Why climate change is causing upset stomachs in Europe

Much has been said about the effect of climate change, but little is known about its impact of water-related health issues. Scientists are now suggesting that greater quantities of rainfall and bigger storms could be responsible for more unsettled stomachs in parts of Europe.

The VIROCLIME project has studied the impact of climate change on the transport, fate and risk management of viral pathogens in water. Over a four-year period, the project has examined and sought ways to manage the effects of climate change and the risk associated with viral diseases. With EU-funding of EUR 2.4 million, the approach has been to design hydrological models and upgrade tools for tracking harmful viruses from human sewage in Europe's waters, and subsequently determine the health risks.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the lack of safe drinking-water affects almost 1 billion people. Furthermore, they predict that 4 % of the global disease burden could be prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.

This has been the aim of the VIROCLIME project led by Professor David Kay and Dr Peter Wyn-Jones from the University of Aberystwyth in the UK. They have conducted case studies and monitored virus levels at five environmentally sensitive sites in; Sweden, Spain, Hungary, Greece and Brazil. These countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change, being susceptible to heavy rainfall.

Tests included analysing exposure levels to estimate the risk of disease associated with climate changes such as heavy rainfall. Tools were also devised and novel methods introduced for processing sewage, collecting effluent and water samples, and analysing quantitative detection of the target viruses.

Models were also adapted from existing epidemiological models to test viral diseases within the community and an indicator analysis helped to track any relationship between virus levels and water quality standards. Also tested were changes in the virus concentration in water, and the risk to public health activities, such as bathing in polluted water or consumption of shellfish.

As a result of this study, a large database has been established, with over 1800 samples, enabling testing for a range of enteric viruses and bacterial water quality indicators. This, in turn, allows researchers to make predictions about variations in virus concentrations under different climate change scenarios.

Project partners say their data will help to inform policy and scientific communities, as well as wider communities on the likely consequences of climate change.

A review of the VIROCLIME study has been published in the Cambridge Journal, Epidemiology and Infection, titled, 'Extreme water-related weather events and waterborne disease.'

http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=35686

Europe's new space weather center tracks sun storms

The European Space Agency opened a new space weather center last week in Brussels to keep tabs sun storms that could interfere with satellites in orbit and power grids on Earth.

Formally inaugurated on April 3, the Space Weather Coordination Center (SSCC) will gather information on space weather and solar storms, as well as disturbances in the Earth's geomagnetic environment and ionosphere. Experts at the center will issue alerts and provide support for satellite operators, government agencies and research institutes whose work might be affected by space weather, according to a statement from ESA.

The SSCC, housed in the Royal Observatory of Belgium, is part of ESA's Space Situational Awareness (SSA)program, which keeps track of hazards such as space junk and potentially dangerous asteroids that pose a threat to Earth and its systems in orbit.

"With the SSCC inauguration, our SSA Program is taking concrete steps to develop a European capability to operationally monitor space weather, enhance international cooperation and establish the effective distribution of information, warnings and alerts to users in economically vital sectors," astronaut Thomas Reiter, ESA's head of human spaceflight and operations, said in a statement.

"The SSCC will help to get the right information to the right people at the right time," Reiter added.

In the United States, the Space Weather Prediction Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is the official source of space weather alerts, watches and warnings.

http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/11/17706098-europes-new-space-weather-center-tracks-sun-storms?lite

Adapt faster to changing climate, Europe warned

Cities around Europe may have to erect flood barriers similar to theThames Barrier that protects London from sea surges, as climate change takes hold and leads to the danger of much more destructive storms, floods, heavy rainfall and higher sea levels, Europe's environmental watchdog has warned.

The effects of climate change will be so far-reaching across the continent that vineyards may have to plant new grape varieties, farmers may have to cultivate new crops and water suppliers look to technology such as desalination in order to cope with the probable effects of more extreme weather. Buildings and infrastructure such as transport, energy and communication networks will also have to be changed.

The warnings come in a report from the European Environment Agency, called Adaptation in Europe. The research found that half of the 32 member countries of the EEA still lack plans to adapt to the effects of global warming, although others have begun to take action.

Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA, said: "Adaptation is about new ways of thinking and dealing with risks and hazards, uncertainty and complexity. It will require Europeans to co-operate, to learn from each other and to invest in the long-term transformations needed to sustain our wellbeing in the face of climate change."

The authors of the report point to the example of the Danube basin, parts of which are being restored to their natural state at a cost of €183m. But the restored areas should provide protection against flooding, which in 2005 cost €396m in damage.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/29/adapt-changing-climate-europe-flooding

Doctors Now Advise Wearing Helmets During Tornado Warnings

We're only a week away from May, the tumultuous month with the highest historical frequencyof tornadoes in America. If you have the misfortune this spring to be caught in one of thesewhirling horrors, what kind of bodily damage can you expect to suffer?

It's a macabre question, perhaps, but one of significant interest to the medical community. This week, physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Medical Center released a report detailing the injuries sustained by people caught up in the terrible Birmingham/Tuscaloosa tornado of April 27, 2011. Though twisters can cause an impressive range of awful and crippling injuries, the people who wrote the report are neurosurgeons, so the woundings they describe are particularly painful-sounding – mainly spine damage with a few cranial dents to boot.

The twister that struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was one of 62 to touch down in Alabama during the worst tornado outbreak in America's known history. This one wind funnel caused an estimated $2.2 billion in damages and killed 64 people (the death toll for the state was 248). It was an EF-4 spinning winds as fast as 190 m.p.h, blazing an 80-mile path through the land that measured 1.5 miles wide at one point. Here's the scar it left:

(National Weather Service)

Living as they do in one of the most deadly states for tornadoes, Alabamians are well acquainted with the maulings that emerge after a bad twister. A reporter at The Birmingham News wrote a fairly comprehensive description of possible injuries from tornadoes: "They employ bricks, 2-by-4s and chunks of trees to snap necks, crush ribs and bash skulls. They pelt and penetrate the flesh with shards of glass, sticks and stones. They fling human beings through the air like rag dolls."

Lots more can happen – you can be impaled by flying wood, which is what happened to two people in Alabama's Jefferson County during the outbreak. Or you might be trapped beneath falling walls or furniture and expire from suffocation, as did three Jefferson residents that chaotic April. As it so happens, most deaths from tornadoes are the result of head injuries, according to a review of the past 50 years of literature.

Of the roughly 340 people killed during the four-day outbreak, about 22 percent died from traumatic brain injuries. These unlucky souls probably died instantly or in the period immediately after the disaster, never making it to a hospital, say the Birmingham trauma center's physicians. In Birmingham, 27 patients received neurological consultations for a "wide variety of fractures as a result of being thrown or crushed during the tornado." Nearly two dozen incurred spine and spinal cord damage, four suffered intracranial injuries and two won the lottery with both kinds of abuse.

Images of a 29-year-old man in the Birmingham/Tuscaloosa tornado who "sustained an impressive L1–2 fracture dislocation (A and B) resulting in spondyloptosis and an AIS Grade A on the motor examination." Images C and D show the surgeons' repair job.

The physician's full report lists a number of bodily deformations that they encountered, none of which you should Google Image: traumatic spondylolisthesis, cerebral contusions with diffuse traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhaging, open depressed skull. They write:

The majority of injuries were the result of being thrown or crushed while taking cover. The mechanisms of injury were oftentimes incredible. Many patients suffered significant injuries while using their bodies to protect their children or loved ones. Many were found outside of their homes and some were found more than 100 yards from where they had taken cover. The CDC found that 40% of the dead were found outside their homes.

Oddly, children who were hurt in by this tornado showed a higher prevalence of brain injuries than adults. The physicians offer no guesses on why that was the case.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/04/looking-injuries-caused-massive-tornado/5383/So when you hear about a tornado warning in your region, should you worry about an impending busted spine? Not if you take the right steps and get to a safe room, basement or, if you have the misfortune to be out in the open, a ditch. The risk of injury also has much to do with the strength of the tornado. It's usually the extremely rare EF-4 and EF-5 twisters that cause the worst damage, with almost 90 percent of the deaths during the 2011 outbreak linked to these meteorological behemoths.

If you want to be on the safe side, doctors in Birmingham have a low-tech safety precaution you might want to try: Wear a helmet. They're absolutely serious. ""Many types of helmets will work: motorcycle helmets, bicycle helmets, football and baseball helmets, even hard hats used by construction workers," according to a PSA from the University of Alabama, which adds the unfortunate pun: "Using a helmet to protect your head in a tornado is a NO BRAINER!"

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/04/looking-injuries-caused-massive-tornado/5383/

Tornado Alley To Spark Up After Mid-May

Tornado season has been pretty bland so far, but one has to remember that it peaks in May and June.  Already people are thinking a ‘death ridge’ will set up and this just will not be the case.

Death ridge years mean a ridge of high pressure is parked over the Rocky Mountains during May, which makes it hard for rich gulf moisture to make it northward into tornado alley.  Last year featured such a pattern.  This year, especially Memorial Day Weekend; should feature a tornado outbreak pattern.

After the low kicks out in the beginning of the month, a jet stream pattern from Japan and Russia will dive into the Western United States.  As this happens, tornado outbreaks will be likely.

I’m sticking to the prediction of this year being above average for tornadoes during tornado season, which shifts north to the Midwest and Northern Plains after June for the deeper Summer months.

Monster hurricane rages on Saturn's north pole

Images of a massive hurricane raging inside a strange hexagonal weather pattern at Saturn's north pole have recently been released by NASA, revealing a mystery inside an even bigger mystery.

The hurricane is enormous and violent--more than 20 times the size of the average hurricane on Earth, with winds gusting at speeds four times what they would be on our planet.

The hurricane appears to be fixed at Saturn's north pole, rather than drifting around the planet like hurricanes do here. Also, scientists are still trying to figure out how the hurricane developed with no body of water below it. There are no oceans on Saturn; it is a gaseous planet.

But scientists were surprised to discover that Saturn's north pole hurricane does share some characteristics with Earth's hurricanes. For example, it has an eye, and it spins in the same direction -- counterclockwise -- that a hurricane would spin in Earth's Northern Hemispherse.

"We are trying to understand the similarities and differences, and I can't say we have it all solved yet," said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at Caltech in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. He added that scientists are still trying to determine whether the hurricane makes lightning.

As for the hexagonal weather pattern -- that is a mystery to scientists, but not a surprise.

Known simply as "the hexagon," it was discovered more than 30 years ago when Voyager flew past the ringed planet, and scientists were amazed that it was still there when the Cassini spacecraft arrived nine years ago.

"It is just a big pattern in the clouds. It is not cast in concrete. It's not part of the continents, because there are no continents," Ingersoll said. "But it's still there -- some kind of wandering jet stream."

While scientists knew that the hexagon existed, they did not know what was inside it until recently. That's because for much of the time that Cassini has been in orbit around Saturn, the planet has been in its winter, and its north pole was turned away from the sun, leaving it in total darkness.

Using Cassini's infrared imaging capabilities, scientists could see that there was a break in the clouds right over the planet's north pole, and they surmised it might be a hurricane, but it wasn't until the planet entered its spring, and sunlight flooded the north pole, that Cassini's visible-light cameras were able to take more detailed photos, revealing the hurricane in all its raging glory.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-hurricane-saturn-north-pole-video-20130429,0,3119924.story

Awful April: Spring hard to find across northern USA

April has been a freakishly cold month across much of the northern USA, bringing misery to millions of sun-starved and winter-weary residents from the Rockies to the Midwest.

"The weather map ... looks like something out ofThe Twilight Zone," Minneapolis meteorologist Paul Douglas of WeatherNation TV wrote on his blog last week.

Record cold and snow has been reported in dozens of cities, with the worst of the chill in the Rockies, upper Midwest and northern Plains. Several baseball games have been snowed out in both Denver and Minneapolis.

Cities such as Rapid City, S.D.; Duluth, Minn.; and Boulder, Colo., have all endured their snowiest month ever recorded. (In all three locations, weather records go back more than 100 years.) In fact, more than 1,100 snowfall records and 3,400 cold records have been set across the nation so far in April, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

Unfortunately for warm-weather lovers, after some mild temperatures the past few days, the chill is forecast to return as the calendar turns to May: Accumulating snow is forecast overnight Tuesday night and Wednesday in Denver and in Minneapolis-St.Paul by Wednesday night and Thursday, said AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Paquette.

And across much of the central USA, temperatures will be from 25 to 45 degrees colder on Wednesday than they were Monday, according to AccuWeather. For instance, Denver should see a high of 35 degrees Wednesday, after a high near 80 on Monday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/04/29/cold-snowy-spring-weather/2121737/

Wild Weather Wreaks Havoc in Middle East

A recent stretch of unsettled weather across the Middle East is expected to continue through at least the middle of the week.

The wild weather ranged from strong thunderstorms in Afghanistan to flooding in southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula to hail storms across northern Saudi Arabia.

The unsettled weather began almost a week ago when a thunderstorm brought heavy rain, wind and damaging hail to southern Afghanistan. The storm hit a military base damaging about 50 helicopters, according to a service member at Kandahar Airfield.

The bad weather was not limited to southern Afghanistan, as parts of the north experienced flash flooding that resulted in at least 20 deaths and destroyed thousands of homes.

Flash flooding was a major issue from Yemen into southern Saudi Arabia and Oman since last week, as several rounds of heavy rainfall targeted the region.

Flash flooding across Oman forced the Royal Oman Police (ROP) into action as helicopter rescues were increased in frequency over the weekend. More than 50 people were rescued by the aircraft.

Reports from the ROP indicate that at least 12 people have died in the rounds of flash flooding in the past week.

In Yemen, heavy rainfall led to flash flooding in the capital city of Sana'a which in turn led to travel problems.

Another round of stormy weather erupted across northern Saudi Arabia over the weekend as storms blanketed the ground with hailstones around the city of Ha'il. Rainfall amounts totaled more than an inch on Saturday, surpassing the monthly average for all of April in a single day.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/wild-weather-wrecks-havoc-in-m/11337226

Lumber Falls as Damp Weather in U.S. Hampers Home Building

Lumber futures fell the most in more than a week, capping the longest stretch of declines since 1999, as unseasonably cold and wet weather hampers home building in much on the U.S.

Through April 27, 2,949 daily precipitation records were set or tied in the U.S., which was 438 more than all of April 2012, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. During the same period, 3,368 daily low-temperature records were set or tied in the U.S., compared to 531 in April 2012, according to the data center. Lumber futures have tumbled 15 percent since reaching an eight-year high in March.

“The spring weather has delayed some new construction by a few weeks,” Paul Quinn, a Vancouver-based analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a telephone interview. “There are also signs that we’re seeing a production response to higher lumber prices, so there may be more lumber coming.”

Lumber futures for delivery in July declined 1 percent to settle at $351.80 per 1,000 board feet on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the biggest drop since April 17. Prices have fallen for nine straight sessions, the longest run since Sept. 29, 1999.

Price surged 44 percent in 2012 and 4.3 percent last quarter amid increased U.S. construction and demand from China.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-29/lumber-falls-as-damp-weather-in-u-s-hampers-home-building.html

Weather Delays World Trade Center ‘Topping’

NEW YORK (CNN) — Weather has delayed the scheduled Monday morning delivery of the final two sections of a 408-foot spire to the top of One World Trade Center, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The two sections were scheduled to be delivered to the roof deck, as long as weather allowed on Monday. Once they are installed, they will make the building the tallest in the Western Hemisphere, according to the site’s management.

The two pieces form a stainless steel beacon weighing almost six tons and will be the final piece put in place to give the building an iconic height of 1,776 feet, according to a news release from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Once the architectural structure is complete, it will be comprised of 18 separate sections of steel and three communication rings. The first — and heaviest — steel section was installed in January, weighing more than 67 tons, the news release said.

Port Authority Assistant Director of Media Anthony Hayes said the original design included a radome — short for radar dome — but that was rejected because of anticipated servicing and maintenance difficulties. The radome would not have impacted the height, but would have provided an additional design element, which ultimately proved impractical, Hayes told CNN.

The spire will serve a television broadcast facility housed in One World Trade Center, the press release said.

While under construction, One World Trade Center became New York City’s tallest building a year ago, standing 1,271 feet above street-level. The building then was 21 feet higher than the Empire State Building’s observation deck.

http://ktla.com/2013/04/29/1-wtc-to-become-tallest-building-in-western-hemisphere/#ixzz2Ruftmi8z

Dry weather has firefighters ready for battle

Swaths of California recorded the smallest rainfall total in history for January, February and March — normally the wettest months. This has left the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, an important part of the state's water supply, far lower than usual. The dry conditions are also making it difficult for officials to replant forest areas because there's not enough moisture.

Rain or water years are measured from July 1 of one year to June 30 of the next. The driest year in L.A.'s recorded history was 2006-07, when a meager 3.21 inches of rain fell. That broke the record set in 2002-03, when 4.42 inches fell. The third-driest year was 1961, when just under 5 inches fell.

The current fourth-driest year saw 5.58 inches in 1959, and weather experts said this year will almost certainly beat that record.

"Don't let some of the green out there fool you," said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Tony Valdez, who is in charge of brush clearance for the city. "We get the occasional rains that spur growth, but underneath the conditions aren't good."

With the rainy season close to over, firefighters and weather experts are counting on the cloudy "May gray" and "June gloom" weather conditions to provide a measure of moisture and relief.

"If the marine layer is depressed and we have a pretty warm spring and early summer, then we're going to be seeing a lot more fire activity earlier this season, and the fires will be bigger than they normally are," said Tom Rolinski, a meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Predictive Services Program.

The lack of rain can be seen across the landscape.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-04-17-dry-fire-20130420,0,4197542.story

Weather Service confirms tornado struck Fredericksburg Friday evening

At 6:36 p.m. Friday, a tornado touched down in the city of Fredericksburg and then carved a three-quarter mile path the National Weather Service (NWS) says.

The NWS conducted a storm survey today and filed the following preliminary summary, which indicates the storm unearthed trees and caused some structural damage:

EF-1 TORNADO CONFIRMED BY NWS STORM SURVEY. PEAK WINDS 90 MPH. PATH LENGTH 0.75 MILE. MAX PATH WIDTH 150 YARDS. APARTMENT BUILDING UNROOFED. TREES UPROOTED AND TOPPED. SHOPPING PLAZA ROOF DAMAGED.

The tornado struck while Fredericksburg and much of Mid-Atlantic region was under a tornado watch, but no tornado warning was issued for this storm. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the area at 6:31 p.m, and stated: “THIS LINE OF STORMS IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH.”

The twister was on the ground for just one minute, making it difficult to detect and, arguably, impossible to issue a timely warning for.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/04/20/weather-service-confirms-tornado-struck-fredericksburg-friday-evening/

Extreme weather unleashed, battering nation’s midsection as it rolls toward East Coast

ST. LOUIS — A powerful spring storm system stretching from southern Texas to northern Michigan unleashed a wave of weather extremes on the Midwest on Thursday and threatened to bring its mix of hard rains, high wind and severe thunderstorms to the East by the weekend.

The massive system was wreaking havoc from the Rockies to the Rust Belt. Up to a foot of snow was expected in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Snow and ice closed highways in Colorado and Wyoming. Rivers surged beyond their banks from downpours in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois.

Tornadoes caused scattered damage in Oklahoma. Hail caused a wreck that injured a high school teacher and her students.

Lightning temporarily knocked out a nuclear power plant. Rain caused a sinkhole that devoured three cars in Chicago.

In the Plains and Midwest, seemingly every community was under some sort of watch or warning.

Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist for AccuWeather, said the storm's biggest punch had come from its intense rainfall: “There's been a general 3 to 6 inch swath of rain from portions of Oklahoma all the way up to southern Wisconsin.”

The system will thin out as it heads east but could still spell trouble in the Appalachian Mountain region on Friday and in some spots along the East Coast by Friday night, Sosnowski said.

In Clarksville, Mo., a small, scenic Mississippi River town about 60 miles north of St. Louis, about 100 people were working feverishly to build a makeshift levee of gravel, plastic overlap and sandbags in a bid keep downtown dry. The heavy rain caused a sudden surge in the river, with a crest expected by early Sunday.

“I'm confident it will work, but I'm not confident we're going to get it done in time,” Clarksville resident Richard Cottrell, 64, said of the sandbag levee. “It's a race against the clock.”

City Clerk Jennifer Calvin said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was bringing in 500,000 additional sandbags, but the nearest available gravel had to be trucked in from nine miles away, and there weren't enough available trucks to expedite the effort.

The Mississippi is expected to crest 8 to 12 feet above flood stage at several spots in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. The Missouri River was also expected to exceed flood stage by up to 10 feet at some Missouri locations.

http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/3870217-74/chicago-river-caused#axzz2R3wlk5ZH

Extremes in weather more likely

Enlarge Image

Wet springs. Hot summers. Weird windstorms. Heavy snows.

Weather experts and climatologists say people nationwide should not be surprised by more-extreme weather and warmer weather.

In central Ohio, climate-change models show that strong spring storms and hotter, dry summers will be the norm, said Jeff Rogers, state climatologist and a professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at Ohio State University.

“With climate change, there is going to be losers, and there is going to be winners,” Rogers said. “Currently, Ohio is a winner in that we’re still getting years like 2011.”

That was one wet year. Fed by water that evaporated from Southern and Southwestern states, most of Ohio experienced its wettest year on record in 2011.

That year, strong spring storms helped drop an average 55.88 inches of rain statewide, 17.88 more than average.

In 2012, Columbus had 22 days when the temperature reached 90 degrees. That made it the hottest year on record. The state also experienced a drought, but not as bad as that in the Great Plains states.

Although many scientists speculated that the 2012 drought was tied to climate change, a recent study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that it was not. The study found, among other things, that low-pressure systems that typically bring rain instead shunted toward Canada.

“This was not a case where there was something recursive and constant beating on the weather pattern,” said Martin P. Hoerling, a NOAA meteorologist and the study’s lead author.

“It’s things that we’ve seen in past droughts over the region, but they came together with great speed and severity.”

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/04/18/extremes-in-weather-more-likely.html

Arctic ice loss may drive extreme weather patterns

Anyone forced to shovel their car out of a snowbank this winter might wonder just how it is a blizzard can occur in a warming climate.

The answer, climate scientists say, may have to do with record sea ice losses in the Arctic.

At a Tuesday news conference, several researchers said that warming conditions in the Arctic may be weakening jet stream currents and causing extreme weather systems to linger in northern mid-latitudes.

"Ironically ... as the ice pack retreats and the Arctic heats up, there's a counteracting tendency in middle latitudes for colder winters, as well as hotter summers," said Stephen Vavrus, senior scientist at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin.

The jet stream is a band of very strong winds that blow from west to east, several miles above the earth's surface. Normally, these powerful winds push weather systems around, preventing them from staying in one place for very long.

However, the loss of sea ice in recent decades has allowed Arctic waters to absorb more heat energy from the sun, which has in turn heated the atmosphere above the water, according to Vavrus.

This heating influences atmospheric pressure and appears to be slowing the westerly jet stream, Vavrus said. Instead of flowing quickly and in a relatively straight line, like a river down a mountain, the winds mimic a slower, meandering river.

"When that happens during winter, there's less warm air that gets transported over land," Vavrus said. "That essentially helps to refrigerate the land during the wintertime and we get snow and more cold and more extreme cold as well."

Arctic sea ice is referred to as the planet's air conditioner, due to its influence on global temperatures. Last year, Arctic sea ice reached its lowest level in the satellite age.

This rate of sea ice loss is faster than what models predicted. Now, some experts say, the Arctic could experience a nearly ice-free summer by 2020.

 "We are in the process right now of going to a new state in the Arctic," said David Titley, chief operations officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a retired Navy rear admiral.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-arctic-ice-extreme-weather-20130326,0,7534098.story

Extreme Weather And U.S. Satellites

Image of the U.S. taken by the Suomi NPP. (NASA)

A polar-orbiting satellite employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration retired yesterday after 11 years of service. This is more than three times the typical lifespan of these satellites.

Known as the NOAA-17 Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite, it measured air temperature, moisture, sea surface temperature, and image data that helped strengthen NOAA’s climate and weather models. In fact, these satellites provide up to80 percent of the data for the weather computer models we rely on every day. They are called polar-orbiters because they fly a lower orbit than others, from pole to pole. Mary Kicza, from NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, explained how the data these satellites collect can help us find out more about our planet:

NOAA-17 helped our forecasters see the early development of severe weather from tornadoes and snow storms to hurricanes, including the busiest hurricane season on record — 2005. It also tracked subtle changes in the environment that signaled the onset of drought and wildfire conditions. NOAA-17’s long life is a credit to the engineers who built and operated it and the technology that sustained it. Although we say farewell to NOAA-17, we still operate a dependable fleet of satellites that continue to provide crucial data.

Number 17 was being used as backup for other soon-to-retire satellites (15, 16, 18, and 19). A newer satellite called Suomi NPP was launched in 2011 as the first step in the next generation of polar orbiters: the Joint Polar Satellite System. So the system will continue to operate after Number 17′s retirement party — for now. The next orbiter was planned to launch in 2015, but that will be pushed back to 2017, risking a gap in weather and climate monitoring. This critical satellite program has been orbiting by the seat of its pants for years.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/11/1849181/extreme-weather-and-us-satellites/

Study: Natural causes, not human activity, behind Plains drought

Extreme natural events, not man-made climate change, led to last summer's historic drought in the Great Plains, a new federal study said Friday.

Drought occurred in six Plains states between last May and August because moist Gulf of Mexico air "failed to stream northward in late spring," and summer storms were few and stingy with rainfall, said a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Neither ocean states nor human-induced climate change, factors that can provide long-lead predictability, appeared to play significant roles in causing severe rainfall deficits over the major corn-producing regions of central Great Plains," the report summary said.

The drought in Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota was the worst since record keeping began in 1895, even eclipsing the notorious Dust Bowl droughts of 1934 and 1936, said study leader Martin Hoerling, a NOAA meteorologist.

"The event was rare, and we estimated maybe a once in a couple of hundred years event," Hoerling said. "But for as extreme as it was, it didn't have any strong indications for early warning.

"It's highly unlikely that this upcoming May to August will be as dry as last year's," he said, referring to the six states.

Although he believes in global warming, Hoerling said greenhouse gas concentrations weren't behind the heat wave in the Midwest region.

"I'm an advocate of global warming because science tells me that greenhouse gases have warmed the planet by about 1 degree Celsius in the last 100 years. So there's no question about that," he said. "But the science also tells that every drought that's occurring isn't a result of climate change."

Last summer's dryness had caused at least $12 billion in economic losses, as of last July, before the drought peaked, the study said. Crop yields and commerce on major rivers fell during the sweltering weather, the report said.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/12/us/drought-study/index.html

Deadly Severe Weather Strikes Southeast

The severe side of Winter Storm Walda continued to create problems across the South on Thursday, with a reported tornado causing damage, injuries and a reported death in Mississippi early in the afternoon.

Reports of damage and injuries came from the first tornado warning issued in the Southeast at around 12:00 noon local time on Thursday. 

A supercell thunderstorm spawned a tornado in eastern Mississippi, quickly developing a "tornado debris signature" on radar. According to local reports, widespread power outages were observed in DeKalb, Miss., after the storm moved through.

Emergency Managers in Kemper County confirmed one fatality near Liberty from the storm.

"We do know that we have one death being reported, and other injuries in Kemper County," said Greg Flynn, spokesperson for the Mississippi EMA. "We have structural damage and certainly goes without saying that we have power outages."

As the storm tracked north, injuries were reported in Noxubee County, while power lines and trees were snapped near Macon, Miss.

This tornado may have persisted continuously for at least one hour, 19 minutes over a distance of 55 to 60 miles from Kemper County, Miss., to western Pickens County, Ala.  

Today's reported death raises the number of total deaths from tornadoes in the U.S. so far in 2013 to three. By this time last year (April 11, 2012), there were 58 deaths attributed to tornadoes. 

Tornado watches were issued for parts of six states as of late Thursday afternoon. More advisories are expected to be issued to the east as the system moves.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/severe-weather-news-thursday-20130411

Severe Weather Strikes the Sunshine State

Severe Storms by Midweek

Severe thunderstorms rumbled through the Orlando area Sunday, producing hail and wind damage throughout the Sunshine State.

Quarter-sized hail was reported in Franklin and Seminole counties, near Eastpoint and Altamonte Springs on Sunday afternoon. One inch size hail was reported in Marion county, near Ocklawaha.

In Eastpoint, a reported waterspout moved onshore and caused roof damage to two mobile homes. Later, discrete supercell thunderstorms moved through the Orlando and Melbourne city areas. Doppler radar indicated rotation within the supercells, however tornadoes were not reported.

The National Weather Service estimates that as many as 5,000 strokes of lightning struck the Orange, Lake, Seminole, Brevard and Osceola counties during the course of the evening.

Over 8,000 customers in central Florida remain without power as the storms diminished Sunday night. Below are reports of the severe weather from throughout social media.

http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-central/florida-severe-weather-20130414

Don't let the snow fool you, severe weather is on its way this Spring

At a time when snowstorms just won’t quit, a member of the National Weather Service reminded the public about what’s to come.

May and June are the hardest-hitting months for tornadoes in Wisconsin, though the season typically runs from April to September.

NWS-Chanhassen/ Twin Cities meteorologist Shawn DeVinny trained members of the public Wednesday night on how to spot a storm during a two-hour presentation at the courthouse in Chippewa Falls.

As far as the seemingly never-ending winter, DeVinny said it’s not as rare as some people realize. He said on average, about two inches of snow is common in April.

“We’ve had a very cold pattern,” he said. “It has a lot to do with global weather patterns.”

DeVinny told the audience that storm spotters can add credibility to warnings, especially since radars aren’t able to catch everything.

“The spotter confirms that the tornado is on the ground; people … are going to take that a lot more seriously,” he said.

How to spot a storm

DeVinny said there are certain factors to watch for when gauging a storm.

In a thunderstorm system, an inflow of air is sucked up towards the stratosphere where it is pushed back down. These forces are called updrafts and downdrafts, respectively.

Updrafts lie above wall clouds which are often the first development in a tornado formation. Wall clouds tend to tilt downward in the direction of the falling rain and subsequently point to where the storm is headed.

A wall cloud has the potential of turning into a tornado if it is rotating persistently, changing speeds and has a strong inflow.

A tornado must be attached to the wall cloud or an updraft base and the ground. DeVinny said even if the storm watcher can’t tell if the funnel cloud is on the ground, the NWS would still appreciate a call.

“Don’t ever be shy about calling us,” he said. “We want to know.”

Additionally, even if the funnel is not visible, a tornado may still be present, which is evident by visible rotation and debris. The funnel cloud needs moisture and condensation to produce a visible cloud.

DeVinny said sometimes shelf clouds can be mistaken for tornadoes. Shelf clouds can cover long distances and they have horizontal rotation, but they’re often not attached to the main thunderstorm mass. Unlike tornadoes, the skies immediately behind shelf clouds are dark.

“You’re worried about downburst wind potential with shelf clouds and not so worried about a tornado,” DeVinny said.

http://chippewa.com/news/local/don-t-let-the-snow-fool-you-severe-weather-is/article_422151b8-a5d1-11e2-867f-001a4bcf887a.html