Nope, No Anthropogenic Climate Change Here

Yep, a Hurricane, hitting Ireland

A hurricane is hitting Ireland.

You heard that right, Ireland

This is the furthest east time ever that a hurricane has been observed in the modern era:

The system formerly known as Hurricane Ophelia is moving into Ireland on Monday, bringing "status red" weather throughout the day to the island. The Irish National Meteorological Service, Met Éireann, has warned that, "Violent and destructive gusts of 120 to 150km/h are forecast countrywide, and in excess of these values in some very exposed and hilly areas. There is a danger to life and property."

Ophelia transitioned from a hurricane to an extra-tropical system on Sunday, but that only marginally diminished its threat to Ireland and the United Kingdom on Monday, before it likely dissipates near Norway on Tuesday. The primary threat from the system was high winds, with heavy rains.

Forecasters marveled at the intensification of Ophelia on Saturday, as it reached Category 3 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale and became a major hurricane. For a storm in the Atlantic basin, this is the farthest east that a major hurricane has been recorded during the satellite era of observations. Additionally, it was the farthest north, at 35.9 degrees north, that an Atlantic major hurricane has existed this late in the year since 1939.

"Ophelia is breaking new ground for a major hurricane," National Hurricane Center scientist Eric Blake wrote on Twitter. "Typically those waters much too cool for anything this strong." He also added, "I really can’t believe I’m seeing a major just south of the Azores." Seas near where Ophelia intensified Saturday were 1-2 degrees Celsius above normal.

It goes without saying that we are in for some serious hurt over the next few years.

It also follows that climate change deniers are full of crap.

I Have Had It with These Motherf%##Ing Sharks on This Motherf%$#Ing Freeway

It's actually a Photoshop hoax, which is depressing, but it's probably actually a good thing that soulless cold blooded predators are not swimming the streets of Houston.

The cold blooded soulless predators were in Austin, but the special session of the legislature ended about 2 weeks ago, so they are scattered all over the state now.

Rule #1 of Giving Disaster Aid Is Not to Give to the American Red Cross

Rule #2 is to refer to rule #1.

Pro Publica has some quick tips for donating after a disaster in response to the massive flooding in the Houston area from hurricane Harvey, and the lede paragraph mentions the American Red Cross mismanagement in Haiti.

The comments mention their mismanagement of the super storm Sandy.

On a more personal level, I was in the Good Friday earthquake in Anchorage in 1964 (No memories, I was less than 2), and my father has vivid recollections of the general uselessness of the Red Cross, he was involved on some of the (ultimately ignored) after incident analysis and recommendations.

He recalls that the Salvation Army did a much better job than the ARC.

Just don't give to them.  It will end up going to new carpets in their Washington, DC offices.

Too Much Heat Today

I wasn't paying attention, and got a bit too much sun, so if my posts tonight seem a bit less coherent than usual, if that is even possible, you know why.

Hydrating now.

Seriously?!?!?!

Governor Ratf%$# just declared a snow emergency,  and it's March f%$#ing 13^th!

This is Maryland, not International Falls, Minnesota!

Non-Existent Global Warming Strikes Again

We are completely f%$#ed


Breakup of Larsen B in 2002

An ice shelf ¼ the side of Wales is set to break off from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica:

An iceberg expected to be one of the 10 largest ever recorded is ready to break away from Antarctica, scientists say.

A long-running rift in the Larsen C ice shelf grew suddenly in December and now just 20km of ice is keeping the 5,000 sq km piece from floating away.

Larsen C is the most northern major ice shelf in Antarctica.

Researchers based in Swansea say the loss of a piece a quarter of the size of Wales will leave the whole shelf vulnerable to future break-up.

Larsen C is about 350m thick and floats on the seas at the edge of West Antarctica, holding back the flow of glaciers that feed into it.

Researchers have been tracking the rift in Larsen C for many years, watching it with some trepidation after the collapse of Larsen A ice shelf in 1995 and the sudden break-up of the Larsen B shelf in 2002.

………

But in December the speed of the rift went into overdrive, growing by a further 18km in just a couple of weeks. What will become a massive iceberg now hangs on to the shelf by a thread just 20km long.

"If it doesn't go in the next few months, I'll be amazed," project leader Prof Adrian Luckman, from Swansea University, told BBC News.

………

It is believed that climate warming has brought forward the likely separation of the iceberg but the scientists say they have no direct evidence to support this.

However, they are concerned about how any break-off will impact the rest of the ice shelf, given that its neighbour, Larsen B, disintegrated spectacularly in 2002 following a similar large calving event.

"We are convinced, although others are not, that the remaining ice shelf will be less stable than the present one," said Prof Luckman.

"We would expect in the ensuing months to years further calving events, and maybe an eventual collapse - but it's a very hard thing to predict, and our models say it will be less stable; not that it will immediately collapse or anything like that."

As it floats on the sea, the resulting iceberg from the shelf will not raise sea levels. But if the shelf breaks up even more, it could result in glaciers that flow off the land behind it to speed up their passage towards the ocean. This non-floating ice would have an impact on sea levels.

According to estimates, if all the ice that the Larsen C shelf currently holds back entered the sea, global waters would rise by 10cm.

2½ inches (10 cm) may not sound like a lot, but this is just one incident.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of similar developments around the world, and indicate that the current rate of sea level rise (1.8 mm/year) could be just a prelude.

Talk About Like a Lamb

You know the old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb."

I'm getting lunch from the food truck, and the weather is magnificent.  (Ironically, I got the lamb.)

72 degrees without a cloud in the sky.

When juxtaposed with the brutal winter that we've had, it is a bit surreal.

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It Appears that we are Having a Spot of Rain

Lots of wind too.

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Mission From God Delayed

Too much snow for igloo making.

It took an hour and a half to shovela path to the front yard, where we intend to start construction.

And it is still snowing hard.

Great googly moogly!

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Woo Hoo!

First real snow of the season!

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42°

Finally, some seasonally appropriate weather.

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We are So Going to Get Hammered Later this Winter

It's December 14th, and it is 65°F (18°C).

This is crazy, and we WILL pay for this on January and February.

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Bear Who Swims Seriously Considers Move to Norway*

My brother, AKA the Bear Who Swims, is fond of winter.

In fact, my brother has frequently expressed a sense of loss at not experiencing Minneapolis weather now that he lives in Seattle.

Well, Bear Who Swims, have you considered Norway?

Residents of Norway view their long dark winters as something to celebrate. How it's possible to be cheerful for the next four months.

As the days get darker and colder in much of the northern hemisphere, it’s easy to indulge in gloom. For the next few months, you’ll be shivering. You’ll be battling foul weather. Thanks to daylight saving time there will be no chance to see the sun after work.

The gloom leads to a common question: What can I do to cope with the dark and cold?

If you truly want to be happy during winter, though, this is the wrong approach to the season. Changing your mindset can do more than distracting yourself from the weather.

That’s the takeaway from research done by Kari Leibowitz, currently a PhD student at Stanford University, who spent August 2014 to June 2015 on a Fulbright scholarship in Tromsø in northern Norway. Tromsø is so far north that from late November to late January, the sun never climbs above the horizon. Leibowitz went to study the residents’ overall mental health, because rates of seasonal depression were lower than one might expect.

………

It turns out that in northern Norway, "people view winter as something to be enjoyed, not something to be endured," says Leibowitz, and that makes all the difference.

………

And finally, people are enamored with the sheer beauty of the season. Leibowitz grew up near the Jersey shore, and "I just took it as a fact that everyone likes summer the best." But deep in the winter in Norway, when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon, multiple hours a day can still look like sunrise and sunset, and against the snow, "the colors are incredibly beautiful," she says. "The light is very soft and indirect."

I rather imagine that as he reads this, my brother is thinking wistfully of the thought of sub-zero evenings and the Northern Lights.

^*Actually, to be fair, Stephen has never expressed an interest in moving to Norway, I just think that he might now.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

It is 2:04 p.m.

It's November 6th.

It's almost 80°F!

Almost 80? In November!

What the f****** f***?

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You Have Got to Be F%$#Ing Kidding Me

On a number of occasions over the past few weeks, the temperatures in Fairbanks Alaska has been higher than those of Phoenix Arizona:

Alaska, along with the rest of the Arctic, has been warming even faster than other regions of the world due to climate change. That was the findings of a report this spring from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which found that the rate of warming will only continue to increase in the coming decades.

The signs of rapid warming in Alaska were everywhere this past winter. The Iditarod was moved north 300 miles to Fairbanks because Anchorage had record low snowfall. A ski resort outside of Juneau had to close because of low snowfall and warm temperatures that inhibited snow-making.

Now the 49th state experienced a heat wave at the end of May. Over Memorial Day weekend, while Texas was being inundated with floods, parts of Alaska were warmer than Arizona. On May 23 in Fairbanks, the temperature reached 86 degrees Fahrenheit, while Phoenix topped out at 83 for the day, reports Al Jazeera. Even the town of Bettles, which is north of Fairbanks and falls within the Arctic Circle, recorded a temperature of 82.

That same day, Eagle, Alaska hit 91 degrees Fahrenheit, marking the earliest 90-degree day in state history, according to NASA Earth Observatory. And it wasn’t just one unusually warm day. “Between May 16 and May 24, Eagle hit 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher daily—its second longest such streak on record for any time of the year,” says Al Jazeera.

I understand that weather is not the same as climate, but repeated instances of abnormally f%$#ed up weather are an indicator of climate issues.

And Republicans still deny climate change, because they don't want to admit that Al Gore was right.

We are completely f%$#ed.

You Know What they Say About the Month of March, it Comes in Like a Lion………

And goes out like a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of grandeur.

Yesterday, the temperature hit the lower 60s (°F), on Friday, the forecast is for 1-3 inches of snow.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

I may have to break out the Winter Coat

It is 11°F outside, -1°F with wind chill, and we got about 2 inches of snow, which is being blown about buy gusts of sound 30 mph.

Most un-Maryland weather.

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Snow Day Today

This deserves to be on my moribund bad hair web page

So the kids did not go to school.

We cut a deal, they shoveled the walks, and I (insert ominous music) cleaned the cat boxes.

Natalie, as you can clearly see, had a very bad hair day, which she posted to her Facebook page.

BTW, the best comment to her post was:

OMG YOU LOOK LIKE YOU COULD WORK IN A 60'S DINER WEARING ROLLER SKATES

It's nice to have a daughter who does not take herself too seriously. (she loved the comment)

Epic

I want to know what happened when the car hit the freeway.

Light Blogging Tonight

We are getting all the rain that California needs, all at once, with high winds & thunder & lightning.
The power is out.

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[on edit] Power back on at 9:27pm