Starship Asterisk*

bystander wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 5:05 pm Oklahoma City has been below freezing for more than two days and is expected to remain below freezing for another 10 days. This is extremely unusual. The average night time low for February in Oklahoma is right at freezing. Day time highs average 12°C (54°F).

Orin, your weather is drunk and passed out in my front yard. I need you to come pick it up and take it home.

Ann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:10 pm

bystander wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 5:05 pm Oklahoma City has been below freezing for more than two days and is expected to remain below freezing for another 10 days. This is extremely unusual. The average night time low for February in Oklahoma is right at freezing. Day time highs average 12°C (54°F).

Orin, your weather is drunk and passed out in my front yard. I need you to come pick it up and take it home.

Some years ago, I learned by watching Danish TV (which I will soon not be able to do any more), that there is something called the Polar Vortex over the Arctic. This Polar Vortex keeps the cold temperatures locked over the Arctic during winter. But if the Polar Vortex breaks down, the cold weather flows southwards, over North America and Europe.

Sweden (Sverige) with Malmö (bottom) and Karesuando (top).

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This must be what has happened now. Some days ago, the weather was colder in Malmö than in Karesuando, because the ice cold weather over northernmost Sweden had moved south.

And you, bystander, are experiencing very cold weather in Oklahoma, again probably because the icy cold weather of the Arctic regions has moved south.

Ann

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:34 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:10 pm

bystander wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 5:05 pm Oklahoma City has been below freezing for more than two days and is expected to remain below freezing for another 10 days. This is extremely unusual. The average night time low for February in Oklahoma is right at freezing. Day time highs average 12°C (54°F).

Orin, your weather is drunk and passed out in my front yard. I need you to come pick it up and take it home.

Some years ago, I learned by watching Danish TV (which I will soon not be able to do any more), that there is something called the Polar Vortex over the Arctic. This Polar Vortex keeps the cold temperatures locked over the Arctic during winter. But if the Polar Vortex breaks down, the cold weather flows southwards, over North America and Europe.

Sweden (Sverige) with Malmö (bottom) and Karesuando (top).

---

This must be what has happened now. Some days ago, the weather was colder in Malmö than in Karesuando, because the ice cold weather over northernmost Sweden had moved south.

And you, bystander, are experiencing very cold weather in Oklahoma, again probably because the icy cold weather of the Arctic regions has moved south.

Ann

Same thing as here, with warm winter weather in Alaska and cold air pushed down to lower latitudes. A consequence of global warming that is pretty well understood and represented in climate models.

orin stepanek wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:22 pm

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 10:34 pm

Ann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 8:10 pm

Some years ago, I learned by watching Danish TV (which I will soon not be able to do any more), that there is something called the Polar Vortex over the Arctic. This Polar Vortex keeps the cold temperatures locked over the Arctic during winter. But if the Polar Vortex breaks down, the cold weather flows southwards, over North America and Europe.

Sweden (Sverige) with Malmö (bottom) and Karesuando (top).

---

This must be what has happened now. Some days ago, the weather was colder in Malmö than in Karesuando, because the ice cold weather over northernmost Sweden had moved south.

And you, bystander, are experiencing very cold weather in Oklahoma, again probably because the icy cold weather of the Arctic regions has moved south.

Ann

Same thing as here, with warm winter weather in Alaska and cold air pushed down to lower latitudes. A consequence of global warming that is pretty well understood and represented in climate models.

Hey by; I don't know what drunk weather is. but our highest has been 17F, The last few days & the 7 day forecast is for colder! Chris, I don't understand How Global Warming works; but I don't like it!

Ann wrote: ↑Wed Feb 10, 2021 3:42 pm

Hardly any snow in the park.jpg (46.84 KiB) Viewed 24855 times

Temperatures have been below 0°C here in Malmö since February 1. Yet there is almost no snow here.

I fear that spring is going to be very dry this year.

Ann

Ann wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:45 pm We are about to get milder weather and snow, and, later in the week, possibly rain.

Anyway, gotta show you some pictures of people ice skating on the canal here in Malmö and on an inlet of the Strait of Öresund.

Shiny smooth ice on the canal.jpg

Shiny smooth ice on the canal. The tall thin twisted building in the background

[attachment=0]Shiny smooth ice on the canal.jpg[/attachment]

bystander wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 3:20 pm
We didn't get the 8-10 inches of snow expected (surprise, surprise) but we did get 5-6 inches here in OKC which is more than the city is prepared to handle. Only the major thorough fares will get cleared and sanded. All side streets will remain snow clogged and frozen until traffic or weather clears them and the weather is being uncooperative. We have wind chills in the -20 to -30 °F and more snow tomorrow and Wednesday (3-6 inches). Temperatures won't get above freezing until Saturday, but we might be out of the deep freeze by next week and back to seasonable weather.

bystander wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:39 pm

neufer wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:04 pm

Watch your back!!

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I don't have to worry about snowballs. It's an extremely "dry" snow and doesn't pack well. (I guess it's what they call "powder" on the ski slopes.) Any snowballs just fall apart before they even leave your hand.

Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:42 pm

bystander wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 4:39 pm
I don't have to worry about snowballs. It's an extremely "dry" snow and doesn't pack well. (I guess it's what they call "powder" on the ski slopes.) Any snowballs just fall apart before they even leave your hand.

You can make pretty good snowballs out of powder if you're willing to use your bare hands and let their heat soften the snow. At least, until the frostbite kicks in...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball wrote:

A medieval image from Italy of people throwing snowballs

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<<The underlying physical process that makes snowballs possible is sintering, in which a solid mass is compacted while near the melting point. Scientific theories about snowball formation began with a lecture by Michael Faraday in 1842, examining the attractive forces between ice particles. An influential early explanation by James Thomson invoked regelation, in which a solid is melted by pressure and then re-frozen.

When forming a snowball by packing, the pressure exerted by the hands on the snow is a determinant for the final result. Reduced pressure leads to a light and soft snowball.

Temperature is important for snowball formation. It is hard to make a good snowball if the snow is too cold. In addition, snowballs are difficult to form with a dry powdery snow. In temperatures below 0 °C, there is little free water in the snow, which leads to crumbly snowballs. At 0 °C or above, melted water in the snow results in a better cohesion. Above a certain temperature, however, the snowball too easily becomes slush, which lacks mechanical strength and no longer sticks together. This effect is used in the rule that, in skiing areas, there is a high risk of avalanche if it is possible to squeeze water out of a snowball.>>

neufer wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:06 pm omps.png

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rstevenson wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 7:50 pm

neufer wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:06 pm

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I’m curious what that chart is showing, Art (the one that for some reason didn’t get included in this quoted text.) What is a Global TOAST Analysis? I tried looking it up and found Test of Astronomy Standards, as well as Total Ozone Analysis. Not sure how either of them would apply to a discussion about weather, so I’m wondering if this is yet another TOAST?...Oops! A better search and I just found it: Total Ozone from Analysis of Stratospheric and Tropospheric components. Not that I’m any the wiser.

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