Is this unprecedented? It would seem not; Barrow has had at least a few freezing rain or plain rain events in the depths of winter. The most notable appears to have been January 27-29, 1963, when precipitation on the three days was 0.03", 0.03", and 0.16", with only a trace of snow. High temperatures were 29, 34, and 35 °F respectively, and balloon soundings suggest that temperatures were continuously above freezing aloft for more than 60 hours.
So where did all the cold air go? Down into the lower 48. Yesterday's high temperature was higher at Deadhorse (39 °F) than in Corpus Christi, TX (38 °F); so we can say that it was just as warm on the Arctic coast as on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The two surface observation charts below illustrate the situation at about 8 pm AKST last night (red numbers are temperature reports):
Thanks Richard. My parents live in San Marcos, Texas, (KHYI) and their high temperature yesterday was 32°F while the high temperature in Anchorage was 33°F.
ReplyDeleteMy snow bird buds in Truth or Consequences NM. are probably stoking their chimineas with lumber to avoid a chill. Not many are prepared for freezing temps at that latitude. Forecast is for temps in the 20's again tonight for them.
ReplyDeleteGary
Here's an interesting opinion regarding the potential effect of freezing rain on grazing North Slope/Western Alaskan Caribou.
ReplyDeleteFWIW increasing clouds and precipitation have been suggested as a game changer for Beringian wildlife thousands of years ago following the Younger Dryas cold and dry period.
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20131209/alaskas-western-arctic-caribou-herd-numbers-continue-slide
Gary
Very interesting, Gary, thanks. It may be worthwhile to do some more work on the climatology of freezing rain, focusing farther north this time.
DeleteIf interested, contact the biologist mentioned in Kotzebue and see if he was quoted correctly in the news article, and what his perspective is on FZRA and the effects he's observed. Perhaps there's something to be learned beyond our personal human discomforts.
DeleteMore links re surface ice and wildlife feeding. I disconnect the politics of warming from the effects on the animals:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/caribou/ExpertAnswer03.html
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2008/03/satellites-rescue-starving-arctic-animals
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33164564/#.UqjaJJGtts4
http://www.livescience.com/3679-reindeer-caribou-populations-plunge.html
Gary
Richard, there is a field in the GHCN database for freezing rain and another for freezing drizzle. There may be useful information in there for a climatology of freezing rain map/analysis.
ReplyDeleteBrian, I did not know this (or had forgotten)! Thanks so much for pointing it out! Almost certainly it will be very useful.
DeleteIt looks like the GCHN data on freezing rain/drizzle notations for Fairbanks runs from 1986-present, Anchorage 1985-present, Barrow 1984-present, Nome 1984-2009. Pretty much all the first order stations have 25+ years worth of information. I'll verify the Anchorage information with the hourly observation dataset I have to see how well they match.
ReplyDelete