Wild 'extremes' weatherwise continuing on a global scale

I've received numerous phone calls and emails concerning this past summer's record melting of Arctic sea ice, an area bigger than the United States.

This melting occurred at exactly the same time that the huge icepack in Antarctica reached its greatest size since at least 1979 at the South Pole, mirroring the planet's wild weather.

This week we saw the mercury soar on Dec. 3 to 70 degrees at Chicago and Indianapolis, both record highs for the date. It was even warmer at St. Louis, a springlike 74 degrees. Springfield, Ill., likewise saw 74 degrees on Monday. Louisville, Ky., hit 75 degrees, but it was a degree shy of a new record high for Dec. 3.

By extreme contrast, the town of Chicken on the Taylor Highway in the eastern interior of Alaska, dipped to an all-time record low for so early in the season of minus-52 degrees on Thursday, Nov. 29.

Fairbanks International Airport reached minus-30 degrees on Nov. 29. The city had its coldest back-to-back Novembers in recorded history in 2011 and 2012. The winter of 2011-12 was the snowiest in Alaska and the Yukon in at least 50 years.

The afternoon high temperature on Wednesday, Nov. 28, in Fairbanks was minus-21 degrees, the first time ever the city had seen a maximum reading in November under minus-20 degrees. The average temperature in Fairbanks this November was likewise a new record at a frigid minus-7.5 degrees.

This huge block of Arctic cold will eventually migrate to the south/southeast towards areas east of the Rockies. Temperatures this next week in Chicago will plunge as much as 40 degrees. Moderate snows will be likely near the Great Lakes.

It's certainly possible that another hard freeze, like we've seen in recent years, will hit the citrus and vegetable areas of Florida and, perhaps, even Texas and northeastern Mexico by late December or early to mid January.

I agree with the World Meteorological Organization that our planet's weather has become "unbelievably EXTREME." I've been saying this for decades!

There have been a myriad of wild weather events in 2012 on a global scale.

The year began with record cold and heavy snows in parts of Europe and Asia. The canals froze in Venice, Italy. Schools were closed by snow and ice for the first time in living memory in Rome. Rare snows were seen on the African Continent in January in the north and July in the south. Central Australia had its coldest July in recorded history. Many pipes burst in Alice Springs in Central Australia.

Droughts ravaged nearly two-thirds of the U.S. in 2012. Moisture shortages in parts of the parched Great Plains were termed "worse" that during the 'Dust Bowl Days' of the Depression-wracked 1930s.

Russia, the Ukraine and southern Europe likewise saw massive summer droughts that destroyed approximately 20 percent of the 2012 wheat crops substantially limiting exports to foreign markets.

Again by extreme contrast, devastating floods swamped much of West Africa this past summer. Just this past week, record rains caused lowland flooding along the Napa, Russian and Truckee Rivers in Northern California. Nearly two feet of rain deluged Sterling City, Calif., in the Sierra Nevada Mountain foothills.

It remains the opinion of this climatologist that even GREATER EXTREMES OF WEATHER loom on the meteorological horizon into 2013 and beyond. Perhaps a new 'Little Ice Age' will arrive by 2020 to 2025 around peak of the next solar 'minima' cycle. Only time will tell.

NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS

The first 'sticking snows' in the lowlands in nearly a full month, since Veterans' Day, were falling as I wrote this North Idaho update last Friday morning. The grassy surfaces in my backyard were cloked in white.

Virtually all of the area ski resorts will be joining Schweitzer and Lookout Pass, which have been open now for the past couple of weeks, in nearly full ski operations.

The recent record rains and much warmer than normal temperatures are gradually being replaced by a colder and snowier flow from the Gulf of Alaska and the Arctic regions, where temperatures have recently dipped to under minus-50 degrees.

I still believe that we have an excellent chance in the Inland Empire, between 60 and 80 percent, of seeing a BRILLIANT WHITE CHRISTMAS in the North County with perhaps as much as 25 inches of snow by Dec. 31 in town.

Our normal December snowfall in Coeur d'Alene, since 1895, has been 20.6 inches. We tend to see less snow near the warmer lakes and more of the white stuff north of I-90 on Player Drive, where I've kept the city's weather records for the last decade.

Even heavier snows usually, but not always, tend to fall north of my station in Rathdrum, Twin Lakes and Athol. In the past few years since 2007, however, we've had exceptionally heavy building and roof-crushing snowfalls in the 'heart' of downtown Coeur d'Alene south of I-90.

This winter, I'm still predicting around 80 inches, close to last year's 83.4 inches in 2011-12, in total seasonal snowfall ending next June 30. January should be our snowiest month with somewhere between 28 and 35 inches.

As far as total precipitation is concerned in liquid form, 2012 should end with more than 40 inches. As of this Friday morning, Dec. 7, at 10 a.m., we stood at 1.65 inches for the month and a record-smashing 39.07 inches for the year, easily surpassing the previous record of 38.77 inches for all of 1996. Unlike the 'Dust Bowl' central regions of the U.S., Camelot has plenty of water, 'liquid gold.' We are very fortunate indeed to be residing in this moisture-rich Inland Northwest.

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