It could be a lot worse
Most folks who live in our area are tired of the cold and snow that has persisted since early December.
Skiers and people who love wintertime have a different view of the recent weather but I thinks it’s safe to say most of us are simply tired of the persistency of the cold and snow. l Last week we wrote about the potential visit of some very chilling air from the cold dark regions of the frozen Arctic.
While much of the country did have a visit from the polar vortex we only received a glancing blow of the intense Arctic air. By now we have all seen the pictures and heard the news of the cold plunge that swept down from Canada all the way to the Texas Gulf Coast.
On February 16th snow covered 73% of the United States and temperatures far below zero swept across the middle of our country freezing the Great lakes and the Mississippi River. Oklahoma City recorded a century record of -14 below zero and below zero temperatures were common through-out Oklahoma, Texas and readings in the -30 to minus 40 below were common in the upper plains and mid-west.
It is interesting to note that while we have been consistently cold, our temperatures across Southwestern Pennsylvania have been on the mild side compared with elsewhere.
So far our lowest in February was 8 above zero and January only saw a low of 9 while the low for December was 14. In a normal winter we have at least 4 days with temperatures of zero or lower. Last winter we had only one day of zero weather and the year before none were observed. The low so far in the Pittsburgh region this winter was 8 above zero in both January and February.
The cold in Texas is very unusual and authorities were simply unprepared for such an event. The demand for power to produce heat to warm home and buildings far exceeded the supply even in a state that produces more energy than any other state. Power companies were forced to use rolling black-outs similar to what was done in California this past summer when the fires scorched the state.
An interesting observation this past week was the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures in the country. If one were to have travelled from Immokalee Florida this past week to Ely, Minnesota they would have experienced a temperature difference of 132 degrees, from 90 to minus 42.
Average temperatures for our area in late February are highs in the mid 40ies and lows in the mid 20ies. You may have noticed that our days are beginning to lengthen and shortly this should lead to a milder weather pattern. The next few weeks should see temperatures stay close to our normal and then a swing to milder weather as the polar vortex heads back home to the Arctic.
Even with these occasional visits from the Polar Vortex the planet is still on track to continue to warm. A warmer planet will still produce periods of intense cold and snow just like we had this past week. So far Southwestern Pennsylvania has fared a lot better than much of the country. Fires, storms, floods and drought have covered much of our country but have spared our area.
Let’s hope it continues that way.