Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Snow over North America helps recharge reservoirs. Storm increased intensity while moving northeast.

Horses at Valley Mount Ranch in Fenton, Mo., nuzzle each other as the icy rain turns to snow. A monster storm bore down on the middle of the country, threatening to leave up to a third of the nation covered in brutal winter weather.
February 1, 2011

Satellite-radar composite of Midwest storm, showing classic comma shape and huge swath of heavy precipitation. Source:   (click here)

...The Snow
CNN weather: The 13.2" measured in Tulsa breaks the 1-day record, and breaks the record for most snow during the month of February, all in 1 day.
TWC Breaking: An incredible 5" of snow [fell] in 90 minutes in Miami, OK
Jim Cantore: From Tulsa NWS: MEDIA REPORTS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THERE ARE SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE STRANDED IN CARS ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
TWC Breaking: Where has the heaviest snow fallen so far? Northeast Oklahoma into southwest Missouri. Roughly 15 to 21".
JimCantore: Radar from Chicago shows intense area of 2" to 3" per hour snowfall rates about 45 minutes south of Chicago metro area [6:30 p.m. ET]
TWC Breaking: What does Lakeshore Drive look like right now? [Photo]
Weather Bug Media: WOW! NWS CHI: Before making the decision to travel, consider if getting to your destination is worth putting your life at risk. 
UNLESS one is traveling my horse. 

That might work.

Better traction and all that stuff.


FEMA Reimbursing Lower Township $336K for Storm Costs (click here)

Wed, 02/02/2011 - 12:17 pm
Updated 38 min 57 sec ago

VILLAS — Lower Township received $336,406 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to replenish money spent on last year’s horrendous snow storms, according to Township Manager Mike Voll.
"As a result of good documentation by our dedicated staff, we have been awarded this money. Public Works Director Gary Douglas, Linda Thomas, Thom Will, from Public Works. Captain Marker of our police department, and Art Treon, the former Emergency Management Director, are credited with getting this funding," he said.
FEMA, NJ State Police, Office of Emergency Management expressed how professional our staff was to work with," said Voll.




FEMA announces snow-aid funding  (click here)


How much can Australia be expected to endure?



...At 1:00 a.m. Queensland (click title to entry - thank you ) time on February 2, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Yasi was roughly 450 nautical miles (835 kilometers) east-northeast of Cairns, Australia. Sporting a well-defined eye, Yasi had maximum sustained winds of 120 knots (220 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 145 knots (270 kilometers per hour). True to earlier forecasts, favorable conditions led the storm to intensify rapidly over the Pacific Ocean....

Since 1899, (click here) there have been seven severe storms of this magnitude in Australia; five of which were from 1975.  This will make three since 2005, the year of Katrina in the northern hemisphere.

People pack a shopping mall used as a evacuation shelter in Cairns, Australia, Feb. 2 before cyclone Yasi hits. 
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)


...The storm (click here) will compound misery in Queensland, which has already been hit by months of flooding that killed 35 people and inundated hundreds of communities. Cyclone Yasi is due to hit north of the main waterlogged area, but emergency services are already stretched and the whole state is flood-weary.

"This is a cyclone of savagery and intensity," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a nationally televised news conference as the storm moved toward the coast. "People are facing some really dreadful hours in front of them."

The first winds began howling throughout Cairns as night fell Wednesday, with the storm expected to make landfall sometime around midnight....


Camels & horses storm into Tahrir Square as protesters clash in Cairo




Evidently being on horseback or on camels won't get anyone to the other side of Liberation Square in Cairo. The protestors achieved a great deal in having President Mobarak's resign from elections. It becomes a political issue now that there are obvious differences between the demonstrators. It has to be settled with an election or the resignation of the President. No authority is simply going to commit the nation to anarchy.