It’s a good thing that there is global warming climate change. Otherwise this winter, we might have the start of glaciers in northern states.
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Its cold here too, it is already down to 65° at 16:20.
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@David Underwood Our hearts go out to you.
It was 24 degrees this morning in Texas when I left for the office. In the past, I can't remember when it was 24 degrees in Texas. They think it's cold here when it reaches 50 degrees, and there are stubborn, hardened Texans, mostly men, who still wear short sleeves outside during the Winter. I think it's a macho thang.
Governor Cuomo has taken action. He has forbidden natural gas drilling and has forbidden pipelines for supply of natural gas from Pennsylvania, where it is plentiful. Now 1100 households are without gas in the Arctic cold.
Cuomo suggests that the utility should get the gas in liquid form. Like Warren's Massachusetts last year, where did not allow a pipeline, so they got the gas in a huge tanker from Putin, and due to the sanctions on Russia, it had to have its provenance disguised.
The current Arctic wave is the best moment to show not only that you believe that global warming causes the bitter cold, but that you will work to stop that global warming by cutting off gas supplies to households and cars in the middle of it.
This winter is the moment to do it, since you will give people a chance to vote on it next fall.
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Why we stay in California? Precisely because of this stuff happening back east. It's going to be 70 here in SF. In my hometown of LA it's going to be 80.
@Mr.Klein - warm with occasional fire. No thanks. Single digits here tonight, but that's why they invented layers of clothes. And the indoors.
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@b fagan
and central heating
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There is an elephant in the room. When it’s hot or there are wildfires burning in California. All we hear is talk of global warming. But when—for the second autumn in a row, we are experiencing record cold and record snow, all we hear are crickets. Or the brand new notion that any and every weather phenomenon—cold, hot, rain, snow, is evidence of a warming planet. Go back 20 or 30 years and see what scientists were predicting. It was heat and no more snow. But 30 years later, as we deal with record cold and huge amounts of snow, some try to argue that the cold and snow is evidence of warming. Nice try.
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This has nothing to do with global warming but megatrends that are beyond our knowing, because they involved periods too long to be included in the relatively short period during which accurate temperatures have been widely recorded.
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It seems these polar vortexes covering the eastern US are become more common than they used to be. Or at least more common than in the last 40 years or so. It appears it would be prudent for the major cites over there to start planning for them. When I was a kid in Boston I remember a couple inches over night would effectively shut down the metro area until midday. And it isn't like it didn't snow ever year. Back here in Salt Lake City, a couple inches goes unnoticed. It takes a good 18 inches for the city to shut down the same way. Why? Because we have an army of snow plows and a high percentage of people have vehicles and tires able to deal with snow. I get it that those things aren't free; but you can suffer through minor weather, or you can deal with it.
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Just to make sure, this is all a result of man-made global warming, climate change, and climate disruption and nothing to do with Mother Nature, right?
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@bobj, correct. Extreme weather events are resulting from anthropogenic climate change. A quick look at some reputable science journals will provide details, if you care to learn more.
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@Zebra If you had any understanding of it, you would have explained why and how.
As it is, it goes to show that for you think that everything in the world is caused by humans.
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Meanwhile, the PNW is dreadfully dry for this time of year. We had freezing weather and no rain going on 3 weeks, which is weird for this time of year. We love all our relatives on the east coast. Be safe!
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Please do not say "all across the country" when it's the Midwest to the East Coast. The Rockies are not particularly cold at @27 today, and Alaska--37 in Glacier Bay and Juneau, 27 in Anchorage, and 11 in Fairbanks…we're still waiting for winter and it's very late in arriving. If you don't want those temps and the snow, send them back to us. We haven't had a decent snow in southern Alaska in over five years. We're the place you want to keep an eye on. As the Arctic warms, and it is, the rest of the planet is in for a whole lot of trouble.
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@Abigail: I'm out here in southern California visiting, it is really cold outside.
Last night it was 54 degrees.
Today the high to be 71!
Must get out a long sleeve t-shirt when walking on the beach this afternoon!
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@Abigail Agreed. And here in western Colorado, it's a balmy 50 degrees!
Events like this do not help the cause of the 'global warmers'.
Most of the people in the 'developed world' live north of 36 degrees latitude....they don't mind slightly warmer winters.
Or am I missing something here?
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@Kenneth Johnson
Atlanta had 26 days in the 90's in September. Two cold days in November doesn't change that.
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@Kenneth Johnson
You are missing something. Some experts on climate change have suggested “Global Weirding” would be a better term than “Global Warming”. See this NYT article from several years ago that discusses this.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/science/feeling-a-chill-blame-the-polar-vortex-and-global-warming.html?
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@Kenneth Johnson: "Global warming" does not mean that every point on Earth is warmer than before at every moment. Earth's *average* temperature is increasing, thus "global warming". This increase causes climate shifts and more extreme weather, with some places getting record cold at some times. Cold snaps like the current one become more common because the Arctic warms faster than does the temperate zone. The smaller temperature gradient between the Arctic and lower latitudes constrains the jet stream less strongly, and so it can allow cold air masses to move south earlier in the season and more often than before.
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I got my first big shovel in today! They said we had 10 inches of this awful wet and heavy snow, it seemed like less.
7° this morning.
Good times!
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@Dan Jahn
Be careful shoveling that wet snow.
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@Dan Jahn: Nah......snow is not wet and heavy at 7 degrees!
I lived in Buffalo, NY for 20 years...it's the 33 degree lake effect snow that will break your back.
And when I looked at the clouds in New Orleans, I was certain we'd have snow today.....but the sun came out, and it will remain clear overnight while the wind-chill creates an unheard of 23 degrees from an actual 30-32
I wish the article addressed any type of effects this arctic cold front might cause to agriculture. If it happened in the spring, the effects, I assume would be devastating. The moisture from the snow is probably good news. How about a more comprehensive story?
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It’s November in Austin, Texas. Temps at this time of year usually hover between 55 and 70. We had an ice storm last night and temps are hovering between 29 and 38! Schools are opening later this morning. What’s wrong with this picture? A rare event or the new normal?
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@GCAustin Unfortunately for us the new normal is "getting worse all the time". Earth will not reach a new steady state for hundreds, possibly thousands of years.
The tipping point has been reached. Climate change deniers have doomed future generations.
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This is another manifestation of climate change. Because of smaller differences in temperature between the rapidly warming Arctic and more temperate areas, the Gulf Stream becomes wavier and more slower moving, allowing cold air to move further south and warm air to move further north. This is one reason why the Arctic air moved so far south this time. Meanwhile, here in Vegas it has been 15-20 degrees warmer than normal. Expect more and more increasingly severe weather extremes for about ten years AFTER we start dealing seriously with the climate crisis.
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@engaged observer The Arctic polar vortex should be strengthening this time of year. Yet, because of reduced ice and snow cover and increased evaporation, it is weakened, allowing cold Arctic air to escape southward (driven by the Gulf Stream, etc.) and pulling warmer air northward.
The is extremely scary as it means that the poles will not have the same refreezing opportunities. Permafrost will be degraded leading to greater methane emission, driving further global warming.
It will also drive disruption of weather patterns throughout the world, such as the persistent high pressure (the blob) keeping rain from the West Coast.
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@engaged observer proclaims:
"This is another manifestation of climate change"
Spoken like a true climate alarmist.
FYI:
Weather (noun): The conditions in the air at a particular time, such as wind, rain, or temperature. The weather is the condition of the atmosphere in one area at a particular time, for example, if it is raining, hot, or windy.
When the climate alarmists resort to citing daily and seasonal weather events as evidence of "climate change"...it shows the absurdity of their "climate change" hysteria.
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@engaged observer Ah, it's so refreshing to hear a sane, educated voice in the crowd.
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By the end of yesterday, I was exhausted and sore from trying to stay ahead of the rain turned ice turned snow by shoveling and sweeping the back porch stairs, sidewalks and back alley. There are many seniors on our block, so my husband and I also did our best to keep their paths cleared of the blowing snow. The wind made a bad situation even worse - between blowing snow everywhere AND keeping those temps almost in the single digit range.
At the end of the day, I almost wished I was at work instead of having the day off due to the Veteran's Holiday.
And to think this is only the second week of November!!!
Good luck Eastern U.S. - stay warm and be careful!!
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@Marge Keller After reading your posts for several years, you've become a Capra-esque figure to me: one of the best versions of the America we all want to believe in: generous, community minded, thoughtful, polite, and above all, decent. The kind of American who is quick to say you're only one kind of American, as you embrace immigrants and diversity.
Your comments always renew me. Thank you.
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@Marge Keller
How are the horses? Wooly?
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@CC
Oh wow - you just made me tear up.
I've had such a rotten morning on so many levels and get pretty dang tired of feeling as if I'm invisible, and here you go and write something so remarkably generous and kind.
I cannot adequately express how moving and important your words are for me.
You are awesome. Thank you again.
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