A major atmospheric pattern change is underway, and the Pacific storm door is open. A major winter storm supported by an atmospheric river of high moisture is pounding Oregon, California, and Washington today, bringing record flooding, heavy snows, freezing rain, and damaging winds. The ridge of high pressure that had brought much of Northern California its driest winter period on record during the past two months has retreated to the northwest towards Alaska, allowing the subtropical jet stream to dive underneath the ridge. The subtropical jet is bringing a plume of moisture called an "atmospheric river" to the coast between Northern California and Southwestern Washington, resulting in heavy rains near the coast and snow measured in feet to the mountains. Heavy rains of 2 - 5 inches have affected much of Western Oregon over the past 24 hours, and the Marys River in Philomath has risen to its highest flood on record. Additional rains of 1 - 3 inches are expected today over the region, and damaging major flooding is expected along several Oregon rivers.
Figure 1. Radar-estimated precipitation for Oregon shows a wide swath of greater than 8 inches of rain has fallen since January 16 over Western Oregon.
Figure 2. The Marys River in Philomath, Oregon crested at its highest flood height on record this morning. Image credit: NOAA.
Heavy snow, ice storm hit Seattle
Yesterday in Seattle, Washington, 6.8" of snow fell, making it their greatest 24-hour snowfall since November 1985. Winds gusting to 85 mph in the mountains to the east of Seattle closed some ski areas, but heavy snows of 38" in 36 hours fell at White Pass, and the this weekend will see the best skiing of winter in Washington. The problem will be getting to the ski areas--an ice storm this morning has closed the Sea-Tac airport and snarled traffic.
Record dry spell ends for California and Nevada
Skiiers, take heart: Tahoe's Ski Season From Hell will end this weekend. A series of three snowstorms will pound the Sierra Mountains of California and Nevada, bringing the first heavy snows since November. According to Tahoe weather historian Mark McLaughlin, December 2011 was the second driest in the Sierra Mountains since record keeping began in 1920. He based this on an aggregate of data from eight locations from Highway 50 in the south to Mt. Shasta in the north in the central and northern Sierra Nevada. This winter has seen the longest winter dry spell in history in Reno, Nevada (56 days). The dry spell ended on January 16, when .03" of precipitation fell. The previous longest dry spell was 54 days, ending on January 24, 1961. Farther to the south in Minden, Nevada, the record dry spell ended at 72 days on January 16. Nevada's Carson River Basin snowpack is at 8% of normal, compared to 224% last year at this time. In San Francisco, the first significant rains since November 20 are expected to begin later today. The past two months have seen just 0.26" of rain in the city, making it the longest two-month winter dry period in the city since records began in 1850, according to wunderground's weather historian, Christopher C. Burt. Fresno, Califonia has seen no rain at all since November 20, and that dry spell should end today or Friday. Today's storm in Northern California will be followed by a new storm on Friday, which will bring 100 mph wind gusts and 1 - 2 feet of snow to the Sierras (2 - 3 inches of rain equivalent). A third storm with more snow is expected on Sunday night.
Figure 3. Satellite estimated water vapor in the atmospheric expressed as how much rain would fall if the entire amount of vapor were condensed in a vertical column. Where this "Total Precipitable Water" exceeds about 25.4 mm (1 inch), heavy precipitation can occur. An "Atmospheric River" extending from Hawaii with very moist air harboring precipitable water values near 1.5 inches (38 mm, light blue colors) is impacting the coast near the California/Oregon border, bringing heavy rains and snows. Image credit: University of Wisconsin SSEC.
I'll have a new post on Friday.
Jeff Masters
First big snowstorm in Tacoma since the mid 90's. 9
The overarching snowy limbs somehow remind me of God...
Juvenile Bald Eagle perches over the Skagit River. Wonder what he thinks of this week's heavy snowfall.
Gonna be a great cloud watchin' day
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I guess you can't; it's 0% contained at this time.
Title: Result of endoscope operation on 1/19/2012
Source: Fukushima Diary
Date: January 19th, 2012
The camera we used today can resist for 1000Sv, but even the camera got so much noise (the white spots), the radiation level is really high. At usual reactor test, we put water-resistant camera into the reactor but it gets too much noise when the camera goes close to the highly radioactive place called top guide.
If you put the camera at too radioactive place for too long, the camera gets broken. Today the endoscope became like that. To get more detailed image, we would need a more protective camera. It would cost 100 million yen to buy the camera what can get close to the fuel debris with color image.
For the next time, we need to develop new equipment. We shall use the same hole to measure the radiation level next time. We can’t even tell what to do if we don’t know the radiation level inside.
Title: Radiation, Rusty Metal Seen In Tsunami-hit Reactor | Fox News
Source: AP
Author: MARI YAMAGUCHI
Date: Jan 19, 2012
[...] Radiation appeared on the images as static, or electronic interference with the equipment being used. Some parts that were photographed inside the reactor’s containment vessel are not yet identifiable. [...]
Earths weird weather: Parts of Sahara desert, near Algeria, hit with snow
Posted on January 20, 2012
January 20, 2012 BECHAR, Algeria - Snow fell Tuesday in the Sahara Desert in western Algeria. A 24-hour cold spell brought snow and rain to the region. Strong wind blew the snow across roads and buildings in the province of Bechar. Meteorologists predicted a return of good weather Wednesday. People who live in the region said the snow was good for the palm trees because it killed parasites. Bechar is located in the northern Sahara, about 36 miles south of the Moroccan border.Nine News
Link
Gotta love the name.
Apparently it has designs on becoming a Cat 4.
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/si2 01208_5day.html
January 7 2012 Picture - Reactor 4 in fore ground - Reactor 3 (Mox Fuel) 2nd
A view of grating (R) and the inner wall (L) of the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)'s tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Image by: HANDOUT / REUTERS
Photos: Radiation, rusty metal seen in Fukushima tsunami-hit reactor
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Photos-Radiation-rusty-meta l-seen-in-Fukushima-tsunami-hit-reactor/tabid/417/ articleID/240047/Default.aspx#ixzz1jxpfz0Bo
Better assessment will help workers know how best to plug holes and cracks in the containment vessel - a protective chamber outside the core - to contain the radiation leaks and gradually work toward dismantling the reactors.
Three of six reactors at the Fukushima plant melted down after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems and set off the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
TEPCO and nuclear officials have said that melted fuel probably fell to the bottom of the core in each unit, most likely breaching the bottom of the core and falling into the primary containment vessel, some dropping to its concrete floor.
Experts have said those are simulation results and that exact location and condition of the fuel could not be known until they have a first-hand observation inside.
The probe Thursday successfully recorded the temperature inside the containment vessel at 44.7 Celsius (112 F), confirming it stayed below the boiling point and qualifying a "cold shutdown state," the stable condition that the government had declared in December despite scepticism from experts.
The government has said that it would take 40 years until the Fukushima plant is fully decommissioned.
Back of unit 4, cropped and enhanced. The buckling of the upper side walls can be seen in this back few from
the seaside area of the plant. Image has been enhanced and cropped, please keep watermark in place if used elsewhere
New Photos From Inside Fukushima Daiichi (Simply Info, Jan. 16, 2012):
These images appear to be from late 2011. The spent fuel pool end of unit 4 is partially dismantled yet the upper side corners remain. Those were eventually removed. All images appear to be from a video from NHK broadcasting. (Many thanks to Mary W for finding them). Commentary before each photo.
North East corner of unit 4 circles indicate breaks in the outer building frame. The green vertical line shows where the building begins to angle off vertical.
Without another image from this angle it is unclear if the back of unit 4 is buckling in more or not. Rust has begun appearing on the
weld joints of the vent tower seen behind the building. Image has been enhanced and cropped, please keep watermark in place if used elsewhere.
From the Sea Looking toward Plant
New Photos From Inside Fukushima Daiichi (Simply Info, Jan. 16, 2012):
The projected path would be a happier or "Funso" place for it to stay.
Lies trapped inside these hearts of greed,"
The two tone talk is the place to be and the two tone likes me and what I want to be.....
Skyepony quit posting them when the site quit posting them.
Tropical Cyclone Advisory #6
CYCLONE TROPICAL FUNSO (08-20112012)
10:00 AM RET January 20 2012
=======================================
At 6:00 AM UTC, Tropical Cyclone Funso (972 hPa) located at 18.3S 38.7E has 10 minute sustained winds of 70 knots with gusts of 100 knots. The cyclone is reported as moving west at 5 knots.
Dvorak Intensity: T4.5/4.5/D1.0/12 HRS
Hurricane Force Winds
=====================
15 NM radius from the center
Storm Force Winds
=================
30 NM radius from the center
Gale Force Winds
=================
55 NM radius from the center
Near Gale Force Winds
====================
65 NM radius from the center
Forecast and Intensity
=======================
12 HRS: 18.5S 38.0E - 75 knots (Cyclone Tropical)
24 HRS: 18.8S 37.5E - 75 knots (Cyclone Tropical)
48 HRS: 19.2S 38.8E - 80 knots (Cyclone Tropical)
72 HRS: 20.1S 39.8E - 90 knots (Cyclone Tropical Intense)
Additional Information
======================
The small eye has disappeared on the last satellite pictures.
Available numerical weather prediction models are in good agreement within the next 24 hours. System is expected to keep on tracking slowly globally southwestwards on the northern edge of a subtropical ridge.
Numerical weather prediction models diverge then strongly. A near-equatorial mid-level ridge (cf z500) is expected to build on the north side of the system and should steers it east southeastwards within the next 36 to 48 hours. Beyond 48 hours, another mid-tropospheric ridge building in its southeast should steer the system southwestwards.
Current forecast is close to the ECMWF one.
For the next 48 hours, proximity of the coast and weakening of the oceanic energetic potential (slow movement of the system) are expected to be limiting factors for deepening. Beyond 48 hours, system should encounter better environmental conditions in the lower levels. Upper levels conditions remain favorable and system is expected to intensify again regularly beyond 48 hours.
Even this scenario is currently considered by RSMC la reunion as the most likely, the system should within Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 get closer of the Mozambican coasts near Guelimane or Beira regions.. with a potential direct impact that could not be ruled out at this time. Inhabitants of this sector should closely monitor the progress of this potentially dangerous system.
The next tropical cyclone advisory from Seychelles Meteorological Service on TC FUNSO will be issued at 13:00 PM UTC..
Tropical Cyclone Advisory #9
FORTE TEMPETE TROPICALE ETHEL (07-20112012)
10:00 AM RET January 20 2012
=======================================
At 6:00 AM UTC, Severe Tropical Storm Ethel (985 hPa) located at 18.4S 64.7E has 10 minute sustained winds of 55 knots with gusts of 75 knots. The cyclone is reported as moving southwest at 8 knots.
Dvorak Intensity: T4.0/4.0/D1.0/24 HRS
Storm Force Winds
================
20 NM radius from the center
Gale Force Winds
=================
50 NM radius from the center extending up to 160 NM in the southern semi-circle
Near Gale Force Winds
======================
90 NM radius from the center extending up to 250 NM in the southern semi-circle
Forecast and Intensity
=======================
12 HRS: 19.6S 63.7E - 60 knots (Forte Tempête Tropicale)
24 HRS: 21.1S 63.1E - 65 knots (Cyclone Tropical)
48 HRS: 25.0S 62.6E - 60 knots (Forte Tempête Tropicale)
72 HRS: 29.8S 63.8E - 50 knots (Forte Tempête Tropicale)
Additional Information
======================
Most available numerical weather prediction models remain in good agreement to forecast a south southwestwards to southwards track over the next 2 days then a southeastwards re-curving motion. On this track the system is forecast to move near Rodrigues island tonight in about 18 hours.
Within the next 24 hours, environment remains rather favorable for slight development. In the upper levels, system takes currently always benefit from a good outflow channel poleward which is expected to improve during the next 24 hours. The system is forecast to move near Rodrigues close to its peak of intensity.
Vertical northwesterly wind shear, cooler sea surface temperature and interaction with the westerlies is forecast to weaken the system and make it loose tropical characteristics at the end of the period.
The next tropical cyclone advisory from Mauritius Meteorological Services on TC ETHEL will be issued at 12:30 PM UTC..
Published: March 19th, 2011 at 04:24 PM EDT | Email Article Email Article
By Enenews Admin
Fukushima nuclear plume “covered most of North America” — Now over N. Atlantic; Including Caribbean, Canada’s east coast
Fukushima cloud now at the Atlantic, no risk – France, ABS-CBN News (Philippines), March 20, 2011 at 3:23 am:
The plume from Fukushima has now reached the western Atlantic but its radioactivity is likely to be “extremely low” and have no impact on health or the environment, France’s Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) said on Saturday.
“As of yesterday, the cloud covered most of North America and northeastern Siberia. It is currently passing over the North Atlantic,” it said, naming French terroritories in the Caribbean and off Canada’s eastern coast.
The cloud has been progressively thinning as it heads eastwards around the northern hemisphere at high altitude and will reach mainland Europe on Wednesday or Thursday, it said, citing a computer model jointly compiled with the French weather service, Meteo France. …
Read the report here.
BBC at 18:41: The cloud plume from Fukushima has now reached the western Atlantic, but radioactivity is likely to be “extremely low” with no impact on health or the environment, France’s Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) says, according to the AFP news agency.
U.S. network detects Fukushima plume
The radiation is quite small but bears the signature of damaged nuclear fuel
By Janet Raloff
Web edition : Saturday, March 19th, 2011
Late Friday, March 18, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy jointly announced that a network of federal radiation-monitoring stations had begun picking up traces of radioactivity attributable to the earthquake-damaged Fukushima reactor complex in Japan.
The finding was hardly a surprise. Radioactive contaminants can ride the winds. They easily cross continents and oceans, as has been witnessed since the 1950s following nuclear tests — and, of course, the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
On Friday, a federal radiation monitoring station in Sacramento, Calif., “detected miniscule quantities of the radioactive isotope xenon-133,” the EPA said. “The origin was determined to be consistent with a release from the Fukushima reactors in Northern Japan.”
Link
Old animation
Tommorow is gonna be a great sunrise (I am a photographer) I think, because right at dawn it's gonna be foggy and then the fog is supposed to clear out right when the sun comes up.
IF it's good, I will share the pictures with you guys.
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