Weather Events

To IAP 12.310 - Introduction to Weather Forecasting - use this space to post interesting Weather Events.
Please put a brief comment here, describing the topic, and then link to a new page for the main discussion:
e.g. lodo's page 

This is an article on the Haiti earthquake from January 12, 2010.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Anna%27s+Page

There was a large storm in California this afternoon, which included at least one tornado:

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Storm+in+California

- Emily

Florida experienced extremely cold temperatures at the beginning of this year.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Cold+Temperatures+in+Florida

-Erika

There was a F3-F4 tornado in Western MA in 1995 that I experienced from the safe-ish distance of ~1 small town away.

1995 Tornado in Western MA!

-Kristin

There was an unusual rain storm over Chicago and much of the midwest this past Christmas.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Rainy+Christmas+in+Chicago

-Katie

Another snowstorm brewing for the Boston Area, but the track remains uncertain.

Quite an appropriate time to be doing a class about weather.

~Alex V.

Here is a link to my weather event in the Philippines.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Philippines+Flooding
-Zeke W.

The days after I was born, a huge blizzard/Nor' easter swept through the region. I lived in NY but it also hit here in MA. This is a link that details what occurred, how the storm system moved, as well as additional links and videos of the damage that this storm caused on December 11th, 1992.

http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/1992noreaster.html

-Michelle T.

I've just looked up the record lows for KBOS for today and tomorrow.  It turns out that 1882 must have been a bad year, as the recorded lows were -6F and -13 F, respectively (SOURCE: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/climate/bosjan.shtml); So while it's getting cold, it's not looking to be record-breaking cold.

In case you are curious, you can check out this link and search for Boston to see that the coldest it has been since the start of meteorological record-keeping was -12F.  Assuming a bit of data fuziness (does one degree really matter when it's 10 below?), it might be safe to assume that this year's cold snap is on the 129th anniversary of the record breaking event in 1882 (SOURCE: http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/extremelow.html).  If anybody has thoughts or information on what it was like to be taking classes at MIT back then in such weather, they should definitely post a response to this comment.

Of course, Boston is kept warm by the ocean and the urban heat island, so it's going to be even colder west of the city.  It'll probably be down near -10F near my hometown in Sudbury, MA.  And it looks to be near -20F in some of the lower lying areas of Central MA, like Orange (radiational cooling for the win?)

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of wind, which is good.  At -20F, even light winds would lead to some pretty epic windchills, at least for MA.  Apologies to those of your from MN and AK.

~Alex V.

Here is a link to a landslide in Brazil. Death tolls have reached 806, making it the 2nd worst natural disaster in the country's history.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110123/wl_nm/us_brazil_rains;_ylt=AliLabcDno5alDYO00793yVoWrEF;_ylu=X3oDMTJsbDY4aGw0BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwMTIzL3VzX2JyYXppbF9yYWlucwRwb3MDMwRzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNicmF6aWwzOXNsYW4-

Lots of floods around the world:

In addition to Brazil's landslide and flooding,

Southeast Australia - weeks of floods and record breaking rains (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110123/ap_on_re_as/as_australia_flooding;_ylt=AkgLvY1QcGd6GmNZrI3ImT9oWrEF;_ylu=X3oDMTJyZ3Z1b2doBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMTIzL2FzX2F1c3RyYWxpYV9mbG9vZGluZwRwb3MDOARzZWMDeW5fcGFnaW5hdGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNzb3V0aGVhc3RhdXM-)

Southern Africa - extreme rain until March! (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110121/sc_afp/unreliefafricaclimatefloods;_ylt=AniEAsVijqrAnwn72JD1GydoWrEF;_ylu=X3oDMTMzajM0a2FyBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDEyMS91bnJlbGllZmFmcmljYWNsaW1hdGVmbG9vZHMEcG9zAzExBHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3NvdXRoZXJuYWZyaQ--)

-Stephanie Schmit

Freezing weather has already hit the Northeast, and the National Weather Service has said the coldest spots will dip to less than 30 degrees below zero, with the wind chill expected to drop to 51 below zero in some places- some of the coldest air the Northeast has had in 2 years. This cold has been linked to two deaths already, including a woman found in a driveway in Connecticut.

Source and Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110124/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_weather

-Priscilla Melo

The blizzard of 1996 hit parts of the Mid Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest. Snowfall reached over 30 inches in Philadelphia. After this blizzard hit the Eastern United States, two more snowstorms hit the DC metropolitan area in the week of January 7th. After these snowstorms hit, on January 18th, a "rapid thaw" brought in 62F temperatures to the DC area along with heavy rain. Part of the reason for these massive snowstorms was the large scale changes in atmospheric circulation that allowed Arctic air to pass over Canada over the Eastern US.

http://www.weatherbook.com/1996.htm

--Katie K

There have been many articles about the brewing storm moving New England this coming week, but here's one about the potential effects of the system further south in the US.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/44785/disruptive-winter-storm-may-hi.asp

- Jordan L

In my hometown of Marshfield, on the South Shore of Massachusetts, we typically experience slightly warmer winters than Boston does because we are located on the shore. Even so, temperatures this weekend were cold enough for people to safely skate on the cranberry bogs for the first time this winter.

Even salt water froze in the cold temperatures of this weekend, as demonstrated by the ice left on the beach by the outgoing tide around 4pm on Sunday.

-Kimberly S.

"Extreme Weather Helps Drive Up Food Prices"

Scientists state that bouts of extreme weather that is most likely linked in global warming have caused devastation to crop supplies. From unusual droughts in Russia to overwhelming floods in Australia, the weather has caused severe damage to crops, not to mention the livelihoods of the people that depend on them. It is feared that this will continue and that farmers, and others, must simply learn to adjust to the reality.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/extreme-weather-sends-food-prices-soaring/?scp=5&sq=weather&st=cse

-Roshan A

Denmark recently had its coldest day in 29 years at -22.5 C (-8.5 F).

Article here: http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/50704-it-doesnt-get-much-colder-than-this.html

Picture here: http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Billedserier/2010/12/10083208.htm

This actually surprised me as being warmer than I expected for a record low. Boston's record low is -18 F (according to wikipedia), but we're farther south than Denmark (latitude of 42 degrees N, vs Copenhagen's 55 degrees)

• Megan K

Last year there was a well publicized weather event in Nashville, TN where the nearby rivers flooded and killed several people. The people have complained that they were not adequately warned, and NOAA has responded with an apology within the past few months. The truth is that there was a warning sent out, but it was mostly ignored.

Nashville got 13 inches of rain in one day, which is about the same amount of snow we got during the nor'easter. The difference was th Nashville rain went straight to the rivers and flooded the city, since the river runs right through the middle of town and is contained by levees.

NOAA assessment article here: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110112_flooding.html

Newspaper article about the incident: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/flooding_in_tennessee.html

Given the abundance of nor'easters we've had so far this winter, I thought this article on NOAA's site might be interesting. It doesn't really talk about any specific weather event in particular, but rather outlines what nor'easters are and why they happen on the east coast of the US.

The article can be found here: http://www.noaa.gov/features/03_protecting/noreasters.html

-Eamon

South Africa is experiencing flooding due to the El Nino/La Nina southern oscillation- some parts have experienced ten times the average rainfall for the month of January

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/44853/la-nina-influenced-flooding-in.asp

-John

I found this article http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/globalwarming/2011-01-20-united-nation-2010-tied-for-warmest-year_N.htm?csp=34weather&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-WeatherTopStories+%28Weather+-+Top+Stories%29
on the temperatures in the US - even though we have a terribly cold spell right now, this year is one of the warmest years in history.
The UN officials say this indicates greenhouse warming is actually true...

Diana Zhu, 12.310 class, IAP 2011

I found some info about a record snowfall that happened a little less than a year ago in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas, where I am from. The county I live in got 14.4" of snow, and overall a new record was set on snowfall in a 24-hour period, just ahead of a snowfall in 1964. A link to snowfall by county is here: http://www.examiner.com/weather-in-dallas/dallas-fort-worth-and-north-texas-snowstorm-totals.

Phillip Gonzales, 12.310, IAP 2011

I"m from Dallas and my family was telling me about some nasty storms that passed through a few days ago. Here are a few links describing the rainfall received and tornadoes produced. This isn't very characteristic of January weather in Dallas, usually the storms aren't that bad until Spring.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-weather-idUSTRE80O1GB20120125

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-01-25/texas-houston-storms-floods-tornadoes/52785948/1

-Will Dickson

When I was younger, Colorado had the blizzard of a lifetime. We all still know it as the blizzard of '97. Here are some links to pictures and some descriptions of the storm.

LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/1997/oct/26/news/mn-46911

NOAA: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pub/blizzard97/blizzard97.php

--Elise Hens

There was a significant winter storm over much of the UK earlier this month. The storm brought exceptionally high winds over Southern Scotland, with wind speeds up to 81mph. Winds over Much of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland reached speeds in the high 60's (mph). There were major disruptions to power and rail lines as a result of downed trees and several fatalities occurred due to storm conditions.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/2012_janwind/

Mason Stahl

Towards the end of last year, there was a serious flood in Ibadan, Nigeria, the city in which I was born. Inefficient drainage systems and heavy rains are significant problems in most towns close to the Gulf of Guinea; it is predominantly a rainforest region which is only several feet above sea level. Every year inhabitants of the area suffer losses, but last year quite a number of lives were lost. Here are some articles:

1. BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14735726
2. Huffington: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/nigeria-floods_n_944064.html

David Immanuel Madukauwa-David

In 1996, there was an enormous blizzard that hit New York. This snow was record breaking and really paralyzed the City. New York City received about 27" of snow from this storm, while 28" in the norm for the entire winter.

1. New York Times 1: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/13/nyregion/blizzard-1996-damage-least-14-hurt-snow-s-weight-brings-down-roof-li-supermarket.html

2. New York Times 2: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/11/nyregion/the-blizzard-of-1996-the-cost-experts-call-it-a-billion-dollar-blizzard.html

Michelle Shkedi

Below is a link to the wikipedia page about this blizzard. In 2010, my house (in Eldersburg MD) was hit by two blizzards in a row, bring about record amounts of snowfall. It was nicknamed "Snowmaggeddon"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_5–6,_2010_North_American_blizzard

-Katie Dalrymple

On December 1st, 2011, northern Utah experienced hurricane-force winds that uprooted trees, ripped roofs off of homes, and overturned semi trucks.  Please see the link for my discussion of this topic.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Camille+Wasden%27s+Weather+Event

-Camille Wasden

I heard about this on NPR--in South Africa, the government is going to fine meteorologists for wrong predictions. The government says that this is aimed to prevent hoaxes and false predictions of disasters that could cause national panics. Meteorologists wanting to issue a severe weather warning would need permissions from the government. Forecasters could be fined up to 400,000 pounds for a first offense, and up to 800,000 pounds and up to 10 years in jail for a repeat offense.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9010416/South-African-weather-forecasters-who-get-it-wrong-face-imprisonment.html

-Marie McGraw

Hurricaine Bob was the most recent major Huricane in Massachusetts. Bob began to form near Bermuda on 8/12/91 due to a frontal trough. The Strom progressed to a tropical storm and headed towards the united states along the east coast. The storm traveled north due to a deep trough along the east coast of the US and followed the east coast almost exactly until passing maine at which point the storm turned and crossed the pacific. The storm reached massachusetts where the majority of damage caused by the storm was located. The hurricane (a category 2) had winds of around 100kts. The storm caused about a billion dollars of damage in massachusetts due to winds, up to 8 inches of rain, and a 10 foot storm surge.

-adam sachs

Florida has been facing a dry spell this winter, resulting in wildfires across the state.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Florida+Wildfires

Very impressive looking dust storm off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Dust+storm+at+sea+on+the+northwest+coast+of+Western+Australia

-Casey Hilgenbrink

Last week, Alli mentioned she noticed a super low pressure system developing over the North Atlantic. Turns out this storm could be stronger than Sandy, but will luckily stay over the ocean.

http://www.weather.com/news/atlantic-storm-stronger-sandy-20130124

-Kim Barker

Looks like there's a decent-sized winter storm about to hit Michigan and Minnesota, as there's a warm/moist front coming in that's about to hit some very cold air.  Boston's going to be on the edge of it, so we should expect snow or ice pellets the next few days.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-luna-20130125

- Melissa Hunt

Europe right now is experiencing a cold snap and extreme low temperatures, along with a major snowfall leading to many flight cancellations!

http://news.sky.com/story/1040788/winter-weather-strikes-across-western-europe

-Sheila Xu

In 2005, there was a tropical cyclone in the North Atlantic basin that hit Spain. It's the only hurricane to do this since modern weather techniques and storm classifications began. The storm started in conditions that would normally not be conducive to TC formation (high shear and cool SSTs) but it formed and displayed tropical characteristics before making landfall along the southern coast, just east of the Portuguese border.

Here is the NHC's full TC report: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/TCR-AL242005_Vince.pdf

Here is the satellite imagery (this is a really cool site for storm imagery): http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/hurricane/additional/science-focus/HurricaneVince2005.shtml

Here is the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Vince

~Jen Landry

Central and southern Australia are currently experiencing an intense heat wave that has led to some record new temperature maximums. The heat wave has necessitated an adjustment of the scale used to represent forecast temperatures - they've had to add two whole new colors representing 50-52 degrees C and 52-54 degrees C!

WMO description: http://www.wmo.int/pages/mediacentre/news/index_en.html#widespreadaustralia

~Rebecca Silverman

Flood alert in the Wales and Central England

Rising temperatures in the UK have changed the precipitation from snow to rain and have sparked a rapid thaw of the snow and ice that has built up during the recent cold snap.  This is the worst conditions in saturated flood prone areas.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/27/uk-flood-alert-rain-snow

~ Catherine Donohue

After suffering extreme heat waves as mentioned before by Rebecca- Australia is being hit by what remains of tropical storm Oswald off of its East Coast.  Oswald has brought high winds, mini-tornados, and torrential rain and continues to move across the country.  The storm began over the Gulf of Carpentaria (North Australia) and has settled but still remains highly damaging to the cities it encounters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/28/australia-tropical-cyclone-oswald

- Katie Inman

This is an article about a 49 degree temperature change in only 2 minutes

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/5-extreme-temperature-drops-20130118

-Molly Martin

Temperatures in Kansas City have been changing greatly in the past week. At the start of last week temperatures were below average, while temperatures in the past couple of days have set record highs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/us/temperature-swings-not-uncommon-in-kansas-city-missouri.html?_r=0

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/01/28/4034939/weather-rollercoaster-continues.html

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KMKC/2013/1/29/MonthlyHistory.html

-Ashling Neary

Tornadoes, flash-floods, and severe thunderstorms in the South. This low-pressure system made its way east from Texas towards Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas. 20 reported tornadoes touched down between Texas and Pennsylvania. 2 confirmed dead and 17 injured in Georgia alone. 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/30/us/severe-weather/?hpt=us_c2 

http://www.mydesert.com/viewart/20130130/NEWS11/301300004/Tornado-reported-Georgia

-Anthony Souffrant

Cities are warmer than their surroundings because the materials used for builds, pavement, etc retain heat much more than normal earth, this can lead to a change in temperature for miles away. More evidence is needed, but the results these scientists accumulated suggests that this may be why climate models have been somewhat off in predicting weather, and hence the need to incorporate this factor into models.

http://news.yahoo.com/energy-guzzling-cities-changing-weather-1-000-miles-015251946.html

-Peter Williams

Australia is suffering a massive heat wave in the midst of the Australian Open tennis championship. 

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Extreme+Heat+in+Australia+is+Disrupting+Daily+Life

-Oren Katzen

Right now, Hawaii is facing 40 - 50 foot waves that are a surfer's dream.  These are likely the largest waves in the past decade.  However, the winds are making it very dangerous to surf.  Because of the high winds, a local surf competition was cancelled. In addition, there are many high surf warnings for the coastal regions.

Here's a picture of one of the waves from the article:
http://www.weather.com/news/50-foot-monster-waves-possible-hawaii-20140122

- Ashley Wheeler

California is experiencing a drought emergency after it was reported that 2013 was its driest year in recorded history.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/California+Experiences+Drought

- Jialin Shi

The coastal ranges of northwest Oregon are among the most reliably wet locations in the Lower 48 states during the winter months, but there were unusual winter wildfires in Northwest Oregon on January 23.

Particularly within the last month or so, the Pacific storm track has taken a sharp northward detour into Alaska and northwest Canada, deflected by a massive omega block of high pressure aloft oriented along the West Coast. Instead of a more typical parade of storms lashing the West with heavy rain and mountain snow, extended dry weather has been the rule this winter.

http://www.weather.com/news/oregon-wildfire-winter-january-20140125

- Violet Luo

Waterspouts are an atmospheric phenomenon most often associated with warmer weather.  Nevertheless, with temperatures in the single digits, waterspouts were seen over Cayuga Lake in upstate New York.

http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-central/waterspouts-winter-new-york-20140123

-James Krasner

Australia, 2010. Fish rain from the sky, in a town 200 miles away from a body of water.

It actually happens fairly regularly around the world. In one location in Honduras, it's a yearly occurrence. Cause? A water spout (tornado over a lake) sucks fish or other small aquatic creatures up into the atmosphere, where they can travel hundreds of miles before falling with other precipitation.  

http://www.weather.com/video/its-rainingfish-38369

http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/weather-films/destination-uncharted/its-raining-fish-20130801

- Jacob Tims

Middle East experienced a rare snowstorm Dec 2013, bringing heavy snow across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine and Egypt. Jerusalem received Over a foot of snow, which broke city's 50-year weather record.  

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/12/14/middle-east-jerusalem-winter-storm-snow/4023627/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/12/16/the-middle-eastern-snowstorm-viewed-from-space/

- Siyi Zhang

Cold Weather can hit South Florida too. Back in early 2012, we had unseasonably cold temperatures for a few days. Freezing temperatures were hitting a large part of the country, but in Florida farmers were unprepared for that kind of weather and it actually damaged a lot of crops all over the state. Florida is the leader in oranges and produces tons of other fruits and vegetables as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/florida-shivers-crops-freeze-in-record-breaking-cold-photos/2012/01/05/gIQAViCicP_blog.html

-Max Haubenstock

Tornado outbreaks are not that uncommon in Alabama, the heart of Dixie Alley. However, on April 27, 2011 Alabama experienced what many called a "generational" tornado outbreak. Over 62 tornadoes touched down that day, leaving around 140 dead and damage that could be seen from space. 

-Costa Christopoulos

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Alabama+Tornado+Outbreak

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/?n=event_04272011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2lDL2OcSnQ  -from my backyard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohIVzIZLuQ  -Tuscaloosa, Alabama (a major city).

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) on December 26, 2004. The earthquake generated a tsunami that was among the deadliest disasters in modern history, killing well over 200,000 people.Various values were given for the magnitude of the earthquake, ranging from 9.0 to 9.3 (which would make it the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph).

 - Dan Doan

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/12/26/tsunamis-kill-thousands-in-southeast-asia/

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Asiaweb/factfile/Unique-facts-Asia17.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDOuwMj7Xzo

Giant ice balls are washing ashore on the banks of Lake Michigan, near Glen Arbor.

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/Ice+Balls+In+Lake+Michigan

- Rachel Hunt

There are concerns about wild fires in California because of strong winds and a serious drought. These winds also known as Santa Ana winds are being produced by high pressure over the Great Basin

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/wsanta.htm

- Fiona Paine

On November 8th, 2013, the Philippines were struck by Typhoon Haiyan, leaving 6,000 dead and several thousand more unidentified. Whole coastal cities and communities were flattened, causing survivors to go to temporary shelter inland.  However, recently, a series of floods have caused up to 200,000 of those in refuge to be displaced as well as killing tens of people.  Typhoon Haiyan is one of the strongest tropical storms to ever make landfall, with wind speeds over 195mph and a diameter of 300 miles. It is believed that extreme storms like Haiyan will soon become the norm in the Philippines and talks about efforts to responding to future extreme storms are underway.

http://www.dec.org.uk/node/3641

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/26/266696789/nothing-is-fixed-recovery-is-slow-in-typhoon-hit-philippine-city

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/21/philippines-storms-thousands-homeless

- Brynna Downey

It's as cold as ever in the US. Just glad I'm not in Minnesota, which stayed below zero for almost 3 days in a row.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/coldest-arctic-outbreak-1990s-midwest-south-east-20140103

-Juju Wang

In 1985, a piece of arctic air split off of the polar vortex and traveled south, similar to what occurred in January 2014. This storm set all-time record lows across the country which still stand today. 126 people died and 90% of Florida's orange crop was damaged, causing $1.2 billion in damages. This event was regarded as the Freeze of the Century, being the first to bring many southern coastal states into negative temperatures (Fahrenheit).

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/mhx/EventReviews/19850121/19850121.php

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/23/us/freeze-of-the-century-damages-90-of-the-citrus-crop-in-florida.html

Hayley Sypniewsk

Recently it has been confirmed that 2014 was the warmest year in recorded history (since 1880). The average temperature last year was 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the average in the last century. The record surpassed that of 1998, which was also the year of a super El Niño. This is confirmed by the Japan Meteorological Agency, NASA and the NOAA.'

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2014-officially-hottest-year-on-record/

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/news/20150116/

-Katie Dunn

The Midwest experienced severe cold and set records for the lowest temperatures in nearly 20 years. 

Severe Cold in the Midwest 2014

-Diane Kim

The onset of the rainy season in California brought about it some relief to the drought-ridden state, but as the season ends, tensions grow as the drought worsens.

California Drought and the Rain Season

-Robert Romero

As we are on the eve of the "largest snowstorm in Boston history," it seems fitting to look back at Superstorm Nemo, a huge snowstorm that occurred a little less than two years ago.

Winter Storm Nemo

-Claire Stepanek

Heavy snowfall up the east coast in mid-March 1993 led to 35 foot snow drifts and $8.7 billion in property damage.

Storm of the Century

-Amelia Paine

An unusually strong tornado injured 12 people in Miami in 1997.

Tornado Rips Through Miami

-Ilana J Porter

During the last week of December 2014, an unusually strong cold front caused heavy snowfall and strong winds across Southern California. Nothing like "real"/Boston weather, but a very rare event for SoCal.

Strong Cold Front: Southern California, Dec. 2014

-Taylor Safrit

100 year flooding in Chennai related to warm temperatures and El Nino.

-Sarvesh Garimella

Hurricane Katrina and one reason why many people didn't evacuate:

Hurricane Katrina - Why so many people stayed

-Sarah

Warm Christmas 2015 in Northeastern US

--Alex Klufas

2014 Flooding in the Balkans

—S Ciric

Severe Weather Outbreak, January 22 2017

-Michael McClellan

Here's a cool photo a friend of mine took of sea smoke - formed when very cold air flows above warmer water. This is usually what sea smoke looks like around where I live, but there were reports last month of a more extreme case near the Great Lakes (source). There were extremely cold air temperatures that day, according to Weather Underground, the mean temperature was -8F and the min temperature was -18F in the nearby Two Harbors, MN on Sunday, 12/18/16. Water above that temperature in the lake warms a layer of air just above the water, and this warmer layer of air contains moisture, which is condensed by the extremely cold air just above it to form sea smoke above the water.

-Megan

Two instances of "frozen fog" on two different continents this week.

The first was in Germany, where freezing fog contributed to poor visibility and slick surfaces.

The second instance of freezing fog is headed toward the West Coast of the United States. 

Both areas are expected to experience poor air quality, low visibility, and slick surfaces until the fog clears. 

These images were from accuweather.com.

-Elizabeth

This is a 'roll cloud.' So are these. These unusual clouds have been observed to form when cold sea breezes blow in from the coast onto humid air—but the mechanism is not completely understood. Each roll is a 'soliton' phenomena, where a single wave crest moves along.

These clouds are frequently observed in groups over Queensland, Australia–where pilots enjoy viewing the clouds from above. The cloud formation is termed 'kangolgi' in the language of local Aborigines and 'The Morning Glory Cloud' by English-speaking Australians.

-Matt 

Image Sources: Daniela Mirner Eberl (1st image), Mick Petroff (2nd image)

During the winter, the California Central Valley can get a very thick fog close to the ground called Tule Fog. This happens when the air is warmed during the day and has moisture, often due to earlier rain. During the night, the ground and air cool and moisture condenses. Tule fog is especially interesting because it is very thick at low altitudes but abruptly ends when the ground rises above the top of the fog.

-Jonathan

Images from the Modesto Bee and Live Science

Earlier this month, storms flooded the Sierra Nevada region in California, knocking down the current drought by levels as high as 16%. These storms took place in the forms of massive snowfall in the Sierra–with some areas accumulating 4 feet of snow within a single 24 hour period (and 8-11 feet total over the course of 7 days). Many rivers across the Bay Area/Napa/Nevada were flooded as well, with the Napa River cresting on January 8th at 26.81 feet, the highest ever since the "roughly comparable" flood in February 1998. Within just 24 hours, California and Nevada experienced 105 reports of flooding, flash flooding, or landslides – finally followed by even a tornado, which struck Sacramento around midnight the morning of January 11th.

https://weather.com/forecast/regional/news/california-atmospheric-river-sierra-snow-flood-forecast-jan2017

-Alexandra

New South Wales has been experiencing hot weather recently. Daytime highs have reached 40 C (104 F), and nighttime temperatures have sometimes remained in the 30s, with some nights having temperatures of 31-32 C at midnight (~88-90). The successive heat waves that Australia has undergone this month have led to a record number of January days above 40 C.

The school year is starting, and some parents are worried about the effects of the heat and humidity on the children.

Additionally, there is a risk of grass fires. Flooding over the past year has led to ample grass growth, which has provided abundant dry fuel for fires that may start in this heat.

Sources: 

NSW weather: Heatwave, severe fire danger as students return to school

No relief overnight as NSW, Victoria swelter through another boiling January day

- Sophia

http://www.sacbee.com/news/weather/article197040464.html

Last week a waterspout formed over Humboldt Bay in northern California and briefly hit land, becoming a tornado. It was the county's first tornado in almost 20 years! Thankfully it did minimal damage because it didn't last very long. 

-Alexis

Several tornadoes hit northeast Texas and surrounding states last weekend (Sunday, January 21). At least 8 tornadoes were recorded in Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. One tornado hit ground in De Kalb county, damaging over 20 houses. Wood County, a county in northeast Texas, experienced hail the size of golf balls. This strongest tornado was a EF2 tornado, meaning it was a moderately severe tornado with winds between 111-135 mph. This tornado is the strongest tornado yet in 2018. 

Storm over Allen, Texas.

Sources:

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Storms-Possible-Tornadoes-Cause-Damage-in-Northeast-Texas-470512823.html

https://weather.com/news/news/2018-01-22-severe-weather-texas-arkansas-south-impacts

-Sarah W.

On Sunday January 7th there was snowfall in the Sahara desert. The exact location was Ain Sefra, Algeria which is also called the "Gateway to the Sahara". Although less than one inch was officially reported in Ain Sefra some reports say areas got as much as 15 inches. The snow remained throughout the next day and started melting around 5pm.

-Sidne 

https://www.boston.com/news/weather/2018/01/04/thundersnow-massachusetts-rhode-island 

http://www.newsweek.com/thundersnow-boston-christmas-2017-weather-758736

There was thundersnow in Boston in December and also during the big storm the first week of January. It's rare because thunderstorms usually are associated with warmer weather and summer. You can hear the thunder in some of the videos included in the articles.

-Tessa

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-blizzards-snarl-railroads--coal-deliveries-amid-power-worries-9907458

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/extreme-weather-china-evacuated-snow-ice-anhui-jiangsu-hubei-hunan-latest-warning-a8182501.html

Heavy snow has hit much of central China causing severe issues with transportation. Additionally, the snow accumulation has caused several building collapses. The storms gave thwarted railroad travel, preventing the delivery of coal to much of the region. The country has the region under an "orange" alert, the second highest possible alert for the country. 

-Camille Stubbe

I remember seeing the track of Typhoon Haiyan (known locally in the Philippines as Yolanda), and noticed that it was moving forward in an almost ramrod-straight line. In contrast, most other tropical cyclones would move in a curved path—generally deflecting northward. 

I didn't realize then that Haiyan's straight path meant that it was carrying a lot of energy. And it was only after it made landfall that I started interviewing meteorologists, all of whom were aghast that the cyclone was literally off the scale:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/334571/super-typhoon-yolanda-is-strongest-storm-ever-to-make-landfall-in-recorded-history/story/ 

-TJ Dimacali

From what I understand from the image above (taken from The Weather Network as of noon, 29January2018) , the jet stream is pushing a cold front out to the east of the country, resulting in clear but cold weather in BOS this Monday.

-TJ Dimacali

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/x/aIiKBw

Link to blog post^

-Jacqueline

Hurricane Maria was a category 5 hurricane which impacted mainly Puerto Rico and Dominica resulting in over 540 deaths. The highest winds observed reached a speed of 175mph which was reportedly sustained for 1 minute. The lowest pressure observed during the hurricane was 908mbar.

Maria completely devastated Puerto Rico, pouring 30 inches of rain in just one day (equal to amount poured over Houston by Harvey in three days) and killing many people. The intensity of the stormed decreased to a Category 3 as it passed Puerto Rico  to other islands and slowly decreased in strength until September 25 when its inner core collapsed. A lot of it decrease in intensity came from the cooler ocean temperatures caused by hurricanes Irma and Jose which preceded Maria by only a few weeks.

The link to my blog post is as follows and has more details:

https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/display/PAOCLABG/2018/01/24/Exploring+Hurricane+Maria+by+Marcelle+Nashief

• Marcelle Nashief

I posted about the dense haze/smog over Haiti, which occurred 3-4 months ago, here:

Dense haze over delhi

Mark Goldman

I posted about freak snow in the UK in spring 2008: UK gets snow in April (2008)

James Lovejoy

NatGeo instagram photo of the day has some beautiful clouds in Patagonia...   - Russ Tedrake

I described a storm last winter that brought storm to the lowest elevations on record in the state of Hawaii.

Historic snowstorm in Maui

-Tyson Eberhardt

I found a cool visualization of how smoke from the Australia wildfires is circulating around the globe, and talked a little bit about the conditions that have made the fires more extreme: Global circulation of smoke from Australia wildfires

-Avery

A region of Brazil experienced record-breaking heavy rainfall since late last week due to a low pressure system. The deluge led to floods and landslides. The rain related to the low pressure system will move on by 06z Monday 1/27/2020, but the region is still in its rainy season. 

Severe Rainstorms in Brazil

-Rachel Raybuck

I wrote a bit about a tornado that touched down in Moore, OK, in 2013.

Moore, OK 2013 Tornado

-Will Archer

In July of 2014, a tornado hit Revere, MA, a coastal town just north of Boston. What makes this so strange is the fact that Revere is right on the ocean, where tornadoes are not prone to strike. According to the National Weather Service, this was the first tornado on record to touch down in Suffolk County in Massachusetts. The storm was registered as an EF-2, and covered a two-mile long path while reaching its maximum width at 3/8 of a mile. The storm was caused by a cold front making its way over from the west. Wind gusts reached up to 68 mph. I can remember the storm fairly well because I was in Boston at the time, and most of my friends and family were living in Revere. Luckily, no one was injured, although there was a lot of property damage including roofs being ripped off of houses, and many trees falling down. 

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/07/28/tornado-strikes-revere-massachusetts-just-north-of-boston/

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In late January 2020 London and western europe, including France and Belgium, experienced record high pressure. This was associated with very anomalous tropical air advected north over western europe by strong southerly flow on the east side of a blizzard, which crossed the Atlantic from Newfoundland to the British Isles. Read the article on wunderground by Bob Henson:
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Highest-Atmospheric-Pressure-More-300-Years-London-Recordkeeping.

Lodovica Illari - 12:310 Instructor