Extreme Weather Patterns End Year of Extreme and Deadly Weather

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Category: Earth, Air, Space Science

Published on Thursday, 31 December 2015 10:44

Written by Janet Walker

A freak Winter Storm that pummeled the United Kingdom with apocalyptic rains has driven temperatures up more than 50 degrees in the North Pole creating balmy, and dangerous, conditions that induced polar ice cap melting and instability for the natural habitat.

An arching warm weather pattern, bookended by extreme cold temperatures, pushed up into the North Pole effectively raising temperatures for only the third time since 1948 to above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A normal high temperature for the area is 10 degrees below Zero.

Incidentally that temperature as we welcome in 2016 is slightly warmer than the Windy City, as Chicagoans will face seasonably cold temperatures with mild winds and lows in the upper teens and 20’s.

Weather patterns across the United States have seen Tornadoes in Mississippi over the Christmas season, as balmy temperatures clashed with normal seasonal weather conditions.

Severe and deadly flooding in Missouri caused homes to be swept off foundations and float intact slowly imploding against the pressure of the historic floodwater which has continued to rise.

In St. Louis, Missouri, the Mississippi River, one of the largest in the United States, is expected to crest Thursday evening at a height of 43.1’ a record 13.1’ above flood stage. The flood waters are expected to be four feet above the historic floods of 1993.

As New York City and the eastern seaboard baked in a unseasonable week of summer time temperatures records were shattered across the region. Central Park registered a midnight temperature four degrees higher than the mid-day Fourth of July temperature.

The Western USA felt extreme colds with temperatures lower than normal and downright bitter cold to those accustomed to light winters.

In Seattle, Portland and Spokane December ushered in an unusually wet season as it has rained every day.

Albuquerque New Mexico experienced a 24 hour pattern shift that had them going from unseasonably warm temperatures to high winds and record snows.

Tornadoes for the month of December are rare. Over the past month 69 Tornados, nearly three times the normal have touched down and caused deaths, destruction across the Deep South.

Texas has seen its share of extreme weather over the course of 2015 and keeping with that same pattern a blast of spring storms and systems clashes producing wicked weather and tornadoes have been blamed for eleven deaths.

The United States isn’t the only continent suffering from extreme weather. The United Kingdom has been pummeled by a wicked winter storm that brought torrential rainstorms across the region causing record and catastrophic flooding.

Parts of Northern England have disappeared under apocalyptic flooding. Reports have stated a month’s worth of normal rainfall fell in just one day.

Prime Minister David Cameron chaired and emergency meeting as the floodwaters from the Rive Irwell, like the Mississippi, has swollen and swept buildings, new, old and historic right off the foundations. The Brits unaccustomed to this massive flooding issued 24 severe flood warnings in a single day, each one equating to potential conditions dangerous to life.

As we begin in earnest to combat the challenges of global warming let’s begin by adopting one green or climate related change that we all can incorporate into our daily lives.

If it means taking public transportation one day a week, driving on a staggered pattern, carpooling or simply recycling.

Let’s be green and go green in 2016.