I would not be a true Minnesotan if I
did not do at least one post on weather. It is one of our favorite
topics and has many times been used to break the conversational ice.
It also just so happens that we have just recently had weather with
a capital W. I am referring to the storm that just passed through
this last week which dumped way too much snow for this time of year
in a narrow band running through the central part of my state, and
right over my house. So I went from mowing on Sunday to snow
blowing on Monday. I was fortunate that my brother was kind enough
to blow out the driveway a few times as well, which helped keep it
clear. We ended up with about 10 ½ inches when all was said and
done. Although we were not the hardest hit, others weighed in at 16
inches.
While this much snow this early in the
year is unusual, it is not unprecedented. The snowstorm that I
remember is the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. Unbelievably we did have some intrepid
trick or treaters that plowed their way through the drifts to collect
their well earned treats. That storm lasted three days.
But the storm that seems to be the
yardstick by which all other storms are measured is the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940. It was a storm that took so many by surprise, as
the day started out very balmy for that time of year with temps in
the 50's and 60's. People were simply not prepared.
Three major storms, each with their own
unique characteristics, yet eerily similar. But the earlier storms
have helped us improve our weather predicting and our methods of
dealing with large quantities of snow. We do a better job of
preparing and treating our roads with sand and chemicals to clear
them more quickly of ice. Although, even with all of that, if temps
fall too quickly we will still end up with layers of ice on the side
streets. But better quality tires, anti-lock brakes, and vehicles
with traction control make winter roads less scary to drive.
As climate change continues to affect
our weather it is likely that these storms will grow stronger and
more frequent.
Five Significant Weather Events in Minnesota History
Five Significant Weather Events in Minnesota History
54 comments:
"As climate change continues to affect our weather…"
You hadn't heard that ‘climate change’ was a liberal fraud and a global government conspiracy?
I never listen to rumors. :)
The next Kobanê?
ISIS Beheads American
Sounds like al-Nusra has given up fighting Assad in favor of fighting others. Coming to the aid of ISIL perhaps? Or just pissed off at the US for supporting the Kurds?
Al-Nusra has a long history of fighting so-called ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels (Arabs) in preference to fighting Assad's forces. It's not a great stretch from that position to going after local Kurds.
(And Assad's forces likewise tend to prefer to fight so-called ‘moderates’ rather than fighting the jihadi, when the choice is which to fight first. Both sides seem to think that allowing a secular Syrian Sunni movement to establish itself is a bad thing, an idea to be nipped in the bud.)
Yarrrggghhhh! All that white is burning my eyeballs. I have to keep glancing out the rain-spattered window where it is reassuringly greeny-grey all over.
P.S. A little snooping reveals that your blog photo is from the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant. I want my money back -- that's not Minnesota snow!
lol!
See? What did I tell you? Imagine having to look at white for 6 months. I must admit I miss the stars. I actually wouldn't mind making them permanent unless there is something that goes with the post. Or you can do a new post using a greeny-grey motif. ;)
If we looked hard enough we could find some Dutch immigrants in Minnesota. I am sure they wouldn't mind my filching their snow, since it made for a nice background. :)
Both sides seem to think that allowing a secular Syrian Sunni movement to establish itself is a bad thing, an idea to be nipped in the bud.
They both recognize the biggest threat to their own agendas.
An Interview With a Former ISIS Member
"They both recognize the biggest threat to their own agendas."
Actually, Assad was trying to position himself as the sole available alternative to the radical Sunni Islamists. He thought he'd get European support by rigging it so that their choice was between himself and ISIS/al-Nusra/al-Qaeda types. It has been effective to some extent. You may have noticed that Marcus has long been a supporter of keeping Assad, supposedly as the alternative to ISIS. (Although, this may be instead on account of Putin wants Assad to stay and America wants Assad to go, and when the choice comes down to supporting what Putin wants or what America wants….)
Actually, Assad was trying to position himself as the sole available alternative to the radical Sunni Islamists. He thought he'd get European support by rigging it so that their choice was between himself and ISIS/al-Nusra/al-Qaeda types.
Makes sense...get rid of the moderates and make himself the only other choice.
Islamic State Near Defeat in Kobane
Hmmm...I just heard that half the United States is covered in snow. Rather unusual for November. They're talking below zero windchill. *shiver*
Buffalo, New York is getting 3 to 5 inches of snow an hour. They are looking at a little over 70 inches of accumulation.
That's nuts. The "Big Snow" of my lifetime that everyone remembers was January 1982 when we had a fall of twelve inches and drifts of two or three feet. There was general pandemonium and the country was paralysed for days. I guess that would be a light dusting in your part of the world :)
I was driving down from Buffalo NY to Lancaster PA in April 1997 when there were late blizzards. I remember being taken aback at how casually other drivers seemed to be taking it -- a testament, I presume, to the fact that not everyone in the world panics like the Irish at a half inch of snow.
I was going to switch the blog background but can't find anything suitably greeny-grey. Most of the trees here have finally started to turn, some quite advanced. But there's still a few clinging on to a full complement of green leaves. We're having typical gloomy November days and lots of rain, with daytime temps still making double digits.
The weather in the US made the evening news here. The north east looks pretty hairy (i.e. apocalyptic from an Irish POV ;-)
Was just thinking when watching pictures of people digging themselves out ... many people here probably don't even own a hat and gloves. I know I've got some squirreled away somewhere, but they haven't had an outing since that cold winter three years ago.
You know what they say when someone opens a restaurant...it's location, location and location that determines whether or not it will be successful. Well, in the case of Buffalo, NY location is huge. They are getting the lake effect snow from Lake Erie.
But even they say what they are getting, a possible 6 feet by some accounts when all is said and done, is unprecedented in scope.
Here's a video. I was actually looking to see if the guy who had made a beer closet out of his front doorway had posted it, but I didn't find it. The snow was so high it blocked his front door, so he dug out some shelves and put his bottles of beer our there. It helps to have a sense of humor. :)
This kind of storm would paralyze anyone. As for twelve inches, that is getting to be not so uncommon lately. It's not good, but it wouldn't totally paralyze us.
They are saying on CNN that 50% of the US is covered in snow.
Someone one of the guys here knows is old enough to remember the Armistice Day blizzard and that person was saying that no matter how nice the weather looks it's best to take some gloves and a hat at the very least, if you are going any distance this time of year. Getting caught out in that kind of storm stays with you.
There's a nice planet floating around in the template choices if you wanted to switch to that and do an update on Philae.
I actually thought about doing something on climate change and using that as a background. We could kill two birds with one stone. ;)
Here are some photos from around the US.
Great photos!
Good animated GIF of
snow blowing across Lake Erie" here. Apparently while the southern end of town was getting six feet, places in some outskirts only had a few inches. I had a taste of how localised the weather could be myself in Buffalo when winter ice was breaking up and floating down the Niagara River, lowering the local temperature by 10 degrees C compared to a few miles away.
A perfect set up for this type of snow this year with the cold coming so early. The water was still warm.
Perhaps since the snowfall is so localized they can haul some of it away to the surrounding areas. That's a lot of snow to have to get rid of.
The snowfall that we received last week was also very localized. The area just north of the Twin Cities got hit the hardest. The south received very little snow.
They are talking a warm up this weekend and possible rain. If we get rain a lot of snow will melt.
Yeah, I've seen pictures from upstate NY of them taking snow away in dump trucks for disposal elsewhere. Sounds very inefficient! Doesn't snow have up to thirty times the volume of the equivalent water? I guess it would be even more inefficient to have to melt it.
Rain is forecast for the north east too. Sounds like a recipe for flooding :(
Temps for NY state on Monday are forecast to be 15-20 C. That snow's gonna be melllllttttiinngg!
Yeah, I've seen pictures from upstate NY of them taking snow away in dump trucks for disposal elsewhere. Sounds very inefficient!
With that much snow they have little choice. Usually they do the same here when there is too much accumulation on the sides of the streets in town. If you don't there would be no where to walk! lol!
That snow's gonna be melllllttttiinngg!
Yup. So now they have to worry about flooding.
Meanwhile back in Syria and Iraq it seems the weather has been good for hunting ISIL.
Huh!
Never count out a determined mother.
"With that much snow they have little choice. Usually they do the same here when there is too much accumulation on the sides of the streets in town. If you don't there would be no where to walk! lol!"
I was in Boston shortly after that April Fool's Day blizzard. Some of the piles of snow on the sidewalks and in car parks must've been twelve foot high. A sister of a friend lives in Toronto. There, they bulldoze the snow into the canals and open storm drains. When it's packed down enough they melt the surface to turn it into a skating amenity.
"Doesn't snow have up to thirty times the volume of the equivalent water?"
The ‘average’ dry, powdery snow to water equivalence in the U.S.A. is generally figured to be around 10:1 (USDA. Handle the snow and it'll pack; figure by the time one has it in the back of a truck, it's probably 5:1 at best; maybe as low as 3:1 or even 2:1.
Here if they have to remove it they will pile it in an open area. They don't like to push it into the river, for example, because anything that was on the road will have sand and salt/chemicals mixed in, so not environmentally friendly. To melt it on the roads would, like you said, create a skating rink. A safety issue. I have seen where the owners of a shopping mall melted the snow in their parking lot and let it drain. That worked fine.
It's funny you mention skating, because here it seems as if the public rinks are getting less use. A lot of people are making their own private rinks in their backyards. If there is a drainage pond they can remove the snow and use that. Either using a hose to flood it or drilling holes to allow the water to flow onto the pond will help make it smooth.
One guy I know has kids in hockey and he and his neighbor built a backyard skating rink to accommodate their kids and their constant need to practice. It's probably less time consuming then having to drive them somewhere all the time.
The storm we got on Nov. 10 was the heavy wet snow, otherwise known as "heart attack" snow. I don't know what the water content was but that stuff was heavy. I started out shoveling, but it was slow going, so I ended up getting the snow blower out and finishing with that. It wasn't pretty, but I got the job done! lol! And then my brother did it later on, so I was able to get in the garage after work without having to clear the driveway.
I can't imagine how heavy the snow out in Buffalo is. But when you get four feet on top of your roof, you're going to have problems anyway. The one homeowner I saw on the news had cracks forming in her ceiling. Roofs are pitched to encourage snow runoff in the winter, but when you get a lot, plus drifting, you can have a lot of weight on the roof. Usually over time there is some melting that occurs, but Buffalo got a years worth in a couple days!
Back when I worked in Digital Equipment Corp. one of my Irish colleagues moved to their HQ in Merrimack NH. I recall him having to leave a conference call one day to shovel snow off his roof which was threatening to collapse. I did a lot of driving around rural areas north of there towards the White Mountains and noticed a lot of houses with exit doors on the upper storey, apparently to provide for egress when the snow blocked the ground floor. Can't imagine where you'd be going though :)
We've been promised sunny days until mid next week. Might finally get out driving and see how autumn has progressed.
I noted the big debate now over immigration in the US, or rather immigrants in the US.
The first I read about it was red-hot opinioning that they were going to impeach Obama and that he had sidestepped congress and the senate and betrayed the people of America.
Then I saw Obama's own speach which was way more sane than I had been led to believe.
Anyway, I'm not at all well read up on the matter and I have no pony in that race. So to ya'll merkins I pass the question to you: what's this all about? How will it play out?
"…what's this all about? How will it play out?"
Mostly it's about the Republicans have no cards to play. They've run three elections in a row now on the promise to their base to keep them Meskins from ever getting legal, much less getting citizenship. This is their third win in a row (leaving out that they couldn't beat Obama with the poster-boy for Wall Street smugness as their presidential candidate). And they still can't keep him from letting the Meskins stay. There ain't shit they can do ‘bout it.
This makes them very angry, and very, very noisy.
And there still ain't shit they can do ‘bout it. And that pisses ‘em off even more, leading to more noise.
On a more analytical level, Obama's order is rather broader than any executive orders on this subject so far, by any of his predecessors. However, it is not different in kind from similar executive orders issued by every president of both political parties going back at least 50 years. It's different in scope; it covers many more people, maybe 5 million as opposed to a million or so, but it's not different in kind.
I'm personally not comfortable with the tendency towards governing by executive fiat, but that's another subject entirely, nad the precedents for this were established a long time ago, and not by Obama, but by Republican presidents before him including that great Republican saint, Saint Ronald of the Ray Guns (as well as by both Republican and Democrat presidents in the years since).
But, they hate Obama with a passion, and that just makes it worse.
I have not been following this closely, Marcus, but my take is that the problem we have is that there are a large number of illegal immigrants who have been here for years, who have created lives here, and who have become valued members of their community. But because they originally came here illegally there is no path for them to become citizens. If caught they are subject to deportation. The net result is that in many cases families can be split up, with parents being sent back and children, who were born here, being allowed to stay. The more conservative elements in the US are all for a strict adherence to the law and sending people back to their home countries, forcing them to apply legally and wait any number of years to be allowed back in.
Yes, this is another bone for the Republicans and Democrats to pick over, causing gridlock in Congress. What is rather ironic is that both President Bush and President Obama appear to be on the same page in their opinions on this issue.
But unlike President Bush, President Obama has apparently given up trying to work with Congress and issued an Executive Order on this issue. Needless to say Republicans are rather pissed off. According to this columnist it is not a comprehensive policy or a permanent one. It reminds me of this situation in Minnesota with the Liberians who were granted what was supposed to be temporary residence in 1989 to escape the civil war in their country. As far as I am concerned whether they have come to this country legally or illegally, if they have built a life here, they should be given a path to citizenship. They have earned it.
The solution for the illegal immigrant problem is real simple. Start jailing white Americans for knowingly employing illegal immigrants. (The Republicans would go ape-shit.) But the illegal immigrant problem will solve itself.
A lot of the illegal immigrants perform jobs that native born Americans will not, because the pay rate is low. Raise the pay rate and you might get other people to apply. But the companies don't want to do that because it supposedly eats into their profits. It is the minimum wage debate in another form.
It is the Republicans who are against raising the minimum wage. Yet they don't like the illegal immigrants, who are supposedly taking jobs from Americans. Kind of a weird thought process, don't you think?
"Kind of a weird thought process, don't you think?"
The entire subject gets weird.
Start jailing white Americans who knowingly hire illegal immigrants and, sooner or later, employers who want to stay out of jail will begin offering wages high enough to attract legal immigrants (or even Americans).
Or, they'll figure out how to make Mexican workers ‘legal’ again.
Thanks for the explanations.
One other thing to keep in mind is that the Republicans aren't comfortable with arguing their policy preferences on this subject in public. Ranting against brown people and Catholics isn't politically correct, and just isn't done anymore (not in public anyway). So the Republicans are busy arguing about the process as a cover for their objections to the policy.
Ranting against brown people and Catholics isn't politically correct, and just isn't done anymore (not in public anyway).
Well I can understand the argument that illegal immigrants down south overwhelm the social services available. And recent border jumpers who are caught should be sent back. Although it should be in a timely manner if it is to be done at all. Like I said earlier the ones who have managed to stay and build a life, giving back to this country, should be given a path to citizenship. Not to sound too "catholicy" they have in effect atoned for their original sin of illegal entry. :)
"Well I can understand the argument that illegal immigrants down south
overwhelm the social services available."
Well, of course they overwhelm the social services available. Up until the right-wingers went nuts over ‘border security’ there were no social services available. Migrant workers would come north and follow the ripening season north as the weather warmed, ending up picking apples in Washington and Oregon in the fall. Then they'd go back to Mexico to winter, and do it all over again the next year. If their children came with them, then the children moved on with them. The growers got the benefit of the pickers without having to provide any of the social services that a population that size would require. (Anybody got sick, they got sent home, assuming they lived long enough to get home.)
After the Republicans insisted on clamping down on the border, they couldn't get back and forth, so they stayed, waiting for the next employment season. Then they wanted to put their kids in the local schools and needed doctoring locally, started dropping into on the emergency rooms for doctoring other than the occassional farming accident, and hit up all the other ‘social services’, none of which had been built big enough to handle the migrants, now the ‘illegals’. The employers hadn't had to pay for that before, and they're not happy about having to pay for it now. But, they've made it hard to go home to Mexico for the winter and then hit the next employment season, so the migrants stayed over-winter instead, and now they're ‘illegal immigrants’ wanting social services rather than migrants who expected damn little in the way of that sort of stuff.
The local economy had been used to getting them for free, so far as that sort of stuff went. Ain't at all happy ‘bout the change. But, the damn fools brought it on themselves. Demanding ‘border security’ all the while still offering them paying work here if they just make the extra effort to overcome the new ‘border security’ to get here.
"Not to sound too "catholicy" they have in effect atoned for their original sin of illegal entry. :)"
Not to sound even more catholicy -- you can't atone for original sin. It's not a sin of culpability :)
I presume the Republicans need something new to whinge about now that the congressional inquiry has found no fault over the Benghazi incident ;-)
They just started another congressional inquiry. They're on their eighth one now. Official story for the right-wing crazies is that the inquiry isn't over. (It'll never be over.)
But, the damn fools brought it on themselves.
They do have a talent for that.
...you can't atone for original sin. It's not a sin of culpability :)
Did I ever tell you I skipped Catholic studies classes a lot?
Good. Depending on when they were, you may have missed a lot of drivel :)
This guy is a liberal, his analysis makes that clear enough. But, I think he's basically got it right on where Obama's executive order puts things.
...you may have missed a lot of drivel :)
Yup, even as a kid I had a very sensitive drivel meter. lol!
feral screamers
He also has an interesting, and accurate, turn of phrase. :)
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