Tri-State Tornado, 101 years ago on 18 March 1925.

 March 18th will go down in history for the Tri-State Tornado of 18 March1925.  This site will take you to a neat GIS Story map.  This is the best source of information out there.  A map from Wikipedia:

For more info see 1925 Tri-State tornado - Wikipedia

and 100 years ago this week, nearly 700 people were killed in the deadliest U.S. tornado | PBS News

Tri-State Tornado

I recently read this book if paper is more to your liking.

Finally, I worked with a student on Storm Chasing and you can read the paper here or here.

Mt Washington, NH Weather

 As many AT hikers approach the Whites in New Hampshire, they need to be aware of weather conditions in the Presidentials.

See this link from the Observatory.  Brrr!

And dress appropriately.

Weather along the Appalachian Trail?

Found this neat little page for that info...

Appalachian Trail Planner (sophiaknows.com)

For the southern AT, see these current station models.

to read this map, see this link.

Rainy days on the AT

 Seems there has been a lot of stormy weather hitting the Appalachians.  So here are some rainy day hiking pictures.

Active Fall Hurricane Season

 What are we up to?  the Greek Letters?

Beta is raining on the Texas Coast and Teddy is over the Maritime Provinces.

So what is happening this minute.

Will there be more?

Going hiking?

Or skiing, paddling or anything outside?

Check on the current data here.  At least for the lower 48.

Temperature?

Air Pressure (in millibars)

Fronts and Radar?

Weather (dot) gov

Perhaps a bit messy from the Great Plains to the Mid Atlantic this weekend.  Good thing the Weather.Gov is still working.

Bu about 700 federal employees from the National Weather Service could not make it to the

this past week due to the longest federal government shut down.  My thoughts go out to the furloughed employees and those without a paycheck during the cold winter months.

Hot this weekend

At least for us in New England.  So I inclined to suggest you drink plenty of non-alcoholic beverages (I am partial to seltzer), keep out of the sun (and if you need to be outside, try to do it in the morning) and keep an eye out for those outside (workers, neighbors, pets).  See someone outside. Offer some ice water.

In the meantime, my colleague sent me the heat index chart so we can all brag about how hot it got the first weekend in July 2018!

For the temps in the US, try this link to get the highs for the day.  Surface temperatures are always found at my favorite site, the DataStreme Project of the American Meteorology Society.

Finally, here is the message from this free educational service:

AMS Education and the President's Budget Blueprint -- It is through NOAA funding that AMS Education is able to provide the DataStreme program and Project ATMOSPHERE. We are monitoring the process associated with the President's 2018 budget request to Congress and the proposed budget cuts to NOAA, especially in the area of external grants and education. The exact wording related to NOAA, "Zeroes out over $250 million in targeted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research, and education including Sea Grant, which primarily benefit industry and State and local stakeholders. These programs are a lower priority than core functions maintained in the Budget such as surveys, charting, and fisheries management."

The document proposes similar funding cuts to NASA, and would impact science education activities for that agency, too. If you are inclined to do so, we certainly support you engaging with your local congressional representatives to share your thoughts on the matter.

Airport delays

JFK, Atlanta, Waco?  Yep most airports have experienced some significant delay or closure.  Most are related to weather conditions, but occasionally there are other problems (Atlanta).  Sometimes the delay is felt at other airports, several legs down your trip. One time we were flying to San Juan Puerto Rico, had to wait to get there and after arrival, were told Hartford was closed.  Spent the night in the airport hotel.  And how many times have I spent a night in Miami since Hartford was closed due to bad weather.

The most harrowing experience in airports for me was in 1989.  I was flying from College Station, Texas to St Louis.  Severe thunderstorms closed College Station, but I got a ride on a plane flying to Waco where I had a chance to catch a flight to Dallas/Fort Worth and then St. Louis.  That flight was crazy.  We flew over and around a cumulonimbus cloud to get to Waco; like riding in a roller coaster. Since it was an unscheduled flight, had we crashed, they would have to check my dental records to id me!

Long story short, we made it to Waco, only to have that airport closed due to the same storm.  I caught a ride with a fellow traveler to Dallas where he had important business, I caught my flight to St. Louis that had been delayed 9 hours, drove back to Carbondale and went to work on time.  No sleep mind you!

Whew.

To see the current air traffic, click here.

I want to go ....

Skiing?  or what about swimming?  In either case, we can get a rough estimate of future conditions for the states at this link.  For New England it appears likely to be warmer (except one month out). 
But tomorrow is another story with winds and temps below zero!

Brrrr.

oh yeah, one more r.

Snow fun

Expecting a bit of snow tomorrow, so the 3 inches we got last year (xmas) will get a topping and make for some good cross country skiing.  After the snow, we are expecting another arctic blast with single digits and below zero's at night.

Some great weather trivia for today (3 January) is found here.  So if you have  a hard time striking up a conversation while waiting in the express lane at the grocery, you can always say...

On this date in "1777...An overnight freeze enabled George Washington and his troops to flank the British at Trenton, cross their lines at Princeton, and seek security in the hills of northern New Jersey."

Summer "Official" Forecast

I think we will fire up the wood stove tonight since it is rainy and cool (58 deg F).  And this is June?

Yet for June, July and August, NOAA is predicting warmer than average for the east coast.

And normal precip in the same area.  Who knows?

And what about next year?

Bad weather lately?

Six years ago I wrote about the Western Mass Tornado.  Seems last night we have some serious hail too.  Here are a couple shots to show the pea size hail and damage to our Rhododendron last night.

 Too bad.

Weather and northern lights

Two things are necessary to see the Northern Lights:

Clear weather and atmospheric activity.

The University of Alaska offers this prediction information.  And for the picture in Iceland, I used the website for Aurora Forecasts.  On that evening, the forecast looked like this:

So the green means the probability of Aurora activity, and the skies were clear.

On the evening this was shot, the skies were clear enough to take this 30 second exposure.  It appeard silver to us on the ground but the photo shows green!

So what will be the chance tonight?  Check out NOAA.

In like a lion, out like a lamb, February??

With temps in the 70s at the end of February and the month starting with two hefty snow storms, is the second month of the year going to be the new March?

Is it climate change?

Oh yeah, today is International Sword Swallowers Day!

Cold Fronts

At 12 midnight GMT last night, the US was experiencing this:

You can see the cold front just passing the eastern seaboard and with it, we are getting colder air with winds from the NW.

The current radar loop is found here and depending on how far after you observe it will take the past conditions above and relate that to the live values in the loop.

What will tomorrow bring?

Full Proof Weather Forecasting

Ok, the secret is out.

Long thought to be highly trained scientists, actually meteorologists employ and ancient and highly accurate tool to understand the weather.

(source: http://www.usscouts.org/profbvr/weather_rock/)

To analyze:

If the rock is wet, it's raining.
If the rock is swinging, the wind is blowing.
If the rock casts a shadow, the sun is shining.
If the rock does not cast a shadow and is not wet, the sky is cloudy.
If the rock is not visible, it is foggy.
If the rock is white, it is snowing.
If the rock is coated with ice, there is a frost.
If the ice is thick, it's a heavy frost.
If the rock is bouncing, there is an earthquake.
If the rock is under water, there is a flood.
If the rock is warm, it is sunny.
If the rock is missing, there was a tornado.
If the rock is wet and swinging violently, there is a hurricane.
If the rock has white splats on it, watch out for birds.

Clear Weather good for Recreation?

Well yes and no.  No rain is certainly a good thing for outdoor recreation.  But clear skies this summer mean no rain and a drought.  Further it means HOT.

Loads of people are outside enjoying clear skies, getting sun burned and drinking lots of beers.   Like driving after midnight, toasted recreationists (pun intended) will hit the roads.

So today folks, enjoy the outside, drinks lots of water, protect against that harmful UV Radiation and stay cool....if you can find a cool spot.

Flying?

Check out to see if your flight might be a bit bumpy by going to this site.  Extreme conditions over the Big Apple today:

Five years since Western Mass Tornado

Do you remember that day?  The weather was bad, but since the tornado hit the ground two miles east, I was totally unaware of what was going on.  Read about it here and see the track here.

Here is a shot I took in West Springfield a few days later.