04:19z
12 hour loop - click here
The only 'force' moving the vortices is Coriolis and whatever dynamic 'local water vapor' brings. But, then I've said that before. Right?
One might ask, where is the water vapor in the lower troposphere? Water vapor drives weather and where there is no water vapor, there is no wind. No jet stream. The heat will result in 'air' movement such as tornadoes.
It is easy to deny there is a Climate Crisis when the media simply reports 'the weather,' rather than the 'CLIMATE' that dominates 'the weather.'
Denial is a dangerous thing.
Currently there are 'heat alerts' in 15 states in the USA.
Weather blocker: jet stream stops and causes disasters (click title to entry - thank you)
Glenda Kwek
August 12, 2010
The devastating Russian heatwave and Pakistan floods are caused by one unusual weather pattern - the static jet stream, meteorologists say.The northern hemisphere jet stream, a fast-moving high-altitude air current, circles the earth from west to east.
But in the past month, a "blocking event" has brought the jet stream to a halt, keeping weather patterns stationary over certain countries.
"Over Pakistan, the weather pattern is just staying with the monsoon, and the monsoon is bringing drenching rains," weatherzone.com.au meteorologist Josh Fisher said.
"But this jet stream is also bringing dry air from eastern Africa right up into Russia and this continuous heatwave is allowing the wildfires to build."
Australia is not caught up in this rare phenomenon, as the southern hemisphere has a separate jet stream based around the south pole, Mr Fisher said.
The effects of the stalled jet stream across Europe and the US have been catastrophic.
In early July in the eastern states of the US and Canada, a heatwave caused numerous deaths and power cuts.
In Pakistan, about 1600 people have died since floods struck in July and early August, while about 14 million are struggling to cope with the consequences of the natural disaster, the UN and Pakistani government said.
In Russia, an unprecedented heatwave has triggered about 557 wildfires and left the capital Moscow cloaked in heavy smog. Moscow's daily mortality rate has doubled to about 700, the city's health department head said, with city morgues almost full.
Mr Fisher said the Rossby waves - spinning wind currents that give the jet stream its wavy form by pushing it north and south - are responsible for the stalled jet stream.
The waves have been stronger this year, working against the jet stream and bringing it to a halt.
This blocking pattern, while difficult to predict, usually lasts about eight to 11 days, he said.
"The one that brought the hot temperatures to the US lasted over a week, while the current one affecting Pakistan and Russia has been persisting for already around eight days and could last for a few more days."
But less is known about what triggers this abnormal activity.
Climate change has been cited as one possibility, but scientist Gerald Meehl of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado told the New Scientist magazine there was no way to test the theory, as the resolution in climate change models was too low to replicate weather patterns such as blocking events.
Another cause could be low solar activity, Mr Fisher said.
Low solar activity has already been linked to an increase in cold winters in Europe, with activity on the sun declining since 1985, Professor Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading said in findings published in April.
Mr Fisher said "heat sources such as surface heating and cooling can [also] have an affect on these blocking events".
There are no current indications that any similar patterns are set to affect Australia, Mr Fisher said.
The planet has never been as hot as it has been in the first half of this year, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a July report.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has tracked the impact of human activity on climate for the past 20 years, droughts and heatwaves likes those affecting Russia and 18 US states become longer and more intense in a warming planet.
"Whether in frequency or intensity, virtually every year has broken records, and sometimes several times in a week," said Omar Baddour, who tracks climate change for the World Meteorological Organisation.
"In Russia, the record temperature in Moscow [38.2 degrees in late July] - which had not been seen since records began 130 years ago - was broken again at the start of August. In Pakistan, the magnitude of the floods is unheard of," he said.
- with AFP
Weatherzone.com.au is a Fairfax Digital company.
The air pollution from the Russian fires is still an issue and the chance of the fires reigniting still exists.
The Climate Crisis is real and scientists warned of this and the costs.
09:22 15/08/2010
...A smell of smoke from peat bog fires raging outside Moscow returned to the Russian capital on Sunday after a brief respite.
The smoke has shrouded Moscow's southeast, with the visibility dropping to several hundred meters. In south Moscow, the smell of the smoke was stronger on Sunday morning than on Saturday.
The smoke is also present in the center of the Russian capital while air remains relatively clean in western Moscow.
Since mid-June, the Moscow Region has been in the grips of an abnormal heat wave sparking peat bog and forest fires. During two weeks the capital was blanketed in acrid dense smog.
The worst smoky days were August 6 and 7, when the carbon monoxide concentration in the air exceeded the maximum permissible level 6 to 7 times over....
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100815/160207970.html
There is a very severe drought that has hit Hawaii. Very severe.
USDA DESIGNATES ALL FOUR COUNTIES IN HAWAII AS PRIMARY NATURAL DISASTER AREAS
Honolulu, Hawaii, July 21, 2010 – On July 19, 2010, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack designated the counties of Hawaii, Maui, Honolulu and Kauai as primary natural disaster areas
due to losses caused by the continuing drought that began on January 1, 2010.
The Secretarial Designation makes available to all qualified farm operators low interest Emergency Loansfrom USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration toapply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. The FSA will consider each loan application on itsown merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the Emergency Loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers such as the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program (NAP), the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program. Ranchers may also qualify for the Livestock Indemnity Program
(LIP).
http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/drought/news/FSA20100721.pdf
Snap storm brings hail to Sydney
Rachel Olding
August 15, 2010
...Hail was reported in Dee Why, Turramurra, North Sydney and further west to Baulkham Hills.
"In some parts it fell as rain and in other parts where it was cool enough on the surface, that hail has been sustained," Mr Stefanac said. "But it was small hail, less than two centimetres."
Bill Scott was travelling on the M2 motorway through Winston Hills when the freak storm hit.
‘‘It started raining and then pea-sized hail stones just suddenly engulfed us,’’ he said.
‘‘About a dozen cars near us had to pull over because it was so heavy, you couldn’t see more than three metres or so in front of you.
..."Then within 10 minutes it was blue sky again.’’
It was possible for hail to form despite warm temperatures and sunny weather because the atmosphere was unstable, Mr Stefanac said. A strong updraft could hold moisture in the air above the freezing level in the atmosphere.
In most cases, the hail would melt before it hit the ground but if the stones were big enough they could still land unfrozen on a hot day.
By 1pm, however, Mr Stefanac said the weather had stabilised and the sun had returned with a slight chance of a shower for the rest of the afternoon.
The State Emergency Service took 10 calls for assistance.
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/snap-storm-brings-hail-to-sydney-20100815-124xl.html
