Pam Knox

  • Arctic sea ice hits new winter record low

    Minnesota Public Radio reported this week that the Arctic sea ice reached a new record low for extent in winter on February 17.  January temperatures ran 23 degrees warmer than average in parts of the Arctic. That has resulted in the lowest percentage of ice cover on record since satellites began keeping record in 1979. You…

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  • Wet week for inland areas of the Southeast

    The weather pattern this week favors rainy conditions for northern Alabama and Georgia and upstate areas of the Carolinas. After a dry start to the weekend, rain should move into the area late on Sunday.  Rain will be the most widespread through the region in mid-week.

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  • The Packer reported this week that rain and cold weather in Florida and up north has reduced the supplies of cabbage at a bad time for St. Patrick’s Day, coming up in mid-March.  You can read the story at https://www.thepacker.com/news/rain-cold-cut-st-pat%E2%80%99s-cabbage-supplies. They reported separately that “A wild mix of cold, hot and wet weather continued to wreak…

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  • February 19, 1884 — The Enigma Outbreak

    Marshall Shepherd pointed out this morning that today is the anniversary of what was likely the worst tornado outbreak in Georgia history. “On February 19 1884 a violent swarm of tornadoes raced across Georgia. Cherokee and Pickens counties were hit hard. Near Waleska, 3 children were killed. in Pickens county, Cagletown and Tate were devastated. There…

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  • Unusual early heat in Phoenix

    This week Wednesday, Phoenix reported a high temperature of 90 F.  This is the earliest that Phoenix has ever reported a 90 F reading.  The average date is March 30, and the previous record was February 24, set in 1904 and 1986.  This may be due in part to the continuing dry conditions in the…

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  • CoCoRaHS blog: Summary of the winter so far

    The latest edition of the CoCoRaHS blog has a description of the wacky weather that has been observed across the US so far this winter.  You might enjoy reading the recap of everything that has happened so far at https://cocorahs.blogspot.com/2016/02/its-been-wild-wacky-winter.html.

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  • In the past two days, friends have sent me very interesting images of cold weather phenomena that I think you would enjoy.  One is a mesmerizing video of ice stacking on Lake Superior, which you can view at https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/ice-stacking-lake-superior. The second is a spectacular image of sea smoke, also known as steam fog, described by Jason…

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