Australia Plagued by More Than 90 Wildfires

Over 90 wildfires burned in the southern states of Australia on Sunday after lightning set them off overnight. Around 900 firefighters continued to suppress the fires by Sunday evening.  Last week's heat wave intensified the wildfires as some inland locations reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit.  Over 25 homes were destroyed and around 320,000 acres of grass and woodlands were burned by the fires.

See the whole article here:
http://www.weather.com/news/austalia-wildfires-20140119

El Nino Patters Coule Become Twice as Likely in a Warming World

"El Niño refers to a pattern of unusually warm water stretching across the surface of eastern equatorial Pacific that occurs every 3-7 years. That warm water influences climate patterns around the world, increasing the likelihood of wet and cool weather in the Southeast, heavy rain in California, warm and dry conditions in the Pacific Northwest, and host of other global impacts."

The strongest El Nino recorded happened during 1997-98. It caused widespread devastation. The damages were at an estimated $35-45 billion and around 23,000 deaths worldwide. The model above shows the sea surface temperatures leading up to this massive storm. 

“Under greenhouse warming the eastern equatorial Pacific warms faster than the surrounding regions . . . making it easier to have maximum SST (sea surface temperatures) in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and hence more occurrences of extreme El Nino events,”

U.S Cities Prepare for Climate Change

"Maybe we'll never get up the political gumption to make everybody move" from flood- and fire-prone areas, he said at a forum last week hosted by the World Resources Institute and the Union of Concerned Scientists. "But we should sure as heck stop encouraging people to increase development in those locations. The feds keep doing it."

Parts of the United States are struggling with flooding and uncontrollable fires. This is because some parts of the U.S are below sea level, leaving them vulnerable to such disasters. Some of these regions are begging for disaster relief but are not getting it due to the runaround with government agencies. For example, in Colorado a road buckled from a mudslide and almost 3 dozen federal agencies were involved in the repair and each one had their own opinion if the road could be fixed or not. 

"The first thing the feds should do is stop making things worse," said Boulder, Colo., Mayor Matthew Appelbaum. Specifically, by subsidizing flood insurance in low-lying areas and paying billions to fight wildfires that destroy property near national forests, the federal government is encouraging development "in all the wrong places," Appelbaum said at a recent forum on the impacts of climate change.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/cities-climate-change_n_4417955.html?utm_hp_ref=climate-change

Warm and ary weather could enhance Arizona wildlife threat into spring

PHOENIX - Above average temperatures and below average rain chances through the end of April could increase Arizona's wildfire threat this year.
Wildfire season can begin as early as March with larger, harder-to-contain fires possible May into June. After a wetter than normal fall and early winter, trees and shrubs have grown, creating fuel for fires when they begin to dry.
Helen Graham, Deputy Fire Staff Officer with the Tonto National Forest said she believes this could be a problematic year for fires in our state.
"The accumulations of fuels last year and the drought stress that we have in the brush and trees we could really have a problematic fire season," Graham said. "We're in a long term drought and if you look at our two-year rainfall average we are well below normal."
"With high temperatures and lack of spring precipitation, what's going to happen is the grass is going to dry out sooner, brush and trees stressed by the lack of water are going to be receptive to fire as well," Graham added.
Graham says the best hope is to have good spring rains and a great monsoon season to help bring more moisture into the area.
If we continue without rainfall through January, this will be one of the driest on record.
Fire officials say even though we're not dealing with the summer heat, homeowners need to take precautions to keep their property safe from fires.
Mike Young with the Glendale Fire Department advises people to clear weeds, cut low hanging trees and spread out plants on their property.
“We aren't telling people they need to have dry, barren landscaping,” said Young. “We want people to be proud of their yards and plant flowers and bushes but they also need to realize that with that comes a sense of responsibility. They need to water and maintain them and keep them green.”
If you’re worried about your neighbor's yard or live next to a vacant home, you can contact your city's Code Compliance Department. They will send out the fire department to check the property


http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/state/warm-and-dry-weather-conditions-could-enhance-arizona-wildfire-threat-into-the-spring

Winter weather wreaks havoc

CNN) -- At least eight people are dead after a bizarre mix of weather across the country spawned tornadoes, ice storms and record-setting warmth this weekend.

Four of the deaths involved two vehicle accidents in Kentucky. Three people drowned in the Rolling Fork River near New Hope when a car drove into the water. Two people escaped but were hospitalized with hypothermia.

"Water was out of the banks, considerably up onto the roadway area. They ran their vehicle into the water. Two of the folks were exiting the vehicle as the swift water started pushing the vehicle downstream. The other three occupants of the vehicle were unable to exit," said Joe Prewitt, with Nelson County Emergency Management.

In the other crash, a rider on an ATV overturned into a creek near Carrollton and was trapped underneath.

The Kentucky Emergency Management reported a fifth death because of flood waters, in Ballard County, but did not provide specifics.

Authorities did not release the identities of the victims.

Several flood warnings remained in effect Sunday along some Kentucky rivers and streams.

Weather wreaks havoc for holidays

What's ahead for holiday travelers

Weird winter weather

Why all the extreme winter weather?

Two deaths occurred in the Mississippi counties of Coahoma and Jasper, where severe weather damaged homes and knocked down trees, according to the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The eighth fatality came from a traffic accident near Kansas City, said Chris Redline of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

"We also had to close a lot of roads in southeast Missouri because of flooding," Redline said.

Flooding, extreme cold and unseasonable warmth covered other parts of the country. To make sense of it all, let us take you on a North American tour.

Southeast: Thunderstorms, tornadoes and torrential downpours

Heavy rain, damaging winds and lightning continued. These storms were forecast to spread, bringing downpours to Georgia, South Carolina and up the East Coast into Monday.

While cooler, the weather is expected to be much quieter and drier Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

On Saturday night, the National Weather Service said a tornado was likely to blame for damage in central Mississippi, including four semi-trucks overturned and five houses heavily damaged.

The main trigger for the severe weather is the above-average temperatures farther north.

Midwest: Lake-effect snow

Sara Hadley sent CNN iReport photographs Sunday of the aftermath of a storm in Lansing, Michigan.

"It didn't start off too bad until we lost power last night. At that point we knew it was getting bad. Last time we had ice like this was 1998," she wrote.

Her images showed branches and pine cones covered by thin layers of ice.

Moderate to heavy lake-enhanced snow was expected for far western and north central upper Michigan into Monday night.

Central Plains: Slammed with ice and snow

Temperatures will be 15 to 25 degrees colder than normal Monday with a gradual moderation into Christmas Day.

In Kansas and southeast Nebraska, snowfalls will total 3 to 6 inches. And those cold temps will keep folks shivering.

Whitney Eichinger of Southwest Airlines said the company is trying to offer customers options.

"We are allowing customers to rebook their trip with no penalty through (Sunday)," she said. "That has more to do with traveling to the airport, not flight cancellations."

Mid-Atlantic/Northeast: Weirdly warm

If there is one present being handed out on as winter begins, it is the well above-average temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic.

New York City broke a record high Sunday, according to Ashley Sears, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"(The record) was previously 63 degrees in 1998. And we are currently sitting at 70 degrees, which we've been at for the past couple of hours," she said.

Farther north, however, the situation has been less cozy. In Maine and across New Hampshire, Vermont and into northern New York, winter warnings -- including ice storm warnings and freezing rain -- were in effect.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a winter ice emergency and activated the state's emergency operations center.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said up to an inch of ice accumulation is expected, and areas near the St. Lawrence and Black Rivers could see even more.

Canada: Unusually cold

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford described the winter weather Sunday as one of the worst storms in the city's history.

He said he hopes that power will be restored to the more than 250,000 customers currently without it by Christmas Day.

Toronto Police Sgt. Jeff Zammit said it has been colder than normal during December, and that freezing rain and fallen trees have brought down many power lines.

"It truly is a catastrophic ice storm that we've had here, probably one of the worst we've ever had," Toronto Hydro CEO Anthony Haines told CTV Network.

For customers with service, the company asked that they "share the power" and consider asking neighbors inside.

The city has also opened warming stations.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/22/us/winter-weather/

California Governor Brown Declares Drought Emergency

On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that 98.57% of California was "abnormally dry," and 62.71% was in "extreme drought," when only two weeks ago, it was reported that 27% was in "extreme drought."  On Friday, a drought emergency was declared and the governor has asked residents to reduce water use by 20 percent. Declaring an emergency helps California receive federal aid and transport water resources within the state. This is crucial since crops grown in California use 77% of the state's water.  In all of 2013, Los Angeles only saw 3.4 inches of rain- a fifth of the yearly average.  Much of the state's water is stored in the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, which melts in the spring and relieves drained reservoirs. However, snow surveyors have recently found that the snowpack is at 15-20% of normal levels for this time of year.  

See the rest of the article here:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/18/3182581/california-extreme-drought-emergency/

Snow cover shrinks

Just 27.3% of the contiguous US is reporting snow cover with an average depth of 3.5" today. That is the lowest percentage since 2006 for January 14th.   That is also down from the high of 52% on January 6th.  O'Hare has reported at least a trace of snow 23 of 44 days so far this winter or just over 50% of days.  34.1" of snow has fallen this winter in Chicago which nearly triples the average amount (12.5") to date.  Last year only 1.3" of snow had fallen to date.