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Overall the US is a pretty laid-back country and welcoming to foreign visitors. You’re not likely to offend people as long as you try your best to be polite. However, by following the tips below you can ensure the smoothest visit possible:Don’t assume that the US is exactly the way it is portrayed on American films and series. Please leave your stereotypes and pre-conceived notions at the airport. American movies and TV shows don’t accurately represent the country.Not everyone is wealthy (we actually have a lot of poverty, and our middle class is struggling). Not everyone is fat. Not everyone parties constantly. Not everyone lives on hamburgers. Not everyone owns a gun. Not everyone lives in New York City or Southern California.Try to approach every person that you meet as an individual rather than a walking stereotype, and you will be well received. (This is good advice for travelling anywhere, really).Don’t underestimate the size or diversity of the United States. The US is the third largest country in the world, after Russia and Canada (roughly tied for size with China). Every region has a distinct culture, so much so that journalist Colin Woodard proposed that America is really 11 separate nations:Which of the 11 American nations do you live in?Your experience as a visitor to the US will be VASTLY different in Chicago vs rural Kansas vs New England vs Alaska vs Southern California vs Atlanta, Georgia. Do some research on the culture and history of the citie(s) and state(s) you plan on visiting. Don’t expect that the whole country is a monolith. It is not.Don’t overbook your visit. If you only have two or three weeks in the US, don’t try to hit every major attraction in the country. You can’t, and you’ll exhaust yourself trying. It’s a better idea to plan a trip in one or two regions of the country, based on your personal interests. Southern California or Florida if you love theme parks. The East Coast corridor (Boston, Philadelphia, NYC, Washington DC) for history and museums. Hawaii for beaches, volcanoes and surfing. If you love the outdoors, try the national and state parks in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Alaska, Utah, California, Washington or Oregon.A road trip is a classic, all-American way to see large parts of the country. It will cost more money and take more time than you think. I would say three to four weeks is the minimum, if you want to cross from one coast to the other at a leisurely pace, with time to stop and see things on the way. Do keep in mind that a lot of the “heartland” (the area between the coastal states) is empty and really boring. There are wonderful things to see in the middle of the country, but expect hours and hours of driving past cows, oil wells, and endless open land. Download some good audiobooks.Don’t settle for bad food. There is amazing food in the US, you just have to seek it out. Please don’t eat fast food for your entire visit and then complain that the food was bad!Most major cities, states and regions have their own food specialties. Lobster in Maine. New York style pizza in NYC, or deep-dish pizza in Chicago. Gumbo and jambalaya in Louisiana. Giant burritos in California. Tex-Mex in Texas and the southwest. Barbecue in Memphis. Grilled salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Philly cheesesteaks. Georgia peach pie.Research and seek these out. Ask locals you meet for their restaurant recommendations. Try the local wine or beer, and maybe the local ice cream too!If you’re visiting a big city, you can find excellent food from all over the world, from Ethiopian to Thai to Mexican. Food carts are gaining in popularity in many American cities as well. They often serve really innovative and tasty food for less than the restaurant price.Don’t count on speaking any language besides English. Most Americans only speak English and will expect you to do the same. If you go to a doctor or hospital they can call an interpreter for you, but otherwise you need to speak English fluently to get around. You could probably manage with just Spanish if you are visiting the southwest, but keep in mind it will be a Mexican/Latin American dialect. It’s best to brush up on your English skills before your visit.Don’t stress out about clothes. Outside the big East Coast cities, the US is a very casual country. You’ll see people in workout clothes, sweats and sneakers everywhere. A common outfit in the US, for both men and women, is jeans, a T-shirt, sneakers, and a fleece jacket or hooded sweatshirt depending on the weather. Only very nice restaurants require men to wear sports coats.Do some research on the local climate during the dates of your visit, and pack comfortable clothes that are appropriate for the expected weather conditions and the activities you plan on doing. If you forget something, you can buy it here (and if you’re from Europe, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by the low clothing prices!).Don’t discuss politics, religion, race or money with new acquaintances. These are perfectly fine topics of conversation between close friends and family, but they are considered personal and sensitive matters. It would not be appropriate to bring them up in conversation with a person you just met. “Safe” topics of conversation include sports, the weather, movies, music, books, art, travel, hobbies and your impressions of the US.Don’t be afraid to share your culture with Americans. We’re not exactly the most cosmopolitan people—it comes from living in such a big, geographically isolated country. Many Americans can’t afford the airfare or time off work to travel abroad. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear about where you come from! You’ll find that most Americans are curious about your country, be it Sweden or Somalia. If you are not from western Europe or a major anglophone nation (Australia, New Zealand, Canada) people may not know much about your country or even where it is on a map. Don’t take offense, just talk about daily life where you live (food, work/school, what you do with your friends and family, how it compares to the US) and you will probably find plenty of interest.Don’t be disrespectful to the police. Hopefully you are not planning to break any laws while in the US, but you might still need to deal with the police. Please keep in mind that we do have a gun violence problem in the US, and as such officers tend to be on edge. They don’t know if you have a weapon or not. In many countries, it’s normal to get out of the car to talk with the officer if you get pulled over. Don’t even think about doing that in the US as it will cause the officer to freak out and yell at you to get back in the car. If you get pulled over, roll down the window, turn off the engine, turn on the interior light if it’s dark outside, and then sit still with your hands on the steering wheel. Don’t make sudden movements or reach for things unless you’re asked to provide a document. Also, make sure to carry the proper ID (your driver’s license from home and an international driver’s license should suffice—check with your car rental agency).Don’t expect service workers to clean up after you. Always clean up after yourself. Littering is illegal and you may have to pay a big fine if you get caught. If you go out to eat, don’t make a mess and leave garbage everywhere. The service staff are not your personal servants.Don’t invade people’s personal space. Comfortable speaking distance in the US is about an arm’s length. If you stand closer than this you will make people nervous. When adults are formally introduced or meet for the first time, they usually shake hands. Hugs are for close friends and family (and straight guys don’t usually hug each other). Hand holding is for couples, or parents and small children. Kissing on both cheeks is seen as something European, and only very cosmopolitan people in big cities ever do it.Don’t insult US armed service members or veterans. Americans revere the military, and those who serve or have served are honored as heroes. It’s okay to disagree with certain wars or military actions that the US was involved in—lots of Americans do too—but don’t criticize or insult the institution of the military, or armed service members or veterans. The person you are talking to may be a veteran themselves or have family members who served.Don’t look grumpy or sulky. Americans smile a LOT! A friendly smile, eye contact and a firm handshake when you meet someone new will help you make a good impression. Outside the big cities, it’s normal to smile and say “hi” to strangers, and stop to chat with people you know.If you visit the US, I hope you have an amazing time exploring this wonderful country! Feel free to send me a message with specific questions and I will try to help.

You can ask whatever you want to people, and they won't consider it as strange. You can even talk about sex in the middle of the university class. Dutch are very pragmatic: if you talk, I might learn something with you. However, sometimes it leans towards a very blunt/rude perspective;Using bicycles and go to work with a suit;They dinner at 6 pm!!! OMG. In Portugal, it is at 8 pm, and I think in most countries of the world. This is correlated with sunlight. But eating at 6??? What is dinner time in your country? My girlfriend is Spanish, so she is used to eating at 10 pm, therefore, she just does not get it why people eat that early;You almost never see explosion of emotions, or people completely following their emotions or what they completely feel. It seems that everything has almost a neutral layer to be added to it. You never see people dancing crazily, or loud jokes, or anything that you usually see in those MTV / Netflix / random American series;It is common to see awkward social interactions, people not interacting with each other, inharmonic body movements — People just do not move in consonance to their tone of voice or they are excessively noisy when they don’t need to or talk too loud or they just don’t get in tune with the other person, people seem to ignore the normal rules of conduct that most countries have, it is also common to talk about everything you might possibly imagine and receive all the possible questions without any sort of filter. It is not a question of intolerance, but many times, it seems lack of awareness of the feelings of others and lack of training in social skills — they simply seem to not possess a great filter on what information should I provide and what should I not. According to Dutchie, everything is good to say, and if you don’t like what I say, it is your fault. “You should educate yourself to have thick skin”. Ok, Dutchie, fair enough. It is also common to watch extremely introverted postures towards everyone… Social interactions seem to be the most efficient and don't-make-me-lose-my-time as possible. Social interactions in The Netherlands seem to be very weird, most of the time, and this is something that almost every Dutch person will tell you. I’ve heard many Dutch people saying “We don’t have a culture of making friends”, and it is true in most cases. People tend to be distant, but when they are really friends of yours, they will be friends for life.I believe the Dutch society is amongst one of the least harmonical and anti-natural societies in the whole world. Maybe it’s due to its an anti-natural territory or their cultural religion, or just because so. It seems a very offbeat society where people do not go with the flow, but rather, they are fueled by opinions. It is really weird, and usually, Dutch people are not aware of how unnatural their behavior might be perceived from a non-Dutch perspective. Dutch tend to be not good diplomats;Foreigners usually believe that Amsterdam or the whole Netherlands is always wow, party hard and always active, and doing stuff, a non-stop country. But this is soooo far from the truth. Almost ALL the Cafés close at 6 pm! IN AMSTERDAM! But not only cafés, usually supermarkets close very early, but restaurants also close very early, everything closes so early that it is so demotivating to go there. Everything closes excessively early, and the utility time per day in this country it is so much lower than in my country, Portugal. In Portugal, you can just live until midnight very easily: you have loads of shopping malls, cinemas, places to go out, places to chill, places to eat, cafés to study… Everything until very late. Here in Amsterdam? Almost nothing: maybe Volkshotel or Hoxton Hotel. Cafés closing at 6 pm??? Even museums or cultural places close to excessively early. That is really weird, in my opinion;All the land is flat. It is amazing and so so strange. There is anything special about it. It seems that everything is the same;It is also a very artificial country. All nature and animals seem to have been introduced by humans. Nothing in here is really natural;Dutch people usually don't like to cook so in the supermarkets you will find loads of already made food;Visiting other cities in The Netherlands is strange because they are very close by each other, and also because they look most of all alike. There is no extraordinary difference between most Dutch cities. You have the center, same type of architecture, maybe something slightly different, maybe some different monuments… But is mostly the same. While in Portugal, all cities look very different from each other. ALL of them. I know that Maastricht is different from Amsterdam, but is not remarkably different. And most cities look really alike. Completely different buildings, you have mountains, you have the beach, you have the forest, you have completely other types of climates. And in The Netherlands, everything looks a bit the same in my opinion. It’s beautiful but “flat”;OMG, how fast cashier people work in a supermarket. It is just completely insane!!! BE THE FAST YOU CAN WHILE YOU ARE AT ALBERT HEIJN! If you are slightly slow, they will look at you so bad, that you will be ashamed of yourself. NEVER LET DUTCH PEOPLE WAIT. In supermarkets, they are flying machines. There is no “hello”, “today is raining”… nothing. Just keep it SUPER HYPER MEGA FAST;All the houses are in good shape. You never ever see a house that is destroyed. Or even a park with garbage or just something that is not taken care of. This is really weird. After being in the Netherlands for more than a year, I went on vacation to Croatia, and there I found so many houses that look completely destroyed… I said to myself “this is sooooo good. This is so naturally somehow, our human nature cannot deal with perfection. We need chaos, we need destruction, we need ups and downs… and in the Netherlands and northern Europe in general, thinks to look too perfect. Humans need imperfection, and I believe that this notion is highly related to the high suicide rates in all northern Europe. We need imperfection. And it is so weird to feel the need for imperfection. Do you know all the houses are beautifully clean, well painted and there is no visible destruction almost never? It is so so so strange;People tend to be not flow-placed — Sorry but I do not schedule meetings with friends with a month of preparation. I need to feel life, to feel the warmth of the air, and in order to feel it, I cannot schedule personal meetings within a month. It seems that people cannot fully appreciate the beauty of life, the beauty of living the present, the beauty of going with the flow. I am not saying that you shouldn’t prepare your life, you should do it, but not at an extreme level, as I see here in The Netherlands. I am not sure if is only due to the weather or the cultural religion, but being so monotonous is so uninspiring. Planning is good, but you should conserve some of your time on being completely free and feeling the pace of life as it is. I find Dutch culture considerably offbeat;It is considered one of the happiest countries in the world, however, I never almost see people really happy. I don’t see people also very depressed, but this is clearly not a wow happy country. I never see someone completely in love, passionated, in sync, with brightness in the eyes… with life here. It always a kind of gray area, and almost never as something colorful. The happiness index does not evaluate the real happiness of people, it evaluates reasons to be happy. The problem is that humans are not majorly rational animals. We need sun, we need socialization, we need humor, we need dopamine, we need serotonin and many other endogenous substances. What I find weird is that I never ever listen to people really laughing, or really happy, or really wow in their lives, really engaged in their lives. The Netherlands is the of the countries that have the most burnouts in the world, and also has a really high suicide rate. I believe that the culture here usually does not take really human nature, into consideration. But the worst part is that I feel that the culture here, tends to think human nature should be avoided. However, this is wrong in my opinion — We are animals, and we always will be;Dutch people are not very refined regarding social behavior. It seems that the normal rules of human nature do not apply in this country. They tend to be more informal and straight to the point. They make so many big weird things in all the aspects of social human behavior, according to most cultures, and for instance regarding food. When I go to eat in the house of people there is no tablecloth, napkins, no glass of water… (the first time I thought somebody forgot, the next time I thought it was a joke, then I understand they didn't know about this concept of putting up a full table) and the food is so not sophisticated. They even prepare food that is not 100% warm. Like a hamburger where the meat is warm but the bread is cold and the sauce is freezing… It doesn't make any sense. In my country, if the food is warm food, the food is warm. Not 10% of the food warm. These kinds of things are very difficult to explain to Dutch people because usually they just don't care. And it is not because I am the Mediterranean, everywhere you find the same or similar human patterns, but in The Netherlands, there are other types of rules. Food is just something that you undoubtedly need to eat, according to Dutch people… They treat food as just a way of fuel their bodies and not a time of enjoyment of life. Really when I see that people don’t use napkins or glasses or whatever, I really ask myself what I am doing here. It is just the basic of the basic;The wait service is probably the worst in the world. Sometimes you need to beg the waiter to come to your table, and they treat you miserably. In my country, if you are seating in a restaurant you are expected to be treated as an absolute King. Here, they treat you like no one. I would say that 90% of the time the service lacks sophistication — good smile, good posture, sometimes a joke, getting close to the people, asking where you are from, suggestion of plates… they do none of those aspects! And even turn around in a very rude way if you say: “I would like to have this plate.” they just turn around. There is no “ok". There is no “perfect.” Simply nothing. They simply turn around. It is so so so weird. I was a waiter many times and treating a client like this is so bad. But in Amsterdam is the most normal thing.Dutch people usually just don’t get the concept of serving other people with a genuinely nice approach. If Dutch people consider “to be nice is to be fake”…it says a lot of things about their culture. You can simply be nice because you are just a nice person. Do you get it? It is not something fabricated or something that I say “you know what? Today I’m gonna be nice”. NO. People in Southern Europe are genuinely kind of serving others. At least in Portugal. Serving others should be an honor. I was a waiter myself for a long time, and I have a lot of pleasure in serving others and talking to them in a nice way. It is my duty. In Portuguese, “thanks” is “obrigado”, which basically means I’m obligated. I’m obligated to serve you. That’s my duty. It is genuinely how am I, and so most Portuguese people I know. We don’t try to be nice, we are nice. They seem to not understand that in most countries in the world if you are paying for the service, you deserve the best service in the world. Ask the Americans, ask the British, ask the Southern Europeans, ask the Chinese, ask whomever you want to ask. The service must be awesome and is not about chitchatting, or about talking with the employees. It is about the refined, genuinely, is about creating belonging, is about enjoying your experience and is the kind way you approach people. In my experience, it is difficult for Dutch people to understand this concept. In my opinion, you should be always friendly, and in every opportunity in your life. Why wouldn’t you be? Is it that difficult for you to be nice to others? It is not about egalitarianism, or hierarchy is about being kind towards everyone. Paying attention to the details, and taking into consideration that going to a restaurant is never only about eating, is about the whole experience. Eating is not even one of the main reasons to go to a restaurant.If you have the opportunity to don’t spend money in a restaurant in The Netherlands, please do so. It is not a good investment in terms of experience, and the taste of the food is just everything you could make yourself;It is also normal to ignore people as possible as you can. There is no great sophistication towards people you don't know. There is no good morning gentleman or hello, how are you doing today, or those kinds of things you say to people just laugh, or that kind of elevator jokes sometimes people do everywhere… I see British people doing it all the time and wherever they go. It is so beautifully humane. So normal. That’s also not being fake. In non-Dutch cultures, if you have the opportunity to be nice, why wouldn’t you be? It is so cultivated to create socialization. People here try to avoid anything in order to make contact. It's so bizarre that people just completely ignore each other;Dutch people do not focus on structure. In companies and any organizations, chaos is embraced in the most positive way. It is not considered very good if you are too organized. If you ever been to a queue in The Netherlands, you will understand what I mean. Even in meetings, everything might happen, in a non-completely-structured-way. This is a consequence of the Dutch interpretation of an egalitarian society. Just go to a Dutch queue, they don’t tend to not respect the structure of a queue;All the society is considered “very developed”, and… how do you communicate with fellow citizens? By letter! Are you kidding me? Don’t you have an email? And please write in English, if I am not Dutch… They still write all the letters in Dutch even in terms of paying taxes;You need to schedule a meeting with someone with 3 weeks of antecedence… They are not very prone to dealing with uncertainty. Dutch people are usually time paced, while southern Europeans are flow paced. Well, I guess most of the world is flow paced;Non-hierarchical structure — Everybody can say whatever they might have in their head, without any filter, towards everyone. Do you want to say that you don’t like your job or the decision of your boss is let’s stay strange, go ahead;Bureaucracy can be very difficult. They send letters in Dutch, and they take so much time on answering. Usually about 1 month, and many times, you don’t have a physical space where you can simply ask questions. Everything in this country tends to be extremely impersonal and distant;It can be also very hard to start conversations with Dutch people. They usually think that it's weird to meet people that you actually don't know… meeting people in cafés or restaurants or even a supermarket can be considered as weird. Well, for me is not. I can meet people in the most random places in the world. They have loads of limitations regarding meeting new people;Dutch people are the best opinion makers in the world. Just ask them whatever you want. They will be able to open the problem, think about ramifications of it, taking two sides, consider all the options on those sides, and then make conclusions, and conclusions from the conclusions. Every single Dutchie is very good on opinion-making. They are really the best in the world. And the most interesting part is that they value opinions more than anything else. Not only the opinions of CEOs or people of high status. They value the opinions of the most miserable person in the room, with such a great humbleness that almost makes me cry. I’ve seen many times Dutch leaders changing their projects, or ideas just because of the opinion of a “nobody”. It is unbelievable how kind and sophisticated they are regarding opinion-making, and how they allow and retrieve information from everybody, without lifting ANYONE behind. It’s the most beautiful thing about this country. It is so weird to realize that everybody can really be really valuable, and everybody is actually very important, and you can always learn with every single person. Dutch people are so smart about this. I’ve never seen any other nations respecting opinions, and everybody, as Dutch people do;There is an interpretation of egalitarianism where men and women are exactly the same. I am a feminist myself, however, I am always pro-science and have a good judgment. People become really neutral here. Man and women many times dress in the same way. There is no great masculinity or femininity. I think it’s so beautiful to have a very manly man or a very manly woman or a very feminine woman or feminine man. Everything seems neutral. And neutral is so … indifferent… It seems that there is cultivation on neutralness, and the perception of being feminist is to be a neutralist, and not promoting the beauty of being a male or a female.Besides that, in Southern Europe, you should treat people well, and we really like women in general, and women should be treated in the best possible way. And of course, she doesn’t need to clean/cook/and stuff — I don’t really mind doing it, and all the men from Southern European countries that I know, they also participate in the domestic activities. However, women, and people in general, should be always treated with care, kindness, and sophistication, whether it be your boss or a lady in the street.However, regarding women, we treat them exceptionally well. You should never ever be rude to a woman or not taking care of a woman, or not being a gentleman in every possible situation. I find so strange that I’ve seen many times men disrespecting, being rude, or not being kind, or not being close, or not supporting women. The worst situations I’ve seen in my whole life of people disrespecting women was in the Netherlands, and by far. Being kind towards everyone is for me, one of the most important ingredients of a highly developed country. Treating women with disrespect makes me really really annoyed;It seems that in The Netherlands, the genders inverted their roles. It is also normal for a woman to start conversations with a man, and they are not afraid of telling what they want sexually. I kind of like it, but I am also afraid that people here do not take science into consideration when dealing with gender differences;They also don’t make a lot of jokes with people they don’t know, neither they say “oh my friend, how are you doing?”… it is much more like “what do you want?”… It is so straight to the point that there is no space for this kind of politeness. Dutch people, this is not being not direct. This is the normal pattern in almost every country that I know. Just being kind, and slightly funny makes such a difference when you meet someone;Dutch people tend to be very warm and kind once you know them better.Having sex with people you really don't know is also normal.Saunas everywhere for both genders.This land is soooo different than the rest of the world. And it is not only myself that is aware of how much different this country is. You cannot compare with Germany, France, the UK, the Nordics, the US… The Netherlands is a factory of human behavior and is not only me that says that. Many writers wrote books about why the Dutch are so different, why the Netherlands tends to behave so differently, what is the influence of Calvinism, and many other topics related! And almost all the psychological/societal/sociology tend to classify the Dutch culture as the most different culture in the world — The Netherlands is the most different and similar country in the world, and I am not sure if Dutch people are aware of that.Dutch culture is so fascinating about how different it can be! It really should be to study a lot!At the same time so similar, but also so different and strange. Every person will say it… Germans will complain that they are too sloppy towards rules, British people will complain because they are too rude, French will complain because people tend to not be very sophisticated, southern Europeans will complain about every single thing, Asians will say people are excessively individualistic, Africans will complain that people are too boring, Americans will think that these people are flat, and… Australians will just chill. The world should know more about Northern Europe and The Netherlands.Really, every single day of my life is like a movie. The Netherlands is the most similar and different country in the world. So open and so conservative. So interesting and so boring. So exciting and so down to earth. Please, filmmakers, you should make loads of movies about Northern Europe and mainly the Netherlands. The world should know about how unique these cultures are.Northern Europe is the most interesting region in terms of human behavior. It is very very weird but is also amusing. It is sooooooo but soooo much different than the rest of the world. Please, filmmakers, just record everything here. This is a Hollywood of exceptional human behavior.

NO UNLESS THE CLIMATE SWINGS BACK TO THE COOLING ENDURED DURING THE LITTLE ICE AGE.“In a warmer climate, the poles warm more than the equatorial regions. This will reduce the temperature gradient north to south and storms happen when cold and warm air masses meet. Ergo lower gradient would suggest less violent storms.”The UN IPCC projection of moderate winter temperatures without snow is completely falseThe Greatest 24-Hour Snowfalls in All 50 StatesBy Chris Dolce and Brian DoneganDecember 04 2019 04:30 PM ESTNational and Local Weather Radar, Daily Forecast, Hurricane and information from The Weather Channel and weather.comVolume 90%00:54Where Does It Snow the Most?Meteorologist Domenica Davis looks at the record 24-hour snowfall of every state.At a Glance• Almost every state has seen more than a foot of snow in 24 hours.• Portions of the West and Northeast have seen some of the highest 24-hour totals in U.S. history.Snow can pile up several feet in a day's time when conditions are ripe in many U.S. states.In fact, 48 of 50 states have received more than a foot of snow during a single 24-hour period, according to data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Of those 50 states, 32 of them – mostly in the West, Midwest and Northeast – have had snowfalls of 30 inches or more in 24 hours.During those extreme situations, snowfall rates are often an inch or more per hour. Thundersnow also sometimes occurs, an indication of unstable air and strong upward motion in the atmosphere, resulting in heavy snow.This map illustrates the largest 24-hour snowfall records across the United States, according to NOAA/NCEI.States With the Biggest 24-Hour Snowfall RecordsAn example of the incredible snow the Valdez, Alaska, area receives.(Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News/MCT)Colorado leads the pack with the most extreme 24-hour snowfall record in the Lower 48 states.If you were 6 feet tall and standing outside for 24 hours in Silver Lake, Colorado, April 14-15, 1921, you would've been buried by snow from head to toe. That location saw 6.3 feet (75.8 inches) of snow high in the Rockies at an elevation of 10,220 feet above sea level.One location in Alaska, however, takes the crown for all 50 states.Tucked away in the mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska, is Mile 47 Camp, which was buried by 78 inches of snow in the 24 hours ending Feb. 9, 1963. Here, winter storms in the Gulf of Alaska send moisture from the Pacific into the mountainous terrain, making it an ideal spot for incredible snowfall totals.(MORE: December in the Lower 48 Begins With Most Snow Cover in Years)Three other states have had 24-hour snowfalls that exceeded 50 inches, and much like the top two locations, mountainous terrain played a role in squeezing out those extreme totals.Those states are California (67 inches in the Sierra Nevada), Washington (65 inches in the Cascades) and South Dakota (52 inches in the Black Hills).Recent 24-Hour Snowfall Records BrokenFive U.S. states have set new 24-hour snowfall records during the past 13 years.Hartford, Conn.Cars buried by snow after Winter Storm Nemo near Hartford, Connecticut, on Feb. 10, 2013.(AP Photo/Jessica Hill)Connecticut is the most recent state to rewrite the record books when a location near Ansonia saw 36 inches Feb. 8-9, 2013. That new benchmark for the state was set during Winter Storm Nemo, which also hammered several other New England states with more than a foot of snow.About two years earlier, Oklahoma set a new 24-hour snowfall record when 27 inches piled up in Spavinaw Feb. 9-10, 2011.A single spring blizzard in March 2009 propelled two states to new 24-hour records. Pratt, Kansas, and Follett, Texas, made state history with 30 inches and 25 inches of snow, respectively, in the 24 hours ending March 28, 2009.(MORE: Light Snowfalls Just as Dangerous For Drivers as Major Winter Storms)The fifth state to set a new record in the last 13 years is Nebraska, where 27 inches was measured near Dalton in the 24 hours ending Dec. 21, 2006.More on 24-Hour Snowfall State RecordsHere are some other notables on 24-hour snowfall records in the U.S.:• Oldest records: The two records that have stood the longest are 36 inches in Astoria, Illinois, during the 24 hours ending Feb. 28, 1900, and 49 inches at Watertown, New York, Nov. 14-15, 1900.• Two states with less than a foot in 24 hours: Florida and Hawaii are the only two states with record 24-hour snowfall totals of less than one foot. No official records exist, but Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii's Big Island may have seen a foot or more of snow in 24 hours. Florida's record 24-hour snow was 4 inches near Milton, which oddly occurred in early March 1954.• Unofficial higher totals in some states: A few states have unofficial higher snowfall totals not recognized by NOAA. This includes a 55.5-inch total at Alta Guard Station in Utah Jan. 5-6, 1991, and a 54-inch total in New York's Tug Hill Plateau in January 1976. Finally, Louisiana's 24-hour total may be higher than the 13 inches NOAA has for the state. Winter storms in February 1898 and December 1929 may have topped it, but data from those storms is not reliable.Other Candidates for State (and National) Snow RecordsChristopher Burt, weather historian at Weather Underground, has also done research on this topic and found data for some states that could trump NOAA's reported totals, although they are not recognized as official records.A report of 77 inches in 24 hours in Montague, New York, on Jan. 11-12, 1997, was investigated by an ad hoc committee organized by the National Weather Service. That observation was determined to be invalid because too many measurements were made within the 24-hour period in question.Official NWS records require snowfall to be measured four times in a 24-hour period – every 6 hours – but the observer took six measurements, which resulted in a higher total than would have otherwise been reported.This photograph was taken during the remarkable lake-effect snow burst in Montague Township, New York, in January 1997.(Cheryl Boughton)Despite the incorrect measuring techniques in Montague, the NWS report noted that the snow depth on the ground increased by 51 inches in 24 hours, implying that more snow fell in 24 hours than the official state record for New York – 49 inches in Watertown on Nov. 14-15, 1900. NOAA also lists an unofficial but credible record for New York of 54 inches in Barnes Corner on Jan. 9, 1976, during the same storm that also dumped 68 inches in 24 hours in nearby Adams.Surpassing any of the possible contenders for the U.S. 24-hour snowfall record – including Mile 47 Camp in Alaska – is the 84 inches measured in one 24-hour period at the Crestview maintenance station of the California Highway Department on Jan. 14-15, 1952.The storm total was 149 inches over the week of Jan. 11-17, 1952, a number that became famous because of the Southern Pacific Railroad’s flagship train, City of San Francisco, becoming trapped in the snow near Donner Pass for three days beginning Jan. 13. The train lost power and food supplies for the 226 passengers before a rescue party arrived.(MORE: An In-Depth Summary of U.S. State Historical Snowfall Extremes)Another possible candidate for a U.S. snow record comes from near the same location in the Sierra Nevada: a single-storm record of 194 inches measured at the Norden train depot near Donner Summit, April 20-23, 1880. The measurement is consistent with surrounding observations, including Sacramento’s still-standing 24-hour rainfall record of 7.24 inches set April 20-21, 1880 (and 8.81 inches total over a 48-hour period). Read more about this historic storm in a Weather Underground blog entry that Burt posted in April 2015.Ever since the Donner Party of migrants tried to cross the Sierra Nevada in 1849, the eponymous mountain pass has been plagued (and blessed) by prodigious winter snowfalls. The rail line over the summit was completed in 1866 and several stations along the route, that were established for track maintenance, measured amazing snowfalls. Such was the case in Blue Canyon, pictured above and buried during the winter of 1916-17.(NOAA Photo Library)Here are a few other candidates for state snowfall records, according to Burt's research:Maine: 41.8 inches were measured in 24 hours at Eustis, Dec. 21-22, 2008, according to a CoCoRaHS observer.Montana: The United States Weather Bureau monthly climatological summary for January 1916 reported a snow depth of 216 inches at Libby site 2 (6,000 feet above sea level) at the end of the month (Jan. 31, 1916).Vermont: Jay Peak Ski Resort claimed a 571-inch seasonal snowfall total in 2000-01, and 417 inches in 2007-08.Wisconsin: Spooner measured a 45-inch storm total on March 10-15, 1899. Note that this snowfall was not directly measured; Instead, it was inferred from the moisture in snowmelt, using a 10-to-1 ratio, in which 10 inches of snow is produced by 1 inch of liquid water. If the snow ratio in Spooner was greater than 10-to-1, which is often the case, the storm total was likely even higher.The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.The Greatest 24-Hour Snowfalls in All 50 States | The Weather Channel“The reality is cooling, not warming, increases snowfall.”“Interestingly, some scientists have stated that increasing snow is consistent with climate change because warmer air holds more moisture, more water vapor and this can result in more storms with heavy precipitation. The trick, of course, is having sufficient cold air to produce that snow. But note that 93% of the years with more than 60″ of snow in Boston were colder than average years. The reality is cooling, not warming, increases snowfall.”– Veteran meteorologist Barry BurbankWill The Snowiest Decade Continue? – CBS BostonSevere weather is not increasing it just seems that way because of the media negative news bias. The data does not support increased severity, with one key exception there is evidence of increased snowfall world wide.The science of severe weather is NOT SETTLED but the evidence of correlation shows more severe weather during cooling periods than during warming. I show peer reviewed research on this issue below.Ref.Cooling, Not Warming, Leads ToWeather and Climate InstabilityImage Source: Loisel et al., 20171. Significant Decreasing Trend In Severe Weather Since 1961Zhang et al., 2017Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.2. Most Frequent Climate Instability During Global Cooling/Reduced CO2 PeriodsKawamura et al., 2017Numerical experiments using a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model with freshwater hosing in the northern North Atlantic showed that climate becomes most unstable in intermediate glacial conditions associated with large changes in sea ice and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Model sensitivity experiments suggest that the prerequisite for the most frequent climate instability with bipolar seesaw pattern during the late Pleistocene era is associated with reduced atmospheric CO2 concentration via global cooling and sea ice formation in the North Atlantic, in addition to extended Northern Hemisphere ice sheets.3. Hurricane Activity Is ‘Subdued’ During Warm Periods (1950-2000)Heller, 2017The hurricane analysis conducted by Burn and Palmer (2015) determined that hurricane activity was subdued during the [warm] Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) (~900-1350 CE) and became more produced during the [cold] Little Ice Age (LIA) (~1450-1850 CE), followed by a period of variability occurred between ~1850 and ~1900 before entering another subdued state during the industrial period (~1950-2000 CE). In general, the results of this study corroborate these findings … [W]hile hurricane activity was greater during the LIA, it also had more frequent periods of drought compared to the MCA (Burn and Palmer 2014), suggesting that climate fluctuations were more pronounced in the LIA compared to the MCA. The changes in the diatom distribution and fluctuations in chl-a recorded in this study starting around 1350 also indicate that variations in climate have become more distinct during the LIA and from ~1850-1900.[C]limate variability has increased following the onset of the Little Ice Age (~1450-1850 CE), however it is difficult to distinguish the impacts of recent anthropogenic climate warming on hurricane activity from those of natural Atlantic climate regimes, such as ENSO.4. Surface Warming Weakens Cyclone ActivityChen et al., 2017Results indicate that the midlatitude summer cyclone activity over East Asia exhibits decadal changes in the period of 1979–2013 and is significantly weakened after early 1990s. … Moreover, there is a close linkage between the weakening of cyclonic activity after the early 1990s and the nonuniform surface warming of the Eurasian continent. Significant warming to the west of Mongolia tends to weaken the north–south temperature gradient and the atmospheric baroclinicity to its south and eventually can lead to weakening of the midlatitude cyclone activity over East Asia.5. More Hydroclimatic Variability During Cold Periods…Models Say Warming Causes More Instability, So The 21st Century Will Be Like The Little Ice Age, With More Instability/MegadroughtLoisel et al., 2017Our tree ring-based analysis of past drought indicates that the Little Ice Age (LIA) experienced high interannual hydroclimatic variability, similar to projections for the 21st century. This is contrary to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), which had reduced variability and therefore may be misleading as an analog for 21st century warming, notwithstanding its warm (and arid) conditions. Given past non-stationarity, and particularly erratic LIA, a ‘warm LIA’ climate scenario for the coming century that combines high precipitation variability (similar to LIA conditions) with warm and dry conditions (similar to MCA conditions) represents a plausible situation that is supported by recent climate simulations. … Our comparison of tree ring-based drought analysis and records from the tropical Pacific Ocean suggests that changing variability in El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) explains much of the contrasting variances between the MCA and LIA conditions across the American Southwest. The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, ~950–1400 CE) is often used as an analog for 21st century hydroclimate because it represents a warm (and arid) period. The MCA appears related to general surface warming in the Northern Hemisphere, prolonged La Niña conditions, and a persistent positive North Atlantic Oscillation mode. It has been referred to as a stable time interval with ‘quiet’ conditions in regards to low perturbation by external radiative forcing. In this study, we demonstrate that the Little Ice Age (LIA, ~1400–1850 CE) might be more representative of future hydroclimatic variability than the conditions during the MCA megadroughts for the American Southwest, and thus provide a useful scenario for development of future water-resource management and drought and flood hazard mitigation strategies.Posted in Cooling/Temperature, Little Ice Age, Weather | 4 Responses4 responses to “5 New Papers: Climate And Weather Events Become LESS Erratic And Severe During Warming Periods”Reasonabel Skeptic 14. December 2017 at 6:46 PM | PermalinkAt a macro level warming world and decreasing storminess makes http://sense. In a warmer climate, the poles warm more than the equatorial regions. This will reduce the temperature gradient north to south and storms happen when cold and warm air masses meet. Ergo lower gradient would suggest less violent storms.I have no idea if this is the underpinning reason, but it makes sense.John F. Hultquist 15. December 2017 at 5:40 AM | PermalinkBack in the mid-1970s (? 1976/77) I did a couple of seminars for an environmental class at a university. I used articles by a fellow from the University of Wisconsin named Reid Bryson. Prof. Bryson’s writings contained many like-minded things regarding “cooling is a more difficult time”, including much from Hubert Lamb. Lamb was the English climatologist who founded the Climatic Research Unit in 1972 in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia.I think Paul Homewood, at length, has quoted Hubert Lamb.Anyway, 50 years on Bryson and Lamb are holding up well when compare to the current crop of “climate scientists.”The Scientific Literature Squelches Climate Alarm: Warming REDUCES Extreme Weather Event Frequency, IntensityBy Kenneth Richard on5. July 2018Since 2015, at least 18 papers have been published suggesting the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events — droughts, floods, and storms — have either been reduced or no detectable trend is indicated for recent decades. This directly contradicts the claim that the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will worsen due to rising CO2 concentrations.Below is a list of 18 peer-reviewed scientific papers indicating that there has been no detectable increase — and in many cases there has been a decrease — in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (floods, droughts, storms) in recent decades.Scientists have found that more frequent instances of unstable and intense weather occurred during cool periods such as the Little Ice Age (approximately 1300 to 1900 A.D). Warmer periods such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately 900 to 1200 A.D.) and the 20th/21st centuries were associated with a reduction of extreme weather events.This warmer-climates-stabilize-weather conclusion finds experimental support in a 2015 paper published in the journal Science (full paper available here).Entitled ‘”Constrained work output of the moist atmospheric heat engine in a warming climate”, Laliberté and co-authors use a heat engine model to detect how warming affects work intensity, or the capacity for the hydrological cycle to produce “very intense storms”. They found that warming constrained the hydrological cycle’s ability to generate “global atmospheric motion”, which effectively means that warming has a stabilizing and calming effect with regard to generating energy for storms and precipitation extremes (droughts and floods).Laliberté et al., 2015“Global warming is expected to intensify the hydrological cycle, but it might also make the atmosphere less energetic. Laliberté et al. modeled the atmosphere as a classical heat engine in order to evaluate how much energy it contains and how much work it can do (see the Perspective by Pauluis). They then used a global climate model to project how that might change as climate warms. Although the hydrological cycle may increase in intensity, it does so at the expense of its ability to do work, such as powering large-scale atmospheric circulation or fueling more very intense storms.”“Incoming and outgoing solar radiation couple with heat exchange at Earth’s surface to drive weather patterns that redistribute heat and moisture around the globe, creating an atmospheric heat engine. … On a warming Earth, the increase in perceptible water has been identified as a reason for the tropical overturning to slow down, and studies over a wide range of climates suggest that global atmospheric motions are reduced in extremely warm climates.”In sum, there is little to no support for the position that anthropogenic global warming results in more extreme weather events. The validity of the “dry gets dryer, wet gets wetter” paradigm has not been affirmed (Greve and Seneviratne, 2015, Byrne and O’Gordon, 2015).1. Highest Extreme Drought, Flood Events Occurred In 1790sZheng et al., 2018“For the extreme drought and flood events in total, more frequent of them occurred in the 1770s and 1790s, 1870s–1880s, 1900s–1920s and 1960s, among which the 1790s witnessed the highest frequency of extreme drought and flood events totally.”2. Flood Events ‘Are Not Getting Stronger Or Occurring More Frequently’Schedel, Jr. and Schedel, 2018“Flood events on the U.S. East Coast are not more severe or frequent than in the past. However, because of sea-level rise, these events are starting from a higher baseline height. Thus, the same severity of a flood event today reaches a greater absolute height than an identical flood would have reached 50 or 100 years ago. Based on current data, the good news is that the apparent worsening of flood events is due to a single, primary cause: sea level rise. Flood events are not getting stronger or occurring more frequently than in the past. They are instead starting from a higher point, allowing them to reach higher levels more often. The bad news is that sea-level rise will be a fact of life for many years into the future. Communities need to start now to make informed plans and decisions about how best to adapt.”3. 7 Flood Events/Century During 1550-1948, 2 Flood Events/Century During 1949-2000Valdés-Manzanilla, 2018“This study presents a chronology of historical and measured flood events in the Papaloapan River basin of Mexico during 450 years. Twenty-eight historical floods were recorded during the period 1550–1948 [7 per century] on this river and one flood event (1969) in the instrumental era (1949–2000) [2 per century], of which 14 were extraordinary floods and only 15 were catastrophic ones. There were several flood-rich decades during 1860–1870, 1880–1890, 1920–1930 and 1940–1950. Wavelet analysis found a significant flooding periodicity of 58 years. The wavelet coherence analysis found that flooding had an in-phase relationship with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and also with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Logistic regression corroborated that there exists a positive relationship between floods events and these two natural climatic oscillations. The logistic regression model predicted correctly 92% of flood events.”4. Less Storm And Hail Frequency May Occur With WarmingZou et al., 2018“The Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of the world’s most sensitive areas to climate change, became significantly warmer during recent decades. Since 1960 (1980), storm (hail) days have been decreasing by 6.2%/decade (18.3%/decade) in the region. … Based on 53‐year continuous weather records at 48 TP stations and reanalysis data, we show here for the first time that the consistent decline of storm days is strongly related to a drier midtroposphere since 1960. Further analysis demonstrated that fewer hail days are driven by an elevation of the melting level (thermodynamically) and a weaker wind shear (dynamically) in a warming climate. These results imply that less storm and hail may occur over TP when climate warms.”5. Changes In Flood Frequency And Magnitude Due To Enhanced Greenhouse Forcing “Not Generally Evident”Mangini et al., 2018“The main objective of this paper is to detect the evidence of statistically significant flood trends across Europe using a high spatial resolution dataset. … Anticipated changes in flood frequency and magnitude due to enhanced greenhouse forcing are not generally evident at this time over large portions of the United States for several different measures of flood flows. … Thus, similarly to the main findings of Archfield et al. (2016) for the US, the picture of flood change in Europe is strongly heterogeneous and no general statements about uniform trends across the entire continent can be made.”6. IPCC: “Globally There Is No Clear And Widespread Evidence Of Changes In Flood Magnitude Or Frequency”Hodgkiins et al., 2017“In the current study, trends in major-flood occurrence from 1961 to 2010 and from 1931 to 2010 were assessed using a very large dataset (>1200 gauges) of diverse catchments from North America and Europe … Overall, the number of significant trends in major-flood occurrence across North America and Europe was approximately the number expected due to chance alone. Changes over time in the occurrence of major floods were dominated by multidecadal variability rather than by long-term trends. There were more than three times as many significant relationships between major-flood occurrence and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation than significant long-term trends. … The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded (Hartmann et al., 2013) that globally there is no clear and widespread evidence of changes in flood magnitude or frequency in observed flood records. … North American trends in … frequency of extremes in the 1980s and 1990s were similar to those of the late 1800s and early 1900s. There was no discernible trend in the frequency of extreme events in Canada. The results of this study, for North America and Europe, provide a firmer foundation and support the conclusion of the IPCC (Hartmann et al., 2013) that compelling evidence for increased flooding at a global scale is lacking.”7. “No Significant Trends” In Flood Frequency Or HeightsMcAneney et al., 2017“[A] 122-year record of major flooding depths at the Rarawai Sugar Mill on the Ba River in the northwest of the Fijian Island of Viti Levu is analysed. … It exhibits no statistically significant trends in either frequency or flood heights, once the latter have been adjusted for average relative sea-level rise. This is despite persistent warming of air temperatures as characterized in other studies. There is a strong dependence of frequency (but not magnitude) upon El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase, with many more floods in La Niña phases. The analysis of this long-term data series illustrates the difficulty of detecting a global climate change signal from hazard data, even given a consistent measurement methodology (cf HURDAT2 record of North Atlantic hurricanes) and warns of the strong dependence of any statistical significance upon choices of start and end dates of the analysis.”8. Drought Frequency Appears To Have Decreased During 1901-2014McCabe et al., 2017“In this study, a monthly water-balance model is used to simulate monthly runoff for 2109 hydrologic units (HUs) in the conterminous United States (CONUS) for water-years 1901 through 2014. … Results indicated that … the variability of precipitation appears to have been the principal climatic factor determining drought, and for most of the CONUS, drought frequency appears to have decreased during the 1901 through 2014 period.”9. “A Significant Decreasing Trend In Severe Weather” During 1961-2010Zhang et al., 2017“Based on continuous and coherent severe weather reports from over 500 manned stations, for the first time, this study shows a significant decreasing trend in severe weather occurrence across China during the past five decades. The total number of severe weather days that have either thunderstorm, hail and/or damaging wind decrease about 50% from 1961 to 2010. It is further shown that the reduction in severe weather occurrences correlates strongly with the weakening of East Asian summer monsoon which is the primary source of moisture and dynamic forcing conducive for warm-season severe weather over China.”10. “The Most Frequent Climate Instability” Associated With Global CoolingKawamura et al., 2017“Numerical experiments using a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model with freshwater hosing in the northern North Atlantic showed that climate becomes most unstable in intermediate glacial conditions associated with large changes in sea ice and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Model sensitivity experiments suggest that the prerequisite for the most frequent climate instability with bipolar seesaw pattern during the late Pleistocene era is associated with reduced atmospheric CO2 concentration via global cooling and sea ice formation in the North Atlantic, in addition to extended Northern Hemisphere ice sheets.”11. Frequency Of “All Mexico” Droughts Have Not Increased In Recent DecadesStahle et al., 2016“The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most important ocean-atmospheric forcing of moisture variability detected with the MXDA. … [A]nalyses based on the millennium climate simulations with the Community Earth System Model suggest that the moisture balance during the winter, spring, and early summer over northern Mexico may indeed be particularly sensitive to ENSO forcing. Nationwide drought is predicted to become more common with anthropogenic climate change, but the MXDA reconstructions indicate that intense “All Mexico” droughts have been rare over the past 600 years and their frequency does not appear to have increased substantially in recent decades.”12. “The Net Effect Of Climate Change Has Made Agricultural Drought Less Likely”Cheng, 2016“The current California drought has cast a heavy burden on statewide agriculture and water resources, further exacerbated by concurrent extreme high temperatures. Furthermore, industrial-era global radiative forcing brings into question the role of long-term climate change on CA drought. How has human-induced climate change affected California drought risk? The model simulations show that increases in radiative forcing since the late 19thCentury induces both increased annual precipitation and increased surface temperature over California, consistent with prior model studies and with observed long-term change. As a result, there is no material difference in the frequency of droughts defined using bivariate indicators of precipitation and near-surface (10-cm) soil moisture, because shallow soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased evaporation driven by warming, which compensates the increase in the precipitation. However, when using soil moisture within a deep root zone layer (1-m) as co-variate, droughts become less frequent because deep soil moisture responds most sensitively to increased precipitation. The results illustrate the different land surface responses to anthropogenic forcing that are relevant for near-surface moisture exchange and for root zone moisture availability. The latter is especially relevant for agricultural impacts as the deep layer dictates moisture availability for plants, trees, and many crops. The results thus indicate the net effect of climate change has made agricultural drought less likely, and that the current severe impacts of drought on California’s agriculture has not been substantially caused by long-term climate changes.”13. Flood Frequency Higher With Lower Solar Activity/CoolingCzyzmik et al., 2015“Flood frequency in the discharge record is significantly correlated to changes in solar activity during solar cycles 16–23 (r = −0.47, p < 0.0001, n = 73) [1920s-2000s]. Flood frequency is higher when solar activity is reduced.[when cooling occurs]. These correlations between flood frequency and solar activity might provide empirical support for the solar top-down mechanism expected to modify the mid-latitude storm tracks over Europe by model studies. A lag of flood frequency responses in the Ammer discharge record to changes in solar activity of about one to three years could be explained by a modelled ocean–atmosphere feedback delaying the atmospheric reaction to solar activity variations up to a few years.”14. “The Frequency Of Extreme Floods Has Decreased Since The 1950s”Benito et al., 2015“A compilation of 46 case studies across Europe with reconstructed discharges demonstrates that (1) in most cases present flood magnitudes are not unusual within the context of the last millennium, although recent floods may exceed past floods in some temperate European rivers (e.g. the Vltava and Po rivers); (2) the frequency of extreme floods has decreased since the 1950s, although some rivers (e.g. the Gardon and Ouse rivers) show a reactivation of rare events over the last two decades.”15. Droughts More “Severe, Extensive, And Prolonged” Before The 20th CenturyCook et al., 2015“Megadroughts reconstructed over north-central Europe in the 11th and mid-15th centuries reinforce other evidencefrom North America and Asia that droughts were more severe, extensive, and prolonged over Northern Hemisphere land areas before the 20th century, with an inadequate understanding of their causes.”16. Sea Surface Temperature (Warming) “Does Not Significantly Affect Drought Intensity Or Frequency”Stevenson et al., 2015“SST forcing does not significantly affect drought intensity or frequency of occurrence, even for very persistent ‘megadroughts‘ of 15 yr or more in length. In both the CESM1.0.3 and NADA, with the exception of the Southeast United States, droughts in all regions have intensities, persistence lengths, and occurrence frequencies statistically consistent with a red noise null hypothesis. This implies that SST forcing is not the dominant factor in generating drought and therefore that many decadal megadroughts are caused by a combination of internal atmospheric variability and coupling with the land surface, with SST anomalies playing only a secondary role.”17. For The Past Century, Drought Percentage “Has Not Changed” Despite WarmingMcCabe and Wolock, 2015“[F]or the past century %drought has not changed, even though global PET [potential evapotranspiration] and temperature (T) have increased.18. High Storm Activity During Cold Periods, Low Storm Activity During Warm YearsDegeai et al., 2015“A comparison with North Atlantic and Western Mediterranean paleoclimate proxies shows that the phases of high storm activity occurred during cold periods, suggesting a climatically-controlled mechanism for the occurrence of these storm periods. Besides, an in-phase storm activity pattern is found between the Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe. Spectral analyses performed on the Sr content revealed a new 270-year solar-driven pattern of storm cyclicity. For the last 3000 years, this 270-year cycle defines a succession of ten major storm periods (SP) with a mean duration of 96 ± 54 yr. Periods of higher storm activity are recorded from >680 to 560 cal yr BC (SP10, end of the Iron Age Cold Period), from 140 to 820 cal yr AD (SP7 to SP5) with a climax of storminess between 400 and 800 cal yr AD (Dark Ages Cold Period), and from 1230 to >1800 cal yr AD (SP3 to SP1, Little Ice Age). Periods of low storm activity occurred from 560 cal yr BC to 140 cal yr AD (SP9 and SP8, Roman Warm Period) and from 820 to 1230 cal yr AD (SP4, Medieval Warm Period).”The Scientific Literature Squelches Climate Alarm: Warming REDUCES Extreme Weather Event Frequency, IntensityProminent Swiss Meteorologist Says Blaming Weather Events On Climate Change “Unscientific Idiocy”By P Gosselin on15. June 2018No one understands the causes of weather better than highly experienced meteorologists. And so when it comes to questions about extreme weather events, there is no one better to ask than prominent Swiss meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann (or Joe Bastardi in the US).Yesterday at Twitter the veteran, high-profile Swiss meteorologist Kachelmann tweeted about an interview he had given with Austrian online magazine profil.at on the topic of extreme weather in Europe, and how the interview was withdrawn before publication.Low-blow, dirty mediaThe main reason behind the withdrawal was Mr. Kachelmann taking issue with what he viewed as low-blow journalism by PROFIL - Österreichs unabhängiges Nachrichtenmagazin, who in the introduction needlessly brought up the phony rape charges lodged against Kachelmann 8 years ago by a scornful ex-girlfriend.Though the former German flagship ARD television meteorologist was cleared of the charges and got through the legal ordeal, his reputation tragically did not survive the media feeding frenzy and gutter journalism.To make a long story short, Kachelmann yesterday simply posted a draft of the unpublished PROFIL - Österreichs unabhängiges Nachrichtenmagazin interview at Twitter, before later taking it down.But I managed to read it and so now report on its content.Click-hungry sites hyping weather extremesIn the interview, PROFIL - Österreichs unabhängiges Nachrichtenmagazin questioned Kachelmann about the warmer European springs, weather extremes, serious scientists, and other issues.On the subject of the recent warmer springs and more severe thunderstorm activity, Kachelmann responded that it has gotten warmer, but that the alleged higher frequency and intensity of extreme weather events has more to do with hype coming from places like Facebook and click-hungry Internet sites.Not linked to climate changeKachelmann added it’s normal for large weather patterns “to act up” and that it “has nothing to do with climate change”.However he does attribute the warmer temperatures and higher humidity to climate change and that it is “statistically significant”, but then reminds that the statistics for weather extremes have yet to be shown as being significant.“Completely senseless tweets from Greenpeace”When asked about climate denialism and why people like Donald Trump get votes with climate change denialism, the Swiss meteorologist says: “There’s a lack of scientific knowledge on both sides.”Next he cited examples from on social media:Over the last weeks I’ve seen so many completely senseless tweets from Greenpeace and green politicians, who wish to blame without any doubt the daily weather on climate change, often with fake statistics, and so climate deniers are not alone. Serious scientists are working quietly between the embarrassing megaphones on both sides.”Blame measurement instruments?As an example of just how absurd the media can be, in the interview PROFIL - Österreichs unabhängiges Nachrichtenmagazin unwittingly displayed a remarkable ignorance of climate (which all-too often prevails among the climate-ambulance-chasing-media) in posing the question: “Are there reliable instruments today that would allow us to determine if a weather event can be attributed to climate change, or indeed to the weather pattern at hand?”Blaming weather on climate change “idiocy”Kachelman answers by telling PROFIL - Österreichs unabhängiges Nachrichtenmagazin that weather events unfortunately don’t come with a certificate of origin, and any claim that they do needs to be viewed as “unscientific idiocy”.Prominent Swiss Meteorologist Says Blaming Weather Events On Climate Change “Unscientific Idiocy”SNOW IS AN OUTLIER OF SEVERE WEATHER BECAUSE THE ALARMIST SCIENTIST PUT THE END OF SNOWY WEATHER IN ISSUE AS EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING.Snow continues and increases putting in doubt the global warming hypothesis.IN 2001, the UN IPCC predicted diminished snowfalls as human CO2 increased, claiming that “milder winter temperatures will decrease heavy snowstorms” due to the activities of mankindpersonkind…IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeTHEY also forecast “warmer winters and fewer cold spells, because of climate change…”warmer-winters-ipcc*THE SCIENCE WAS “SETTLED”2000 : a prediction from Professor Mojib Latif of Germany’s GEOMAR Heimholtz Centre for Ocean Research…“Winters with strong frosts and lots of snow like we had 20 years ago will no longer exist at our latitudes.” – Professor Mojib Latif2000 : Spiegel…“Good bye winter. Never again snow?”2004 : Mark Lynas told us…“Snow has become so rare that when it does fall – often just for a few hours – everything grinds to a halt. In early 2003 a ‘mighty’ five-centimetre snowfall in southeast England caused such severe traffic jams that many motorists had to stay in their cars overnight. Today’s kids are missing out . . . Many of these changes are already underway, but have been accelerating over the last two decades. Termites have already moved into southern England. Garden centres are beginning to stock exotic sub-tropical species, which only a few years ago would have been killed off by winter…” – Mark Lynas2005 : Christopher Krull, Black Forest Tourism Association / Spiegel…Planning for a snowless future: “Our study is already showing that that there will be a much worse situation in 20 years.”2005 : George Monbiot on climate change and snow…Winter is no longer the great grey longing of my childhood. The freezes this country suffered in 1982 and 1963 are – unless the Gulf Stream stops – unlikely to recur. Our summers will be long and warm. Across most of the upper northern hemisphere, climate change, so far, has been kind to us…2006 : Daniela Jacob of Max Planck Institute for Meterology, Hamburg …“Yesterday’s snow… Because temperatures in the Alps are rising quickly, there will be more precipitation in many places. But because it will rain more often than it snows, this will be bad news for tourists. For many ski lifts this means the end of business.”Less Snow and Drier Summers in German Forecast | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 30.04.20062006 : The Independent‘s somber editorial admonished us that the lack of snow was evidence of a “dangerous seasonal disorder”…The countryside is looking rather peculiar this winter. It seems we have a number of unexpected guests for Christmas. Dragonflies, bumblebees and red admiral butterflies, which would normally be killed off by the frost, can still be seen in some parts of the country . . . Some might be tempted to welcome this late blossoming of the natural world as a delightful diversion from the bleakness of this time of year. But these fluctuations should be cause for concern because it is overwhelmingly likely that they are a consequence of global warming . . . all this is also evidence that global warming is occurring at a faster rate than many imagined…2007 : BBC “One Planet Special”…“It Seems the Winters of Our Youth are Unlikely to Return” presenter Richard Hollingham … speaks to climate scientists to get their views. Their conclusion? In the words of the BBC, they all give “predictions of warmer winters, for UK & the Northern Hemisphere”.2007 : Schleswig Holstein NABU…“Ice, snow, and frost will disappear, i.e. milder winters” … “Unusually warm winters without snow and ice are now being viewed by many as signs of climate change.”2007 : Western Mail (Wales Online) … article, entititled “Snowless Winters Forecast for Wales as World Warms Up” quotes one of the global warming movement’s key figures, Sir John Houghton, former head of the IPCC and former head of the UK Met Office…Former head of the Met Office Sir John Houghton, who is one of the UK’s leading authorities on climate change, said all the indicators suggest snowy winters will become increasingly rare He said, “Snowlines are going up in altitude all over the world. The idea that we will get less snow is absolutely in line with what we expect from global warming.”2007 : Die Zeit…“First the snow disappears, and then winter.”2008 : Another prediction…A study of snowfall spanning 60 years has indicated that the Alps’s entire winter sports industry could grind to a halt through lack of snow…. In some years the amount that fell was 60 per cent lower than was typical in the early 1980s, said Christoph Marty, from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos, who analysed the records. ”I don’t believe we will see the kind of snow conditions we have experienced in past decades,” he said.2012 :John Clarkson (@JohnClarksonGSM) | TwitterEnjoy snow now . . . by 2020, it’ll be gone | The Australian2014 : the global warming theory-obsessed New York Times touted “The End of Snow?”…“The truth is, it is too late for all of that. Greening the ski industry is commendable, but it isn’t nearly enough. Nothing besides a national policy shift on how we create and consume energy will keep ourThis just in from Russia for example: New cold records set in RussiaJanuary 25, 2020 by RobertNot much ice will be melting a -56C (-68.8F).Every day of the past week in the Magadan region the frosts grew stronger, and over the past day the air temperature dropped below the norm by 8.5 degrees.But in continental areas, temperature set new records. In the village of Talon, on January 24, the temperature dropped to -46.2C (-51.1 F), which is 0.2 degrees below the previous record set in 1978.But these are not the lowest temperatures in Russia. In the east of Yakutia last night, frosts intensified to -56C (-68.8F).‘The wind chill sensation could go to -61°C in this region.’Метеоновости о погодеThe earth is cooling and no evidence of runaway warming. The oscillation between warming and cooling is proven for millions of years and has nothing to do with human emissions of CO2. When you consider how obvious the UN IPCC is biased politically the fact they admit to a long pause in warming if very relevant.No end in sight to the Alaska coldGuest Blogger / 6 hours ago January 25, 2020The computer models of alarmist science that predicted runaway warming are wrong in one direction they are all too hot compared to reality. The tepid warming has paused and is lower temperatures with colder winters are now happening.*No end in sight to the Alaska cold*OverviewRecent winters have been generally warmer-than-normal in Alaska, but the cold this season has been harsh and unrelenting. The forecast for the next couple of weeks doesn’t look all that promising either as colder-than-normal conditions should persist as we transition from January to February. In general, when Alaska is experiencing colder-than-normal weather for an extended period of time in the winter season, it is usually warmer-than-normal in the eastern US. Indeed, this adage has been observed this month as warmer-than-normal conditions have persisted in the eastern US while Alaska has shivered.The month of January so far has been well below-normal across Alaska and warmer-than-normal in the eastern US and Canada; map courtesy Weather Bell Analytics, NOAADetailsAfter eight years in which winter temperatures have been above average in Alaska, persistent bitter cold has returned and snow is generally at or above the normal levels for this time of year. It was just a few years ago, in fact, that Alaska’s annual dog sled race, the Iditarod, was in some jeopardy due to a lack of snow in Anchorage. In March of 2016, they actually had to import snow from outside of the metro area to create enough cover for dog teams to slide through the downtown area. During this month, the temperature in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, fell below zero on 16 of the first 21 days, averaging about 20 degrees below normal. In Fairbanks, Alaska’s third-most populous city, they have recorded 10 days of minus 30° (F), the longest such stretch since 2012.Colder-than-normal conditions are likely to persist into the month of February across the state of Alaska according to the 06Z GEFS 2-m temperature anomaly forecasts; maps courtesy NOAA, Tropical TidbitsIn terms of snowfall, there have been some significant accumulations despite the bitter cold which can often be associated with relatively dry overall weather conditions. In Anchorage, for example, more than 5 inches of snow fell earlier this week which has brought their seasonal totals to around 44 inches which is close-to-normal for this point in the winter season. The interesting thing about the snowfall earlier this week was how light and fluffy it was in the entrenched bitter cold extremely dry Arctic air mass. The snow/water ratio for the 5 inches of snow was 28:1 which is about 3 times normal for Anchorage. (The snow-to-water ratio in the eastern US is often around 10:1 and can be even less when there is “wet” snow).The wintry scene in Anchorage, Alaska (photo courtesy AP)Temperatures were near zero as Friday dawned in the state capital of Anchorage and more bitter Arctic air is moving into the region after a slight relaxation during the past couple of days. Temperatures as low as double digits below zero are likely by the early part of next week and could drop to as low as 50° below in interior sections of Alaska. In fact, all indications are that colder-than-normal weather conditions will continue for at least the next couple of weeks.One final note, yesterday marked the 49th anniversary of the lowest temperature ever recorded in Alaska and in the US. On January 23, 1971, the temperature dropped to -80° (F) at Prospect Creek which was the location of a construction camp during the building of the Alaska pipeline.Meteorologist Paul DorianPerspecta, Inc.Perspecta WeatherNo end in sight to the Alaska coldMinus 45 degrees in October? An Arctic blast is breaking records across western and central USDoyle RiceUSA TODAYPublished October 30, 2019https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/30/arctic-cold-blast-breaks-temperatures-october-utah-wyoming-colorado/4098089002/“The calendar may say October but the weather is more typical of January in portions of the western and central U.S."A wave of Arctic air has infiltrated the northern tier of the United States this week, shattering record lows, and threatening as many as 70 (other record lows) through Halloween," AccuWeather said.Subzero cold was recorded as far south as the Grand Canyon on Wednesday morning, the Weather Channel said. Big Piney, Wyoming, plunged to minus 24 degrees before sunrise Wednesday.Notorious cold spot Peter Sinks, Utah, dipped to an incredible minus 45 degrees early Wednesday. This appeared to be the coldest October temperature on record anywhere in the Lower 48 states, according to Utah-based meteorologist Timothy Wright.High temperatures Wednesday were forecast to be 30 to 50 degrees below normal across Colorado, Texas and the central Plains, according to meteorologist Ryan Maue of BAM Weather. “Denver's low temperature Thursday morning could come within a few degrees of the city's all-time coldest October temperature of minus 2 degrees, the Weather Channel said.The biting cold air for this time of year is being funneled southward from Canada into the western and central United States by a southward plunge of the jet stream, the Weather Channel reported. That dip in the jet stream will slowly migrate eastward late in the week, taking the colder air with it.By Friday, while the intensity of the cold will ease, even the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard will see a switch to chilly weather, the Capital Weather Gang said. Highs will hover only in the 50s from Friday through the weekend in cities such as Washington, Philadelphia and New York.Extreme Weather GSMTHE CONTINENTAL U.S. JUST SET IT’S COLDEST-EVER OCTOBER TEMPERATURE, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD FROM 1917OCTOBER 29, 2019 CAP ALLONThe western U.S. was blasted by a yet ANOTHER brutal Arctic air mass yesterday, Oct 28, with this one delivering the COLDEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.Peter Sinks, Utah –east of Logan– broke the Lower-48’s cold temperature record for the month of October on Monday morning with a staggering reading of minus 35 degrees.The area is know for it’s cold temperatures thanks to its high elevation (8,164 ft) as well as its unique topography, said Chicago meteorologist Tom Skilling.“It is a basin a half mile (804.67 meters) in diameter with no outlet, like a large bowl. Cold air collects in the basin on clear, calm nights,” Skilling said. “Very low temperatures can occur there, especially during outbreaks of arctic air in the winter.”The weather station located at the bottom of the sink took the -35F (-37.2C) reading at approximately 6:15AM on Monday morning, Oct 28 — beating-out the previous record low of -33F (-36.1C) set way back in 1917 (just after weak solar cycle 14, which was similar to the cycle we’ve just experienced, 24).Forgive me but I’d like to type it again, the Lower-48 just broke it’s coldest-ever temperature record for the month of October. And in addition, and perhaps even more astonishingly, the record may not even last that long — another all-time low mark is expected to be reached overnight Wednesday.Brutal Arctic air will continue to be funneled southwards from Canada by a dominant meridional (wavy) jet stream flow, which itself is associated with historically low solar activity.“That dip in the jet stream will slowly migrate eastward late in the week taking the colder air with it,” reports the Weather Channel.In neighboring Colorado, record-breaking cold is forecast Tuesday and Wednesday, with the front expected to expand eastward, hitting the Great Plains on Wednesday, the Mississippi and Ohio River Valleys on Thursday, and the East Coast late Friday and into Saturday, according to the NSW — record cold and snow are predicted throughout the vast region.NewsNewfoundland Snowpocalypse Day Five: Trading Smokes for PepsiOur four key resources now are pop, cigarettes, beer, and chips. Control the corner stores, control the Island.By Drew BrownJan 21 2020, 10:45amA SOLDIER FROM THE 4TH ARTILLERY REGIMENT BASED AT CFB GAGETOWN CLEARS SNOW AT A RESIDENCE IN ST. JOHN’S ON MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ANDREW VAUGHANGentle reader, please forgive these shaky hands; the shovelling has broken my arms. It has been five days since St. John’s first declared a state of emergency after a monster blizzard gusting up to 170 km/h dumped more than six feet of snow on the city in a day. Civilization has ground to a halt under snow drifts 12 feet deep. Snowmobiles blast through uncleared city streets and Holloway Street has been turned into the island’s sickest ski jump. We shiver under the spectre of martial law as Canadian troops patrol the roads with fearsome plastic scoops in search of seniors who need aid. Snowbanks rise like towering mountains from the city sidewalks.http://HTTPS://WWW.VICE.COM/EN_CA/ARTICLE/DYG7VV/NEWFOUNDLAND-SNOWPOCALYPSE-DAY-FIVE-TRADING-SMOKES-FOR-PEPSIACADEMIC RESEARCH ABOUT THE ALBEDO EFFECT ON TEMPERATURESTHE “COOLING EFFECT OF SNOW COVER”“The most widely known and studied climate impact of snow cover is its suppression of surface air temperatures; snow cover has higher albedo than any other naturally occurring surface condition…Early season snow cover is both forcing the atmosphere and could potentially be used as a skillful predictor of NH winter climate, exceeding that of E1-Nifio/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) outside of the tropics and the North Pacific Judah Cohen”Eurasian snow cover variability and Northern Hemisphere climate predictabilityJudah Cohen • and Data Entekhabi Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MassachusettsAbstract.We present observational evidence demonstrating dynamic interactions and feedbacks between multi-seasonal snow cover and winter-time circulation anomalies over mid-high latitudes. The cooling effect of snow cover is associated with a strengthened and more expansive Siberian high with more frequent, topographically constrained intrusions west and north. Early season snow cover variability leads to altered general circulation patterns consistent with the dominant mode of winter variability observed in the Northern Hemisphere troposphere. The implications of the surface atmosphere coupling for seasonal to interannual predictability are also discussed.SNOW ENHANCES THE DIABATIC (PHYSICS INVOLVING THE TRANSFER OF HEAT) COOLINGSnowstorm leaves 6 dead in New York stateByAsianJournalWashington (EFE): A severe snow storm has left six people dead in Buffalo in the northwestern region of the US state of New York, while the entire country experienced freezing temperatures.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard to help with efforts for those affected by the storm late Tuesday.In a statement, he also warned that the storm could persist until Friday and even reach the central regions of the state.One of the deaths was caused by a traffic accident, while the other three were a result of heart attacks while shoveling snow, said Peter Anderson, spokesperson for Erie County which is one of the most affected regions in the state.On Tuesday, all 50 states of the US registered temperatures at freezing point — around 0 degree Centigrade or 32 degrees Farenheit – or even less during a cold wave which experts claimed was more suited for January than November.Though Buffalo has been most severely hit, cold-related incidents have also been reported from New Hampshire, Michigan, North Carolina and Indiana.The storm is understood to have been caused by the “Lake Effect”, which occurs when the water vapour in the air over large lakes freezes due to cold winds, resulting in a storm.The extreme weather phenomenon left over 1.2 metres of snow in Erie county and could break the record of 2.1 metres snow recorded in Buffalo in 2001.“This is a very serious storm. It’s probably heavier than anything that we have seen in over 40 years,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told reporters.Buffalo is the state’s second-largest metropolis after New York City.http://HTTPS://WWW.ASIANJOURNAL.CA/SNOWSTORM-LEAVES-6-DEAD-IN-NEW-YORK-STATE/