Before the Start of Winter--A Relentless Southward March of Snow and Ice

There is no bargaining with winter. Nearly a million in the dark across 7 US states.

Over the next week, two more systems will bring more precipitation in this area and in the end expand the area of snowcover to the south. Colder air will build in behind the latest system, the warmest of the series and then be reinforced later this week with a moderate precipitation event, this one mainly frozen with areas including Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City and perhaps Boston and Providence. The third system this weekend could become quite a major snowstorm for many areas depositing a foot or more of the white stuff. It is a little early to determine exact track and where the heaviest snow will fall but places from the nation’s capitol to New York City and Boston could be included although the chances will be greatest inland as is often the case with December storms. Very cold air will follow in the storm’s wake into the east well into next week.

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While a narcissistic Iowa preens itself in the glow of nationwide stagelights, US presidential candidates and their retinues try in vain to flex their greased political muscles for the crowds.

The savage ice storm ground the intense campaigning in the presidential race to a halt in Iowa, where the first vote on party candidates takes place on January 3.

Former president Bill Clinton was forced to postpone campaign events in Iowa for his wife, Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton.

The storm also disrupted the plans of surging former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who had been due to return to Iowa on Tuesday ahead of a Republican debate on Wednesday.

The airport in the state capital, Des Moines, was closed due to the weather, scuttling plans by Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic challenger Barack Obama, to campaign in the state on Tuesday.

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As an early winter marches relentlessly south to conquer North America, back in the Southern Hemisphere, the ice has not receded since the record southern winter.

Southern Hemisphere’s ice cover now is at the same level as last June, i.e., a level seen during the last winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Besides, there are two more millions square kilometers of ice now compared to December 2006. And the large positive anomaly has persisted since September.

... In the Northern Hemisphere, the ice and snow cover have recovered to within 1% (one snowstorm) of normal with the official start of winter still more than 12 days away

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Most of us remember the confident predictions by climate "scientists" that 2007 would be the warmest year ever recorded! But already, we are back to the 1990s. Before this cold northern December is over, we may have to go back further in the records.

In his haste to visit Oslo and Bali, Al Gore forgot to warn North Americans that in the end, nature will have its say. Computer models are one thing. Reality is quite something else.