Epic: January Was One of Coldest It’s Been in 117 Years, More Record Winter Cold on Its Way for US (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on February 10, 2011
The 1967 snowstorm was the worst in Chicago's history... snowstorms this winter have rivaled it (click image to enlarge)
It’s been horrifically cold, snowy, and wet in most parts of the country, but how cold is it, really?
RECORD, EPIC COLD.
Reported by the National Climate Data Center, Contiguous United States, Climate Summary for January 2011:
The average temperature in January 2011 was 30.0 F. This was -0.8 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 37th coolest January in 117 years. The temperature trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit per decade.
1.48 inches of precipitation fell in January. This was -0.74 inches less than the 1901-2000 average, the 9th driest such month on record. The precipitation trend for the period of record (1895 to present) is -0.01 inches per decade.
More record winter cold is on its way, which is anticipated to hammer much of the country again… reported by CBS DFW, North Texas Could See More Rolling Blackouts:
PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – The demand for electricity could reach record high levels on Thursday morning, as temperatures reach a record low. Many people across North Texas will be struggling to stay warm. This means that rolling power outages could potentially return.
As cold temperatures rolled into the Metroplex last week, and the entire area was covered under a blanket of snow and ice, people became enraged when their power went out. The high demand for electricity late last week forced the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to coordinate rolling outages. This process, called load-shedding, is designed to take strain off of the state’s electric grid.
Although last week’s rolling blackouts were intended to be brief – approximately 15 or 30 minutes – several Texans reported homes without power for a matter of hours. It also did not look impressive to thousands of visitors in town for Super Bowl XLV this past Sunday.
The rolling outages only lasted a part of one day. Increasing temperatures and power conservation helped lessen the need for continued blackouts. But with North Texas seeing the coldest temperatures in 30 years on Thursday, ERCOT is warning people about the possibility of outages returning.
Even Mexico is being hit with a vengeance, as shown in this Associated Press raw video from last week — the extreme cold weather hit most of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, bringing temperatures of 8 degrees to the region… and it’s being ignored by crackpot global warmists:
Associated Press, Raw Video: Snow Hits Mexico Border Towns
From The Lonely Conservative, who lives in New York… Global Warming: Bitter Cold, 132″ of Snow and Counting, Roofs Collapsing, Pipes Freezing and DPWs Running Out of Salt:
I’ve never been so happy not to have to leave my house. I sure did pick a good time to take a little time off from work. It’s about 12° F, but the wind chill is below zero. It was so cold today the kids couldn’t go outside for recess. Brrr!
Roofs are collapsing under the weight of the snow and ice.
Local DPW’s budgets are running low trying to keep up with the winter weather.
We’ve had 132.4″ of snow so far this season, and there’s no end in sight. It just keeps snowing and snowing. They’re running out of places to pile it up.
Yet some people keep telling us it’s all because of global warming!
And gas prices are still going up, which is by design, because they want us to stop using gas because of global warming. But we’re using extra gas warming up our cars because it’s so cold.
Gah!
From Southeast Farm Press, Georgia eyes coldest winter ever:
Cold temperatures and heavy snow crippled north Georgia in January. Despite heavier-than-normal snowfall, precipitation amounts were below normal, increasing drought conditions across the state.
Georgia’s temperature was significantly below normal last month. In Atlanta, the monthly average temperature was 40.2 degrees F (2.5 degrees below normal), in Athens 39.7 degrees (2.5 degrees below normal), Columbus 43.6 degrees (3.2 degrees below normal), Macon 42 degrees (3.5 degrees below normal), Savannah 45.1 degrees (4.1 degrees below normal), Brunswick 49.1 degrees (2.6 degrees below normal), Alma 44.9 degrees (6.8 degrees below normal), Valdosta 47.3 degrees (2.6 degrees below normal) and Augusta 41.7 degrees (3.1 degrees below normal).
If colder-than-normal temperatures continue into February, this winter could possibly set records for the coldest winter ever in some parts of Georgia. Record low temperatures were set at Macon, Savannah and Alma Jan. 14. Macon reported 16 degrees, breaking the old record of 19 degrees set that date in 1970. Savannah and Alma reported 18 degrees, surpassing the old records of 20 degrees set at both locations in 1964.
From Cornell Daily Sun, Unusually Frigid Winter is One of Ithaca’s Coldest Ever:
In the middle of an unusually cold winter in Ithaca, an arctic blast from Canada sent Ithacans shivering toward their heaters earlier this week.
The mornings started with sub-zero temperatures. The thermometer dropped below negative 15 degrees on Monday morning, the lowest this season. Despite the cold morning temperatures, weather.com predicted that it will warm up this weekend.
Prof. Arthur DeGaetano, earth and atmospheric sciences, provided some perspective on this winter’s temperatures relative to past winters in Ithaca.
“If we look at this winter so far, starting back from December to date, we experienced an average temperature of 22.3 degrees … 2.9 degrees below normal,” he said.
DeGaetano added that this winter is the 16th coldest in Ithaca’s history, according to records that date from 1892.
Ithaca’s coldest winter on record was the winter of 1917-18, when average temperatures dropped to 16.7 degrees. “So [this winter] has been among the coldest December-January periods, but there have been colder seasons,” DeGaetano said.
From NBC4i.com, How Much Is Our Extreme Winter Costing?:
CENTRAL OHIO — Snow has fallen on 51 of the last 71 days and since December 1, 2010, Central Ohio has averaged about 5½ degrees below normal, making this the coldest winter in about 30 years.
All that cold costs money, too.
“Ice storms are so devastating when they happen. I think people sometimes underestimate just how devastating those can be on our residents and they’re difficult on our infrastructure. They cause some significant problems,” said Nancy Dragani, director of the Ohio EMA.
Insurance companies are still surveying damage done by the combination of extreme cold and the recent ice storm.
“The type of damage snow and ice to do your home, that’s where you’re going to find the largest claims are filed,” said Jarett Dunbar of the Ohio Department of Insurance. “You’ll see burst pipes, the temperature of home goes down and water pipes burst, so it’s very important that Ohioans take some extra steps to make sure that their things are protected.”
The frequent snow that keeps road crews busy is adding up, too.
ODOT’s District 6 has hit the road 50 more times compared to this time last year.
From Yahoo News, Frigid air, snow, worry ranchers in Plains, South:
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Icy blasts tugged temperatures to well below zero in chunks of the South early Thursday, leaving ranchers and farmers fretting about their animals after a winter storm dropped 2 feet of snow on parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma and left at least three people dead.
Forecasters predicted lows of minus 11 degrees in northwest Arkansas and minus 10 degrees in parts of Oklahoma. But by early morning, temperatures had dipped to minus 18 in Fayetteville and to minus 27 in Bartlesville, Okla., according to the National Weather Service.
In an area of the nation unaccustomed to such snow and subzero temperatures, those numbers had cattlemen such as Paul Marinoni crossing their fingers that pregnant cows won’t give birth during the coldest hours. The newborns could stick to the ground, much like tongues on a flagpole, and die, Marinoni said.
“How do you prevent it?” Marinoni, 70, said from his farm outside Fayetteville. “You can’t.”
He hoped to check on his cows at sunrise, provided he could get to them through the snow. In the meantime, some cows have sprouted fins of icicles down their backs.
“There ain’t no way to keep them warm,” he said.
[...]
The fresh snow was especially troublesome in Tulsa, Okla., where many roads were still impassable from last week’s record 14-inch snowfall. The previous storm kept students out of school for at least six days. Mail, bus and trash service were only recently restored.
Five more inches of snow fell Wednesday in Tulsa, according to the National Weather Service. That raised the city’s total for the winter to 25.9 inches, breaking the previous seasonal record of 25.6 inches, set during the winter of 1923-24.
Elsewhere in Oklahoma, ranchers struggled to keep their herds well fed and hydrated. Danny Engelman spent hours tending to some 300 cows.
More on the monster blizzard in Oklahoma and Arkansas:
Another powerful blizzard howled through the nation’s midsection Wednesday, piling up to 2 feet of new snow on parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas still struggling to clean up from last week’s epic storm.
The blowing snow brought traffic to a halt, and the National Guard was summoned to rescue stranded motorists. Subzero wind chills forced ranchers to work desperately to protect their herds.
As the storm barreled out of the Plains, it took aim at the Deep South, which was expected to get up to five inches of snow. At least two traffic deaths were blamed on the system.
About 200 truck drivers sought shelter at a truck stop at the intersection of Interstate 44 and U.S. Highway 69, about 60 miles northeast of Tulsa.
“We have a 20-acre parking lot,” said owner Katrina Franks. “But it’s just utter chaos trying to get them started and keep them moving.”
About the author
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
[...] 3: Frugal Cafe linked – [...]
what happened to global warming, so beloved of the ‘carbon-tax-transfer’ politicians.
i would like to issue a disclaimer on behalf of the english-ordinary man, for the ‘clown-prince-of-britain’, whose ignorance on scientific factual matters is only exceeded by his lack of ‘moral-character’,
for those of you who enjoyed the film ‘the kings-speech’, the poor character and lack of moral strength, of the then king edward, who quit his job in 1938, for the sake of american-cat, this charles is following in his footsteps. and is just as weak,
god save britain, and take him to an early grave.