first snow

[mellowtigger]

We had our first snowfall in the Twin Cities yesterday. It did not accumulate, but it lasted about 20 minutes that I saw.  You'll need to click the photo to see the larger version that makes all of the snowflakes obvious.

I keep saying that global warming will result in the atmosphere becoming "well mixed", pushing air pockets off to farther places than usual resulting in weird or off-season combinations. I can't imagine any more unusual combination than a hurricane-blizzard like Sandy that is now approaching the USA coastline.

Brad Panovich is the chief meteorologist for WCNC tv news, and he says on Facebook that "Sandy combined with the strong trough will create a unique type of storm system. ... It's very rare to see a strong tropical system merge with such a strong winter like trough of low pressure. ... This system is 1 part Hurricane, 1 part Nor'easter and 1 part Blizzard potentially. Impacts of all 3 types of storms are possible depending on location."

An Associated Press story is also reporting that "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster Jim Cisco, who coined the nickname Frankenstorm, said: “We don’t have many modern precedents for what the models are suggesting.”"

They're estimating $1 billion in damage from Hurricane Sandy.  For comparison, that figure is nowhere near the $81 billion property damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.  A blizzard hurricane, though, does add to strange weather like the winter tornadoes that we've had in recent years.  Why do Americans still doubt global warming?  Oh, yeah, Faux News uninforms its viewers, that's why.