I posted early this fall that in order for a certain interesting scientific hypothesis to be creditable we needed a particularly miserable winter this year. In short the hypothesis was predicting a bad winter and we were about to have a stress test.
How do you like it so far?
The Northern Hemisphere cooled early and hard this year. We are now catching the resultant strong winter storm systems as warm moist air masses release their heat passing through and bury us with snow. This will surely provide immoderate conditions right into late March.
In short, the hypothesis has not disappointed at all.
The recognition that the Atlantic oceanic heat engine has possibly strengthened northward having an impact on Arctic sea ice is novel and suggestive. That the broad effect was and is to provide a warmer northern temperature regime is quite reasonable. Yet this is done by shifting heat rather than adding or subtracting heat. It is meaningless almost to explain apparent atmospheric variation with this mechanism.
The cosmic ray hypothesis has broadly coincided with the apparent broad weather cycles to appear to have predictive value, sufficiently to noting it on an annual basis. I cannot imagine that is sufficient, but it is at least promising.
We know that the warming Arctic puts us in a warmer regime for possibly centuries. Been able to predict a foul winter accurately is economically valuable, particularly as the winter sets the limits on summer conditions and is possibly predictive of drought risk.
Record-breaking storm closes US
People walk through the snow-covered National Mall in
US East Coast digs out from blizzard
Washington (AFP) Dec 21, 2009 - The
Snowplows cleared pathways in the main roads but many side streets remained impassable and sidewalks were icy, as forecasters warned the below-freezing temperatures would cause melted snow to ice over and make driving treacherous. But from Virginia north to New York and Maine, residents awoke to clear skies, with the worst of the storm well over as holiday shoppers scrambled to make up for lost time four days ahead of Christmas.
The three major airports in the
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) Dec 21, 2009
The federal government was closed Monday after a record-breaking snowstorm swept across the northeastern
Just days before Christmas, the eastern seaboard from North Carolina to New England was digging out from the worst blizzard in years, which closed train and bus service, paralyzed air traffic, crippled motorists and left hundreds of thousands of residents without power in some areas.
Americans pining for a white Christmas got more than they bargained for, with local officials urging residents to hunker down indoors as record snowfall wreaked havoc on roadways.
And with the roads and transportation in disarray, many churches canceled Sunday services and some schools planned closures ahead of the December 25 holiday.
Commuters faced uncertainty on Monday, as the region struggled to clear persistent snow and ice. Federal agencies and local jurisdictions were closed, with all workers except emergency employees excused from work.
In Washington
The storm was a blow to the already reeling retail sector, which had been counting on cash registers ringing loudly on "Super Saturday" -- traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year -- to make up for weeks of lackluster sales.
"I think we can safely say that sales in the Washingtonregion were crippled," National Retail Federation vice president Ellen Davis told AFP.
Davis, whose industry group represents retailers across the United States, said because of the inclement weather, "people weren't eating at restaurants, there wasn't any impulse buying."
The last Saturday before Christmas usually rakes in some 15 billion dollars of all nationwide sales.
Shoppers seeking to make up for lost time in the Northeast -- home to around a quarter of the US population -- found more closed stores, unplowed roads and limited transportation options on Sunday.
Airports in the Washington
"It's going to take a few days for the airlines to re-book everybody, so if anybody was planning to travel, they really need to check with their airline before they head out to the airport," said spokeswoman Courtney Mickalonis at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
The storm brought chaos to the annual year-end holiday travel season that officially began Saturday and lasts two weeks, through the New Year holiday.
As the monster storm barreled northward, the National Weather Service said snow across the Mid-Atlantic and New England states was slowly tapering off as it moved away from the coast.
Blizzard and winter storm warnings were discontinued after the weather system dumped over two feet (61 centimeters) in some parts of Virginia , West Virginia, New Jersey and New York
The storm at one point stretched some 500 miles (800 kilometers) across 14 states, affecting tens of millions of Americans.
The weather service said it was the heaviest snow storm ever to hit the US Washington
Three people died on Virginia Virginia Department
Bus service around the region was severely hampered, and suspended in places, hours after the storm had passed.
"There are huge piles of snow lining the edges of streets and blocking the bus stops," said John Catoe, general manager of the Washington
Rather than deferring their holiday purchases, Davis
"You might see more people choose to purchase gift cards," she said.
"I would imagine there were people online all day yesterday as opposed to being out" at the shopping malls.
Big freeze kills at least 80 across Europe
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Dec 21, 2009
The death toll from winter storms across Europe rose to at least 80 on Monday as transport chaos spread amid mounting anger over the three-day failure of Eurostar high-speed trains.
With tens of thousands stranded by the cancellation of London-to-Paris
A car veered off an icy road and knocked concrete onto rails, derailing a Paris
Croatian investigators blamed the minus 17 degrees Celsius (1.4 Fahrenheit) temperatures for a brake failure, national television reported. European temperatures as low as minus 33.6 degrees Celsius (minus 28.5 Fahrenheit) have been recorded in Bavaria
In Poland, authorities said 42 people, many of them homeless, had died of cold over three days after temperatures plunged to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit).
France has reported at least two deaths of homeless people, and the national power company briefly cut electricity to two million people on Monday saying it was necessary to avoid an even bigger blackout amid surging demand.
More flights were cancelled in France , Germany , the Netherlands , Portugal and Spain and main highways were blocked across Europe where some regions had more than 50 centimetres (20 inches) of snow.
The breakdown of the Eurostar service under the Channel, linking London with Paris and Brussels , has symbolised Europe 's suffering.
After the nightmare of more than 2,000 people stuck in the tunnel when five trains broke down Friday, tens of thousands more people have missed trains cancelled since then, with Eurostar announcing a "restricted" service for Tuesday.
But those trains will only run for passengers originally due to travel Saturday or Sunday, with the remainder of the backlog to be cleared over the next few days. Normal service is not expected to resume before Christmas Day.
The French transport ministry has ordered an investigation into the breakdown, which Eurostar said has been caused by trains unable to handle the change from freezing temperatures outside to warm temperatures in the tunnel.
Eurostar said it had launched its own independent review.
The winter storms caused other disruption across Europe .
Air traffic was again badly hit as temperatures remained glacial: minus 20 degrees Celsius in Sibiu in Romania , where more than 50 centimetres of snow fell, and minus seven Celsius in Venice , Italy
Seven hundred people spent the night on camp beds at Amsterdam-Schipol airport and more flights were cancelled after dozens were grounded Sunday.
The Dutch rail network was also badly hit with the railway company advising commuters to stay at home.
Heavy snowfall led to more delays and cancellations at Frankfurt and Duesseldorf airports in Germany
Twenty percent of flights out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle were cancelled Monday. The main RER commuter train line running east to west across the Paris
Spanish civil aviation authorities said 174 flights from Madrid-Barajas airport were called off. Flights from Lisbon to Madrid were among those hit while main roads in northern Portugal
After more snow falls on Moscow
In Britain , more airport delays hit passengers while snow forced the postponement of Wigan's English Premier League football match against Bolton Wanderers.
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