Historic Western New York Snowfall
The past week has been nothing short of historic in Western New York with crippling and dangerous snowfall beyond what even lifelong residents could have imagined. This lake effect snowfall weather event was the culmination of several factors that allowed Lake Erie’s snow machine to turn on full blast and dump feet of snow in very short periods of time, rivaling some all-time American records. While the final totals need to be examined, assessed and fully vetted, once you pass four, five, six, or seven feet, there is really no number that can do the impact justice. It is a tragedy that...
Read MoreRuby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)
There has been an enormous southward movement of Ruby-crowned Kinglets (like this one photographed tonight), Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Hermit Thrushes, Song Sparrows and many other sparrow species this weekend. With a cold front passing through the Northeast tonight we will be set up for a sizable push of more migrants tomorrow, especially diurnal. Get outside and find some songbirds in the morning and raptors in the afternoon!
Read MoreResting Monarch
This Monarch butterfly was content to take a rest out of the wind for a while. Part of what must make a Monarch’s migration so difficult is that autumn days with warm temperatures are often those that feature a strong southerly flow – precisely the opposite of the direction they’d like. Finding sunny and warm days with a tailwind out of the north is not easy in September or October, especially in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region with lake effect clouds and precipitation even under high pressure. This is before we mention the cool temperatures associated with those...
Read MoreSundog
I have always called these sundogs but I know they can have a variety of names. This is a very bright spot of light that can pop up along the sun. In my experience this happens often during pleasant, cool weather associated with high pressure and cirrus clouds. The light reflects off ice crystals in the atmosphere making it appear red closer to the sun and blue further away as seen here. The sky is always offering us something to examine. In this case it looked very much like something reentering the atmosphere! At least in my imagination…
Read MoreCold front coming
Normally I would love to see this low and cold front coming through in this manner in mid-September, as modeled on today’s 18z GFS for Thursday morning at 9AM, but the high subsequently moves into the Great Plains and the setup will not be as optimal as I would like for hawk migration. For the Northeast sites to really rock it should be centered over the Great Lakes, controlling winds at all levels and keeping them out of the northwest. We’ll see…Friday could still be interesting. But, so far this year, the winds have not cooperated. Perhaps it will be a huge second half of...
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