warm tropical air to the south and shoves it into California. California gets most of its rain in winter and you might be surprised to know that most if it comes from just 5-6 storms. The water vapor imagery from the GOES shows the storm well. Keep in mind that you are …
30 September 2014
The Devil In The Climate Change Details
Greenland is melting, the oceans are warming, the sea is rising (and becoming more acidic), and the Arctic sea ice is in a serious decline (that seems to be faster than predicted). These are all things that those who work in climate science understand and accept. They also accept that they are almost certainly being caused by rising greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Yes, large portions of the public may not …
8 August 2014
This Is Why Canada and The West Are Burning
NASA posted this map of the temperature anomalies over North America for July, and you can easily see why we there is so much wildfire activity in the U.S. West and Canada North. This is why dense smoke is travelling thousands of miles to the Eastern Seaboard. The heat out west has now pushed much of California into Exceptional Drought” status.
9 February 2014
…and In Other Science News This Weekend
NUCLEAR WINTER What are you seeing, and what does it have to with weather? Check out this post on the CIMMS Satellite blog from the Uni. of Wisconsin. WELL MADE POINT After last week’s (and the previous week’s) viral false rumor about an impending doomsday blizzard (see this post), the NWS in New York posted this graphic on Twitter Friday. It was welcomed by every real meteorologist (in TV or …
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.