The Roaring 40s

This past weekend I watched a special on the Science Channel about the Roaring 40s (also known as the Furious Forties). A phenomenon I had heard about before but never paid much mind to, the Roaring 40s actually turned on my interest as I discovered more about it.

The Roaring 40s refers to the parallel latitudes between 40° South and 50° South, which happens to only pass through the countries of New Zealand, Chile and Argentina. Because of the very reason that prevailing westerly winds moving through these latitudes are hardly disrupted by land, they, and the choppy seas they churn up, have for years shaped the pelagic coastlines they batter.

Global wind currents like the Roaring 40s are influenced by the Earth's shape and spin, and by basic thermodynamics, such as hot air rising and cold air sinking. The great speed of their winds is produced because of the relative change in rotational speed of the land at the Earth's surface. Because of this, the Roaring 40s vary greatly from day to day, across the seasons, and also from year to year.

Anyway, you are probably wondering why I am so into this phenomenon, but if you saw the special you would know! You’d see jagged mountains, rugged coastlines, lush rainforests, exotic habitats, unusual wildlife, dramatic seas, and a magnificent take on one of the many natural features that shape planet Earth. I guess it's just one of those occurrences that make you feel so small and insignificant to the power of nature!

That is all…

Fierce March Lion Still Roars

March doesn't seem to be ending like a lamb, does it? With major snowfall, rain and wind for a good portion of the northeast, the month surely roared in like a lion, but that pattern seems to be repeating itself as we close out the first 31 days of the meteorological spring.

As we turn the corner on the last 60 hours of March, here we are enduring another major coastal deluge. At a time the weather should resemble the peacefulness of a lamb (actually, I really don't know how peaceful a lamb is), we are looking at several more days of windswept rain, wind, and coastal and urban/river flooding, as well as disruptive snow in northern New England. Sounds familiar right? It's Déjà vu for NYC-area residents who experienced a similar storm a few weeks ago that left in its wake plenty of coastal and structural damage due to high winds and rising waters.

Well, the good news is if you like lambs, you'll be bleating bahh bahh bahh by the end of the week as a much drier, warmer pattern overtakes the eastern third of the nation. But remember, April showers bring May flowers, so rainy days could and will once again reappear.

Daylight Savings Nor'easter

The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast is once again taking a beating from a major coastal storm! The storm, which I am now dubbing the "Daylight Savings Nor'easter," began Friday morning and promises to deliver wind and rain through Monday. That's right, rain! Not snow this time! Temperatures have warmed since the last Nor'easter (the Snowicane) and much of the area is now looking at a heavy, wind-driven rain, as opposed to the heavy blizzard snows that have dumped record snowfall across the area since late last year.

This afternoon we entered the peak of the Daylight Savings Nor'easter and in true form I headed right out in it and battled torrential flooding rains, near hurricane force winds and sub-freezing wind chills to bring you this report!



As of 7:00 p.m. the storm continues to rage. The constant easterly fetch off the Atlantic is bringing the ocean onshore and raising wave heights to near 20 feet. Coastal communities are experiencing damaging hurricane force winds and the heavy rains continue to push inland across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The wind is knocking down power lines across the area and the rain associated with this storm, combined with the melting snow pack, is leading to hazardous flood conditions.

Stay tuned to your local news outlets on the latest effects regarding the Daylight Savings Nor'easter. Oh, and speaking of daylight savings, if you still have power don't forget to set your clocks forward one hour before you hit the sack tonight!

Record Wind Gust Busted

Since April 1934, New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington held the world record wind gust at 231 mph. Sorry Mt. Washington fans, not any more.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on January 22, 2010 that Mount Washington's world record had been broken. A wind gust of 253 mph during Typhoon Olivia on April 10, 1996, in Barrow Island, Australia has broken this record. A panel of WMO experts investigated the report, and this conclusion has been made after an extensive review of data, and an evaluation of the weather instruments used. I will decline to comment on why it took the WMO about 15 years to issue this report. (Oops... there I just did.)

The WMO Commission for Climatology provides more information about Global Weather and Climate Extremes at: http://wmo.asu.edu.

Brrr! It's Cold Out There!

Freezing Temperatures...
If any of you have been outside the past several days, you surely noticed it's a bit cold out. The good news is the zephyr like wind over the past weekend should be dying down, so congrats on surviving the Great Winter Wind Weekend of '10.

Down here in DC, the Potomac is starting to freeze. Chunks of ice are flowing. Unfortunately, for those of you adverse to the cold you'd better hunker down and bundle up - it looks like the frigid temperatures are going to be with us for the foreseeable future.

The potential for more cold even triggered an automatic halt on Monday to trading on New York’s ICE Futures US exchange (think damaged orange crops in Florida).

Around the World...
China's national meteorological office warned that temperatures in the nation's far north could fall to around minus 32 degrees Celsius. The image on the right acquired from NASA's Terra satellite on January 4, shows the record snowfall that covered Beijing and much of China after the new year.

Our friends across the pond in the UK are experiencing lows from -2 to -8C. Even in Russia where they are used to the cold, lows tonight in Moscow are expected to hover around zero Fahrenheit.

More Snow???
The upshot here (for the cold averse) looks to be the potential for more snow across the Northeast toward the end of the week. I firmly believe that as long as its going to be cold it may as well snow.