Rarities on the Wing
I took this screenshot late this morning via this always helpful and very cool wind map. They use surface wind data from the National Digital Forecast Database, updated hourly, to create this national flow of air. Even without it in motion you can see there is a huge trough in the east, with winds shooting down from the northwest until you get to about Chicago, at which point the bend brings them screaming out of the south and then the east higher into New England. All of this unsettled weather can easily push avian migrants out of their chosen path, bringing southern resident rarities up to...
Read MoreCrazy Climate Maps
One benefit of the continual and seemingly never-ending cold and snowy winter (also known as spring now!) is that it provides us a tremendous opportunity to engage and educate people. The topic of our weather invariably comes up in every day life, especially now, and when someone complains about their heating bill or their aching back (thanks, shoveling!) you can mention to them that all of this may likely be due to our changing climate. The above graphic shows our globe and the general temperature percentile categories for meteorological winter, December through February, via NOAA’s...
Read MoreRecord Shattering Cold & Historic Snow
To be entirely honest I meant to write this blog entry a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I have been busy during that time with meetings, gearing up for spring and summer projects, surveying, and much more. Nevertheless, I could not get myself too excited to write about the unbelievably and astonishingly historic cold we have had this winter, especially in February, or the feet of snow dumped on the region, rewriting more records for some locations. After feeling the first signs of spring in the past week I feel renewed, ready for the thaw and once again energized about our weather and climate....
Read MoreMore thunderstorms and flooding
I would say “another day, another thunderstorm” but we get multiple events in a matter of hours lately. We’re well past water capacity in a number of areas in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region as flood advisories and flash flood warnings are already posted in places getting even more heavy rain now. Lightning is flashing intermittently as I type this. Stubborn and “stuck” patterns are becoming more and more common thanks to climate change and our jet stream. We need a trough in the west and a ridge in the east soon please. Be safe out there and remember…turn...
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