What a Winter

[Poorboy]

Got the 1 1/2 in of ice cleared off the driveway yesterday and now its snowing and the drive is covered over again.Wanted to move south years ago and the wife said she loved seeing the change of seasons up north here and didn`t want to move. After she fell this week I asked her how that change of seasons thing going. LOL.
Can`t wait for spring and summer vacations. Until then their is plenty of Gentleman Jack in the cabinet.

sorry for your wife but I`ve lived through that conversation ... and we might be starting to win

[Scott P]

I don`t really miss the change of seasons. What I miss the most is the pizza, wings, subs and especially Wegmans. If you like to cook and have experienced the greatness that is a Wegmans grocery store, then you understand.

[DJsDetails]

Who wants to open a shop in Florida called "New England Detailing" where we can all go and actually work in January and Feb? Who`s in?

Don`t you do it Gotham, that`s encroachment! lol I say Sully and I should install bollards across your driveway if you so choose to move down here during the winters. If it weren`t for Groupon work would be pretty slow for me right now.

[Mr. Clean]

Woke early this a.m. to the sound of sleet tap, tap, tapping on the bedroom window. Woke to find a nice coating of ice. Now it is blowing snow out of the north. It`s about 18o outside the kitchen window and the weatherman says we won`t get out of the 20s today. So much for La Nina, and a warmer/drier than normal Winter. Good news is by Friday/Saturday we might be back into the lower 60s. Now that`s more like it!

[Poorboy]

Woke early this a.m. to the sound of sleet tap, tap, tapping on the bedroom window. Woke to find a nice coating of ice. Now it is blowing snow out of the north. It`s about 18o outside the kitchen window and the weatherman says we won`t get out of the 20s today. So much for La Nina, and a warmer/drier than normal Winter. Good news is by Friday/Saturday we might be back into the lower 60s. Now that`s more like it!

you have that backwards ... La Nina is a colder and wetter winter .. El Nino is the warmer and dryer

here`s some more good news i found :

* How long does a La Niña last?
* La Niña conditions typically last approximately 9-12 months. Some episodes may persist for as long as two years.

[Mr. Clean]

No I had it correct

For those who like illustrations, follow the link below:

AccuWeather.com - Weather News | La Nina Vs. El Nino

What Does All of This Mean for the Weather?

... A typical La Nina winter will feature drier and milder conditions across the South, much like what we`re seeing in the current Southeast drought and elevated fire conditions. The Pacific Northwest will become wetter than normal, while the Northeast will have cold periods, but these are usually short lived.

In an El Nino winter, we see what we had last season. The southern branch of the jet stream gets displaced across the Deep south, leading to wetter conditions from Los Angeles to the Southeast. The Northeast typically has stormy winters, which in the case of last season led to "Snowmageddon." Finally the Northwest is typically milder

[Scott P]

We are just getting cold rain here. teh temps are expected to hit freezing until this evening with lows in the 20`s overnight. Hopefully the rain will have stopped by then. Highs in the mid 40`s tomorrow, so any ice that does form will not last long.

Texas has been under drought conditions of varying degrees for several years now. All this precipitation and colder weather is very beneficial.

[Poorboy]

No I had it correct

For those who like illustrations, follow the link below:

AccuWeather.com - Weather News | La Nina Vs. El Nino

yes that is a typical one, but because of this definition

"La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, compared to El Niño, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. "

I watched our local weather man explain that because the "La Nina"
is unusually further south the jet stream is lower in the US allowing the colder Canadian air to reach lower into the US and also taking a lot of the Northwest typical storms south.

well that`s at least what i got out of watching it

[Poorboy]

I found a blog from our local guy ... he wrote this in November



A La Nina Winter Ahead (But What Does it Mean??)

Not a few people I spoken with are a little annoyed with the Winter Outlook for 2010-2011 that has been posted by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. For our part of the country they are non-committal, indicating “equal chances” for a milder or colder winter than normal and “equal chances” for a drier or wetter winter than normal. To some it’s not a forecast at all, but rather a “let’s take things as they come” type of outlook.
The problem is that we’re currently in a rather robust La Nina pattern. La Nina is El Nino’s tempestuous little sister, which history has shown locally can present two different versions of weather extremes in our part of the country. For instance:
We had a La Nina winter in 1998-1999, which contained some incredibly warm winter days. One stand-out was December 7, 1998, where temperatures soared to the mid 70′s for the entire Tri-State Area. I remember telling my wife that maybe we could fill the little wading pool we used to set up in the back yard and dress our then 5-year old daughter in her swim suit and have her take a little swim. We could then take a picture of her and insert it in our Christmas card with a note saying :”Happy December!”
On the other side of the coin, we can have some La Nina years feature some really unusual wintry weather. That was case back in March 1956, when the Northeast US was hit by two major snowstorms in less than a week’s time. Here’s an interesting anecdote about this by the famous science writer, Isaac Asimov:
“On March 16, 1956, it started snowing about noon. It kept on snowing. That in itself was not surprising. It had been a bitterly cold winter, following a bitterly hot, dry summer, and there had been much snow. But THIS snowstorm kept on snowing and storming and turned out to be the worst of the season. The wind blew it into the driveway and the retaining walls on either side kept it there, so that when I woke on Saturday morning, there was three feet of snow in the driveway. I am not exaggerating or being dramatic. I MEASURED the snow depth.”
“Whereupon on Monday, March 19, ANOTHER blizzard hit, and this time we ended with FOUR feet of snow in the driveway. It was the worst one-two snowstorm in the history of the Boston Weather Bureau, nor has anything like it been repeated since.”
So you see . . . the weather pendulum can take some pretty wild swings in a La Nina winter. So it’s still early to see which extreme this winter’s La Nina will prefer (hence the “equal chances” forecast by NOAA).
One interesting note is that the current La Nina is said to already be the most intense one since the winter of 1955-56.
And we did have a ” . . . bitterly hot, dry summer” didn’t we?
Hmmmmmmm . . .
Car

[Scott P]

Down to 29 degrees and still raining. The commute home for folks is going to be rough.

[Mr. Clean]

yes that is a typical one, but because of this definition

...I watched our local weather man explain that because the "La Nina"
is unusually further south the jet stream is lower in the US allowing the colder Canadian air to reach lower into the US and also taking a lot of the Northwest typical storms south.

well that`s at least what i got out of watching it

Which makes it sound strangely enough like the anti-La Nina aka El Nino as described (almost verbatim)...

In an El Nino winter, we see what we had last season. The southern branch of the jet stream gets displaced across the Deep south, leading to wetter conditions from Los Angeles to the Southeast. The Northeast typically has stormy winters, which in the case of last season led to "Snowmageddon." Finally the Northwest is typically milder

But the forecast was for

As for this year`s La Nina, forecast models are indicating slight strengthening through October and then a steady period in November and December. All of the models have the La Nina weakening throughout the spring and early summer.

[Poorboy]

isn`t it wonderful that all these weather people can be well paid and not really have a clue until it`s about to happen

[Mr. Clean]

isn`t it wonderful that all these weather people can be well paid and not really have a clue until it`s about to happen

Not unlike economists Like so many things weather forecasts (predictions) are based on computer modeling. At least, as we are told, the predicions are based on some science.

I`ve got a sure fire weather forecaster I brought home from west Texas. It is a simple piece of rope attached to a board. It even comes with instructions...
Rope is swinging back and forth - it`s windy,
Rope is wet - it`s raining
Rope is frozen stiff - it`s cold and possibly snowing
Rope is gone... tornado!"

[Pockets]

I`ve got a sure fire weather forecaster I brought home from west Texas. It is a simple piece of rope attached to a board. It even comes with instructions...
Rope is swinging back and forth - it`s windy,
Rope is wet - it`s raining
Rope is frozen stiff - it`s cold and possibly snowing
Rope is gone... tornado!"

Haha my grandparents used to have a "weather rock" sign in there vacation house and the rock hanging outside. Said the same exact thing except for the tornado lol it was in CT

[awd330]

De-lurking for a moment to say that it`s 75 degrees and partly sunny here in Florida.