Friday, November 21, 2014

Snowpocalypse in Buffalo ---surprising side effect of Global Warming

                              Global temperatures on Nov. 21, 2014 from climate reanalyzer


The media is running out of superlatives to describe the unprecedented snowstorms in Buffalo, New York.  Up to 9 feet of snow haven fallen in the last two days.   Its being called a THUNDERSNOW!  MONSTER BLIZZARD!  INSANE!  WINTER STORM KNIFE!  EPIC!  SNOWPOCALPSE!   

But they should be calling it GLOBAL WARMING!

Lets put the SNOWPOCALYPSE into perspective by looking at a map of northern hemisphere temperatures on Nov. 21, the final day of the SNOWPOCALYPSE.   The cold temperatures that produced the massive lake effect snowfalls in the Buffalo area show up as a big blue blob over the northeastern part of North America.  But this area of blue on the map is surrounded by larger areas of red and black indicating unusually warm temperatures were present at the same time over Greenland, Alaska and nearby areas of the Arctic Ocean, north Africa and the Mediterranean Sea.  Even larger areas over the Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific Ocean were also somewhat above normal temperatures.  

So northern hemisphere temperatures during the Buffalo storm are, for most part, above average.  Even the displacement of cold Arctic air southward to the middle west and the Buffalo area is a product of warm air blasting northward across Alaska, and pushing cold Arctic air southwards toward Buffalo.

So smile, Buffalo.  Thats not just the SNOWPOCALYPSE you're shoveling off your driveway---try to think of it as frozen GLOBAL WARMING.  




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