Another Blizzard Warning, 2011
January 31, 2011, Submitted by: Ken
map from 31-Jan-2011
The Blizzard of 2011
The weather-preparedness category has been busy lately, having recently come up against snowfall records in the Northeast U.S., and now with yet a new threat of Blizzard Warning in the Central U.S. including the populated region of Chicago, IL.
This winter of 2010-2011 is shaping up as a big one.
As you can see from the National Weather Service warning map, there is a large swath of the U.S. that is in store for yet another blast of winter weather and accumulating snow.
From the National Weather Service:
CHICAGO (1-Feb)
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1023 AM CST TUE FEB 1 2011
…AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER STORM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT ILLINOIS TODAY AND WEDNESDAY…
NEW YORK CITY (1-Feb)
URGENT – WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1123 AM EST TUE FEB 1 2011
…A SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM WILL IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY…
…ICE STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST WEDNESDAY…
BOSTON (1-Feb)
…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM EST THURSDAY…
* ACCUMULATIONS…4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW TODAY. AN ADDITIONAL 4 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW VERY LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS MOST LIKELY ALONG AND ESPECIALLY NORTH OF THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE.
Checking the various NWS local offices, there are winter storm warnings up in nearly a third of the country! I don’t remember seeing something quite like this before.
Although it is winter, and some may say this type of weather is to be expected, it is a reminder that just because we’ve not had ‘bad’ winters in a while, doesn’t mean that it is the new ‘normal’.
Things tend to average out (depending on your ‘averaging’ time frame), and this winter may be the beginning of ‘payback’ for the warmer than ‘normal’ climate we’ve been experiencing lately.
Time will tell.
Gather the firewood…
Update 1-Feb-2011, This monster storm is enormous. The GOES East satellite image shows it’s reach to be literally from Mexico to Maine. Incredible.
CHICAGO BLIZZARD 2011 third biggest snowstorm on record
Chicago snowfall snow total inches
Chicago is shoveling out from under it’s third biggest snowstorm ever recorded in the windy city.
How much snow did Chicago get during the blizzard of 2011? The official snow total is is 20.2 inches.
The three biggest snowstorms in Chicago were,
1. January 26-27, 1967, 23.0 inches
2. January 1-3, 1999, 21.6 inches
3. February 1-2, 2011, 20.2 inches
Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media
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Total Inches of Snow in Boston so far
January 30, 2011, Submitted by: Ken(Scroll to bottom for latest winter snowfall updates, 2011-2012)
image: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/pnsevents/wxeventsCalendar.php?month=1&year=2011
Given the crazy winter of 2010-2011, there are a-lot of questions regarding ‘How much snow has fallen in Boston‘, or ‘How many inches of snow so far in Boston‘. So, I decided to have a look – especially knowing that so many people live in the northeast U.S., and are having one of those good-old-fashioned winter’s.
(Scroll to bottom for latest winter snowfall updates, 2011-2012)
As you would expect, the snow total depends on the location, and in typical northeast fashion there are swaths of snow depth boundaries throughout New England.
I believe that the official snow total for Boston is measured from Logan Airport.
Instead of simply relying on that set of measurements, being right on the ocean and all… I looked at what appeared to be the average snow total inches within the area inside of Rt 128 for each significant storm. Here’s the way it looks to me…
(data viewed from the NWS Southern New England Significant Weather Event maps)
December, 2010 snow events
Dec 20-21, 2 inches
Dec 22-23, 3 inches
Dec 26-27, 18 inches
January, 2011 snow events
Jan 7-8, 2 inches
Jan 9, 1 inch
Jan 12, 16 inches
Jan 18, 4 inches
Jan 21, 8 inches
Jan 25, 1 inch
Jan 26-27, 12 inches
The total unofficial amount of average snowfall in the general Boston vicinity
(based on approximating the general area within Rt. 128)
December, 23 inches
January, 44 inches
Total so far this season (end of January), 67 inches
The total ‘official‘ amount of snow in Boston
(stats from a report on BostonChannel.com, WCVB TV5)
2010-2011 season so far, 60 inches
January, 38 inches
Third Snowiest January in Boston
According to the ‘official’ statistics, this January-2011 is the 3rd snowiest January on record, while the 2nd place prize came only 6 years ago, and the jackpot was hit only 15 years ago! That’s quite interesting given the fact that snowfall totals have been being measured for quite some time.
2005, 43 inches
1996, 40 inches
2011, 38 inches
As the winter progresses, the upcoming week temperatures will remain below average, in the 20′s, while more snow is expected Tuesday and Wednesday. The Wednesday storm is shaping up to bring heavy snow north and west of Boston with a mix within the city.
Here come’s February…
Does anyone notice a descending glacier from the north?
Update, February,
USA Snow Depth Map, February
Incredibly, two-thirds of the country is covered in snow as of 2-Feb-2011. More than two feet of snow base in Massachusetts, Connecticut and much of New England.
February, 2011 Boston area snow total
(Boston area, general average within Rt 128)
Feb 1-2, 10 inches
Feb 8-9, 1 inch
Feb 21, 1.5 inches
Feb 25, 1.5 inches
Feb 27, 5 inches
February total: 19 inches
March, 2011 Boston area snow total
zip, zero, nada…
April, 2011 Boston area snow total
April Fools snowstorm? (False Alarm)
Total snowfall in the general Boston area during winter 2010 – 2011
About 85 inches!
That’s 7 feet!
(Again, this is an estimate of overall average within the 128 corridor to the city of Boston – not just the Logan Airport measurements)
2011/2012 Winter Season Snowfall Totals.
Update, Oct-30, 2011
It looks like average 3″ in the immediate Boston ‘area’ within the 128-corridor, however, much more to the West (12″+ in Worcester, other locations much higher approaching 30″ !)
3 Million Without Power, October SnowStorm
Update, Feb-13, 2012
Boston total snowfall so far: 7.8″
Boston average snowfall: 28.2″
Update, Mar-4, 2012
Recent storm totals: 1.3″ in Boston, 2″ to 3″ surrounding, up to 5 – 10″ further west
Boston total snowfall so far this season: 9.1″
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So Much Snow, Roofs Collapsing in Northeast
January 27, 2011, Submitted by: Ken
Snowfall records are being challenged and some are being smashed during this 2011 winter season in many parts of the U.S.
The following NOAA snow depth map illustrates the magnitude of the snow depth across much of the northern portion of the U.S., particularly in the northeast where the snow continues to accumulates.
The latest January 26-27 snowstorm produced snowfall rates as steep as 5 inches per hour and dropped up to another foot and a half of fresh snow on top of what was already there.
Roof Collapse
In fact, so much snow has fallen, and so little has melted off, that roofs are beginning to collapse all across the northeast.
Early on January 27, the roof of a garage building collapsed in Lynn, Massachusetts under 3 feet of accumulated snow, weighing tons, trapping several people inside.
credit: whdh.com
The roof of a warehouse collapsed in Bridgewater, Massachusetts when this most recent storm dumped 8 inches of additional snow, and was the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’.
credit: necn.com
Other roof collapse failures were also being reported in Connecticut.
Waterbury, CT, Roof Collapse of Duckpin Bowling
Trumbull, CT, Roof Collapse of a tennis club
Trumbull, CT, Roof Collapse at Taco Bell
Enfield, CT, Roof Collapse, the top of a warehouse building caved in
Middletown, CT, Roof Collapse of the entire length on the Passport Inn building
Middletown, CT, Roof Collapse tears off 3rd floor of downtown building
Vernon, CT, Roof Collapse of car dealership building
Hartford, CT, Roof Collapse of garage leads to demolition
Somers, CT, Roof Collapse of barn
Norwalk, CT, Roof Collapse of horse arena – stable
Meriden, CT, Roof Collapse at Jacoby’s Restaurant
Manchester, CT, Roof Collapse at Lou’s Auto Sales
Naugatuck, CT, Roof Collapse at warehouse
Buildings with flat roofs are under the greatest danger of collapse due to snow load. Since there have been only a few episodes of significant natural melting, the buildup of snow with its water content, can amount to about 6 pounds per square foot of 12 inch deep snow (depending on water content) – which translates to 600 pounds per every 10×10 foot area. Allowing several feet to accumulate can quickly stress roofs to their breaking point.
This most recent snowstorm has broken records including a record January total of 36 inches in New York City, making it the snowiest January on record, beating the old record set in 1925 (27.4 inches).
NYC is up to 56 inches this season so far, and could potentially break the all time record set in 1995-96 when 75.6 inches of snow fell.
Boston so far has received about 40 inches of snow, just during this month of January alone.
New January snow records have also been set in Newark, N.J. and Bridgeport, CT.
With February still to come, this winter is shaping up to be a memorable one.
What does this report have to do with ‘modern survival’, the underlying theme of this blog?
Well, I found the snow-load weight on roofs to be something that most probably do not think about. Unless you live in areas where this amount of snow is somewhat typical, it may catch many off guard as the winter continues. Unless periods of significant melting occur between snow storms, it will be a factor in the weeks ahead.
Apart from that, all the normal preparedness plans apply… ready for power outages, ready to stay warm, enough food at home, vehicle car kits with food-water-supplies, and extra gasoline in the garage for the snow-blower!
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70 Trillion cubic feet of New Arctic Ice
January 24, 2011, Submitted by: Ken
3-transitional images, Jan-2009, Jan-2010, Jan-2011
Comparing imagery of January arctic sea ice from 2009 to 2011 sourced from the U.S. Navy Polar Ice Prediction System, it appears as though the ice sheet has thickened substantially.
That is, the arctic ice during January 2009 compared to January 2010 compared to January 2011, all purposefully compared during the same month of each year.
This observation is looking at ice thickness – not surface area – although some retreat of 1 meter ice can be seen in the Labrador Sea.
Up to 500,000 square miles of the arctic sea region may have thickened from approximately 5 feet thick during January 2009 to approximately 10 feet thick during January 2011.
The ice thickness scale color, dark blue, corresponds to about 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet.
The color green represents about 3 meters, or about 10 feet.
The estimated area that has changed from dark blue to green measures approximately 500,000 square miles based on approximated Google Earth ruler measurements (1,500 miles length by a bit more than 300 miles width, on average – call it 333).
At an increased thickness of 5 feet, that calculates out to be…
500,000 x (5,280 x 5280) x 5 = 69,626,304,000,000
might as well round it to 70,000,000,000,000 cubic feet
It’s getting colder out there!
…which may bring about an entirely new preparedness category
“mini Ice Age”
(actually, we are well within a ‘La Nina’ cycle – cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean surface)
An interesting ‘coincidence’ is that the magnetic north pole drift direction is nearly the same as the increase in ice sheet depth.
Update, Just for fun, I decided to also capture and loop 3 additional images – one each from Sep-2008, Sep-2009, Sep-2010, to see whether or not a similar apparent increase in ice thickness was visible during that time of year, similar to what is evident while comparing the January ‘winter’ images.
I took the liberty of circling the ‘green’ areas of each image, which represents ice thickness of about 10 feet and greater (3 meters +).
Sep-2008 vs. Sep-2009, looks like the ’09 slide may have a bit more thick ice – pretty close – there’s certainly more ‘light blue’ building up (2 meter ice)
Sep-2009 vs. Sep-2010, looks like the ’10 slide definitely has more of the thick ice
That’s my own interpretation with my eyes though – you be the judge.
3-transitional images, Sep-2008, Sep-2009, Sep-2010
Note: The curiosity to look at recent Arctic ice was born from this winter’s extra cold and precipitation in parts of the northern hemisphere – no attempts are made to calculate the overall sea ice change (globally, or in the entire northern hemisphere) or infer anything prior to 3 years. The January map loop shows slight reduction at southwest Greenland (Labrador Sea), some reduction in Hudson Bay, while some increase at northeast Greenland (Greenland Sea) – possibly an overall neutral effect there. The vast majority of apparent change is in the Arctic Ocean.
By the way, if anyone notices… the URL link to this article refers to 13 billion cubic feet while the title refers to 70 trillion… that was an error on my part (the 13 billion), but I corrected the error and title, minutes after having first posted it (while the URL remains the same). I had left out a critical multiple in the formula – that is, 5280 x 5280 to get proper square footage per square mile, whereas the original calculation mistakenly used only ’5280′ one time. Rest assured, the estimate is now correct. You can run the math yourself…
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Prevent Cold Injury and Hypothermia
January 24, 2011, Submitted by: Ken
Given that the winter of 2011 has been very cold, much colder than recent winters, knowing how to prevent cold injury or hypothermia is worth your while.
Cold injuries can occur whenever air temperature is below freezing (32 degrees F). Freezing of the skin surface is called ‘frost nip‘. When freezing extends deeper though the skin and flesh, the injury is called ‘frostbite‘.
Hypothermia is a life threatening condition in which deep-body temperature falls below 95°F. Body temperature falls when the body cannot produce heat as fast as it is being lost.
When temperatures plummet below 0 degrees (F), the danger and risk of getting frost nip, frostbite, or hypothermia becomes much greater – because it can come on much faster. 0 degrees (F) isn’t necessarily a critical tipping point temperature, but it is a psychological tipping point where the readings become ‘negative’ numbers – calling attention to itself.
Those that have experienced very cold and negative-number temperatures know the noticeable changes that can occur. At some point you actually begin feeling pain when breathing in very cold air too rapidly, for example. You can feel the inside of your nose freezing and your extremities (fingers and toes) can easily and quickly numb.
At extra high risk in these very cold conditions are children, who really don’t know any better, and simply want to stay out and play in the snow.
When it’s really cold outside, extra precautions become extra important!
Heat loss through the head
At rest, the body core loses about 7 percent of its heat through the head
When exercising, the head will lose more body heat which can ramp up to 50 percent heat loss, but the heat loss percentage will then diminish when you start to sweat and when your muscles start demanding more blood flow.
When in hypothermia however (shivering), core body heat loss through the head increases to as much as 55 percent and remains at this high level.
Cold Injury and Hypothermia Prevention Tips
Stay hydrated. A dehydrated body will slow blood circulation.
Avoid smoking – nicotine will constrict the blood vessels.
Avoid alcohol and caffeine which can lead to dehydration.
If cold, it is better to be active than to huddle up.
Heat production is increased by physical activity, but avoid sweating.
Don’t skip meals which will lead to slower metabolism and blood flow.
Wear the right clothes the right way.
Too much clothing can cause overheating and dehydration.
Avoid tight fitting clothing.
Clothes should be worn loose and in layers.
Clothing should be made of material that water vapor can pass through.
Avoid 100 percent cotton. Use synthetic fabrics for moisture-wicking.
Use water and wind resistant outerwear. Nylon, Gore-Tex.
Socks should be changed frequently.
Keep hands well protected. Mittens are better than gloves.
Cover your head.
Stay Dry. Stay Dry. Stay Dry.
A very lean person is more susceptible to cold (fat is an insulator).
Self Check
Pinch your fingernail to watch how fast the blood returns to your finger.
Avoid being alone in the very cold. Buddy system.
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