Disaster Recovery News

The winter weather has not made any exceptions this year. States west to east have had massive amounts of snow dumped upon them as if a giant snow cone machine was shaving ice in the clouds above.

“The Weather Guys” with USA Today have stated the following for today for your area of the country and your neighbors:

“Northwest nightmare — A powerful winter storm is hammering the Northwest today. Gusty winds and heavy snow and rain are affecting Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Blizzard warnings have been issued for the Cascade and Olympic mountains today. Rain will spread south across California by later today.
Dangerous cold in the center — Intense cold and howling winds are the main weather story in the central USA today. Dangerously cold wind chills values will bottom out well below zero across most of the Plains and Midwest. The winds will bring some lake-effect snow in the lee of the Great Lakes.
More nastiness in the Northeast — Yet another in a series of winter storms is bringing snow and ice to the Northeast today. The heaviest snow should be in northern New York State and northern New England. Strong, bitterly cold winds will be the main story later today and tonight in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic areas.”

The Climate Prediction Center expects the month of January 2009 to be warmer than usual for states east of the Rocky Mountains.
Learn how to keep yourself safe at home or work amid all the wintry weather and the upcoming holidays. The winter months tend to bring a lot of moisture to our homes and businesses that often lead to mold growth; learn more about mold prevention.

NOAA predicts this winter will be warmer for many central parts of the United States, but it is hard to say how things will look for the rest of the country. The reason for this is that temperatures over the surface of the Pacific Ocean have not given good, reliable indicators thus far.

El Nino and La Nina have not recently been seen as patterns over the Pacific Ocean. El Nino is when the temperatures over the ocean’s surface warm-up, causing there to be warmer weather in the U.S. La Nina causes a cooling over the surface of the ocean which, therefore, causes cooler temperatures on land.  Interestingly enough, NOAA scientists say the temperatures in the U.S. will be more affected by the climate patterns in the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans.

“For now, the forecast calls for a mild winter, with warmer-than-normal weather from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachian Mountains through February…The best chance for above-normal temperatures was expected in Missouri, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, with a lower probability extending into southern Wisconsin, western Ohio and Texas.

But exactly how the weather plays out remains to be seen.”

Read the full story by Christopher Doering.

Check out NOAA’s website.

Learn about protecting your home against winter storms and how to prevent mold in your home or business during these months.

Illustration by Flora Richards-Gustafson