After big snow and ice events in the Southeast, Plains, and Midwest this week, 49 out of the 50 states currently have snow on the ground – yes, even Hawaii, where snow falls in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea all winter.
The only state that has avoided this icy blast is Florida. Does that make you want to go on a nice, warm vacation to the Sunshine State? You're not alone.
Put another way, that means snow is present in 69.4 percent of the lower 48, which is more than double than December. This is extremely unusual, though it's hard to put a date on when this last happened because records aren't kept on this kind of event.
The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center combines ground reports and images from satellites in space to determine how much of the country is covered in snow. That's what you see in the image above. The images tell how deep and widespread the snow is, and that's important not only for images like this one, but also for computer weather models, which use the data to generate accurate forecasts. Such forecasts were very useful in predicting this week's winter storms.
Earlier this week, two storms began to churn: one in the northern Plains and Midwest, and one in Texas. The southern winter storm took a track across the Gulf Coast, pulling warm, moist air over an extreme arctic blast that set up over the eastern half of the United States late last week. This provided fuel for the storm to carve a path of snow, sleet, and freezing rain from Texas to the Carolinas.
Here in Atlanta, we're still coated in snow and ice and probably will be for the next couple of days. No one in the Southeast escaped the wrath except, of course, Florida.
But it's not over. Now that the southern-track storm has moved into the Atlantic and is moving north, the other Midwest storm is going to merge with it, creating a Nor'easter event that could dump up to two feet of snow in the Northeast. Winter storm warnings and advisories have been posted for the event - 32 states have winter storm advisories issued, by the way.
Here's how the snow forecast breaks down for some major cities:
Washington DC: 2-4 inches
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 4-6 inches
New York, N.Y.: 6-12 inches
Hartford, Connecticut: 15-20 inches
Boston, Massachusetts: 12-16 inches
The snow and cold started early this winter and has been extreme for most of the country. Usually the Southeast avoids the blast, but not in 2011. We're all feeling a little "snowed in" this winter.
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Taxing coal, natural gas, oil, and shale oil energy producers out of business is man caused destruction of country.
They won't be taxed out of business. You think any business will quit due to taxes? That's destroying themselves. No, if they do actually have to pay any tax, don't worry, they'll just pass it on to the consumer.
What about Hawaii. Don't tell me they've got snow too.
Check Lola's post earlier.
Oh well. I'm going for a drive in my electric car that's generated by a windmill. Wait a minute. We don't have windmills. Guess I'll use the usual that needs oil to generate. Hope where I'm going has a windmill.
yes, i believe in global warming...of course with all the more people we have, with all that extra hot air, of course it's bound to get hotter on Earth. So I wonder what to do next. We already drive less, use less electricity, conserve water etc. etc. etc. Should we stop having kids? Less people on the Earth would in fact cut down on all of the above mentioned....so should we only be allowed one child per couple? Can we buy someone else's "credit" for a child then? cap and trade and all.....We could solve part of our climate problem and immigration problem swiftly with that law! lol.
Well, that is interesting. Maybe we should look at this.
Southern California had 200% more rain in December than average. Yet the Pacific is cold and NOAA says we'll experience La Nina this winter. So much for predications.
Yeah, this happened last year. Feb 12th. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35372014/ns/weather/
If we all stop wearing pants and wear our underwear on our heads, it'll fix everything!
Global warming exists whether you believe it or not.
People are idiots if they think that years of polluting our air, oceans, deforestation, etc won't affect our environment.
Kathy, we did in fact put a man on the moon. Grow up and get over it. Thanks.
I find it hilarious that you people continually refer to the stolen & occupied nation of Hawaii as one of your "states".
Oh?...do you come from a nation that hasn't been occupied and claimed?
According to the latest human DNA migration map, every place but Africa has been stolen and occupied.
point is we do have an impact but because were all stupid. co2 is natural. yes the earth puts out much more than we do. if we would quit cutting down the rainforests than co2 would not have risen as dramaticly as ot has. yes cars put out co2 but we make more cars and cut down more trees needs to equal out otherwise the trend won't change. combination of things makes it complicated.
it's wart remover on a global scale. neato
Ahhh, so it reminds you of those loving moments with your urologist...
Snow cold it is? When wearing coat, why so warmingly?
It's a miracle! We are so blessed!
So Hawaii has snow? I blame global warming
We are so blessed to get to witness the end of the world soon.
Gosh, Diane... Me too. I can't wait for Jesus to arrive.. It's going to great.
Something is certainly wrong with your map. It's curved, bent.. There is your problem right there. You guys and your ice age crap. Next you are going to be telling me the earth is round or something.. Puh..
That snow wouldn't dare bother Texas! Betta not!
I know, I'm so happy about the end of the world too. It's great! I got my camera and everything too!
Glory be to the Bomb, and to the Holy Fallout. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen
The amount of CO2 produced by mankind accounts for 0.005% (approximately) of the Greenhouse gases. In scientific terms this amount is negligible. The left is going after CO2 because they can TAX it, they cannot TAX the dominate gas known as H2O (WATER).
@Nova – which Planet of the Apes movie was that from?
Hawaii got snow too?
Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are mountains and snow typically doesn't fall below 9000 feet, so while yes snow in Hawaii, maybe a little side note would clear up that commit.
@Charlie – where did you pull that number from? The planet produces about 750 gigatons of CO2 every year while human emissions come in around 30 gigatons. Maybe you'll need to check my math but that's about .04%, not .0005% as you claim.
It's more a question of processing power that the planet has. To be crude, as an organism the planet can process about 40% those natural sources with the remainder being processed over a period of hundreds to thousands of years which is what made the global climate so stable for so long. Since none of those other natural sources account for the rapidly increased levels of CO2 and since globally the planet has not experienced a warming like this for hundreds of thousands of years (and we're doing it in a time of solar minimum) it is clear that human beings are responsible.
Climate changes globally only by external forcing not on it's own. As a system it is a very well-balanced prospect but with an external force acting upon it you get instability, unpredictability, and disruption on a massive scale. That's what we're at the cusp of and unless we do something about it the prospects are grim indeed.
I <3 being a FLORIDIAN...Hope everyone stays safe in the cold... =)
What shall I ever wear to the end of the world? Decisions... decisions..
Well when you bend a map like that, it only makes it makes the snow look that much bigger when it really isn't.
It's a wonderful Ice Age, isn't it?
YOU PEOPLE CRACK ME UP WITH YOUR GLOBAL WARMING PROPAGANDA. WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE ICE
AGE MELT DOWN? WHERE WERE THE CARS AND FACTORIES THEN? IT WAS WARMER WHEN THE DINOSAURS
ROAMED THE EARTH. OH MAYBE FRED FLINTSTONE AND THE FRICTION FROM HIS FEET CAUSED THE GLOBAL WARMING. QUIT BEING SUCH MORONS, BUYING INTO THE SCAM AND UNDERSTAND IT'S PLANET CYCLES.
You make a good point about prior meltdowns. Does anyone know what actually caused the meltdown during the ice-age? Was it the Earth's changing rotation on its axis ? I don't remember the science of it all anymore.
I KNOW RIGHT? CAN YOU BELIEVE PEOPLE STILL BELIEVE THIS CRAP? AND LIKE I BET THEY STILL BELIEVE IN "DAYTIME" TOO. I'M LOOKING OUT MY WINDOW RIGHT NOW AND THE SUN IS DOWN. GET A BRAIN CONSPIRACY THEORISTS.
some people don't think past yesterday, so i hear you with this common sense
Good thing your not running any government-or have any official position anywhere on this planet-as global warming is real-it may not have anything to do with the current weather-but its real.
Your capitalized comment shows your lack of intelligence...
Ok, this minor snow storm is in no way showing global warming is not going on. In the same way a heat wave is not showing it either. Global warming is measured by the 'global average' over time. So you can not tell by one minor spot on the Earth is something is going on or not. And caps lock, it is only 7/16th of an inch away from your finger.
You should do some scientific research before you make such generalizations. The Earth heats up and cools over thousands of years by itself, the argument lies wherein we try to determine how much of an effect human beings have. I am not saying global warming is ONLY caused by humans, the argument is how much we negatively affect that cyclical process that occurs over thousands of years. We have been in a warming period for thousands of years, but how much worse are we making it than it would be if we weren't here?
Please see my other post or if you would like to learn more about how the Earth heats up and cools, google for paleoclimatology and read about it a bit.
We are having an effect, how much? that is what's hard to measure. Weather patterns sure are getting worse and we ARE heating up, even with bad winters, that's part of the cycle... heh.
Wow I love this.
"Ha the ice age happened before naturally so that means the odd weather make perfect sense!"
I don't know about you, but arguing that the Ice Age and global warming occurred naturally doesn't mean it's not going to happen again. It means the opposite! If humans can do something to slow down the process then I'm all for it.
Yes, you guys just go ahead and eat the grass that the super-corp. sponsored mainstream media feeds you. You just go ahead and think all the new laws and restrictions are for your own good... Hah hah... What a bunch of morons...
The Ice Age occurred and ended gradually, over many thousands of years. The current climate change is occurring over the span of 100 years, coinciding with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Therein lies the entire problem, as millions live along coastlines in 2011, and the other rapidly occurring effects of climate change, like the real threat of the North Atlantic Current slowing or stopping due to heavy glacial melting near Greenland which pours massive amounts of fresh water into the ocean current. It's the rapidity of the changes that you need to wrap your mind around. If you have one.
Global warming means:
The ozone layer is depleting, therefore:
- Heat going up in summer gradually
- Cold going downwards in winter gradually
i.e. there is nothing to protect the earth in the summer from the heat and in the winter from the cold. i.e. extreme in both the seasons.
Do you get it now?
First, please....please don't SHOUT!
Second, for those who flunked high school science, there were many, many periods of freezing and warming, throughout the Earth's history.
Third, and most important, please research what Global Warming actually is. Don't go to the first stupid web site you find; instead, research respected science journals. But for those of you with very short attention spans, I will sum up:
Global Warming refers to the acceleration of natural climate change. Global Warming probably should have been called "Accelerated Global Climate Change." Anyway, it does not mean that everything everywhere just gets hot. It means that even small increases in global average temperature result in significant climate shifts around the world. This means normally warm places get cold suddenly, normally cold get warm, weather patterns become more intense and severe no matter the season, increases in atmospheric moisture which leads to not only more rain but also more snow. Etc. etc. If you want to know more, go study it. You can start by looking outside your window, and then look at the weather records your area has broken over the past 50 years. Have a nice day.
Yes, I can't believe the majority of people have never studied the science of the world... or are just choosing to ignore it.
Those of us who "believe" in global warming understand earth's cycles very well. 99.9% of climatologists agree that anthropogenically driven global warming is a fact. I'm an environmental scientist, with an actual real science degree. What are your credentials?
Global warming is to real. It is because Al said it is, and he's got the billions in personal profits to prove it. Suckers
Jesus told me to tell you that you guys are being real punk a s s e s lately too
We are so blessed to be here for the end of the world. What were the odds? We sure are lucky!
I know Helen.. It's wonderful.. I never expected to see the end of the world in my lifetime.. But thanks to healthy living, and a good diet I was able to live long enough to see what we all hoped for.. The end of the world. I can't wait to talk to Jesus.
Actually global warming is happening, just not by man. Not debatable :google it
Ok. Let's imagine for a moment that global warming has nothing to do with pollution.
Anyway, I can't think of any reason not to try to live better. I want clean air, healthy food and healthy environment, because despite of what contamination can do for global warming is causing many diseases and problems for humans and other creatures.
So, is this a nice discussion about theory? I'm all for a good life quality, which is being healthy, not wealthy.
I sure hope the end of the world doesn't mess my hair.. :S
People freak out, but Global warming is real. We are causing the temperature change, ect.
So your sage advice is to simply ignore it? Do us a favor and check back in 5 years when famine is a household word and we look wistfully back on today as "BF": Before Warming. Aren't the bugs a problem for you there with your head in the sand?
This map looks like fiction. It shows most of Alabama covered in snow. Not remotely accurate. Only the northern 40% has snow.
I think it's a liberal conspiracy to annoy people in Alabama.
I bet 80% or more on here couldn't find Alabama on the map. Why..? Nobody cares where Alabama is. LOL
Actually the map is showing cloud cover associated with cold weather, and fyi clouds do not equal snow. Did you think that the snow was blue in Alabama too?
And to the comment made about not knowing where Alabama is...I'm not surprised.
You Americans need to get outside of your box! Enjoy your snow and ice, consider it a little gift from Canada...if you know where that is.
I wouldn't bet my prize hogs on that map. I think somebody must have made it up. Why does it look curved, bent for? Something wrong with your map CNN.
Hey Canadian... stop being stupid and boring. Oh wait, you can't.... you are Canadian.
To Canadian: Sure, I know where Canada is–it's a 45-minute drive south.
Nothing is wrong with the map only your perception of the world. Some time ago people realized the world was round.
All maps must distort the geography to display our 3D world in 2D. This map is actually more accurate view of what N. America looks like from space than any Mercator projection that you are used to seeing.
even though there may not be snow here in florida, I will say that it is frigid. I live in Tallahassee and from what I can see I don't think there is any way that anyone would want to go on a vacation to florida right now. South florida might be warm but don't get it twisted. Not all of the sunshine state is soakin' up the rays right now.
I live in Tallahassee as well, and from what I hear there were snow flurries on Christmas Eve. The current temperature is actually 30 degrees, so North Florida is getting the cold winter weather. My family who lives in Tampa, however, is enjoying weather in the 50s and 60s this week. I'm slightly jealous.
I was speaking with a friend from Marianna, FL the other day who told me about a few times already this year that he has seen snow and flurries in and around the Jackson County, Florida area. It seems that not even Florida escaped the snow and this storm is batting a thousand if it was trying to hit every state, haha
Yes, but Tallahassee is really not Florida. It is South Georiga, just like everything north of Orlando. Nothing wrong with it, but Florida really should be split into two considering the differences between North FL and SW/SE FL
No matter what you call it, global warming, climate change, a hoax, natural events, etc. not many look at it this way: There are about 7 billion people on the planet right now. That sounds like a lot. Most of us have never seen 7 billion of anything in any one spot. What if we bring the world population together in one place? How much land would we need? A country, a continent? We shall do a mental exercise.
We have lots 'o land, so we'll be generous! Let us give every man, woman and child 100 square feet to stretch out in, that's a box 10 foot on a side. That's 700 billion square feet to bring the entire world population together! Sounds like a lot, eh? Do the math and it's ONLY 25,109 square miles for those 7 billion people. How big is 25,109 sq mi? That's an area about 158 miles on a side. That doesn't sound so bad. Actually it isn't. That's a little bit bigger than the state of West Virginia (24,230 sq mi.) Dust off your trusty globe or world atlas (you do have one don't you?) Compare the size of WV to all the land mass on our pale blue dot. Now compare WV to the ENTIRE GLOBE! It's a drop in the bucket, isn't it?
Now consider our little slice of heaven is about 4.5 billion years old. Without our "help", it has gone through cycles of intense heat and tropical climates to severely frozen climates. Five of these cycles based on the best evidence we have so far. All by its self. Now realize, the population explosion has really only happened over the past 100-150 years or so (from ~1 billion to ~7 billion).
While I don't discount that human activity has influenced our environment, put everything in perspective and explain how our activity is *solely* responsible for climate change. Humankind hasn't been the best environmental steward over the last 150 years, and I could certainly do better myself. The fact is, humankind and our activities are fairly insignificant in this unbelievably complicated and dynamic natural environment that we live in. The environment we are in today wasn't here millions or tens of millions years ago, and won't be here millions and tens of millions of years into the future. Why is humankind so arrogant as to think we can greatly influence a 4.5 billion year old system in a little over 100 years? We live on a rapidly (with respect to our short life spans) and constantly evolving planet.
Think about it. Let's quit arguing about the weather and let's all learn to be and work towards becoming better stewards of the only home we have right now.
wow this is the bigest libral crock of s*** ive hear in a long time ... find GOD son HE will help you find a path, put the pot pipe down
southern style, either you are dumb as sht, literally, or you are trolling. either way, justthefacts was in fact agreeing with, sort of. haha, but you would know that if you could read......
dude, you are just spinning a fact. the point is not that we only take up a relatively small area, the real point is, even though we should only take up a small area, we CONSUME an average of 8 planet earths the way we live. just because we physically take up 100 square feet in your ridiculous project, you are forgetting we need more land and resources to eat, live and sh!t.
So try this analogy, i want you to go 1 year living in 100 square feet of land. that means you must recycle your waste, bury your sh!t and grow your own food. good luck! hope you plant a tree to off set your breathing.
I like the way you think it makes more sense than anything I have heard the world is constantly renewing itself .and that is a fact.
Oh please my little Kochetta, I mean just the fax, the only reason there is a spin against global warming is big business doesn't want to pay a tax when they over pollute our air, water and land with co2. I don't care if your pollution is causing the snow in USA or the tornadoes in Brazil, I don't want your big business pollution in my ecosystem!!
balls: "we CONSUME an average of 8 planet earths the way we live"
What were you trying to say here??? Because what you wrote doesn't make sense. Everything we consume comes from this earth. If we consume 8 planet earths, then how do we still have the one that we're standing on?
+1
well said.
@ steve and what exactly is the measure of a planet earth that just sounds fuc**** retarded
@Sevan Then why don't we frame it in more practical terms. I agree we have a negative impact on the environment. But lets put it in tangible terms instead of nebulous "global warming" terms. We know for a fact that air pollution causes high asthma rates for example. Let's focus locally to come up with solutions for cleaning the environment that directly impacts the average citizen. It is much easier to understand a local problem like worker productivity and child health than it is to "save the planet from global warming". Resolving immediate issues will percolate up to resolve the larger less understood ones. It's all about how you frame the argument.
Good to see a logical approach to the issue. People are just ignorant to think that humankind has this level of effect on the planet. Nature could wipe us out in an "environmental minute" and keep on going.
Great rebuttal balls. All one has to do is look at a picture of earth's surface from space at night and notice all the unnatural light emitted from human existence. It is then that you'll realize the parasitic effect of humans. JustTheFacts nimrod takes the most simplistic formula to make his point. All the while leaving out all the infrastructure required to support 7 billion humans. That haze you see out your window most every day in every part of the world is not made by mother nature.
Our actions are solely responsible for the rise in temperature over the past 100 years. Global climate doesn't change because it's bored, it changes because an external force acts upon it. The difference is that, apart from extinction events, those forces took thousands to tens of thousands of years to build up those changes. There is no known cyclical event capable of raising or lowering a planetary climate's temperature within 100 years.
Take solar activity. There have been claims that maybe increased solar activity might be a cause of the upward temperature trend. Sure, that's plausible if you consider that we've just ended the warmest decade (globally) on record during a record 11-year solar minimum (in energy output). If we can warm the planet during a solar minimum imagine the impact a solar maximum will have, which we're entering this year.
The point is that the source absolutely matters because we are the source. Examples usually cited such as the Medieval Warming or Little Ice Age just after that are striking but they're also regional. Globally, based on ice core samples, tree ring analysis, and other measurements demonstrate that the earth's temperature remained steady during those events. Others point to volcanic activity or events like El Nino or La Nina, but none of these explain the rise in global temperature over the past 100 years. The only remaining cause is man-made CO2 emissions. This is further borne out by the rise of a particular isotope inherent to fossil fuels versus natural CO2 seeps.
If we don't identify and act on the source then the forcing on global climate will continue, it's as simple as that. We are responsible. The fact is that the level of CO2 in the air right now has already passed the tipping point of what human development and society were based on, so we can't turn back the clock to a pre-industrial level, but if we continue to do nothing it won't take long (maybe 100 years) where the planet's climate is unsuitable for sustaining human life. Not extinction but a slow decline.
While using WV makes a good point, the obvious rebutal is in regards to livability in that 100 sqare foot postage stamp.
On the other hand Monoco, a very beautiful nation, has a population denisty of 39k/sq mile, which means that if all the people on the planet lived in a similar environment, we would only need 179k/sq miles for the whole planets population to live in quite comfortably, an are about the size of New Zealand. Wow, and they dont even have an army to defend themselves....
Hear that Kiwi's? WE'RE COMIN FOR YA!