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| 25 Dec 2012 10:30 AM |
2012: Strangest year in history. According to the weather channel, many , many records have been set. It looks like global warming is increasing at an alarming rate. heres the articles: A full spectrum of weather ranging from record snow to deadly tornado outbreaks and a destructive derecho plagued the U.S. during the first part of 2012. Here`s a glimpse of the weather highlights from January to June. A full spectrum of weather ranging from record heat and catastrophic drought to an active tropical season topped weather headlines in the U.S. during the second half of 2012. Here`s a glimpse of the weather highlights from June to December. January 14-20: Winter Storm Throttles Northwest to Upper Midwest June-August: Record Drought and Heat Wave Bake the U.S.
Following on the heels of a record warm spring, temperatures once again skyrocketed to record levels in mid-June and stayed there though late July from the Plains to the East Coast.
A bubble of high pressure situated across the Southern Plains expanded to the East Coast. This led to many record highs, including 108 degrees in Paducah, Ky., on June 29th. This also tied the all-time record high and made it the warmest day for June. Fort Wayne, Ind., tied its all-time record high of 106 degrees on June 28th. Denver hit its all-time record high of 105 degrees two days in a row; June 25th and 26th. Many other locations in the Plains were warmer than that, with Hill City, Kan., topping out at 115 degrees on June 26.
July was the hottest month since record-keeping began in the U.S. For the third time in history, Chicago hit 100 degrees for three straight days from Independence Day through July 6. This was also the second warmest three-day period since records began in Chicago. The Northeast got into the summer swelter by the middle of the month. Many East Coast record highs got smashed on July 18. A few of them include Newark, N.J., at 104 degrees, Atlantic City, N.J., soaring to 101 degrees and Hartford, Conn., reaching the century mark. St. Louis shattered a 78-year record, reaching 105 degrees or greater for the 11th day this year on July 25.
More than 69,000 local heat records were set in 2012, with 356 locations in 34 states hitting their hottest temperature ever.
The heat also exacerbated the already building drought in the U.S. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, by mid-July 81 percent of the contiguous United States was at least abnormally dry, with many regions under a severe drought. The worst conditions came by mid-August, with nearly a quarter of the U.S. under an extreme or exceptional drought. Therefore, at one point, more than 65 percent of the lower 48 was in a drought this summer.
By summer`s end, the heat had loosened its grip on the U.S., but the dryness remained. The United States Department of Agriculture reported that 80-percent of farm land experienced drought this year, making it the worst drought since the 1950s. Hardest hit was the field corn and soybean crops.
One silver lining to the 2012 scorching heat and withering drought is that it still wasn`t as devastating as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
August 28-30: Hurricane Isaac Slams the Mid-South
It started as just a tropical wave off the west coast of Africa, but by the time it was over, Hurricane Isaac would be the second-most devastating storm of the 2012 Atlantic season. From its humble beginnings on August 21, it became a tropical storm east of the Leeward Islands and stayed that way as it passed over Haiti and Cuba. Isaac skirted by the southwestern tip of Florida and finally strengthened to a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico on August 28th, just before making landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River. It briefly emerged back over the water, and made a second landfall in Port Fourchon, La.
On its way toward the U.S., Isaac kept Florida residents on their toes. It was predicted that hurricane force winds would be felt on the Florida mainland, and watches and warnings were issued up and down the coast. Fortunately Isaac was unable to re-strengthen after its interaction with the Greater Antilles, so it remained a moderate tropical storm as it passed south of the Keys. It did, however, cause a state of emergency to be issued for Florida, and delayed the start of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Isaac saved the brunt of its wrath for the northern Gulf Coast. Despite being a Category One Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph , Isaac was a large storm with tropical storm force winds extending up to 185 miles from its center.
Despite being a minimal Category One Hurricane, Isaac produced a storm surge of 11 feet in Shell Beach, La., and a storm surge of more than 8 feet along coastal Mississippi. Isaac lumbered into the Deep South; it produced more than two feet of rain fell along parts of the Gulf Coast. The storm also left nearly 1 million people without power in Louisiana alone. Forty-five people, including nine people in the U.S., lost their lives from Isaac`s rain, wind, and water. Preliminary estimates put a total damage bill of more than $2 billion on this storm.
October 28-30: Hurricane Sandy Slams East Coast
Hurricane Sandy was perhaps the most substantial weather event to affect the U.S. in 2012. It formed in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22 before making landfall a week later on October 29 near Atlantic City, N.J., as a hybrid post-tropical cyclone. Sandy was a massive storm, with tropical storm force winds reaching 820 miles from one side to the other.
Storm surge reached 13.88 feet at New York harbor. This record water level flooded subway tunnels, knocked out power to lower Manhattan, and damaged many buildings. A 140 mph wind gust was recorded at Mount Washington, N.H., with 12.55 inches of rain falling in Easton, Md. Colder air wrapping around the storm`s western fringe resulted in 28 inches of snow in Redhouse, Md. While in nearby West Virginia, seven people died as a result of the early-season snowstorm.
Sandy killed at least 125 people in the U.S. Damage estimates came to $65.6 billion, making Sandy the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, behind only Katrina in 2005. In New York, 305,000 housing units were damaged or destroyed, along with 72,000 in New Jersey. The storm also knocked out power to more than 8.5 million people along the East Coast. Communities along more than 400 miles of coastline between Ocean City, Md., and Dartmouth, N.H., were evacuated in preparation for the storm.
November 7-8: November Nor`easter Follows Sandy
Only a little more than a week after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, an early-season nor`easter brought more wind, rain and snow to many of the same locations. The strong storm formed on November 7 along the North Carolina coast before drifting north toward New England on November 8. The strongest winds were recorded in eastern Massachusetts, with a 68 mph gust on Nantucket and a 65 mph gust in the town of Fairhaven. The highest rainfall amounts also occurred in Massachusetts, with 2.28 inches in Kingston and 1.60 inches in East Falmouth.
However, the most impressive aspect of this storm was the significant early-season snowfall on November 7th. Clintonville and Monroe, Conn., saw the greatest amount, with 13.5 inches. Central Park had its earliest snowfall of greater than 4 inches November 7 followed by an additional 0.4 inches on November 8 for a grand total of 4.7 inches.
Both Newark, N.J., and Bridgeport, Conn., set records for the most snow to fall from a single storm in November, getting 6.2 inches and 8.3 inches respectively.
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The year kicked off with a severe winter storm in the Northwest in mid-January. Three out of four missing campers and climbers who went missing from their trips up Mount Rainier were found dead following an avalanche. Nearly 5 feet of snow was on the ground at the time and wind gusts topped 100 mph. The rare storm dumped a record 6.8 inches of snow on Seattle January 18th with total accumulation of 7.1 inches by the time it ended the next day. The storm then plowed into the Upper Midwest where 6 to 9 inches of snow blanketed the Chicago area, canceling more than 600 flights at O`Hare Airport.
February 3-4: Early-February Plains Winter Blast
Winter continued with a second major storm that rattled Colorado to the Plains with heavy snow in early February. The highest snow total was Echo Mountain near Denver where 55 inches of snow fell with the Colorado Foothills getting anywhere from 48 inches at Black Hawk to 36 inches in Evergreen. Metro Denver received 15.9 inches from the three-day storm, easily making it the biggest of the season. About 600 flights at Denver International Airport were cancelled and Interstate 70 from Denver to the Kansas state line was closed for a time. As the storm moved out into the Plains, it dumped 6 to 20 inches along the Interstate 80 corridor across Nebraska. The wet nature of the snow caused limbs to break, with more than 15,000 people losing power.
February 29: Deadly Leap Day Tornado Outbreak
The month of February ended with a deadly tornado outbreak in the Midwest and South. Sixteen tornadoes blasted parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky. Thirteen people died and 37 were hurt in Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. An EF-2 tornado with winds of 120 to 130 mph left much of Harveyville, Kan., in rubble. At least 9 people were killed in Branson, Mo., following a rash of severe storms that damaged some of the famous theatres just days before the tourist season started. Meanwhile, an EF-4 tornado with wind speeds as high as 170 mph swept through Harrisburg, Ill., killing 6 people. More than 43,000 people were without power in Missouri following the storms.
March 2-3: Historical Early March Tornado Outbreak
Mother Nature wasted no time jumping into spring as the calendar flipped to March. A historical tornado outbreak followed just two days after the Midwest and South got rocked with violent tornadoes on Leap Day. A record 117 touched down on March 2nd from Illinois to Ohio and south to Alabama. This surpassed the former record of 58 tornadoes in one single day in March. It was also the second deadliest tornado outbreak in early March for the U.S., with 40 deaths. The March 2-3 outbreak was the first weather disaster of the year to produce damages and losses in excess of $1 billion.
One storm completely destroyed Marysville, Ind., killing 6 people while nearby Henryville, Ind., was raked with an EF-4 tornado that had winds of 175 mph and stayed on the ground for 52 miles. No building was left untouched in West Liberty, Ky. The weather service said four EF2 and EF3 tornadoes that hit Kentucky were the worst in 24 years. The Cincinnati-northern KY International Airport was temporarily closed due to storm debris on the runway. At least 20 homes were ripped off their foundation and eight people injured in Chattanooga, Tenn.
April 3: Tornadoes Trample Dallas Area
Early April proved to be destructive in north-central Texas. An upper-level low and cold front clashed with warm, unstable air across north-central Texas, producing 17 tornadoes across the Dallas area on Tuesday, April 4. There were at least 50,000 left without power and 20 people hurt. The most significant tornado was an EF 3 that stayed on the ground for 8 miles in Forney, Texas. More than 110 airplanes at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport sustained hail damage. In total, 1,200 flights were cancelled April 3rd and 4th. Additional flights were also cancelled at Dallas Love Field. The mayor of Arlington, Texas, declared a state of emergency following the storms` wrath.
April 23-24: Snowstorm Topples Trees in the Northeast
Following a dry and mild winter, the Northeast`s last snow in late April ended up being its most significant of the season. Topping the list, Laurel Summit, Pa., got 23.2 inches while Newfield, N.Y., got 10 inches. Ithaca, N.Y., had 6 inches, which was its greatest one-day snow total for the 2011-2012 snow season. Since leaves were already on the trees, the snow`s added weight caused massive outages with at least 50,000 people in the dark across the Northeast. The snow postponed minor league baseball in Batavia, just east of Buffalo, where the Empire State Yankees and Norfolk Tides were due to play. Farther south, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett declared a disaster emergency.
June 29: Violent Derecho Plows Through the East
This severe weather event can probably be credited with putting the word "derecho" into the common vernacular of millions of Americans. A derecho, Spanish for "direct" or "straight ahead," is a long-lived, widespread windstorm associated with a line of rapidly moving thunderstorms. Derechos can produce tornado-like damage, typically in one direction and along a relatively straight path.
A very hot and humid day across the East helped to fuel this derecho, which started out as a relatively-common cluster of severe thunderstorms popping up in the afternoon heat around Chicago. By late-day, the storms had developed into a long band of severe storms, which eventually travelled more than 700 miles in 12 hours, bringing a swath of death and destruction from northern Indiana to southern Virginia.
This storm was notable in that it hit many large metropolitan areas with relatively little advanced notice, with winds gusting more than 90 mph at times. Ft. Wayne, Ind., reported a gust of 91 mph, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, reported gusts around 80 mph, and Zanesville, Ohio, recorded its all-time high June-July wind gust of 63 mph as the line bulldozed through.
It then hit southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area with gusts of 65-75 mph. Even as the line of storms continued to push off the East Coast that night, parts of Delaware, southern New Jersey, and the Virginia Tidewater region reported wind gusts of 60-70 mph.
In its wake, there were nearly two dozen deaths and many more injuries. Approximately 5 million customers lost power - some for more than a week - during a prolonged, life-threatening heat wave that followed the storm. In fact, Virginia reported more than 800,000 outages; its largest number of non-hurricane related power outages in history. Cell phone outages, including 911 service interruptions, plagued the Washington, D.C., area for days. On top of that, countless trees fell, damaging and destroying thousands of homes, businesses, and cars. Total damages remain uncalculated but are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. |
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