El Nino 2009-2010/ Snow Cover

It has definitely been a very snowy winter this season, and the Nor'Easter today has broken some records in some parts of the Northern Atlantic States (i.e. 114-Year Old Snowfall Record Broken For NYC Central Park.) Why so much snow? The El Nino pattern that we've been in since December 2009 has much to do with the recent occurrences of the white stuff. Typically in an El Nino pattern, more warm areas are found in Southern Canada as cold snowy weather can be found in the east and south east. Forecasters predicted that the El Nino would strengthen as the winter progressed and an indicator of this has been the colder temperatures found in parts of Florida and the south east. El Ninos usually occur every four to five years, in fact the last occurring from December 2006 to February 2007. Below is a visual representation of the El Nino weather phenomenon as well as the La Nina weather phenomenon:


All this snow has covered much of the Northern Hemisphere and according the the NOAA's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHSRC), 52.4% of North America is covered by snow or ice. It's not nearly as close as the analysis a month ago, in which 69.7% of North America was covered. This analysis shows that there has been much snow melt, but with much of the snow melting there has been flooding in some areas. Is it just me or does the map from a month ago look very reminiscent to the map at the end of the Day After Tomorrow? Hmmm....

February 26, 2010

January 31, 2010

More Snow Our Way?

(Area Forecast- February 21- February 27)
Union, NJ

I know some of us may be tired of the snow, but looks like we may be seeing snow showers later week, for Monday night into Tuesday morning. For Sunday we can expect sunny skies and a high near 47 as a high pressure system from our west will move into the region. It will be slightly windy with west winds at 11 to 16 mph with wind gusts up to 26 mph. That high pressure will be moving to the east and a low pressure system from our west will move into the region Monday night. We can expect a chance for rain shower showers after 3 pm, and a high near 46 for Monday. Rain and snow is expected for Monday night as it will be cloudy with a low around 31. Not much is expected with this system with new precipitation amounts near a quarter to an inch possible. As that low moves to the north, a secondary low from the south will bring us a rain/snow mix for Tuesday as we can expect snow before 9 am, then rain and then a change back over to snow, between 9 am to noon. High expected near 37. For Tuesday night that low will move off the coast as we can expect a slight chance of rain and a low around 33. The low will linger over New England for Wednesday through Saturday as we can expect mostly cloudy skies for Wednesday into Thursday and temperatures in the upper 30s. Chance of snow showers is possible for Wednesday into Thursday morning. Temperatures will dip into the lower 30s Friday into Saturday as we can expect mostly cloudy and chance of snow showers for both days as well. Looks like we'll be drying out for Sunday as we can expect sunny skies and a high near 40.

Snow Snow Go Away

Hi everyone!

I am still here, I have taken a LONG hiatus, by not updating this site since Dec 19th of last year. The wait is over, I am back and ready to update you with more information about weather phenomena and other Earth Science related topics. Weather is my passion and I'm sorry I have not been on here to update this site. I've been working hard towards graduating, it's coming this Summer!

So what about all this snow? Well with yesterday's clipper system and the perfect set up for a major snow storm the previous two weeks, I know many people along the Northeast are wishing they lived some place warmer. I myself and growing tired of the snow. It seems like it's been a while since parts of South Jersey received significant amounts of snow and in the DC area and some parts of Maryland and Pennsylvania, received record amounts of snow. This winter has definitely been a snowy one and it's not over yet. No I'm not going by the groundhog's prediction, (doesn't he always see his shadow), I'm going by the official start of Spring and that isn't until March 20th. Even then there is still, though unlikely chance of snow. Snow snow go away and bring some warmer temperatures. Though in many areas around the region, melting of the snow brought on by the increasing daytime temperatures, may result in flooding for the area, which in some cases creates more of a problem than the snow itself. Stay tuned for a later update on the weather for this week. It feels great to be back!