FJRay
Well-known member
19 and snowing. May get enough to exercise the new blower.
What's the Weather like where YOU are today?
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Niehart
Pie Smuggler
And in Miles City, Mt ....
Pterodactyl
Well-known member
Montana just endured one of the nation's most exceptional cold spells on record
Ian Livingston, The Washington Post, Published
1:57 pm CDT, Monday, March 11, 2019
There's a kind of cold that's legitimately dangerous. It can causes frostbite in minutes to unexposed skin. In parts of the Lower 48 states, such extreme cold is not uncommon, for a few days to at most a week.
But over the entire month of February and even into March, such exceptional, life-threatening cold never departed parts of Montana. Temperatures averaging 20 to 30 degrees below normal gripped huge areas in the state, as well as parts of the Dakotas.
These places are normally cold but this chill was unlike anything seen in the contiguous United States in decades, for both its intensity and its duration.
The February temperature departures from normal were stunning. Several major climate locations averaged 27 to 28 degrees below normal, which were the most extreme in the Lower 48 for a full month since January 1969, according to Alaska-based climatologist Brian Brettschneider.
Great Falls, Montana, was at the heart of it. The mercury didn't rise above zero on 11 days and dropped to zero or below on 24 nights. Only the first day of the month topped freezing. Its average February temperature finished 27.5 degrees below normal.
The punishing and unrelenting cold continued into March. On March 3, the low temperature tanked to a bone-chilling minus-32 in Great Falls. Combined with a high of minus-8, the day finished a whopping 50 degrees below normal. The city concluded its longest stretch on record below freezing on March 7.
"For February 3rd through March 4th, Great Falls, MT averaged 32.3F below normal," Sam Lillo, a PhD student in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, recently tweeted.
While the cold in February was remarkable for its persistence, the brutal Arctic blast to begin March delivered the most intensity. Almost two dozen official stations in Montana broke monthly records during the early-month Arctic invasion, with widespread readings in the minus-30s to minus-40s.
An all-time record state low for March of minus-46 was also likely established. Icing on a cake long frozen.
A comparison of this historic cold snap to unusual 30-day cold streaks in other parts of the country shows that in most locations, there is no historical record of cold so extreme lasting so long. Only portions of the northern and central Plains into parts of the Midwest have seen anything like it in modern history.
So what was the driver behind this abnormal cold? Turns out we can largely blame a meandering high pressure that delivered Alaska record warmth during February.
"It was a warm January and February with high pressure off the West Coast," Erik Gustafson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Great Falls, said in an interview. Then that high pressure shifted toward Alaska, which "allowed extremely cold air to come down the Rockies, in round after round."
The repeated Arctic outbreaks delivered Montana "northeast winds behind fronts, and this reinforcing wind holds the cold in," Gustafson said. Thanks to these regular intrusions, cold air was "stuck in valleys and against the mountains with no place to go."
Although the heart of the extraordinary cold was centered in parts of Montana and adjacent Canada, impressive cold was also observed to the east in the Dakotas.
A number of places saw one of their top five coldest Februaries there, including Minot, Bowman and Williston. Fargo has now had 62 days in a row with temperatures at or below freezing through Sunday, which is eighth longest on record for that city.
While temperatures are still cold in the Northern Plains, the pattern has shifted a bit. A less extreme version of colder-than-normal weather may persist into the next week or so. Beyond that, there are signs of closer to normal or even a few days above normal later this month.
Ian Livingston, The Washington Post, Published
1:57 pm CDT, Monday, March 11, 2019
There's a kind of cold that's legitimately dangerous. It can causes frostbite in minutes to unexposed skin. In parts of the Lower 48 states, such extreme cold is not uncommon, for a few days to at most a week.
But over the entire month of February and even into March, such exceptional, life-threatening cold never departed parts of Montana. Temperatures averaging 20 to 30 degrees below normal gripped huge areas in the state, as well as parts of the Dakotas.
These places are normally cold but this chill was unlike anything seen in the contiguous United States in decades, for both its intensity and its duration.
The February temperature departures from normal were stunning. Several major climate locations averaged 27 to 28 degrees below normal, which were the most extreme in the Lower 48 for a full month since January 1969, according to Alaska-based climatologist Brian Brettschneider.
Great Falls, Montana, was at the heart of it. The mercury didn't rise above zero on 11 days and dropped to zero or below on 24 nights. Only the first day of the month topped freezing. Its average February temperature finished 27.5 degrees below normal.
The punishing and unrelenting cold continued into March. On March 3, the low temperature tanked to a bone-chilling minus-32 in Great Falls. Combined with a high of minus-8, the day finished a whopping 50 degrees below normal. The city concluded its longest stretch on record below freezing on March 7.
"For February 3rd through March 4th, Great Falls, MT averaged 32.3F below normal," Sam Lillo, a PhD student in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, recently tweeted.
While the cold in February was remarkable for its persistence, the brutal Arctic blast to begin March delivered the most intensity. Almost two dozen official stations in Montana broke monthly records during the early-month Arctic invasion, with widespread readings in the minus-30s to minus-40s.
An all-time record state low for March of minus-46 was also likely established. Icing on a cake long frozen.
A comparison of this historic cold snap to unusual 30-day cold streaks in other parts of the country shows that in most locations, there is no historical record of cold so extreme lasting so long. Only portions of the northern and central Plains into parts of the Midwest have seen anything like it in modern history.
So what was the driver behind this abnormal cold? Turns out we can largely blame a meandering high pressure that delivered Alaska record warmth during February.
"It was a warm January and February with high pressure off the West Coast," Erik Gustafson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Great Falls, said in an interview. Then that high pressure shifted toward Alaska, which "allowed extremely cold air to come down the Rockies, in round after round."
The repeated Arctic outbreaks delivered Montana "northeast winds behind fronts, and this reinforcing wind holds the cold in," Gustafson said. Thanks to these regular intrusions, cold air was "stuck in valleys and against the mountains with no place to go."
Although the heart of the extraordinary cold was centered in parts of Montana and adjacent Canada, impressive cold was also observed to the east in the Dakotas.
A number of places saw one of their top five coldest Februaries there, including Minot, Bowman and Williston. Fargo has now had 62 days in a row with temperatures at or below freezing through Sunday, which is eighth longest on record for that city.
While temperatures are still cold in the Northern Plains, the pattern has shifted a bit. A less extreme version of colder-than-normal weather may persist into the next week or so. Beyond that, there are signs of closer to normal or even a few days above normal later this month.
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bigjohnsd
2021 BMW R1250GSA
Big line of Storms supposed to come through here, Fredericksburg TX, about 0230-0300.
Hopefully it will be nice, as predicted, tomorrow save for a strong wind.
Home, Spearfish has 50 mph winds tonight and they are supposed to get a foot of snow tonight/tomorrow. It likely will snow at Pterodactyls and blow to Spearfish and Abercrombie
Hopefully it will be nice, as predicted, tomorrow save for a strong wind.
Home, Spearfish has 50 mph winds tonight and they are supposed to get a foot of snow tonight/tomorrow. It likely will snow at Pterodactyls and blow to Spearfish and Abercrombie
RossKean
Well-known member
2019 - the winter that just keeps on giving.
Monday daytime and overnight we are getting ANOTHER 15 to 25 cm of snow. This is after a similar amount of heavy wet snow last week.
The "Good" news is that the temperature will be sufficiently cold (starting out -7 °C or 20 °F) so the snow will be relatively light and fluffy (unlike last week's storm). The high for the day will remain below freezing and dipping back to low 20's overnight Monday.
Usually we are done with it by now with at least a few good riding days. I have had the bike out for a total of about two hours this season.
Monday daytime and overnight we are getting ANOTHER 15 to 25 cm of snow. This is after a similar amount of heavy wet snow last week.
The "Good" news is that the temperature will be sufficiently cold (starting out -7 °C or 20 °F) so the snow will be relatively light and fluffy (unlike last week's storm). The high for the day will remain below freezing and dipping back to low 20's overnight Monday.
Usually we are done with it by now with at least a few good riding days. I have had the bike out for a total of about two hours this season.
sullivan
Well-known member
2" of snow with some sleet, on the coast. Much more up country. Bike stayed at home. Sister in law joked that she thought I bought a new white bike. Snow will be melted soon enough. My March/April commute shall resume.
Took a tag ride up to Northumberland (yeah, thats a real place) on Saturday. A bit chilly, and the roads got messy north of Franconia notch, but no ice or snow in the road. Of course the bike was a salty road spooge mess when I got home, so washed it down Sunday AM. Still, I figure as the years advance, how many ride days do I have to waste sitting around waiting for better weather? Get out there and grab em all!
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RossKean
Well-known member
Our roads have been mostly clear although sandy and salty. But when you get two storms with over a half foot of snow each in the space of a week, it makes it difficult to get out! Not many days yet with temperatures over 40 F, and it seems I have been at work the few decent days. Hope to make up for it in the next few weeks.
sullivan
Well-known member
Sunny, finally, today. Probably looked silly with a winter parka while commuting, but frosty this morning. To recap, snow Monday and Tuesday for 3". Done with that crap. Resuming commuting.
Abercrombie FJR
Well-known member
Winter returned today. We were 99% snow free and hit 60+ a couple times this week. This picture is before the wind cranked up turning it into a blizzard for a few hours where I was unable to see the houses across the street.
Niehart
Pie Smuggler
And in Woodinville, WA ...
Niehart
Pie Smuggler
And for my friend in Wolf Creek Canyon:
bigjohnsd
2021 BMW R1250GSA
Last nights snow has melted
Pterodactyl
Well-known member
El Toro Joe
FYYFF
Rain, rain, and more rain...glad I got the lawn cut yesterday.
Last Saturday, it said it was going to be 82º. At the range it was 90º.
sullivan
Well-known member
I'll have to check the April stats. Wet, cold, and wet, plus cold. Perhaps some sun for a dry ride on Saturday.
Fontanaman
Robin Trower
We got about 3" inches of snow in Spokane today. This means I got to walk by my DR and FJR to whip out my new Husqvarna ST224P snowblower. It makes clearing the driveway fun.
https://youtu.be/nkKvSnz3CRQ
https://youtu.be/nkKvSnz3CRQ
Bugnatr
Well-known member
I think you need to change your settings as ytube says it's private isn't playing or you were blowing snow in the nude... in that case keep it private.
2" of snow coming down today, and about -18 degrees C...
I'm sad, because I don't even have a snowblower that would let me hear simulated FJR engine noises.
I'm sad, because I don't even have a snowblower that would let me hear simulated FJR engine noises.
