Why it is so cold

[n2doc]

By John D. Cox | Tue Jan 5, 2010 02:28 PM ET
Just when we might be expecting the influence of unusually high Pacific ocean temperatures to warm us up -- or for global warming to bring relief -- along comes another wave of incredibly cold storms. How the season finally turns out is still up in the air, so to speak, but clearly, that weather patterns that are typical of El Niño have not taken hold across the United States.

And it's easy to forget that global warming is a long-term climate trend that has little to do with individual seasons in one part of the world or another. In fact, it might be hard to appreciate just now, but the year just ended -- 2009 is a single data point -- actually came in a little warmer than the two years before and is fairly close to the middle range of model simulations of the long-term trend that has provoked international scientific concern about global warming.

Shorter-term, naturally variable patterns such as El Niño account for seasonal differences -- making one winter warmer or colder than another. But it takes a strong El Niño to dominate the pattern of a U.S. winter with unusually warm and dry conditions across the northern tier of the country, and cooler and wetter weather across the south, and the current El Niño is not strong.

Winter patterns -- shown here Tuesday in a NOAA satellite image showing cold clear skies over much of the country and another wave of storminess entering the Pacific Northwest -- are marching to the beat of other drummers in the band.

more

http://news.discovery.com/earth/where-is-el-nio-when-we-need-him.html

[wuvuj]

1. Global warming equates with....

...greater variation in weather patterns? More extremes?

[dmallind]

2. Because it's January?

That whole northern hemisphere/inclination thing really. It's not that this winter so far has been dramatically colder overall than it usually is.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Actually, a lot of places have been recording record lows -

but that does not mean we won't be recording record highs come August.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Well… in our area (according to the Weather Underground) January has been colder than average

And the weather is forecast to be colder than average for a while.
Check your area: http://www.wunderground.com/history/

I’m thinking that this is the last we’ll hear of “Global Warming.”

(For the humor impaired, :sarcasm:)

[paulsby]

12. false. yes it has. wrong on the facts. nt

[liberal N proud]

5. It's winter time in the northern hemisphere

It only seems unusually cold because it has been a long streak of unusually warm winters.

I remember when I was a kid, we would see week long streaks of -20 F temps. You haven't seen anything yet.

[joshcryer]

13. It's going to be in the fifties starting with Saturday.

Cold snap is over, "unusually warm winters" to return without incident.

But your observation would be correct. The record warm temperatures here? Most were in 2006.

[Broke In Jersey]

6. cold?

Its not the cold....its the humidity!!! wait....

[Donnachaidh]

7. it's colder than a witch's wazoo in Atlanta right now - and is getting colder

tonight -- and we even have SNOW in the forecast!

I'm looking forward to it. Will take my coffee on the porch and watch the nascar fans slip sliding down the road :rofl:

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Just how cold is a Witch's wazoo?

Because, you see, it’s even colder up here…

[Donnachaidh]

9. I have no doubt that you ARE colder, but it doesn't happen here too often

And we watched the locals go into panic mode after the weatherguys announced the snow. They cleaned out bread and milk from the local Publix. Panicking over a forecast of a HALF INCH of snow!

We're from NY, so we know a bit more about cold LOL!.

[OKIsItJustMe]

11. I remember marvelling over southern schools closing because of a half inch of snow…

While, as a child, I would wonder whether a mere three inches would be enough to close my school.

To be fair, school buses in the South are probably not routinely equipped with snow tires…

[joshcryer]

14. Not only that, snow plows in the south are almost unheard of.

[FreeJoe]

15. Snow Plow?

Never heard of one of them done here in SE Texas. What would be the point? Do people really plant stuff in snow?

Seriously, I watched on Thursday as a woman checked the school website to see if school was going to be closed on Friday. There was no threat of snow at all. She just thought that since it was supposed to be down near freezing all day that they would close the schools.

[TxRider]

16. As kid who grew up in Houston

From what I know it is mainly because kids only see snow once a decade, and parents want to let them stay home and experience it and play in it as much as anything else. It's usually melted and gone by afternoon.

What closes things down in Dallas is the tendency to get an inch or two of clear hard ice on everythingthat lasts for day or two. Even when we get snow, it's usually on top of an inch of hard clear ice.

[Po_d Mainiac]

17. Guess you never met my mother huh? n/t

[Bitwit1234]

10. Every body knows that Minnesota is one of the major ice boxes

in the USA. Last year we had more below zero weather as of this date than any other year since I have lived here. This frigid weather is cold but not as bad. If people would take the time to read reports as to what conditions exist with global warming they would see that disruption of the jet stream, the gulf stream and cold weather is a direct result of global warming. That the melting of the Arctic snow caps and other things add to diversion of these streams. But they don't read the reports. Just because it is not warmer all over they can't get it Thur their head that other weather anomalies will exist with global warming.