New year off to quiet start

2012 has been rather uneventful in the weather department, outside of a few areas.  Portions of west-central Texas just saw record snow. The Midland-Odessa area reported an all-time record snow of just over 10 inches.

And portions of southern Alaska have been literally buried by feet of snow. (the small town of Cordova has been in the headlines of late)

The other big headline has been the mild weather and lack of snow for much of the country.

I hope to get back to more consistent blogging this year. I am in a career transition and really busy with life in general, but I will try and not let that be too much of an excuse.

Thanks for reading!

Stormy in northern Australia

The remains from Tropical Cyclone Grant has brought widespread flooding and damage to portions of northern Australia.

The crew of a freight train had to be rescued after a wall of water swept it off a bridge.

Storm in Australia

Current U.S. Snow Cover

If you are looking for snow, you have to head west young man! (well ... depending on where you live)

Most of the current snow cover in the lower 48 states can be found across the Rockies.

There is a little around the Great Lakes, but nothing like what we would normally find this time of the year.

Here is a link to a nice write-up about the current weather pattern from the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, ND.

Link to read: What happened to our La Nina?

Winter arrives in true fashion

Winter's first full day is full of heavy snow along the Rockies. I just got back in from shoveling about a foot with drifts up to 2 feet.

In the southeast, residents are watching the skies for severe storms that could produce a few tornadoes.

December to arrive in winter-like fashion

The month of December begins the climatological winter (Dec-Feb) and it will arrive in true fashion for many this year.

A large and very cold storm system is moving into the northern Rockies and the High Plains states today. Along with it will come snow and some of the coldest temperatures seen so far this year.

Here in Denver, we're expecting highs to barely reach 20 degrees on Thursday with widespread snow overnight tonight and most of the day tomorrow.

Overnight lows will drop to near zero in many places from eastern Colorado to northern Minnesota.

The cold air will moderate somewhat before reaching the south, so if you live in Memphis, you probably won't see more snow.

The mid-south saw a very rare November snow this week with 1 to 3 inches falling across northeast Arkansas, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.

It has been 15 to 25 years since that much snow fell so early in the season.

Here is a link to some of the data from the recent snow event.

Thanksgiving travel delays

Overall, it looks like Mother Nature will cooperate with this year's travel home for Thanksgiving!

Two areas of unsettled weather over the next few days are outlined on the map below. Heavy rain will extend from the lower Mississippi River Valley to the Ohio River Valley.

Approaching Thanksgiving, a new storm will move into the Pacific Northwest with wind, rain and mountain snow spreading down the west coast.

Here is a look at the 5-day accumulated precipitation forecast for the US.

First sub-zero temps of the year

Check out this pocket of arctic air spilling into the high plains this weekend. The first widespread pool of air temperatures below zero!

Winter will be here soon!!

Deadly day for tornadoes

2011 has been a record breaking year for tornadoes, but it has been several weeks since they have been in the news ... until this week.

An outbreak of tornadoes over the past few days, mostly in the south, but some as far north as central Illinois and western New York, have caused all kinds of damage.

The worst of the storms struck yesterday across the deep south, killing at least 6 and injuring several others.

Here is a map of yesterday's severe weather reports.

100 MPH Winds Hit Colorado

Hold onto your hats was an understatement late Saturday and early Sunday across Grand, Park, Summit, Larimer and Clear Creek Counties.

Check out these wind gusts.

0200 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 5 S FRISCO              39.51N 106.10W

11/13/2011  M115 MPH         SUMMIT             CO   TRAINED SPOTTER

0200 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 2 SSW LOVELAND PASS     39.64N 105.89W

11/13/2011  M100 MPH         SUMMIT             CO   TRAINED SPOTTER

1015 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 2 WSW BRECKENRIDGE      39.50N 106.08W

11/12/2011  M115 MPH         SUMMIT             CO   TRAINED SPOTTER

0945 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST KENOSHA PASS            39.41N 105.76W

11/12/2011  M101 MPH         PARK               CO   DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

0930 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST 6 NNW BERTHOUD PASS     39.88N 105.82W

11/12/2011  M109 MPH         GRAND              CO   TRAINED SPOTTER

0917 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST SSE BERTHOUD PASS       39.80N 105.78W

11/12/2011  M113 MPH         CLEAR CREEK        CO   AWOS

            SUSTAINED WINDS 86 MPH. MINES PEAK SUMMIT 12500 FEET.

0857 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST SSE BERTHOUD PASS       39.79N 105.77W

11/12/2011  M112 MPH         CLEAR CREEK        CO   AWOS

            SUSTAINED WINDS 84 MPH. MINES PEAK SUMMIT 12500 FEET.

 It was also extremely windy in portions of Boulder, Larimer and Gilpin Counties where winds topped 80 mph!

Fall Severe Weather Season

It's November, and that means the second peak for severe weather season is here.  Now the good news is that it's typically not as big of a peak as we see in the spring.  But the bad news, is we can see some dangerous storms, including killer tornadoes.

A strong storm is going to pull out of the southern Rockies on Monday and set the stage for a potential severe weather outbreak across southern Kansas, much of Oklahoma and north Texas.

This stormy weather will move east into the day on Tuesday, bringing unsettled weather to the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, stretching down into Louisiana and east Texas.

Historic snow hits New England

It's snowing from the nation's capital up into northern New England.  Much like the snow that came through Denver ealier this week, this is not good news, since the trees are still in full leaf.

The snow adds a lot of weight to the trees, and there will undoubtedly be numerous trees and limbs down.

New York's Central Park has recorded just under two inches of snow so far, breaking a record.  The city that never sleeps has never seen more than an inch of snow in October.

In fact, there are only two measurable snowfalls on record for New York.  One was 0.5" on October 21, 1952.  The other was 0.8" on October 30, 1925.

Soaker across east-central Florida

If you live in Brevard County, Florida (and surrounding areas) get ready for a soaker over the next few hours.  Rainfall rates in excess of two inches per hour are possible.

This is not a tropical storm, although the National Hurricane Center is monitoring to see if it further organizes and gains tropical characteristics.

Winds are gusting to 50 mph along some portions of Florida's Atlantic Coast.

This after some parts of the region have already seen anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain since Friday morning.

It was a true weekend soaker!

This map for Brevard County precipitation reports is for the period 7am Friday to 7am Saturday, and is courtesy of the CoCoRaHS network!

Finally some rain for Texas

Heavy rain continues to fall over portions of Texas, but after months of severe drought, the rain is causing some flooding concerns.

Here is the 24-hour rainfall forecast from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

Heavy rain also continues to fall over Florida. The cause is a tropical disturbance lingering across the region.

First western winter storm

Well here is comes, the first big winter storm of the season is moving across the west. Snow has spread across the mountains of California, Utah, and now into southwest Colorado.

The first chain laws of the season were posted early this morning for Red Mountain Pass on US 550, just outside of Durango.

Ahead of the storm, it will be extremely windy, along and east of the Rockies.

There is even going to be a small severe weather outbreak over the next few days across the high plains.

The fall storms are exciting! Very dramatic as we make that seasonal transition.

Finally a western weather change

It has been weeks of nice, warm and dry weather across the western US, but that is all changing as we speak. (or type shall I say)

A large trough of low pressure moving in off the Pacific will bring the first significant snow to many of the western mountain chains, especially across California, Utah and Colorado.  Many of these locations are under a winter storm watch already.

In fact, the Sierras of California are under a winter storm warning.

Along with the wetter weather comes a huge cool down.

Out ahead of the storm, red flag warnings are in effect across a good portion of the central plains (east of the Rockies) where strong southerly winds will really crank up the fire danger.

Then as the storm approches over the weekend, we could even see some severe weather develop, much like we do in the spring weather scenarios.

It will be an exciting week to watch the weather!  The transition to fall is officially underway!!