The season's first snow flurries fluttered to earth in Chicago yesterday. Over 5 weeks later than last year. Their arrival, by historical standards, was late. Only one other year---1999---has hosted its first snowflakes later. The first flurries that year fell on Dec. 5.  By historical standards, the flurries occurred 25 days beyond the Nov. 5 average first snow date since 2000. This is the time of year when rumors or dreams and fantasy hopes of snow start in Atlanta, and with every B.S. computer run that shows a phantom snow the geeks and children and model worshipers freak out with rumors and dreams of a White Christmas. That's the problem with the internet and mobile phone weather sites, those point and clicks will lead you astray because there's no human forecaster involved. I love snow, but I neither start nor listen to rumors. I'll stick with forecasting-- and you can also, just see my 5-day forecast by clicking on it from the home page or listening on the radio. I'll update the blog when I can but it's the last priority not the first. Read on:

The cold air which now dominates Atlanta and Chicago's weather has arrived as the new month of December gets underway. The chill comes on the heels of a trio of mild Midwest seasons---spring, summer and winter--- something which has occurred in Chicago only twice before in 82 years of weather records. While November was near-normal on average for Atlanta, for Chicago November was the 9th consecutive month to finish with above normal temperatures. The chill now in place is of Canadian origin. Its southward plunge into the U.S. is to bring frost and freezing temperatures to northern Florida and the Gulf Coast tomorrow morning.
 
Warm blocking pattern aloft over Greenland not only behind Atlanta's sudden cool-down---but driving school-closing, traffic snarling cold/snow in Europe
 
That hemispheric weather is often linked in fascinating ways is underscored by the current pattern, which features a huge pool of warm air aloft over Greenland and the North Atlantic---a frequently-recurring pattern in recent years. Dubbed the "Greenland block", the pattern forces cold air, which normally resides farther north over northeast and northern Canada to settle south into the U.S. But the block has other impacts too. By forcing jet stream winds to buckle northward over Greenland around this "warm pool" aloft, these winds tap cold air and force it south into western Europe. It's a development which makes Europe more vulnerable to frigid and snowy wintry weather, that is also the case for the Eastern Third of the United States. Indeed in recent weeks the computer models have shown snow even in Atlanta in their extended range projections, only to take them away then later bring them back. This is normal model waffling and why I don't just forecast whatever a computer shows on any given day. However, the overall pattern is favorable for potential the next 2-3 weeks with the -AO/-NAO blocking and stratospheric warming event above the North Pole. I mentioned this in my blog entry of November 16th so you're not surprised if you've been reading, it also fits the winter outlook blog entry of November 5th. The devil is in the details which can only be known in shorter time spans.

Blizzard conditions which began affecting northeast sections of the United Kingdom earlier this week, producing the deepest snows in some locations since 1966, spread south into London Tuesday. There schools were closed and many traffic accidents occurred. The meteorological mayhem extended south onto the European continent as well. Numerous accidents were reported across Germany and advisories for snow were up as far south as Spain.

That mammoth storm has been blasting a wide swath of Europe in recent days. Significant snows fell there, forcing airport closings from the UK to Switzerland---among them Gatwick, London's second largest airport, Edinburgh Airport in Scotland and Chambery and Grenoble in southeastern France. The airport at Geneva, Switzerland was closed and severe delays were reported at airports in Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Prague and Orly in Paris. Two thousands traffic accidents were linked to the weather in Germany and at least eight perished in sub-zero cold in Poland.

The UK Met Office in London reports November was the coldest and snowiest since 1993 in parts of the country and that some seasonal snow tallies to date are at the highest levels since 1965. 
 
Thunderstorms unleash near-half foot rains in the Deep South; flood watches hoisted Tuesday across a dozen Appalachian states
 
The southeastward expansion of cold air into the U.S. set up powerful thunderstorms Tuesday  prompting tornado watches from the Carolinas north to Virginia. Southern rainfalls the past 2 days have been stunning. Some of the heavier totals have included: 5.67 inches at Aldridge Creek, 5.33 inches in Huntsville, 5.30 inches at Peevey Creek and 4.70 inches at Whitesburg---all in Alabama. Atlanta, Georgia's rainfall broke Tuesday's record totaling  2.11 inches while farther north, in Pittsburgh, Penn., 2.80 inches fell, breaking not only establishing a new record rain total for the day-- but for November as well.

 
97 mph winds sweep southern Alaska near Valdez, sending glacial dust airborne; bitter cold's return to 49th state sends temps 60+-degrees lower than last week
 
Powerful winds raked southern Alaska Tuesday.  Gusts hit 97 miles per hour at an airport control tower 3 miles east of Valdez. In Whittier, often referred to as the gateway to Prince William Sound and located south of Anchorage, winds topped 64 mph, while in Palmer to Anchorage's north, gusts reached 70 mph. Winds of that strength send glacial dust airborne----and Tuesday was no exception. The National Weather Service reported glacial dust from the Katmai volcano explosion was lifted into the air by the near hurricane force gusts observed across the region. Temperatures in interior Alaska near Fairbanks dropped to levels 60-degrees colder than a week ago, when an unusual November ice storm crippled the area.