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Little snow in the Tri-State so far means big savings for state and local agencies that are grateful for weather that's helping their budgets.

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Warm Weather Lets Ranchers Save on Feed Costs

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Mild winter eases heat bills

A mild winter helps practically everybody, farmers, ranchers, home owners, governments, etc.

The truth is Global Warming (caused by the SUN not man) is the best thing for America since sliced bread!

43 in Central Mich tomorrow.

I think we had a local high here of 53 yesterday (East Central ND). This is crazy and the longer this keeps up the shorter the winter will be. I am NOT complaining.

I'm LOVING this weather (after the last two days of mid-20s daytime temps... We can keep doing this all winter and I'll be happy.

Signs of the Apocalypse

"On January 5 at about 3pm I saw a live mosquito! I could hardly believe my eyes, but I did a double-take and got a good look and it definitely was one."
-- (Minnesota commenter)

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collect....



With 40,000 lakes, ponds and bogs, this place would be unlivable if it weren't for winter killing off the vermin once a year.

from Bezzle's pic wrote..

(Shown Actual Size)

Based on mosquitoes I've experienced in Canada (I assume Minnesota's are similar), it's not that much of an exaggeration!!!

At least you can SEE that ****er to kill it.

Those little flying gnats (they call 'em "no-see-ums" here) are another matter entirely. I call them "flying TEETH."

Incredible day in San Antonio yesterday. I had to pull out the grill for a few New York strips...felt near 80...

LOL lots of folks were bbq-ing in my neighborhood yesterday, too (a bit south of Albany NY)! It was over 50 here yesterday.

We're back to normal winter 38-42 degrees here today. Nice while it lasted...and I'll take more +50 deg winter days any time.

Ya'll let the weather stop you from BBQ-ing?

No snow helps :)

15 here this morning, more seasonal.

This is just stupid; we're like forty degrees above normal nearly state-wide, and it's only noon. Some places are going over 60F today. In mother****ing mid-January. Grass is green, ants are building their mounts, the tree are budding....

Sounds like a set up for disaster if hard freezes are coming in late Jan-Feb.
This is something we worry about down here in the deep south but as far north as you guys are it is highly probable a hard freeze will damage those trees with rising sap. Hopefully your night time temps are holding the trees back.

"It is another beautiful sunny 45° day in the Yoop :-( Snowpack is down to 5". Winter Storm Watch in effect W-F :-)"

From the U.P. Michigan....where is winter...?

There's concern around here if it is too warm, fruit trees will bud and then get frozen, later, trashing the crop.

So far, so good, AFAIK.

Going to be more seasonal (cold/snow) weather here next few days, looks like.

As an aside, I'm sure the highway departments are happy about the money saved on snow removal and salt/sand not to mention OT. After the indignity of having to deal with a hurricane in NYS, it's good to catch a break!

I'm happy for now. If the trend carries into summer, not so much. Here in the NE, summer of 2010 was so bad you didn't want to go outside at all. The whole damn summer. Just plain sucked.

There is an article I found on the "Global Diaster Watch" website that says something about the AO and NAO being in the wrong place for this time of year. Very interesting. It appears that the value may go negative later this month and then things would get cold again. It may not mean anything, but I found it and immediately thought of you guys. I hope this helps to understand what is happening.

It won't let me copy and paste, so I just put the website. Look for the article on January 9,2012 entitled, "Something is Up with the Jet Stream".

http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/

Alaska town hit with 15 feet of snow runs short of shovels as it braces for another blizzard
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, January 10, 8:46 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Alaska community blitzed by nearly 15 feet of snow was hit by another storm Tuesday and a new problem — a shortage of shovels.

A spokesman for the city of Cordova said officials had tried Anchorage, Fairbanks and other cities and finally turned to a manufacturer for a special order.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it? The state of Alaska — you’d think they’d be ahead of the game. It’s those logistical things you just don’t plan on, or you don’t think is going to be an issue,” said Allen Marquette by phone from the city on the east side of Prince William Sound.

The snow-weary city of 2,200 was promised new shovels to be manufactured Thursday and delivered two days later — but it will be too late for the “couple more feet” of snow that touched down Tuesday, accompanied by winds of 25 to 40 mph and gusts to 55.

The latest storm hit much of south-central Alaska. Avalanches along the Seward Highway closed the only route south out of Alaska’s largest city, cutting off Anchorage from neighborhoods to the south in Girdwood.

Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Feller said the department followed up with an even larger induced avalanche using explosives fired from a military-style howitzer.

“That showed there was a lot of pent-up energy, and it’s been released,” he said. The highway will remain closed until noon Wednesday.

The storm knocked out power to parts of Homer on the Kenai Peninsula. Drifts accumulated to 7 feet, Feller said, and the city put out an advisory to boat owners that 16 inches of snow could accumulate and boats should be cleared.

KMXT-radio in Kodiak said flights to the island city had been canceled and three boats sank in local harbors from the weight of snow. In Valdez, the terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, forecasters issued a blizzard warning through Wednesday afternoon, with winds to 45 mph and accumulations of 9 of 17 inches of snow on the Richardson Highway at Thompson Pass, the road access out of the community.

Cordova, a fishing community famed for wild Copper River salmon, may have been hardest hit. Since Nov. 1, the city has received 176 inches of snow and 44.24 inches of rain, at times increasing the weight of the snow as it piled up to 6 feet high on roofs.

Accumulations on roofs and walls damaged four commercial buildings and two homes, Marquette said.

The threat of such collapses prompted the evacuation of an apartment complex, where weight on the roof jammed doorways and windows, making it a fire hazard, Marquette said. The Red Cross has turned the city recreation center into an emergency shelter.

Dealing with the white stuff has turned into a near military operation. City, state and federal authorities set up a command center to organize its response to the snow emergency. One task: deciding who gets their roof or entryway shoveled first. The community set up a call-in number to report access problems or roof hazards.

“We’re sending out teams to assess,” Marquette said. “Everybody thinks it’s serious, but you have to go out and assess to prioritize ones that need it the most.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2....

It's not just an abnormally high value on the AO and NAO Indices. December saw another very high value on the Southern Oscillation Index, measuring the strength of our La Nina.

Going back to 1870, there were only a few higher values in December: 1950 and last year.

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current//s....

And the Pacific Decadal Oscillation is very strongly negative. That data goes back to 1900, with lower values in November only in the years 1950 and 1955. December isn't reported yet.

http://jisao.washington.edu/pdo/PDO.late....

New record lows (Florida); new record highs (everywhere else):

...I'm just guessing that "snow" in central Nebraska is a reporting glitch....



= = = = =

Nome, Alaska, dropped to -40F, the first time in 13 years it's been that cold there.

= = = = =

Now this is a proper winter:


(Valdez, Alaska)

...sucks to be at the end of a long supply chain...be warned...

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There's concern around here if it is too warm, fruit trees will bud and then get frozen, later, trashing the crop.

Very real concern...had it happen to all of our fruit trees a few years ago on my mini farm in the Czech Republic...had about 40 apples total among 15 trees.

54 and sprinkling this morning...should cool off into freezing temps for a few days, then back into the 50's again next week. I'm loving the heating bill this year, but I'm dreading the ticks and mosquitoes this summer if we don't have a sustained freeze for a while.

Get keets (guinea hens); they'll fix the flea and tick population.