Weather Connection

 

Photo of sundogs/tangential arc over the weekend in Oceana County near Mears by Louise Olsen. 

 

After a long snow drought... a winter storm system will finally impact central and southern Lower Michigan.  The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the entire FOX 17 viewing area from 7 AM Tuesday through 1 PM Wednesday.  Light snow will develop from southwest to northeast on Tuesday morning and become heavy at times from late Tuesday afternoon through daybreak Wednesday.  Snow will diminish to lighter snow showers or flurries Wednesday morning into early Wednesday afternoon.  Current computer models continue to show that storm total accumulations of 5 to 10 inches are possible with the highest amounts of locally up to a foot will occur in the counties south and east of Grand Rapids... particularly in the vicinity of Hastings... Lansing... Battle Creek... Charlotte Marshall and Jackson.  Less snow will fall farther north and west of a line from Whitehall to Mount Pleasant.  A northeast wind will gust at times up to 30 mph and cause some blowing and drifting of snow... especially in open... rural areas.  Road and air travel conditions will become hazardous Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday morning.  School and events cancellations are likely Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.  Stay tuned to FOX 17 on-air and on-line for further updates.  

While December was a fairly active month for snowfall (35" for the month), January and the first few days of February have been just the opposite. No big snowstorms and generally a quiet, uneventful weather pattern. However, that's about to change. Our forecast models for the past few days have been showing (and agreeing) on a strong upper level system coming out of the northern Plains and drifting into the Midwest. This system will link up (or phase) with another low coming up from the Gulf coast. Needless to say, the cold air will be in place and the moisture will be streaming northward from the south. The actual low track will be just south of the Great Lakes across central Illinois, Indiana, and eventually into Ohio. This is a very favorable progression for heavy snow for us!

I've attached our latest computer model forcast for accumulated snow as of Sunday night at 11:00 PM. The light blue areas well north of Grand Rapids amount to about 2"-4". The medium blue (slight purple color) total about 4"-6", and the dark blue from Grand Rapids to the south is 6"-10". There is certainly the possibility of some 12" or more amounts with the fantastic lift this system will have. I would expect 1"-2" snowfall rates per hour at times Tuesday evening and Tuesday night before things start tapering off through the day Wednesday. This will be a long duration event starting Tuesday morning and continuing into Wednesday. A winter storm watch has already been posted for our entire area from Tuesday morning into Wednesday early afternoon. Drive safely and stay tuned to later forecasts!

February 3rd is the anniversary of the coldest temperature ever recorded in North America: -81° F at Snag Airport in Yukon Territories, Canada.  It was so cold, the temperature didn't even register correctly on the thermometer!  Here's the link to the full story.

Check out what a trip to that area can do to your facial hair:

We all know there's ice in Lake Michigan in the winter, but an e-mail circulating the Interwebs is claiming that massive icebergs with odd stripe formations are being spotted in the big lake this winter:

"Icebergs in Lake Michigan:

Did someone say something about "Global Warming"?? 

Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet
fills up with melt water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.

When an iceberg falls into the lake, a layer of water can
freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a
green stripe.

Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up
when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the lake.

Link to AP story on how New Hampshire feels about losing the record!

A statement from the World Meteorological Association confirms that a new world record extreme wind gusts was recorded.  To convert, the old record of 372 km/h equals 231 mph ... the new record of 408 km/h is equal to 253.5 mph.  Here's the full text:

Geneva, 22 January 2010 (WMO) - According to a recent review conducted by a panel of experts in charge of global weather and climate extremes within the WMO Commission for Climatology (CCl) the record of wind gusts not related to tornados registered to date is 408 km/h during Tropical Cyclone Olivia on 10 April 1996 at Barrow Island, Australia. The previous record was of 372 km/h, registered in April 1934 across the summit of Mount Washington, USA.

The panel came to its conclusion after an extensive review and evaluation of instrumental, phenomenological and statistical data.

The WMO Commission for Climatology provides more information about Global Weather and Climate Extremes at: http://wmo.asu.edu/

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are different terms for the same weather phenomenon which is accompanied by torrential rain and maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 119 kilometers per hour. A hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 249 km/h is referred to as Category 5. More information in WMO fact sheet.

WMO is the United Nations' authoritative voice on weather, climate and water

Monday morning, Emily was live promoting the "Soup's On for All" fundraiser for Catholic Charities of West Michigan.

So, I thought I'd contribute my own soup recipe.  OK, so it's not really mine, my dad created it as a knockoff of a soup served at Big T Restaurant in Lawton.  But it's awesome nonetheless.

Cream of Jalapeno soup

1 - can cream of celery soup
1 - 8 oz cream cheese, softened
5-6 jalapeno peppers, extra fine dice (more if you like)
1-2 serrano peppers, extra fine dice (if you want extra heat)
1 - soup can water, milk, or beer

Add water (or milk or beer) to soup concentrate.  Add diced peppers.  Cook until peppers are soft.  Add cream cheese and melt into soup, stirring well until dissolved.  Salt to taste.

I've had good luck using beer and onion & chive-flavored cream cheese.  Enjoy!

Hey 4th and 5th grade students... here is the link for all the information on the Michigan Committee for Severe Weather Awareness 2010 poster contest:

Official Rules (PDF file)

Entries are due on February 1st, so get creative and get moving!

-JS

As an avid beer lover, the following is provided without further comment from the December edition of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society:

"...Researchers have found that warmer temperatures are threatening the quality of beer.  A team led by Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute compared data on weather patterns, crop yield, and hop quality in the Czech Republic from 1954 to 2006 to determine the effects of climate on the quality of Saaz hops, which are used to make pilsner lagers.  They found that the concentration of alpha acids in the hops had decreased by 0.06% per year during the studied period.  Alpha acids give the Saaz hops their unique bitter taste, and the scientists attribute their decline to changing growing conditions and other effects they relate to increasing temperatures in the region.  The study was recently published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology."

As of Sunday... Grand Rapids is at six days and counting with no measurable snowfall.  Assuming none on Monday, we'll match January 3-9, 2008 for the last time in January that we had a full week without measurable snow.

To get a longer stretch, you have to go back to 2006, when we started the year on a 12-day streak with no measurable snowfall.

Snow lovers are petitioning us on the FOX 17 Morning News Live Blog to start a "snow dance" with the following lyrics (Courtesy Mitch in Kentwood): "Let it snow,let it snow, let it snow.... boom shaaaaacka laaaaaaka, boom shaaaaaka laaaaaaaka... wooot - woot!"

So, if you miss the fresh powder, join in!

-JS

What are temperature inversions? The air as you leave the surface of the earth is usually cooler aloft. With a temperature inversion, the air temp actually increases somewhere above the surface. When we get a deck of low level grey status clouds across our area in the winter time, it's sometimes is difficult to "mix-out" the clouds since we cannot break the temperture inversion with such a low sun angle. In the month of March or April when the sun angle is much higher and stronger, it becomes a little easier to "mix-out" or break the inversion. The end result is usually sunshine, but we sure couldn't do that this weekend. Below is a graphic explaining this...compliments of the National Weather Service in Chicago. Notice the low level clouds at/near the surface, and this temperature inversion aloft acting as a "lid" and preventing any mixing from occurring. Not only did we not get the sunshine on Saturday, mostly cloudy skies held our temps to only low/mid 30s. Look for a repeat of this on Sunday.