Warm Arctic? Expect Northeast Blizzards: What 7 Decades of Weather Data Show

The warmer the Arctic, the more likely the Northeast will be clobbered by blizzards, says a team of researchers who analyzed winter weather patterns going back to 1950.

Three extreme winter storms have hit the Northeast this
month, dumping several feet of snow and in some areas
bringing destructive coastal flooding. The Arctic,
meanwhile, has had record warmth.

Citing disruptive storms like Snowzilla (2016), Snowmaggedon (2010) and Snowpocalypse (2009), the climate scientists wrote that "heavy snowfalls are generally more frequent since 1990, and in many cities the most extreme snowfalls have occurred primarily during recent decades.”

Their study, published in the journal Nature Communications, links the increased frequency of extreme winter storms with the rapid and persistent warming of the Arctic since around 1990. When temperatures over the Arctic spike, especially high in the atmosphere, extreme winter weather is two to four times more likely in Boston and New York, while the U.S. West tends to see warmer and drier conditions, they conclude.

Read the Inside Climate News storey by Bob  Berwyn - “Warm Arctic? Expect Northeast Blizzards: What 7 Decades of Weather Data Show.”

More than a month's worth of rain as Wangaratta 'cops it’

More than a month's worth of rain has fallen in an hour just outside Wangaratta in the state's northeast on Saturday.

Wangaratta copped a month of rain in a day on Saturday. 

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of the state's northern country and northeast, with flash flood warnings in place for Euroa and Wangaratta. 

Senior forecaster Richard Carlyon said heavy rainfall hit Wangaratta Airport, about eight kilometres outside the city centre, from about 8pm.

"Wangaratta's copped the most rain," he said.

Read the story from the Melbourne Age - “More than a month's worth of rain as Wangaratta 'cops it’.”

(Sudden downpours such as that experienced at Wangaratta bringing rain at either near record or never before seen levels will become more common as climate change tightens its grip. Long dry periods followed by sudden and heavy downpours erode the dry earth, runs off dry ground quickly before soaking into the thirsty earth and so adds little to wetting of the soil - Robert McLean)

Why climate change may be to blame for dangerous cold blanketing eastern U.S.

Biting Arctic air — bringing wind chills as low as 30 below — will make the outdoors miserable for more than 130 million Americans in the Northeast, as well as parts of the Southeast and Great Plains this weekend, forecasters warn.

The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air
surrounding the Earth's North and South poles.

But before folks file this cold snap away under "typical winter weather," scientists say the potentially record-breaking temperatures in store for Friday night through Sunday are being fed, at least in part, by a warming climate.

Confused?

It might seem like the effects of "global warming" would herald an end to these frigid conditions. President Donald Trump suggested so in a mocking tweet before the New Year, writing, "In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year's Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming ... "

Read the NBC News story by Eric Ortiz - “Why climate change may be to blame for dangerous cold blanketing eastern U.S.”

Northeast warming more rapidly than most of

Sarah Coughlin from Dorchester practiced
 her yoga routine on a dock on the
 Charles River Esplanade on Thursday.

New England is likely to experience significantly greater warming over the next decade, and beyond, than the rest of the planet, according to new findings by climate scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

The region’s temperatures are projected to rise by an average of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels by 2025, according to the study, published this week in PLOS One, a journal published by the Public Library of Science.

The scientists found that the Northeast is warming more rapidly than any other part of the country except Alaska — and that the 3.6 degree Fahrenheit rise in the region is likely to come two decades before the rest of the world gets to that point.

Read David Abel’s story in the Boston Globe  - “Northeast warming more rapidly than most of US.”