Will the Arctic Cold Front Cause Severe Weather and Damage to Crops?

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The discussion centers around varying winter weather experiences across different regions. An Arctic cold front is expected to bring severe conditions, including strong winds and potential blizzard-like conditions, leading to dangerously low wind chills in some areas. Participants share personal weather updates, with some experiencing significant snowfall while others report mild conditions. Notably, areas in the Midwest and parts of the UK are facing heavy snow, while regions like Western Washington and parts of Florida are seeing typical winter temperatures without snow. Concerns about the impact of cold weather on crops, infrastructure challenges in handling snow, and personal anecdotes about coping with the cold are prevalent. The conversation also touches on the contrasting experiences of those in warmer climates, highlighting the diverse impacts of winter weather across the globe.
  • #851
-40 here
 
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  • #852
It's a balmy 5F here this morning - more normal. We have not had snow since October, which is rather unusual. We are having a dry winter after having a wet summer and fall.

It's also been warmer than usual with the consequence that some fruit and nut trees started prematurely budding. They are then in danger of losing some developed buds due to freezing. In some previous years, some orchards have lost 50% or more of their crop.
 
  • #853
Great article explaining what's caused this winter's weather patterns.

This Winter's Weirdly Warm Weather Explained

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/va-news-articles_2011-11-30?vaid=84a2f2ed4cbf92e32e8b23a9fb771da6&jQuery1326568729603=4
 
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  • #854
Evo said:
Great article explaining what's caused this winter's weather patterns.

This Winter's Weirdly Warm Weather Explained

http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/va-news-articles_2011-11-30?vaid=84a2f2ed4cbf92e32e8b23a9fb771da6&jQuery1326568729603=4

It is about US weather, but apparently effects of both Atlantic oscillations changed the weather in Europe as well.
 
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  • #855
We have almost gotten up to 10 deg F at mid-day.
 
  • #856
I was worried when it was so warm here at the end of December. My experience is that when early winter is warm, later winter is miserable. Temps won't drop down to the lows that keep the air dry, but will hover closer to the range that dumps large amounts of snow. Right now, we're just getting continuous, but light snow. Better than a blizzard. I'm expecting one of those March blizzards this year, though.
 
  • #857
Our high today was -15C = 5F. Predicted low for tonight is -25C = -13F. Predicted high for tomorrow is -22 = -8F. Predicted low for tomorrow night is -27C = -17F. I walk for 25 minutes before sunrise, i.e., at the low temperatures.
 
  • #858
We've had scattered snow showers all day with temps below freezing now; in the last couple of hours. Sounds like black ice to me! It could be an ugly morning commute in Portland tomorrow.
 
  • #859
Here in Saskatoon we've finally gotten our first cold weather and real snow all year. It snowed about 6" last night and dropped down to -20c today and is -28c right now. I climb at a local gym downtown and I use my pedal bike for transport, even though I had to bike through 6" of largely uncleared snow there and back and was slipping all over the place, there is no method of transportation I would rather use :!)
 
  • #860
We're all the way up to 4 deg F here, after being below 0 all night. I have to clean off my truck and take food to my father, but I'm not looking forward to it.
 
  • #861
Snow, snow, snow. And now the forecast has been changed to a possible 7 inches in the coming days. To all of you who are from snowy areas: I know, you're thinking that's nothing. Well, we have only a few plows, and lots of hills. Seven inches will shut the Seattle-Tacoma area down!

I have a test scheduled for tomorrow - I bet it's going to be cancelled. Too bad, I'm ready for it right now.
 
  • #862
We have practically no snow. The western mountains have gotten enough snow to supplement the man-made stuff that they have made, so ski areas can keep some terrain open.

There is a snowmobile trail along the 1/2 mile Eastern boundary of my property, and I have seen a grand total of ONE snowmobile traversing it. It's crazy to risk damaging an expensive machine like that running on thin snow, with rocks and stumps sticking up.

Our newest neighbors (sporadic weekends) bought their little place as a base of operations for snowmobiling, only to find themselves in the crappiest winter in years. In fact, the guy's brother bought a snowmobile for himself hoping to join his brother and sister-in-law up here at least a few weekends each winter. We'll see. Sometimes our biggest storms are in February and March.
 
  • #863
Winter is finally here in Saskatchewan, we're finally getting temperatures that are more like the norm. Today its -37c, -45c with the windchill... Biking to the climbing gym today will be an adventure.
 
  • #864
We're all the way up to 30 deg F today, before going back to colder weather. I'm taking advantage of mild weather to run the oil furnace while burning out all the coals and ash in the wood-stove so I can clean it out.
 
  • #865
Walked for 25 minutes this morning at -30C = -22F (-41C = -42F). Tomorrow's walk should be colder.
 
  • #866
I walked for about 10 minutes between buildings in -40 today. I kept dodging into the campus buildings to warm up though :). My parka zipper is broke and I don't want to make even a car trip to fix the situation in this weather.

Actually, I think cars are somewhat scarier in this weather... they can get you far away from your home and then break down, leaving you stranded.
 
  • #867
Pythagorean said:
I walked for about 10 minutes between buildings in -40 today. I kept dodging into the campus buildings to warm up though :). My parka zipper is broke and I don't want to make even a car trip to fix the situation in this weather.

Actually, I think cars are somewhat scarier in this weather... they can get you far away from your home and then break down, leaving you stranded.
Wow, that reminds me of a crazy biology Professor I had in college, he would wear short sleeves to class, in sleet, snow, hail, -20F, howling wind, it didn't matter, claimed it boosted his immune system. It was about 1/8 to 1/4 mile from the parking lot to class. We all thought he was a bit "crazy".

Rhody... :rolleyes:
 
  • #868
The Pacific Northwest is going to get hammered tonight. Lisab is supposed to get about a foot of snow tonight, up in Seattle. We are supposed to transition into snow soon and get a couple of inches by morning. Here, the daytime temps are above freezing so this shouln't be a problem for us.
 
  • #869
Ivan Seeking said:
The Pacific Northwest is going to get hammered tonight. Lisab is supposed to get about a foot of snow tonight, up in Seattle. We are supposed to transition into snow soon and get a couple of inches by morning. Here, the daytime temps are above freezing so this shouln't be a problem for us.

Whew, I can smell it coming. I think the whole metro area is going to be hunkered down for at least a day.

Luckily I have a pot roast in the fridge! It's going to be a goooood day to cook some comfort food :!).
 
  • #870
lisab said:
Whew, I can smell it coming.

You haven't started snorting snow again, have you? :devil:
 
  • #871
Ivan Seeking said:
You haven't started snorting snow again, have you? :devil:

I can stop anytime, I swear!

Wow it's really bad out there. So far there's about 3 inches, maybe 4. But it's still snowing steadily. The whole area is shut down.

I love that snow-quiet that comes with a good snowfall!
 
  • #872
I am jealous. At my place, it didn't freeze and we didn't have snow. Only all shades of rain my country specializes in. Boring...
 
  • #873
MarcoD said:
I am jealous. At my place, it didn't freeze and we didn't have snow. Only all shades of rain my country specializes in. Boring...

Your normal weather is almost identical to western Washington's. It's nice to have an occasional break from days and days of the wet, gray pattern!

Btw, I thought this was interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/dec/17/medicalresearch-humanbehaviour

When it comes to wrapping up on a cold winter's day, a cosy hat is obligatory. After all, most of our body heat is lost through our heads – or so we are led to believe.

Closer inspection of heat loss in the hatless, however, reveals the claim to be nonsense, say scientists who have dispelled this and five other modern myths.

In summary: Let cooler heads prevail.
 
  • #874
It was -51C with the windchill this morning, -46C right now. Yesterday when I went biking, my bike started to literally break down; the front forks froze up, I have hydraulic disc brakes and they started to malfunction, I couldn't shift, the cassette (rear gear set and hub) was locked on one position so whenever i stopped pedaling slack was gained in my chain system, even my crank set was starting to lock up. I don't think that I'll be going biking today.
 
  • #875
I just heard on CNN that in some of the hilly areas near downtown Seattle, some of the local residents brought out their skis and snowboards and making a fun day of it on the streets. ('Not much traffic to deal with since the city is mostly shut down today.)
 
  • #876
62 outside grey and rain today. Always loved it when snow would shut things down. We'd get the sleds and walk up to the local Wendy's and get a hot chocolate.
 
  • #877
lisab said:
In summary: Let cooler heads prevail.

I can now go bald in peace.
 
  • #878
It is warmer with a hat on.
 
  • #879
We are again above freezing. Pathetic two inches of snow that we got in the last few days are slowly melting.
 
  • #880
Another day of -35C for us, but it looks like its not here to stay, by next week we should be up at the -15c area.
 
  • #881
Makes me shiver as I get ready to move hay with a tractor in near 70 degree weather.

I do miss snow though. Went to school in Michigan for a couple of years and loved the snow. But we walked everywhere so no problem.
 
  • #882
Ugh. The dreaded tic-tic-tic sound of freezing rain as it hits the window.

Meanwhile I got a message from my daughter, she's without power :cry:.
 
  • #883
High temp of the day is 20 deg F. At least it's clear and sunny, for another day or so, then more snow.
 
  • #884
lisab said:
Ugh. The dreaded tic-tic-tic sound of freezing rain as it hits the window.

Meanwhile I got a message from my daughter, she's without power :cry:.

There is a nice little trick to end the suspense. If the lights are on and dim three times, you're fine. If the lights go off and come back on three times, you're toast. After the third try they won't be coming back on.

Luckily they put in heavy new lines a few years ago, but for a long time we frequently lost power. A few years before we bought this place, they were without power for almost two weeks, beginning with a heavy snow storm. So we've got a generator and wood stove. In a disaster like the flood of 1996, we are far down the list of prioreties for the power company. Local outages could be a real bugger if there is a lot of damage.
 
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  • #885
lisab said:
Ugh. The dreaded tic-tic-tic sound of freezing rain as it hits the window.

Meanwhile I got a message from my daughter, she's without power :cry:.

I'm afraid, it's not looking good

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...cripples-city/2012/01/19/gIQArD73AQ_blog.html

Slippery in Seattle: surprise ice storm cripples city

a dangerous ice storm is presently glazing the Emerald City, with mounting power outages (around 120,000) and car accidents. Washington’s Governor has declared a state of emergency.

I think you would have told us that...if there was power.

We think of you.
 
  • #886
Andre said:
I'm afraid, it's not looking good

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...cripples-city/2012/01/19/gIQArD73AQ_blog.html

I think you would have told us that...if there was power.

We think of you.

Well it's been very "interesting"! Power was on and off for the afternoon, lots of momentary "blinks" followed by surges. Is that caused by the linemen powering up a line that was down, I wonder? So I shut down my electronics to protect their delicate circuits :smile:.

It seems stable now, though.
 
  • #887
lisab said:
Well it's been very "interesting"! Power was on and off for the afternoon, lots of momentary "blinks" followed by surges. Is that caused by the linemen powering up a line that was down, I wonder? So I shut down my electronics to protect their delicate circuits :smile:.

It seems stable now, though.
Do you have a portable generator Lisa ? Enough for fridge, lights, TV, cable ? I got one after the last hurricane, glad I did. Turbo has one too, a fairly big one if I remember correctly.

Rhody...
 
  • #888
rhody said:
Do you have a portable generator Lisa ? Enough for fridge, lights, TV, cable ? I got one after the last hurricane, glad I did. Turbo has one too, a fairly big one if I remember correctly.

Rhody...

No, I live in an apartment :smile:. And it's all electric - everything! The heat, the cooking, the water heater. Not my preference, but renters can't be choosers.
 
  • #889
lisab said:
No, I live in an apartment :smile:. And it's all electric - everything! The heat, the cooking, the water heater. Not my preference, but renters can't be choosers.
Same here. How's your daughter? Is her electricity back?
 
  • #890
This weather here is ridiculously hot this winter. A [strike]mid-januaryfly[/strike] mayfly just flew by when I let the dogs out, and the cherry trees are already in blossom.
 
  • #891
lisab said:
Well it's been very "interesting"! Power was on and off for the afternoon, lots of momentary "blinks" followed by surges. Is that caused by the linemen powering up a line that was down, I wonder?
The utility company would not powering up a line with momentary blinks. That's more likely short circuits somewhere on the local grid and possibly breakers opening and closing in response to current/voltage transients. That happened during the snowstorm in October. We had power, which fluctuated, but neighborhoods around us lost power for 2 or more days due to downed power lines. Usually, breakers open and isolate those areas from the grid.

We just had our first snow since the October storm. It was a light dusting, but we're supposed to get several inches tonight.
 
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  • #892
Daffodil blooming the first of January. Not typical at all
 
  • #893
I was always under impression that there is an automatic switch somewhere, that tries to restore the power after a short circuit - and it does it three times. The idea behind is that the part of the grid responsible for the short circuit is cut off by the local fuse, and rest of the grid can work correctly. That's why a single or double blinks are often followed by the normal operation. It may happen that you are in the part of the grid that is being cut off by the fuse, it may happen that these three attempts fail, and even after the last grid is still shorted somewhere. Then you are out of luck.
 
  • #894
We've had a warm winter so far with no snow since last winter, that is to say October. With good luck we won't have any at all, but unfortunately, there's two inches of bad luck on my sidewalk right now and it's still coming down. Wouldn't you know it, my wife's inlaws are coming to visit for a few days and I have to drive up to Newark this morning to pick them up.
 
  • #895
Jimmy Snyder said:
We've had a warm winter so far with no snow since last winter, that is to say October. With good luck we won't have any at all, but unfortunately, there's two inches of bad luck on my sidewalk right now and it's still coming down. Wouldn't you know it, my wife's inlaws are coming to visit for a few days and I have to drive up to Newark this morning to pick them up.
Brings back memories. I used to live in Yardley, PA and my office half of the week was in Edison, NJ, the other half was in Parsipany. How I loved those daily commutes up Hwy 1 from Trenton to Edison.
 
  • #896
D H said:
This weather here is ridiculously hot this winter. A [strike]mid-januaryfly[/strike] mayfly just flew by when I let the dogs out, and the cherry trees are already in blossom.

We've been getting crazy fluctuations, and it's killing me. The only times I usually have sinus trouble are during the major seasonal transitions from warm to cold and old to warm. I'm getting that every two days now. It was 60 degrees on Wednesday and 23 degrees on Thursday. And, yes, a few of my trees are budding and my spring bulbs are sprouting.
 
  • #897
There was raining one day, next day we had a snow storm, and the day following slush! :cry:
 
  • #898
Tiny bit 'o freezing rain, watching all the cars fishtail around the corner in front of my house last night. Should have sat out on my front porch on my rocker with a Bourbon and been more entertained.
 
  • #899
Evo said:
Brings back memories. I used to live in Yardley, PA and my office half of the week was in Edison, NJ, the other half was in Parsipany. How I loved those daily commutes up Hwy 1 from Trenton to Edison.
I took route 1 to Newark, and it was treacherous all the way. Coming back I decided to take the turnpike which was much better except that there was a crash right in front of me. I had no time to stop and so I threaded my way through the obstacle course. Fortunately, I didn't hit anything.
 
  • #900
A former (part-time) neighbor from RI called me earlier. They're getting a lot of snow, evidently. He is anxious to get back up here with his Polaris sled and go trail-riding. Unfortunately, there has been insufficient snow to build a base for the trails, so people who are silly enough to go trail-riding risk damaging their machines on rocks and stumps.

It's 18 degrees, so the precipitation is coming down as fluffy snow, though not enough to bother grooming and packing.
 

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