(NOAA CPC/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(NOAA CPC/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Polar Vortex, the Sequel? It's a little early, but GFS is consistent in bringing a massive scoop of polar (Siberian) air across Canada into the northern USA by the third week of January. This could be the coldest shot of them all, perhaps the better part of a week below zero. That's going way out on a limb - I hope I'm wrong.
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(Paul Douglas/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The Danger of Leaving Weather Prediction to AI. The most accurate forecasts are still man + machine: Humans with the right skill sets can still add value to the models, resulting in more accurate, actionable weather forecasts. A post at WIRED.com (paywall) explains; here's an excerpt: "...Similarly, research published by NOAA Weather Prediction Service director David Novak and his colleagues show that while human forecasters may not be able to "beat" the models on your typical sunny, fair-weather day, they still produce more accurate predictions than the algorithm-crunchers in bad weather. Over the two decades of information Novak's team studied, humans were 20 to 40 percent more accurate at forecasting near-future precipitation than the Global Forecast System (GFS) and the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM), the most commonly used national models. Humans also made statistically significant improvements to temperature forecasting over both model's guidance. "Oftentimes, we find that in the bigger events is when the forecasters can make some value-added improvements to the automated guidance," says Novak..."
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Could Being Cold Actually Be Good For You? Man, I hope so. Minnesotans are "well preserved". A post at WIRED.com (paywall) explains the potential benefits: "...Researchers know that your body reacts when it's cold. New fat appears, muscles change, and your level of comfort rises with prolonged exposure to cold. But what all this means for modern human health—and whether we can harness the effects of cold to improve it—are still open questions. One vein of research is trying to understand how cold-induced changes in fat or muscle can help stave off metabolic disease, such as diabetes. Another suggests it's easier than you might think to get comfortable in the cold—without blasting the heat. To Haman, these are useful scientific questions because freezing is one of our bodies' oldest existential threats. "Cold, to me, is [one of] the most fascinating stimuli because cold is probably the biggest challenge that humans can have," he says. "Even though heat is challenging, as long as I have access to water, and to shade, I will survive fairly well. The cold is completely the opposite..."
A fire-ravaged section of Original Town Superior (foreground) lies amid fresh snow cover on January 2, 2022. Few if any modern U.S. wildfires have seen suburban communities devoured by fire and then covered by snow less than 36 hours later. After 11.2” of snowfall, the temperature in nearby Boulder dipped to –2°F on the morning of January 2. (Image credit: Bob Henson/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
A Month of Unprecedented U.S. Weather Disasters Ends with Colorado Fire Catastrophe. Bob Henson summarizes last week's wild fire northwest of Denver for Yale Climate Connections: "Several weeks of truly bizarre December weather in the United States – ranging from eerily pleasant to horrific – ended with a fierce windstorm on December 30 that drove Colorado's most destructive wildfire on record. A preliminary count showed 991 structures were consumed by the Marshall Fire in exurban and suburban areas between Boulder and Denver. The blaze is just behind California's Thomas fire (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, December 2017) as the nation's most destructive wildfire in modern records for meteorological winter (December through February). The Thomas fire took two lives and destroyed 1,063 structures, according to Cal Fire. Two people remained missing from the Marshall Fire as of Tuesday morning, January 4..."
File image (EPA/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Air Pollution in Cities Causes 1.8 Million Deaths Globally Each Year, Studies Find. UPI.com has details: "Exposure to unhealthy levels of air pollution causes 1.8 million deaths in cities worldwide each year, two studies published Wednesday by The Lancet Planetary Health estimated. In addition, nearly 2 million asthma cases among children globally are linked with exposure to nitrogen dioxide pollution from motor vehicle emissions annually, with two in three occurring in urban areas, the data showed. Children and the elderly bear the brunt of the health complications associated with exposure to air pollution, the researchers said. "Avoiding the large public health burden caused by air pollution will require strategies that not only reduce emissions but also improve overall public health to reduce vulnerability," Veronica Southerland, a co-author on both studies, said in a press release..."
Ford F-150 Lightning (FORD/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The 20 Best EVs Coming in 2022. WIRED.com takes a look at a new crop of all-electric options, and the variety will just keep on growing over time: "...To say the Lightning electric pickup truck is a huge deal for Ford is, frankly, putting it mildly. After all, the regular internal-combustion F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle of any kind in the US for over 40 years. This may explain why the look has largely been left untouched. However, everything else has changed. Some 563 hp and 775 pound-feet of torque are provided by dual electric motors. Two battery options offer 230 miles of range from the standard pack and 300 miles for the Extended Range model. You also get a huge "frunk" (front trunk), thanks to the lack of an engine, the ability to tow up to 10,000 lbs, and the Pro Power Onboard system, which provides up to 9.6 kW of power for all manner of tools, electronics, microwave ovens, and other appliances via 11 outlets spread across the cab, bed, and front boot..."