Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Des Moines, Iowa, To Feel Global Warming -- Not A Bakken Story

Updates

December 20, 2012: the blizzard is raging. (the link may be dynamic)

Blizzard conditions with heavy snow and high winds are impacting eastern Iowa, Wisconsin, portions of Michigan and northwestern Illinois with snow-packed roads.
The heaviest snow is falling at a rate of up to an inch per hour in this zone. There have been reports of thundersnow in some of the heaviest bands of snow. Gusts up to 50 mph are causing blowing snow, lowering the visibility to less than 1/4 of a mile.
December 19, 2012: how big is this storm gonna be? Here's the forecast for Wisconsin (sent in by Don):
A dangerous winter storm will impact the area tonight through Thursday. Travel will become impossible and potentially life-threatening by late tonight through ...Thursday. Plan on whiteout conditions and 2 to 4 foot snow drifts in open areas. Snowfall totals will range from 14 to 18 inches across portions of northeast Iowa into southwest and central Wisconsin. 6 to 12 inches of accumulation are expected across southeast Minnesota into west central and central Wisconsin. Winds will increase to 15 to 30 mph with gusts of 35 to 40 mph, leading to blowing and drifting snow tonight through Thursday.
December 19, 2012: looks like this is going to be one BIG winter storm.  By the way, there is a great op-ed in today's WSJ on global warming.  And here's another.  I will post the highlights soon, but if you can't wait, go to the links. Global demand for coal will rise 2.6% over the next six years; but not in the US. What's wrong with this picture?
Last year alone, demand for coal rose 4.3 percent, with 67 percent of that increase coming from China.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is the only region where coal usage isn’t expected to increase. The domestic coal market continues to face competition from cheap natural gas, and coal demand in the U.S. is expected to drop 2.5 percent a year, the report said.

Original Post

Link here to a weather channel. The link may be dynamic. For Des Moines:
  • Wednesday: Rain and snow, mainly after 4 pm. High near 39. Light northeast wind increasing to 8 to 13 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
  • Wednesday Night: Rain and snow, becoming all snow after 7pm. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 23. Windy, with a north northwest wind 14 to 19 mph increasing to 21 to 26 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 6 to 10 inches possible.
  • Thursday: Snow before 7am, then areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow between 7am and 1pm, then areas of blowing snow after 1pm. Temperature falling to around 21 by 11am. Wind chill values as low as 5. Windy, with a northwest wind 23 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Meanwhile, nationally:
Coastal rain and inland snow are likely across New England on Tuesday, with heavy snowfall possible across northern Maine. Meanwhile, a winter storm continues to affect the central Rockies, with up to a foot of snow possible in parts of Utah and Colorado, and as much as 2-3 feet possible on mountain peaks. This storm is forecast to move into the Plains and Upper Midwest late Wednesday into Thursday.
 It looks like the central Rockies storm will move into the Plains, but not into North Dakota.

I assume these storms are normal for this time of the year.

2 comments:

  1. Send the weather channel for up to the minute updates. Then they can claim this is all the result of man made global warming.

    The only solution is the depopulation of the Great Plains and turn it into a Buffalo Common with bird slicers and dicers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After all the oil is gone ... or when the world quits using oil .... whichever comes first.

      Delete