A couple of wet storms are now approaching the California coast and are expected to provide the first heavy rainfall of the season to southern portions of the state. Here is an update of where precipitation totals so far this water season (July 1-June 30) stand.
weatherhistorian, • 8:10 PM GMT on February 26, 2014
This is an old story that was just brought to my attention by one of my blog readers, but on February 4-7 earlier this month a snowstorm buried the city of Rasht under 60 cm (23.6”) of snow. Heavy snow is not uncommon for most of mountainous Iran but Rasht lies at 7 meters (23 feet) below sea level on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.
weatherhistorian, • 8:26 PM GMT on February 24, 2014
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has described the recent flooding in southern England as “biblical” following the wettest December-January period on record. The Thames River has been flowing at its highest level for longer than any period since 1883 according to news sources.
weatherhistorian, • 9:26 PM GMT on February 21, 2014
January featured cold waves and snowstorms across the eastern and Midwest portions of the U.S. while record warmth and drought affected California. A series of powerful extra-tropical storms brought record rainfall and high winds to the U.K. Extreme summer heat predominated in Australia and Argentina.
weatherhistorian, • 7:36 PM GMT on February 18, 2014
As the eastern U.S. digs out of its biggest snowstorm of the season (see Jeff Masters blog on the subject) another snowstorm has hit Tokyo, Japan this Friday-Saturday (February 14-15), the 2nd big snow to hit the city in the span of just a week. Early reports say that 27 cm (10.6”) of snow has fallen in downtown Tokyo as of 2 a.m., February 15th local time. However, extraordinary snowfalls of up to 42" have fallen in sites in the far suburbs (50 mile radius) of the city, doubling previous all-time records.
weatherhistorian, • 8:27 PM GMT on February 14, 2014
In contrast to the continuing near-record cold temperatures in the U.S. Upper Midwest, record warmth has been occurring in portions of Siberia and Brazil. Here are the details.
weatherhistorian, • 8:29 PM GMT on February 12, 2014
An ‘atmospheric river’ of Pacific moisture washed over the northern half of California this past Thursday through Sunday (February 6-9). It was the first (and strongest) such event since March of 2012. Here are some details of the storm precipitation and how it has impacted the deficits of the current rainfall season.
weatherhistorian, • 9:26 PM GMT on February 10, 2014
Although the weather news for California has (rightly) been focused on the enduring drought, with January likely to go into the books as the state’s driest on record, little mention has been made about the extraordinary warmth of the month as well. In fact, the maximum temperature anomalies were unparalleled for many locations and several all-time monthly heat records were broken. Here are a few examples.
weatherhistorian, • 9:10 PM GMT on February 07, 2014
Heavy snow and ice storms have pounded the U.S., southeastern Europe, and Central Asia. Topeka, Kansas measured its 3rd snowiest calendar day on record with 12.9” on February 4th. Amazing ice and snow accumulations have struck Slovenia, Austria, and northern Italy where flooding at low elevations has resulted in deadly flooding.
weatherhistorian, • 8:26 PM GMT on February 05, 2014
January was the wettest winter month on record for south-central England and the driest January on record for California. A persistent powerful jet stream across the North Atlantic was responsible for the former and a persistent powerful ridge of high pressure over the Eastern Pacific responsible for the latter. Here are some of the details.
weatherhistorian, • 8:09 PM GMT on February 03, 2014