Damn, good luck staying warm folks!!
If things get bad, use the buddy system:
http://www.chiff.com/a/camping-sleep-warm.htm
As without heat, a poorly insulated property can become as cold as camping out, so stay smart, stay warm.
Could be some snow again in Dallas for Christmas, which would mark the second time since 2009 that they’ve had a White Christmas, which is kinda nuts considering how often it happened in the many decades previous (a couple). 2009 was especially nutty, since there were two heavy snows within a week of each other (we’re talking 6-12 inches). It won’t be that much, maybe half an inch, in the metro area, and a bit more north.
The same system however is expected to make life miserable at it sweeps through the Gulf states, and a Moderate Risk for severe weather has been issued for Christmas Day from far southeast Texas all the way to through Alabama:
INITIALLY…STRONG/POTENTIALLY SEVERE TSTMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
ONGOING THIS MORNING…ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TX INTO LA. THIS
INCLUDES THE POSSIBILITY OF ELEVATED SUPERCELLS NORTH OF THE WARM
FRONT /MAINLY CAPABLE OF HAIL/…ALONG WITH AN INCREASING SURFACE
BASED SEVERE THREAT NEAR/SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT THIS MORNING ACROSS
THE UPPER TX COAST/SOUTHERN LA. WITHIN AN INCREASINGLY MOIST AND
HIGHLY SHEARED ENVIRONMENT…THIS INCLUDES THE POSSIBILITY OF AN
EARLY DAY TORNADO/WIND DAMAGE THREAT THIS MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON
ACROSS SOUTHEAST TX INTO SOUTHERN LA.
…
THIS DESTABILIZATION COUPLED WITH AN INCREASINGLY
STRONG DEEP LAYER WIND FIELD…WITH 70-100 KT AT 500 MB AND
110+ KT AT 250 MB…WILL RESULT IN DEEP LAYER SHEAR SUPPORTIVE OF
ROTATING UPDRAFTS/SUPERCELLS. ACCENTUATED BY THE DEEPENING PHASE OF
THE CYCLONE…EVENTUAL QLCS DEVELOPMENT SEEMS LIKELY TO OCCUR THIS
AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT NEAR/AHEAD OF THE EASTWARD-ADVANCING COLD
FRONT…ALTHOUGH DISCRETE SUPERCELLS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE WITHIN THE
WARM SECTOR AND NEAR/IMMEDIATELY AHEAD OF THE EVOLVING QLCS…WHICH
SEEMS LIKELY TO CROSS LA AND THE SOUTHERN HALVES OF MS/AL THROUGH
TONIGHT. POTENTIALLY WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
SUSTAINED BOWING SEGMENTS. FURTHERMORE…A FEW STRONG/POTENTIALLY
LONG-LIVED TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH DISCRETE SUPERCELLS
AND/OR EVENTUAL EMBEDDED MESO-VORTICES LATER THIS
AFTERNOON/TONIGHT…
— Alan
Portions of southeastern Louisiana, the southern half of Mississippi and southwestern Alabama are under a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” (PDS) Tornado Watch. Situation as of current:
These are some fairly dangerous storms and there’s reports of long-lasting tornadoes coupled with excessive damage in a few cells.
— Alan
Sound like Mobile just got hammered. A pretty large tornado just plowed through portions of the city.
— Alan
godhugh
1627
Got a good 3-4 inches of snow here in Dallas. Was pretty awesome as my youngest got to enjoy his first white Christmas.
Ephraim
1628
The world may not have ended on the 21st, but today it’s the Snowpocalypse here in Montreal. A December record breaking 43cm (17 inches) of snow has fallen so far, with a bit more to come. Even my usually unstoppable all-wheel drive X-Trail with good winter tires got stuck for a bit. Good times!
It’s been mostly very mild and very wet in the uk, floods everywhere. Good luck in the usa, that snow storm looks real nasty. Those guys that got hammered by Sandy are not getting a break this year!
Clay
1630
Fled Burlington, VT via rental car, this AM, after most flights out were canceled. Now sitting in Boston, hoping my flight tomorrow will leave on time. The 8" of snow predicted for tonight leave me skeptical.
Miramon
1631
Decent chance if it’s clear tomorrow; good luck!
Clay
1632
Thanks. It’s raining at the moment, so that’s good. My family and I did enjoy the afternoon in Boston. The folks in Burlington were saying it might be 4 days before we got on an outbound flight, due to all the cancellations!
i know it’s not that dramatic a headline, but if you think about it a little it is kind of incredible:
‘Met Office: 2012 was UK’s second wettest year on record’:
Shock: country with famously bad weather gets even worse weather! Now who wants to holiday in my fair land? (always bring wellingtons and an umbrella)
San Antonio getting a little bit of sleet and snow today.
— Alan
Raises hand from the desert
BTW, whilst hitting up Google to see wtf a wellington is (galoshes? raincoat? extra wiper blades?), I stumbled upon this picture from the Wellington Airport in NZ:
It’s cold as fuuuuuuuuuuck!
yep thats some crazy arse snow storm wether madness you’ve been having state side. Snow in California, is that even normal (my british mind just sees sand, sun and traffic jams, all year round)?
@TranquilityBase, sorry i should have said wellington boots, named after the Duke of Wellington. You might need the modern rubber variety for uk visits (especially if in the country rather than town/city).
Depends where in California. Nearly all of California’s agricultural and municipal drinking water comes from snowmelt in its own mountains, so you can imagine that generally speaking we get quite a bit of snow in the state.
(When I mentioned San Antonio above, that is in Central Texas. One would think the same of Texas, perhaps moreso since there is no real skiing in the state, but West Texas and the Panhandle gets quite a bit of snow every year, which is always a useful counter when idiots claim that Texans have never seen snow. However, it is unusual to see snow so far south in Texas. Usually the conditions in north-central to central Texas engenders more ice storms than snow, however Dallas has had two White Christmases now in the last 4 years, which is stunning.)
— Alan
Snow in California? Yep, quite a bit of it. Important to consider what a massively large place it is; especially north-to-south which affects the climate at this latitude quite a bit. But also in terms of the geography. Lots of deserts (and sunny beaches in the south) but all of the agriculture that Alan mentioned in the central and northern quarters. The great central valley runs along the Sierra Nevada mountain range for hundreds of miles with peaks at 10,000 to 14,000 feet covered in snow for much of the year. And while it’s often of the man-made variety there are ski slopes within a 1 to 2 hour drive from Los Angeles.
I woke up this morning and the thermometer said -3.3 Fahrenheit. Apparently it got down to -10 last night.
Brr.
