A high-impact winter storm continues to impact the vast majority of the North American continent, with close to a million homes without power early Friday morning in Michigan state alone — where is is taking down trees and powerlines.
Winter storm/blizzard warnings stretch from Oregon south to California’s border with Mexico, as Arctic air invades the Lower 48, bringing snow levels down to historically-low elevations, including the coastal areas of Northern California.
The National Weather Service LA posted its first blizzard warning since 1989, with the NWS office in San Diego issuing its first blizzard warning for the San Bernardino Country Mountains for the first time ever.
The unusually-cold outbreak will reach its maximum intensity Friday through Saturday, though Northern California is already experiencing its best snow event since February 1989: Snow is settling at exceptionally-low elevations (<300ft) in the Eureka and Crescent City areas, with the Eureka NWS Office –which sits at less than 40ft asl– registering a freezing 32F (0C).
Snow in southern California is even rarer, and these latest falls are starting to bust records.
While in LAX, a record low 41F was observed on Thursday — a reading which ties the old record set as recently as 2019.
“One of our bigger concerns is the fact that the winds are going to be picking up as the system moves through overnight,” continued Bingaman. “It’s a cold air mass, so it’s going to be cold in the morning. If people lose power because trees are blown down and impact the power line, that’s going to be really cold for people.”
And it’s only forecast to get colder Friday (and into the weekend):
GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies for Fri, Feb 24 [tropicaltidbits.com].
And snowier:
As of the Finish Meteorological Institute’s latest data-point (from Feb 21–so before these latest rounds of heavy snow), total snow mass for the Northern Hemisphere is trending up, holding above the 1982-2012 average, as it has all season, and threatening to take out the standard deviation, too:
[FMI]
PORTLAND’S SNOWIEST DAY SINCE 1943
Portland hasn’t seen this much snow all at once in 80 years.
“This is a big deal,” said NWS meteorologist Tonja Fransen.
Portland International Airport logged 10.8 inches Wednesday, besting the 9.3 inches that fell on a January day in 1956 but not quite reaching the greatest snowfall accumulation in the city;s history — the 14.4 inches from 1943.
Gusty winds hampered clean-up efforts Thursday, and drove already frigid temps of 27F (-2.8C) down to a wind chill of 10F (-12.2C).
January 21, 1943: 14.4 inches
February 22, 2023: 10.8 inches
January 26, 1956: 9.3 inches
December 19, 1964: 8 inches
March 8, 1951: 7.6 inches
January 13, 1950: 7.5 inches
November 22, 1977: 7 inches
December 20, 2008: 7 inches
January 27, 1996: 6.6 inches
January 10, 2017: 6.5 inches
EUROPE’S LOOMING ARCTIC OUTBREAK
It was another frosty start for me this morning in Central Portugal — the 17th frost I’ve noted this February.
As per the latest GFS run, Portugal’s chill wont lift anytime soon, either.
Anomalous cold is forecast to persists across Western Europe for at least the next two weeks:
Unusual cold forecast from Feb 23 to March 8.
And with regards to that SSW-induced Arctic Outbreak we’ve been tracking, the weather models are doubling-down that ‘something is coming’ to Europe; however, latest runs have nudged those ‘blues’ and ‘purples’ a little to the east so as to engulf nations from France and Germany to the Ukraine and Russia — starting ‘proper’ around March 6:
GFS 2m Temperature Anomalies March 6 – March 9 [tropicaltidbits.com].
Enjoy your weekend!
I’m off out to plow a 1/2-acre plot, readying it for (trial) spring plantings of quinoa, Emmer, sorghum and sweetcorn.
I managed to source a knackered-old Hinomoto compact tractor that a local was renovating. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass and so pillaged the bank to buy it (€1000 for the tractor, two plows and a box — a steal!).
I’m considering uploading videos of our homesteading efforts onto YouTube, to demonstrate to others that such a venture is possible even with ZERO experience. But please let me know if I’d be wasting my time.
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