According to The Times of Indiat, the death toll from severe storms in the USA is at least 43/

Americans are at the cusp of a new danger they cannot compensate to survive.

Dallas: Storms hit the US South, (click here) Southwest and Midwest over the Christmas holiday weekend, unleashing floods and tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, flattened buildings and snarled transportation for millions during a busy travel time.

The bad weather or threat of it prompted the governors of Missouri and New Mexico to declare a state of emergency for their states.

Flash floods killed at least 13 people in Missouri and Illinois....

Eight deaths at least in Missouri. These are totals of the dead from a single storm system at this time of year is unheard of. I have to look up the death tolls of Sandy. Sandy was an east coast phenomena and considered the equivalent of a Category One hurricane in wind velocity. Sandy is not the same as the Christmas Storm of 2015.

In Missouri, emergency workers have evacuated residents from their homes and conducted dozens of water rescues, Governor Jay Nixon said on Sunday. He said at least eight people had been killed and numerous roadways had been closed....

The Christmas Storm of 2015 was enormous. It was drawing supporting warm air from a very large swath of Earth. Sandy built it's size over a warm ocean. 

Sandy's death toll was 285 primarily from drowning regardless of warnings made to evacuate. Americans don't 'get it' necessarily. It isn't the media's fault. The American media dedicates a great deal of time in warnings about storms. People focus on something to convince themselves they'll "be alright."

In the case of Sandy, I think people focused on "Category 1" status and thought the media was overplaying their hand.

Americans in large measure don't understand physics. A storm the size of Sandy needed a great deal of energy to sustain it's size. The winds were a minor event compared to the size and scope of THE TIDAL SURGE. Americans think high velocity storms carry "high walls of water" a shore and they take it seriously. But, in the case of Sandy it had what most Americans consider a survivable Category wind speed of One.  

These lower category storms carry a large tidal surge not necessary in height but width. The radius/diameter of Sandy was enormous. People have to realize the height of tides at lower velocity storms is not the problem, but, the WIDTH of the ARRIVING tide will 'pile up' once it reaches land/the shore. 

The tide of these lower velocity storms are similar to tsunamis. The height can be lower, but, when it reaches the shoreline/beach/land the water piles on top of itself to cause THE ACCUMULATION of high amounts of water that is not survivable.

May 23, 2015
By Laura Petrecca 

New York  — Drowning (click here) was the most common cause of death associated with the devastating Superstorm Sandy, according to a report out Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Almost half – 45% — of the 40 drowning deaths in the October storm occurred in flooded homes in New York City's mandatory Evacuation Zone A, said the CDC, citing research from the American Red Cross.
That zone covers swaths of coastline areas in city boroughs and includes hard-hit communities such as Breezy Point, Queens, Midland Beach, Staten Island and Lower Manhattan. Residents in Evacuation Zone A received mandatory evacuation orders the day prior to the storm, but many remained in their homes.
"A lot of the drowning occurred in the evacuation zones, and so that just reminds us how important it is to listen to these (evacuation) messages, whether it's for a hurricane, tornado or any severe event," says Amy Wolkin, Team Lead for CDC's Disaster and Epidemiological Response Team....

It is transportation problems in Michigan. There aren't good train access in most areas of the state.

Ice forms along Muskegon Lake as sizable waves hit the Western shoreline in Muskegon, Mich. Dec. 28, 2015. The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning that lasts until Tuesday morning, December 29. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)




By Emily Lawler

Lansing, MI -- State of Michigan offices (click here) will resume normal hours on Tuesday, Dec. 29 after having closed early Monday due to severe weather.
According to a press release from the State Emergency Operations Center, a coordinated state and local response effort that Gov. Rick Snyder set into motion Monday afternoon, employees should report to work at the start of their shift. That information is cross-posted on Michigan.gov, where the Snyder administration told employees to look for updates. 
While storms are still raging in parts of Michigan, current predictions show warmer air coming into Michigan and melting much of the ice before morning commute times....

By the time most Michiganders access mass transit the travel time defines a better reason to stay home than venture into work. The mass transit system in Michigan is lacking. 

I have no idea what 'wet-solid' snow is. I think of it as slush. When warming trends attract heat transfer systems the trajectory of weather is predictable. First the frigid temperatures occur accompanied by 'cold weather' precipitation hence causing public warnings. 

BUT, the frigid temperatures are mixed with warmed air and there is turbulence or vice versa warmed air can be mixed with frigid temperatures depending on where one is standing on the geographical match. THE STORM FRONT is what is defined by location and the weather expected.

But, after the frigid temperatures and the weather accompanying it, then there is a change to a more MEDIAN temperature after the hot air mass and water vapor frigid air mass. That median temperature can bring about rapid melting of ice/snow. If the frigid air remains there will be slush accompanied by freezing temperatures and a return to icing conditions. 

These heat transfer systems are macroscopic, but, the way people COPE are microscopic simply because the land falls under turbulence and the outcomes of that multi-front temperature changes. 

LOCAL MICROSCOPIC WEATHER COPING IS BEST. To achieve a generalized national picture is difficult. The USA Weather Service does a great job, but, ultimately it is the journalist on the beat that will have the most accurate picture. It is the local media that will bring about emergency response in areas not yet realized as effected.

Additional snow forecast overnight December 28, 2015. Most areas of northern Michigan will get another five to eight inches overnight. (source: NOAA/weatherbell.com) 

By Mark Torregrossa

...This current storm (click here) has always leaned a little more toward the crystalized forms of precipitation. When freezing rain has been expected, sleet mixed in and dominated at times. Where sleet has been expected, snowflakes outnumbered the sleet pellets.
Now the storm is doing the same thing in northern Lower Michigan and the eastern U.P.
Heavy snow will continue overnight in northern Lower and the eastern and central U.P. An additional five to eight inches of snow is going to be very common from Traverse City to Grayling to Tawas and northward.
You see some 10 inch to 12 inch additional amounts forecast in far northern Lower. That might be two inches too much, so plan on the heaviest spots getting another eight to 10 inches of snow overnight.
It will be a wet, solid snow - the kind that can start a base on northern Michigan snowmobile trails....

The 'idea' winter has arrived is grossly inaccurate with a troposphere that spawns heat transfer systems. There may be seasonal conditions in some elevations and latitudes, but, generally the USA will have very mixed weather through winter.

December 29, 2015

Bloomington — State Farm (click here) has stepped up to help as storms devastated the Midwest and southern United States over the last week.

The company has received nearly 2,400 homeowners and auto insurance claims across seven states due to recent severe weather, said spokeswoman Holly Anderson.

That total includes 620 homeowners claims in Georgia, which was hit by torrential rain and tornadoes Wednesday; 460 homeowners and 160 auto claims in Texas, where at least 11 were killed by Saturday tornadoes; and 460 homeowners claims in Missouri, where rain became flooding over the weekend.

Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan have also generated homeowners claims — 170, 180, 250 and 40, respectively....

Insurer group urges residents to monitor continued severe weather (click here)
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to tornadoes and other severe weather over the weekend, Farmers Insurance® has deployed its specially-trained Catastrophe Claims Team to begin assisting customers.
In addition to claims handling staff, the Farmers Mobile Claims Center (MCC) catastrophe bus is in the area and has begun providing on-site assistance to residents in Texas. Farmers Insurance personnel are assisting customers file claims on the spot and are providing storm victims with basic necessities. Currently, the MCC is located in the Target parking lot at 4701 Lakeview Parkway, Rowlett, Texas, 75088. Customers can visit the MCC to file claims and ask questions during operating hours from 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Catastrophe claims staff have also initiated triage at this time, via geo-technology, to identify customers located in the areas where damage occurred.
Farmers Insurance encourages everyone in the area to closely monitor the weather and stay safe as additional storms are expected to move through Friday and Saturday.
To aid residents in preparing for additional potential severe weather, Farmers Insurance urges residents to:...

This is the flooding which triggered the EU to reassess its preparedness for the climate crisis.

December 28, 2015

Military personnel (click here) were mobilised on Sunday to help people in Yorkshire and Lancashire as they battled to keep rising flood waters from the doors of their homes and businesses....

HAB or Harmful Algal Blooms is the correct name for this phenomena.

This is a bloom of algae, small microscopic plants. HABs can cause illness, but, not consistently. With each species of algae there can be dangerous health effects. These blooms effect local economies regardless of toxins or not. People don't want to swim in it and it frequently has an odor. Towns effected by these blooms should apply to FEMA for relief under economic and health emergency conditions. 

This was a HAB with a 'Fish Kill." Fish Kill is the proper name for this phenomena. These Fish Kills are not unusual with blooms. 

December 26, 2015
By Garin Flowers

Treasure Island, Fla. -- Ed Inloes is enjoying (click here) a much nicer looking holiday season in Florida than his home in Michigan. But, what rolled in with the tide behind his rental home in Treasure Island put a bit of a stench on his vacation plans.
"This beautiful sight that I'm looking at right now is what we expected to see, nice house and everything. What I did not expect to see was a bunch of dead fish," he said.
And the smell outside was so strong, he and his wife couldn't sit outside and enjoy the Jacuzzi.
"I mean I got up to the number 40 as I was counting them, but there was still plenty more."
For people who live along the coast, they knew it could be a case of red tide. It's caused by an algae from the Gulf of Mexico when there's a high concentration. That leads to the dead fish and murky waters....

The proper name of these weather systems is an upper tropospheric heat transfer system.

Even after Americans achieve the American Dream there is no keeping it. That is a brick house? If that was a brick house that is an F5 tornado. Regardless, it is at least an F4.

Pam Russell, left, and Linda Hart rescued a cat from Ms. Russell's house in Rowlett, Tex., on Sunday. Credit Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News, via Associated Press

December 28, 2015
By Katie Rogers and Christine Hauser

After spawning tornadoes (click here) in Texas and floods in the Midwest, deadly storm systems continued to drift across the United States on Monday. The severe weather has in the last week led to the deaths of at least 43 people and the injuries of dozens more, according to a count by The Associated Press.

The hazardous weather has been caused by several factors, including a stronger-than-average jet stream across the southern United States and the disruptive effects of the weather phenomenon El Niño, Rich Otto, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in College Park, Md., said on Monday.

The pattern is also expected to continue this week, Mr. Otto said, as meteorologists track a winter storm system that is moving from Texas and Oklahoma toward the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes. Here’s a roundup of the hardest-hit areas of the country....

This is NOT a defined weather system. Call it El Nino if it makes one feel better in having control, but, this weather system has no definition.

 ...As residents attempted to clean up the rubble and assess the damage on Sunday, harsh weather, including quarter-size hail and enough rain to set a precipitation record, pummeled the area. Gov. Greg Abbott warned that the death toll could rise and declared a state of disaster in four counties — Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and Ellis — according to The Associated Press.

In the western part of the state, transportation crews in Lubbock cleared highways during blizzard conditions. On Monday, the National Weather Service reported on Twitter that snowfall in the Dallas area had given way to slush. Mr. Otto said that the worst of the snow was leaving Texas on Monday as a winter storm system moved toward the Midwest....

The picture to the right is from NOAA and an F4 site. The brick building in the background is an F3 damage because the walls are still standing. This was a tornado that crossed Moore, Oklahoma. This system exhibited mixed effect from F3 to F5.

"In order for this scene to be rated F5, the debris must have been swept away, leaving behind evidence that the house was well-attached to its slab. [The brick house in the left background suffered F3 damage, with a mixture of inner and outer walls removed.] This tornado caused an immense amount of F4 damage on its path through the southern portion of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, and several locales of F5 damage."

Empowered and brave children make for mentally healthy young people. It provides a way of having purpose beyond devastation. Children are about the future and this young man knows he is powerful and knows he is important and vital to minimizing the damage to the community. He is great. He is becoming a master of his future. When they want to help, say "Yes, work at my side."

Jayden Covert, 10, of Kimmswick, Mo., filled sandbags with other volunteers on Sunday as the Mississippi River rose south of St. Louis. Credit Cristina M. Fletes/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, via Associated Press