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Weather Wiz Kids










Winter '14 - '15

2014 in Review

2014 was the year we all became familiar with the term "Polar Vortex". The 2014 North American cold wave was an extreme weather event extending from December 2013 to April 2014, and was also part of an unusually cold winter affecting parts of Canada and the Eastern United States. The event consisted of 2 episodes, the first one in December 2013 and the second in early 2014, both caused by southward shifts of the North Polar Vortex. Record cold temperatures also extended well into March. On January 2, an Arctic cold front initially associated with a nor'easter, tracked across Canada and the United States, resulting in heavy snowfall. Temperatures fell to unprecedented levels, and low temperature records were broken across the United States.


2014 was another active year with an estimated 827 tornadoes reported in the United States, of which at least 401 have been confirmed. Of those, 7 were ranked EF4 tornadoes. At least 53 fatalities have been confirmed worldwide in 2014: 49 in the United States and two each in Australia and Russia.


The 2014 Atlantic Basin Hurricane Season was fairly quite. There were 8 named storms, the fewest named since 1997.


Severe, extreme or exceptional drought covered 95% of California by September 2014, thanks to a drought that one research team said was the state's worst 1-year and 3-year drought for at least 1,200 years. The California Farm Water Coalition estimated agricultural losses at $3.6 billion.


In mid-November, a strong winter storm brought copious amounts of lake-effect snow across the Northeast. Several counties were heavily impacted, with areas in and around Buffalo, New York, particularly the city's southern suburbs, receiving snowfall totals in the range of 5 to 7 feet! Under the sheer weight of the snow, roofs began collapsing. The maximum snowfall recorded from the storm was 88 inches in Cowlesville, NY. The pictures were unbelievable!




Winter Precip Outlook

The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting below normal precipitation across parts of the Northwest and Midwest with above normal precipitation across the Southwest and Southeast.

Legend
Winter Precip Outlook

Winter Temp Outlook

 

The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above normal temperatures across the Northwest and West. They are also forecasting below normal temperatures across the South and Southeast.

Legend
Winter Temp Outlook

'14-'15 NOAA Winter Outlook

 

El Niño, an ocean-atmospheric phenomenon in the Tropical Pacific that affects global weather patterns, may still develop this winter. Climate Prediction Center forecasters announced in October that the ocean and atmospheric coupling necessary to declare an El Niño has not yet happened, so they continued the El Niño Watch with a 67 percent chance of development.


The Precipitation Outlook favors above-average precipitation across the southern tier, from the southern half of California, across the Southwest, South-central, and Gulf Coast states, Florida, and along the eastern seaboard to Maine. Above-average precipitation also is favored in southern Alaska and the Alaskan panhandle. Below-average precipitation is favored in Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest.


In addition, the Temperature Outlook favors warmer-than-average temperatures in the Western U.S., extending from the west coast through most of the inter-mountain west and across the U.S.-Canadian border through New York and New England, as well as Alaska and Hawaii. The rest of the country falls into the “equal chance” category, meaning that there is not a strong enough climate signal for these areas to make a prediction.


Winter Deal

 

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Product Information:
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