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2015 Year of Extremes

Selected Extreme events of 2015

LATEST Major Weather Events

30 NOV 2015:  COP21 Climate Talks in Paris

Leaders from over 180 countries from around the world are meeting in Paris to develop a comprehensive plan to curb greenhouse emissions and develop renewable energy.  President Obama noted that terrorists were unable to stop such an important meeting of world leaders from taking place.  President Obama clearly stated that the US has taken significant steps to slowing emissions and are now producing renewable energy that is competitive with conventional fuels.  He stated specific goals for emission reduction of 17% by 2020 and 25% by 2025 and requested that other countries do the same with significant commitments with capitol to drive down costs of clean energy.   The US supports emission reductions, but will not sign an agreement!!!!
Data from 2015 indicate that this is the warmest year on record based on surface measurements.  Extreme weather continues around the world from record winters to extremely hot summers.  Today, Bejing’s pollution set records 17 times greater than world health standards.

7 Dec 2015:  Extreme floods in Channi, India and UK.

India battling deadly floods in Chennai
 Weeks of heavy rain and flooding have inundated Chennai, India
   

In 24 hours, Chennai received as much rain as London would in 6 months (CNN)Weeks of heavy rain and flooding have knocked out power, suspended public transportation and left people stranded in Chennai, one of India's largest cities. It has rained 34 of the past 40 days and the heavy-rain-warning continues, according to CNN meteorologists. The rain warning for the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and neighboring Puducherry are forecast through December 5, according to India's main weather office.

UK has extreme Precipitation:

Office:  Rain and storms soaked the northern U.K. this weekend, prompting evacuations, severe flood warnings and the arrival of the army in the worst-hit areas.  Rory Stewart, the British floods minister, told the BBC that Storm Desmond has “broken all the U.K. rainfall records” and unleashed “a completely unprecedented amount of water.”
Drone footage shot above Kendal, a flood-hit town in Cumbria, shows the flooded cricket ground and people wading through inches of water.

Storm Desmond dumped more than 10 inches of rain on some areas in England, including the northwestern county of Cumbria, while other rain-battered regions such as North Wales got more than seven inches, according to the Met Office, the U.K. weather forecaster.  Nearly 50 severe flood warnings (which indicate danger to life) remain in effect in England and Wales, while 32 flood warnings are in place in Scotland.

An Environment Agency spokesman warned "significant flooding" was expected in the area, adding: "The situation is serious and there is a significant risk to life.”  Homes around the 18th century stone bridge, over the River Wharfe, were evacuated by soldiers.
An Environment Agency spokesman warned "significant flooding" was expected in the area, adding: "The situation is serious and there is a significant risk to life."

The strongest El Nino on record is likely to increase the threat of hunger and disease for tens of millions of people in 2016 aid agencies say.

December 30, 2015 CNN:
More than 18 million Americans live in areas under flood warnings, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday.Thirteen states are affected, NOAA said.
One of the states most affected is Missouri, which is grappling with deadly flooding that will threaten cities and towns along rivers for days even through the most of the rain has stopped.
Levees have been overtopped in West Alton, just north of St. Louis. And late Tuesday, St. Charles County emergency officials ordered all people to evacuate the mostly rural area, which lies on the Mississippi River.
Record flooding on Mississippi There have been an estimated 49 weather-related deaths in the past week across the country, with the current severe storm system blamed for 35 deaths: 13 in Missouri, 11 in the Dallas area, five in southern Illinois, five in Oklahoma and at least one in Georgia. Many died after their cars were swept away by floodwater.
Record Flooding in Mississippi River
225 roads closed across Missouri I44 closed in 2 places

US Streamflow Map 30 DEC 2016

Major historic flooding: NOAA Flood Forecast Map

Flood Hydrograph showing historic flood at Cape Girardeau Mississippi: 27 DEC 2015 to 6 Jan 2016

GLOBE

GLOBE - Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment GLOBE presents an opportunity for students, teachers, and scientists to learn and develop scientific thought processes and to understand our environment.  In the early 1990’s Vice President Al Gore had an idea to help children around the world use the internet to communicate and learn about each other and their environment.  His goal was to have at least one computer in every school around the world.  He wanted students to improve their understanding of science and math thru making observations that they could share.  I had an opportunity to meet Dr. Sandy McDonald, Director, Forecast Systems Laboratory, NOAA when he was helping Al Gore develop the early stages of GLOBE in 1993.  At the time I worked with the US Bureau of Reclamation and was a visiting scientist at NCAR in Boulder, Colorado.  NCAR and UCAR hosted many meetings on GLOBE and UCAR now hosts the GLOBE Implementation Office (GIO).  One of my interests has been to promote GLOBE in various regions.  After returning from Morocco in 1988, I maintained interests with the Direction de la Meteorologie National and with friends at the Casablanca American School.  Morocco joined GLOBE after helping make the connections there. 

Today, I am interested in helping Slovenia join GLOBE.  This effort dovetails with US Ambassador, Brent Hartley’s interest in developing a partnership between the Slovenian Triglav National Park and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.  Environmental science and biodiversity are common interests of Triglav and Crater Lake park rangers and environmental scientists.

Lyn Wigbels, International Coordinator, GLOBE Implementation Office relayed this information about recent GLOBE Student Research Experience: "I was pleased to hear about the Ambassador’s project which sounds like a great venue for involving students in the GLOBE Program.  Over the years, GLOBE activities have been organized in national parks.  Most recently, during our 20th GLOBE Annual Meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, in July, GLOBE students visited Rocky Mountain National Park to take part in a Student Research Experience:
 
http://www.globe.gov/news-events/globe-news/newsdetail/globe/video-captures-the-essence-of-the-2016-globe-student-research-experience? 

This video truly captures the essance of the GLOBE scientific discovery process and clearly demonstrates how it works to engage students from around the world in learning about nature and their environment.  It shows how students apply the scientific procss and communicate their discoveries to others working with their mentors.

Joining GLOBE can be a life changing process that enables teachers, scientists, GLOBE partners, and alumni to improve their understanding of earth.

Latest News

In 2013, after a dry early season mid-February, March, April and May provided heavy snows that brought our Summit County weather station total accumulated WaterYear snow to 243 inches and 18.14 inches of water equivalent on May 31, 2013.  This resulted in excellent late season ski conditions in the central Colorado Rockies. 

Fall 2013 brought good early season snows and excellent ski conditions for the World Cup races at Beaver Creek shown below.  Totals at my Summit weather station SU-6 by December 17, 2013 were 68.7 inches total snow accumulation and 3.89 inches snow water equivalent for the current WaterYear (1 Oct 2013 to 30 September 2014).

In May, our collaborations continued in SLOvenia with Janez Polajnar at ARSO and Mitja Brilly at the University of Ljubljana FGG.  Europe had a very cold, wet, winter with deep snows in the Alps and many storms from the North Atlantic which maintained a deep cold trough over western and central Europe and a warm southerly flow of dry air in eastern Europe that set record high temperatures on the north Finland coast at 29C, while Slovenia remained cool at 10 C setting recod low temperatures at the end of May.  On June 2, the ARSO high altitude observatory at Kredarica (2515 m msl) had 260 cm of snow on the ground.  June is bringing again 100-200 year floods in central Europe, similar to those that caused havoc in 2002 in Prague on the Vltava and Elbe in Germany, and along the Donau from Linz to Budapest.

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More to Come

Future Topics:

Weather modification and water resources management.

Winter Storms 2013-14

Tornadoes and Severe weather 2014

Floods 2014

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