Before getting into any other subjects, I should bring everyone up to date on the latest El Nino/La Nina trend, which is one of the  more important ocean/atmosphere circulations we monitor. The latest ENSO diagnostic discussion indicates that the La Nina from this past Winter has ended. The central Pacific ocean surface temperatures are now basically neutral and are expected to stay that way for the next couple of months. By this Fall the computer model forecasts indicate a trend toward a weak El Nino. This is important. Almost every time we have an El Nino in the tropical Pacific we have warmer than normal Winter conditions here in Wisconsin and lower than normal snowfall.

CPC Model Projection

The stronger the El Nino, the warmer our Winter could be. Right now it looks like a weak El Nino will form at best, but it is early in the year, so there could be some notable changes yet before Fall arrives.

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And now a little follow-up on a subject that was much more prevalent last year but many people seem to have forgot about. As has been mentioned in many outlets outside of the mainstream media, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is not over and it is worse than thought. Spent fuel pools (as well as other parts of the reactor) are a grave danger to the U.S. according to at least one Senator who visited the site.

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In another follow-up, I sometimes bring a bevy of news and research that shows things are not as bad as originally portrayed, either for the present or into the future. Last year I blogged about how the trash in the Pacific is not as bad as originally reported. Now this year we have a finding that declares the trash in the ocean could be significant, just not in the way we might have thought in the past. A oceanographer researching in the Pacific found a lot of small particles of plastic a bit below the surface. These types of particles would normally float on the surface and be visible but wave and wind action drives them a few feet below the surface. Past surveys of ocean garbage generally only skimmed the surface water. Smaller particles could more easily find their way into the food chain and cause some disruptions. What is not know is whether these particles are all over the ocean. Maybe they are only in certain areas near manufacturing centers or shipping lanes, such as southeast Asia.

Also, in the not-as-bad-as-originally-proclaimed theme, during the past couple decades the AGW discussion has been peppered with proclamations about “increased storminess”, “more hurricanes”, “more floods”, even more tornadoes. In the case of tornadoes, every time there is a big outbreak, someone usually speculates as to whether the seemingly increasing number of tornadoes is due to AGW. In another, maybe it is not as bad as originally portrayed, the case for tornadoes is not clear cut. There are many factors in the atmosphere that have to be “just right” and these factors might not all come together to produce more tornadoes in the future even if we end up with some theoretical ranges in warming from AGW.

Have a nice Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, ENSO Update, Environment, Oceans, Tornadoes

Yesterday I detailed how economic considerations usually trump environmentalism (and AGW concerns) because of the near-term immediate impact of “economics”. When people are more worried about the next paycheck, they are less concerned with how much the climate might warm up 90 years from now, or how much the ocean might rise 1,000 years from now.

Despite the current economic recession, there are still many people concerned about what might happen to the environment and climate, as am I. Given the sometimes hyperbolic pronouncements of how nearly everything in the biosphere is going to die due to AGW, I am surprised more people don’t at least follow more of the headlines (whether a person is skeptical or not). Even as I am concerned about future pollution, I am not fatalistic. I know that fossil fuel usage is unlikely to continue the same upward trend into the future as it did in the past. I know that technological progress continues and this should help us be more efficient in the future as well as clean up some “messes”. I also know that life has a tremendous ability to adapt.

In the case of adaptability, many people are quite fatalistic about the fate of the oceans as the water warms up, even in the bottom water around Antarctica. Warmer and more acidic oceans are expected to be more hostile to life, including corals. Thankfully, at least in the near term, it appears that corals are not going to all die off. Recently scientists have found corals that can thrive in warmer than normal water and some that can adapt to higher acidity. Still, there might be some limit to which adaptation fails and some sort-of mass extinction occurs in the oceans, as seemed to have happened in the distant past.

If ocean acidification does become a major problem, it will potentially be a harder problem to crack/fix than just plain old warming of a couple of degrees. If heat would get to be too much of a problem, it could be fixed fairly easily with some sort-of sunshade technology. A recent study suggested that sunshade geoengineering would not affect crops too much. But cooling by blocking the sun would not help reduce the acidity of the ocean. Also, as far as future energy sources go, biofuels would once again be the worst choice because they still result in carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere (as well as bunch of other reasons - I have covered before). In addition we also need to keep a close eye on all of the synthetic biology that is being developed in the pursuit of biofuels. Solar, nuclear, geothermal, and wind would probably be our best bets to not only reduce pollution but to reduce the acidification of the oceans. Otherwise, we might end up doing some grand antacid experiments in the future.

Have a good Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Oceans, Pollution

Follow-up: last week I mentioned the HumanBirdWings viral video in the blog and said I was rather skeptical about it. My skepticism was justified as the Dutch film-maker gave up the prank late last week, saying it was an exercise in storytelling. It was also a very good fake video. Read a little more about the fake here.

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Given the warm weather a lot of people have been asking me about the snowmelt contest. It will be starting a few days earlier this year but not until the middle of April. The entry period will be for a couple weeks in April, and then we will wait and watch to see when the snow finally melts. The entry period usually goes through the last day of April but this year, if more very warm weather hits in April, the snow could melt during the last couple days of the month. More than likely it will last into May or June. I will let you know all the details here in the blog when the time comes.

The warm weather also has people thinking about anthropogenic global warming (AGW) a bit more as well, but not as much as you might think. Recent surveys have found that concern about AGW has waned as the economy has worsened. This should not be surprising. Most people are most concerned about their near-term situation. In the current recession, millions of people have lost jobs, food insecurity has increased, some have lost pensions or health-care coverage. These things affect how people will think/behave today or tomorrow. With respect to AGW, it is predicted to be environmental Armageddon, which would be very bad if it happens, but it is a slow-motion threat. It would evolve over the course of decades. The cost of damage to the ocean’s alone could be about $2 trillion according to one estimate, but $2 trillion spread out over decades, again, is not as dramatic. If people are hungry today, they will not focus too much on the prospect of the temperature rising by a few degrees 90 years from now. Now only if people would stop having as many kids (because of economic concerns), they might be able to solve near term problems and long term problems (AGW) at the same time. Whatever moves we make, more bureaucracy, as is suggested here, is probably the worst possible solution. 

This type of simple economic calculation also applies to alternative energy. A recent opinion article really does a good job stating the obvious, that alternative energy technology will not be widely adopted until we run out of fossil fuels. I am not that pessimistic but I know what the reality is. As long as fossil fuels are cheaper than the alternatives they will remain king. Even I declined to buy an electric car when I purchased a vehicle last year. The sticker price of electric car offerings were just too high. So it is left to upper income types to push fledgling technology forward. Most of the rest of us might not be choosing to go electric (or solar/wind for our house) but we are choosing more efficient vehicles. A recent study shows that the average mpg of the U.S. “fleet” is now at an all time high of 23. Good job U.S.! As long as the price of gas remains high, this number should continue to climb in coming years. Both of my cars get over 30 mpg and I hope I can afford one that achieves 40 mpg for the next purchase (if a cheap EV is not available).

Have a good Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under AGW, Climate Change, Oceans, Pollution, Weather NEws

Photo from the Associated Press

A boat that was part of the five million tons of “stuff” thrown into the Pacific Ocean during the massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been spotted off the Canadian Coast. 

The Associated Press is reporting that the 65-meter long boat is moving toward land, 160 miles off the coastline of British Columbia. 

To put that in perspective, if you were driving down Interstate 39, that’s about 20 miles farther than the distance between Wausau and Madison!

The horrific earthquake and tsunami struck Japan just over one year ago on March 11, 2011.  More than 15,000 people died and it brought about one of the biggest nuclear power plant scares in years.    

According to The Toronto Star, there is no environmental concerns over the abandoned ship, but mariners in the Pacific Ocean need to take warning because “the vessel poses a potential navigational hazard.”

Photo from National Geographic

Posted under Earthquake, Environment, Flooding, Geology, Natural Disasters, Nature, Oceans, Tsunami, Uncategorized, Weather History, Weather NEws

In yesterday’s blog post I delved into the topic of less ice in the arctic and how it has changed through the centuries including during the Little Ice Age and other periods. Recent research has suggested that plants developing on land might have caused the very old ice ages hundreds of millions of years ago and that increased volcanism could have trigger the Little Ice Age, although many people suspect the Maunder Minimum of solar activity was the key factor in maintaining the Little Ice Age.

With the prospect of another solar minimum right around corner you know there are sure to be some fireworks in AGW discussions. Most scientists expect that solar activity will be lower than normal for the next few decades. This has led to speculation that our recent warmer climate might turn colder again. Most mainstream scientists think that “greenhouse gases” will overwhelm any effect from the sun. The Daily Mail (not the most scientific of sources) published this article recently taking a look at both sides of the issue.

Historical Sunspot Trends

Just in case the notion that the sun has a noticeable effect on the climate permeated to culture too much, some climatologists and media outlets were quick to point out that even if the sun’s output did decrease, it would only drop the earth’s temperature by a couple tenths of a degree in the next few decades. Alternatively, AGW projections estimate the earth could warm by 2 to 4 degrees. Gizmodo says we are NOT in for another little ice age, only a less extreme heat wave (if solar output goes down). James Hansen made sure to point out that recently, the earth has been absorbing more energy than it is emitting back into space, so it is likely that the climate will continue to warm.

Even though we could end up with increasing global temperatures, that does not mean that we would be without harsh winter’s. Past research has suggested and recent research has bolstered the premise that Europe could end up with more harsh winters because of less ice in the arctic.

Ice on the Black Sea

Less ice in the arctic changes the wind patterns and allows for more moisture in the air, thus the possibility of more snow and cold in parts of Europe. That would seem to be the case this year as many areas of central and eastern Europe are currently in the grip of an extreme cold wave. Many new monthly record lows have been set in Bulgaria and the Black sea is partially frozen. Just to give you an idea of how significant this cold wave is, the Black Sea has only completely frozen over 3 different times in modern recorded history.

Digesting the news and theories over the last couple of days, I could definitely see how a new little, or major, ice age could form. If increased volcanism occurred at the same time of a solar minimum while the world’s oceans are warmer than normal, this could lead to a lot more snow on land. The key point here is that the earths oceans have been warming up and they will not divest that warmth very easily (water has a high thermal stability). If the atmosphere cools down rapidly due to (volcanism and/or low solar activity) while the oceans stay warm, it could lead to greater temperature contrasts across the globe and more moisture in the air, both of which could drive stronger storms and more harsh wintry weather. While this is a possibility, odds are that we will continue to see some warming in the near future.

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Just one quick follow-up on a story I have been reporting on for a few years now: the Russians are very close to breaking into Vostok lake in Antarctica. This is a lake that is buried under at least 2 miles of ice and has not seen sunlight in over 100,000 years. Some scientists think that weird life forms might exist under the ice and are concerned that the Russian drilling experiment might contaminate the lake with pollutants of bacteria from the surface. Read more here.

Have a nice Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Arctic climate, Climate Change, Oceans, Records, Weather History

One of the more interesting research results I have read recently is an attempt to link La Nina with major flu pandemics in human history. I am unsure why, but I instantly developed a heap of skepticism about this theory/study. I don’t have access to the full paper so I can’t evaluate the results as in depth as I would like, but I will opine anyway.

On a superficial level, this theory might seem to make common sense, in that colder weather is associated with a higher incidence of flu and colds. La Nina is a cooler than normal surface water pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean so perhaps it is also linked with colds and flu. Well, it is certainly not that simple when it comes to the spread of viruses.

The authors of the study speculate that La Nina changes the flight patterns of birds migrating around the globe. Birds carry viruses. During a La Nina, their altered migratory pattern puts them in areas where they can pick up different flu viruses. These viruses then mix and mutate within the birds creating a “bad flu” which eventually causes a pandemic in the human population of the world. The research claim that four widespread pandemics in the last 100 years happened around the same time that La Nina was occurring in the Pacific Ocean.

The Current La Nina, as of January 8th

I think it is just a chance association – a case of fitting data to a pattern without clearly delineating a cause. Here is why:

There are many weather patterns that affect the movement of birds and other migratory animals. The El Nino/La Nina cycle is an important one, but there are many other ocean and atmospheric patterns that could fit the bill. Even long droughts or significant floods can force animals to move hundreds or thousands of miles out of their normal range. Also, different strains of flu spread across the globe every year, not only during times of La Nina. Why would one ocean pattern (La Nina) cause more widespread pandemics than others that similarly cause disruption in animal/bird movement?

On a slightly different note, I have always wondered about the spread of flu and how we tackle the problem. In the absence of a sure-fire 100% technological/medical cure or antidote for the flu, I think it is a somewhat positive thing that viruses spread around the world. I like to think of us as having two immune systems, an individual one and a social one. The social immune system is all of ours, linked through the transmission of viruses.

In the distant past, humans did not travel the globe. When people did start moving large distances they brought “unknown” diseases to new lands. These diseases wiped out indigenous people who did not have any immune resistance built up to the new pathogens. It is estimated that over 90% of Native Americans in the U.S. died because of disease, not because European immingrants directly killed them. In today’s world, millions of people travel from one end of the globe to another every single day. There isn’t much chance for a particular virus to develop/mutate for decades or hundreds of years in a small isolated population in a distant corner of the earth, only to wreak havoc on the rest of the population once it is let out. Most viruses mutate and spread rather rapidly. They don’t have a great chance of picking up several deadly mutations over a long period of time. It would seem that minor mutations occur every year and once the “new” non-lethal viruses spread around the world (the annual flu season) we all gradually pick up immunity – through our social immune system. That is why I don’t mind getting the occasional flu or cold. Like the old saying goes, if it doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger. I am afraid that if viruses did not spread around, then we would be more susceptible to deadly versions in the future.

Of course, I am middle-aged, so I do not have as much to fear from the flu as the elderly. If I was older, I might be more germ-phobic. In the end, I definitely support the development of powerful technological/biomedical tools to eradicate all human diseases, pathological or otherwise. Until that point, the constant transmission of non-lethal viruses might be preventing the next big lethal pandemic. (just my little thought/theory about the flu I wanted to share, thanks for your attention, feel free to disagree)

Staying on the subject of La Nina, it is well known that it usually brings about lower than normal precipitation in the southern U.S., which is why folks in Texas were not looking forward to this Winter season. Luckily, many parts of Texas have received significant rain over the last couple of months so the drought is not as bad as earlier this year, but with La Nina expected to persist for another month or two, the situation could deteriorate. Check out the latest U.S. Drought Monitor here.

Lucky for us here in Wisconsin, below normal precipitation does not affect our livelihood too much. Snowmobiling has been non-existent for 95% of the state. Cross country skiing has been a little rough as well. But for food and water purposes, winter precipitation is not as critical as Spring and Summer precipitation. So even though 40% of the state is currently “abnormally dry” and it would be nice to pick up a couple feet of snow before Spring, rainfall will be the key once we get into April and May. That is when we will need it the most.

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And just for the heck of it, here is a little article I read recently about the “Check Engine” light all cars are equipped with. It isn’t weather or science related but it reproduces my opinion on the subject matter quite well. My “Check Engine” light story is this: The only new vehicle I have ever bought in my life came with a 60,000 mile full warranty. At about 60,213 miles the check engine light came on. I thought the timing was rather suspicious. When I took the car into the shop, there was a several hundred dollar list of repairs suggested - most were fixes or replacements of parts I have never heard of – and I know a bit about cars. Suffice it to say, the car was running fine so I didn’t get anything fixed. I have been driving it 5 years hence, all the while with the check engine light on, and it still runs just fine (I don’t recommend this practice, just relating a story here). Do any readers out there have any check engine light stories?

Have a fine Thursday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Drought, ENSO Update, Oceans, Uncategorized

I have often commented on the often seemingly contradictory predictions revolving around anthropogenic global warming (AGW). On the surface, these can seem a bit humorous. We have seen forecast of more hurricanes and less hurricanes, warmer weather and colder weather, more drought as well as more floods. It would seem as if the prognosticators are trying to cover all the bases, so that no matter what happens, it can be blamed on AGW.

One of the more interesting contradictions is the fact that many areas of the globe are experiencing harsher winters (we have had our share during the 3 years prior to this Winter), even though most data indicates the average temperature of the globe is very slowly rising. The one thing to remember is that even if there is a harsh (cold and snowy) Winter, the rest of the year might end up enough above normal that when the final annual average is calculated, the temperature could still end up above normal.

Snowmageddon in Washington DC 2010

A recent study which focused on the eastern U.S., southern Canada, and northern Eurasia, found that the harsh Winters were linked to warmer Summers. What?! The nascent theory is that warmer Summers lead to warmer water temps, which lead to more moisture in the air, which leads to more snow in the Winter, which leads to colder temps. The aggregate snow cover has a big impact on temps over large geographical regions. During Winter when the entire Midwest is covered in snow, temps will not warm up much even when warm winds blow into the area. Of course, the snow also reflects a lot of sunlight away from the ground preventing much warming. Snow-less ground absorbs a lot more sunlight and warms up.

This got me to wondering about positive feedback loops. During the course of studying many research results throughout the years, the “positive feedback loop” is often mentioned in climate forecasts. One example: less ice in the arctic leads to more warming in the ocean, which leads to less ice, which leads to more warming, ad infinitum (or so it seems). Almost every feedback loop that has been proposed is theorized to enhance AGW (in what seems like classic group-think). Hardly anyone has suggested feedback loops that work against AGW, even though the atmosphere is non-linear and has seen historical extremes at both the cold and warm end of the spectrum.

Cryosphere as of January 15th

Something eventually tips the balance of temps toward colder weather as evidenced by the glacial periods. Could increased snowfall tip the scales and counteract some of the warming of recent decades? It certainly does in the Winter as found by the recent study. But what would it take to affect temps on a global scale during other seasons of the year? A humongous amount of snow. If the Winter snow was deep enough in certain areas of the globe, it would last longer into the Spring (or even Summer in far northern latitudes). If the cryosphere (ice and snow covered areas of the globe) increased because of very heavy snowfall in the Winter, it could lead to a feedback loop that eventually creates a cooling trend. I don’t know how much snow we are talking about here, but it is part of the process that drove the past ice ages. Check the current state of the cryospere here.

For more on the reasons for past ice ages check out this recent report adding to the evidence that changes in the earth’s orbit and tilt drove the cycles between glacial and interglacial periods.

Have a pleasant Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Arctic climate, Climate Change, Oceans, Winter Weather

The plane used by NOAA to study hurricanes, and now winter storms. Image from NOAA.

A Gulfstream twin-engine turbo jet used to study hurricanes will be put to work to help forecast winter storms this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  

In an article published Jan. 12^th, NOAA says the jet will be flown around the North Pacific Ocean in January and February.  It will deploy sensors to “collect information where the jet stream and moisture from the ocean interact and breed potentially powerful winter storms that impact North America several days later.”

On board the aircraft meteorologists will be looking at a host of atmospheric conditions.  Included in their laundry list are wind, pressure, temperature and humidity levels.

In the article, National Centers for Environmental Prediction Capt. Barry Choy says that comparing the information gathered with the sensors with satellite imagery “significantly enhance[s] four-to-seven day winter weather forecasts.” 

NOAA uses the plane to study hurricanes during the late summer and fall seasons.  Its selected flight path will be to the east and west of Hawa’ii where the plane is currently stationed and as far north as Alaska. 

To read the article in its entirety and to see photos, log on to: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20120111_g4hawaii.html

Posted under Arctic climate, Environment, forecast, Hurricanes, International Weather, Nature, new media, Oceans, Science, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Weather and Health, Weather History, Weather NEws, World Weather

One of the bright spots in energy production in recent years is that of natural gas. Many environmentalists have criticized natural gas because it is still a fossil fuel and it doesn’t help all that much with carbon dioxide emissions. However, progress in the world of the 21st century seems to come in small increments and natural gas is is one of those areas of progress. It does offer some environmental benefits over oil and coal. Not only does it burn cleaner, produce less air pollution, and emit less carbon dioxide per BTU, it can be produced right here in the U.S. which means less tanker traffic delivering oil and coal all around the world. Besides that, it is cheap. It could be a bridge fuel to take us to the next big form of energy (solar, nuclear, etc.).

Typical Natural Gas Well

Given all the benefits of using natural gas, I have been dismayed at some of the hype surrounding the process of fracking. Environmentalists have pointed out some of the potential pitfalls of using fracking to extract natural gas. These involve potential groundwater pollution and earthquakes. Despite the potential of causing ground water pollution, not much of it has been reported as of yet. Only one of the households featured in the movie GASLAND actually had flammable tap water due to fracking. The others were from natural causes.

Illustration of fracking

The subject of earthquakes (or perhaps frack-quakes) has also made headlines recently. Scientists in England and in Ohio have found with high probability that fracking, or the sealed wells from which natural gas was extracted ended up causing “earthquakes”. I put the word earthquake in quotes because it is not the type of earthquake we are all familiar with. Major natural earthquakes typically occur around fault lines between plates of the earth’s crust. The tectonic plates are constantly moving and releasing energy that shakes the ground. The frackquakes are small, highly localized, and caused by something shifting within the well that formerly held natural gas. It might be a layer of rock collapsing or frack-sand/frack-liquid shifting under pressure. In any case, I am unaware of anyone being injured or of any significant property damage occurring. The frackquake in Ohio was rated at 4.0 on the Richter scale. Which, while unsettling for those who experienced it, is not a major quake by any means.

In the case of fracking, and natural gas extraction, I see a classic cost- benefit analysis. If the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is going to destroy the environment in a few short decades, as has been claimed many times for years now, then you would think that any new energy source and technology that could reduce our reliance on oil and coal would be very welcome. Natural gas is not perfect for environmental concerns, but it does offer economic and environmental advantages over oil and coal. I don’t think that the problems that have developed thus far are grave enough to shut it all down. There is little chance we can maintain our current level of widespread wealth and health without at least some form of advanced natural gas (and other fuels) extraction like fracking. If the evidence for ground water pollution becomes more solid, or if frackquakes start reaching 5.0 or 6.0 on thr Richter scale, then we would have to re-evaluate.

Great Barrier Reef

Speaking of cost benefit analysis, it was in the forefront of my mind when I read this article about spreading alkali in the ocean to reduce the acidity caused by more carbon dioxide in the air. As I have reported many times in the blog before (and here about methods to reduce acidity), many researchers are worried that coral reefs will disappear because of the high acidity (although some coral can survive in higher acidity). They are worried that the ocean ecosystem and food web will collapse very soon.

Thus I was surprised to read this opinion that dumping Alkali in the oceans was not realistic because it would cost trillions of dollars. First of all, in today’s debt-leverage money-printing economies, a trillion dollars is almost a “drop in the bucket”. Second of all, as mentioned above with fracking, if the fate of the world hangs in the balance, if AGW (and acidic oceans) are going to cause environmental Armageddon, then it would be worth the cost. It would be worth almost any cost. In addition, adjusting the pH of the ocean could be done in localized areas to maintain the health and diversity of coral in important places (like the Great Barrier Reef). This could be accomplished at a lesser cost while something is done about carbon dioxide emissions.

Have a good Monday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under AGW, Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Oceans, Pollution

Photo courtest Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Northern parts of the United Kingdom have seen some rough weather in the past week, causing over £100 million (approximately $156 million) in estimated economic damage. 

Scotland was slammed with wind gust speeds near 165 miles an hour—that’s less than 10 miles an hour under the strongest wind gust ever recorded on British soil, according to The Telegraph.

For comparison sake, a category five hurricane sees sustained winds of at least 155 miles an hour.  An EF 3 tornado sees 3-second wind gusts between 136 and 165 miles an hour.    

Included in the damage is a 328-foot tall wind turbine that reportedly exploded when overloaded by the storm.  Industrial wind turbines are designed to withstand strong gusts, and designed to automatically turn off when wind speeds reach a certain point. 

No one was injured in the turbine explosion. 

The images and video coming from the British Isles, particularly fromScotland, have been absolutely incredible.  To see some of the damage and to learn more about this historic storm check out these links:

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video-Scotland-hammered-by-severe-wind-storm/tabid/313/articleID/235883/Default.aspx

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8948310/Britain-likely-to-suffer-from-a-double-dose-of-severe-weather-next-week.html

http://peakoil.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=63744

Posted under International Weather, Natural Disasters, Nature, Oceans, Records, Seasonal Items, Severe Weather, Storms, Travel, Weather History, Weather NEws, Weather Safety, World Weather