Another Bob Felix article: How ice ages begin

Before we get to our regular weekly article, let me first say that Tok is not a 'suburb' of Fairbanks. In fact, it's more than 200 miles away from Alaska's second biggest city.

I took the word 'suburb' from the AP new story. My thanks go out to Mike Kincaid, Robin Near and others for setting me straight.

By the way, 'TOK' isn't 'CHEAP.' It's a very expensive place due to its relative isolation to Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska's largest city.

Below is another article from our friend, Robert Felix, author of "Not By Fire, But By Ice." He details how ice ages begin. Here's Bob's report:

Remember this fall's pre-Halloween blizzard? Headlines across the U.S.A. called it "historic." Historic because it dumped record snowfall on at least 20 cities from Maryland to Maine. Historic because it was the most snow - and the earliest - in many areas since the end of the Civil War.

And we're not talking mere tenths of an inch here. This snowfall not only shattered the old records, it obliterated them! With 32 inches of snow, Peru, Mass., won the prize. Two-and-a-half feet! Waist deep! Before Halloween!

This is how ice ages begin. Not by huge glaciers slowly grinding out of the north, not by temperatures plunging to Siberian levels, but by more and more snow piling up from one season to the next without completely melting. Unfortunately, we're getting that snow.

According to Rutgers University Global Snow Lab, three of the four snowiest winters in the Northern Hemisphere have occurred in the last four years.

Last year's blizzard-filled winter and unusually cold, wet spring left record snowpack at more than 90 measuring sites across the western United States. Hard freezes killed fruit and vegetable crops last winter in the Deep South from Florida to Texas.

By Memorial Day, epic snowpack totals had been reported in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California.

On California's Mammoth Mountain, the snowpack measured an incredible 728 percent of normal. At Oregon's Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, snow totals reached 650 inches, far eclipsing the previous record of 606 inches. In Washington, Crystal Mountain broke its all-time snowfall record for the second time in only 11 years. And the snow kept coming. In early June, Utah's Snowbird ski resort reported a record snowpack at 525 percent of normal. People skied near Lake Tahoe on July 4th of this year!

And lest we forget, just a few months ago the Missouri River suffered its second 500-year flood in 15 years. Why? Because of heavy rains and melting record snowpack.

Glaciers are also growing in the United States. Even though last winter's historic snowpacks have not yet melted, new snow is already piling up in the Rocky Mountains, the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In Montana's Glacier National Park, in Colorado's Front Range, in Wyoming's Grand Tetons, the glaciers and snowfields are actually gaining volume. Meanwhile, scientists have measured a "very modest" increase on Sperry Glacier in Montana's Glacier National Park.

Mind you, these are not the only glaciers growing in the United States. Glaciers are also growing in California, Alaska and Washington state.

This is how ice ages begin. And our leaders keep screaming about global warming.

Next week in 'Gems,' I'll have the latest data on volcanic eruptions around the world. - Cliff.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

November was another month of WIDE WEATHER 'EXTREMES' across the Inland Northwest. Nearly four inches of liquid precipitation was gauged in Coeur d'Alene that included 10.9 inches of snow in town. The Schweitzer Mountain Ski Area opened at the earliest date since 1984 on Nov. 19.

Temperatures ranged from a much-above-normal 52 degrees on the day prior to Thanksgiving to a frigid 16 degrees on Nov. 19. The afternoon high on Nov. 19 was only 24 degrees, close to the record low maximum for the date of 22 degrees in 1921.

The average high during November 2011 was 41 degrees, a bit below the normal in Coeur d'Alene of 42.5 degrees. The average low reading of 28 degrees, however, was 1 degree above the normal since 1895 of 27 degrees.

Measurable snow fell on seven days during November in Coeur d'Alene. Nearly half of the 10.9 inch total - 4.8 inches - fell on a stormy, almost blizzardlike at times, Friday, Nov. 18. The normal November snowfall during the past 117 years has been 8.7 inches. Last November, as most of us remember, was the snowiest on record at 38.3 inches during a much stronger 'La Nina' event.

Speaking of La Nina, most computer models worldwide, including those of the Climate Prediction Center in the U.S., are predicting that the current phenomenon will peak by mid-January.

We still see a rather dry and cool first 10 days of December under a strong high pressure ridge over the Pacific Northwest that will funnel most weather systems to regions east and south of the Continental Divide.

But, by the 'full moon' cycle of Dec. 10-17, particularly late in the pattern, we should see a series of chilly and snowy storms from the Gulf of Alaska enter our part of the country. It's possible that we could measure as much as 18 to 24 inches of snow in the lowlands and upwards of 3 to 5 feet of the white stuff for skiers, snowboarders and other winter sports enthusiasts in the nearby mountains.

But, if the huge high pressure ridge doesn't 'break down' on schedule by mid December, especially if La Nina weakens rather than strengthens, the rest of the winter of 2011-12 may be a 'BUST,' snowfallwise and otherwise. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.

Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. Email sfharris@roadrunner.com