Topic: I say, shoot the groundhog!

[wvchat]

BLUEFIELD — Slightly warmer air is finally making its way back into the region.

Temperatures today will climb to about 35 degrees, and a high of 40 degrees is expected Saturday. The mercury could climb to about 44 degrees on Sunday. And fears of another big snowstorm hitting the region on Monday could prove to be unfounded as current forecast models show the Bluefield area dodging a wintry bullet.

“There will be some melting, but it’s not going to be a snow eater by any stretch,” Steve Keighton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., said of the warmer trend expected this weekend. “With the lower 40s, and the dew temperatures remaining below freezing, it will be a slow gradual melt.”

While the rumors of an approaching storm system are true, it is looking more wet than white at the moment.

Keighton said forecast models at this point simply aren’t showing a snow event on Monday. In fact, it’s looking like just a rain event — possibly mixing with some snow later.

“Right now for the Bluefield area our best guess based on the latest information coming in is it is going to be primarily a rain event,” Keighton said. “But it is something we do need to pay close attention to if it does pick up more rain from the gulf. And on the back end of it it will get cold again, and could turn to snow.”

Keighton said forecasters will continue to closely watch the approaching storm system. However, most of the forecast models are currently showing warm air for Bluefield on Monday, which means the storm should be rain as opposed to snow. A high of 40 degrees is currently predicted for the Bluefield area on Monday. However, the rain will change to snow on Tuesday, and some snow accumulations would still be possible at that time.

While the region may dodge a bullet Monday, Keighton said one of the worse winters to hit our region in more than a decade isn’t over yet.

“We are still in the overall pattern where we could have significant winter storms on the horizon,” Keighton said. “We’ve still got plenty of cold air in place, and it could come down at any time. We have a generally strong and active southern branch of the jet stream. The overall pattern isn’t changing to the point where we are done with winter.”



Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158323.html#msg158323

[libby]

"Shoot the grioundhog."  Nah. Can't kill the messenger. The current changing weather pattern (like cold conditions seemingly shifting southward ) makes me think of one of the weather "theories" going around tbat my son told me about several years ago -- that the earth is going to further tilt on its axis to the point that the poles will reverse. Straight out of sci-fi.

libby

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158332.html#msg158332

[Graybeard]

"Shoot the grioundhog."  Nah. Can't kill the messenger. The current changing weather pattern (like cold conditions seemingly shifting southward ) makes me think of one of the weather "theories" going around tbat my son told me about several years ago -- that the earth is going to further tilt on its axis to the point that the poles will reverse. Straight out of sci-fi.

libby

That makes no sense whatsoever. Yes the earth is tilted, but not in a fixed position. Magnetic declination, the difference between true north and magnetic north, is always changing. At times the declination may be in the northwest, and others the northeast. It's a slow process as the earth's tilt changes, but has to be accounted for when dealing with compass readings. For example, if you went out in your front yard, stood in one spot and marked a spot where 0 degrees hit with a compass and stood in the same spot 5 years later 0 degrees would be at a different spot. You can figure the declination differences for the different observations and point your compass at the same spot again. Also, neither spot would be true north, it would be magnetic north. To point to true north with a compass you must either add or subtract the current magnetic declination when you take your compass reading.

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158335.html#msg158335

[Bo D]

True, there is no evidence of the rotation axis of the Earth "flipping" but the magnetic field does sometimes completely flip.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html

"Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago."





Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158336.html#msg158336

[notatroll]

Isn't this one of the concerns for 2012.  I know they say the Myan calendar and all that.  i was reading somewhere, maybe the Nasa site that the planets would line up and they were not sure of the reults.

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158338.html#msg158338

[notatroll]

True, there is no evidence of the rotation axis of the Earth "flipping" but the magnetic field does sometimes completely flip.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html

"Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago."

 Now that is just scary!

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158339.html#msg158339

[Bo D]

True, there is no evidence of the rotation axis of the Earth "flipping" but the magnetic field does sometimes completely flip.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html

"Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago."

 Now that is just scary!

There is really no need to be all that concerned.

"They've also learned what happens during a magnetic flip. Reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time--contrary to popular belief--the magnetic field does not vanish. "It just gets more complicated," says Glatzmaier. Magnetic lines of force near Earth's surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it's still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms.

And, as a bonus, Tahiti could be a great place to see the Northern Lights"



Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158343.html#msg158343

[notatroll]

And we could Freeze to death!  We have another storm moving in Monday or Tuesday.    I am worried that  WV may turn into one big ice block!

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158346.html#msg158346

[notatroll]

True, there is no evidence of the rotation axis of the Earth "flipping" but the magnetic field does sometimes completely flip.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/29dec_magneticfield.html

"Sometimes the field completely flips. The north and the south poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago."

 Now that is just scary!

There is really no need to be all that concerned.

"They've also learned what happens during a magnetic flip. Reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time--contrary to popular belief--the magnetic field does not vanish. "It just gets more complicated," says Glatzmaier. Magnetic lines of force near Earth's surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it's still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms.

And, as a bonus, Tahiti could be a great place to see the Northern Lights"

Bo could this be our natural global warming?

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158378.html#msg158378

[Bo D]

Bo could this be our natural global warming?

Well, I've never stayed in a Holiday Inn Express so I can't say! 

But I really don't think shifting of the magnetic poles is going to cause anything more than to make our compasses useless.

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158379.html#msg158379

[notatroll]

   My compass is useless anyway! Never could figure out how to use it.

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158382.html#msg158382

[wvchat]

And we could Freeze to death!  We have another storm moving in Monday or Tuesday.    I am worried that  WV may turn into one big ice block!

Bite your tongue.  It's going to RAIN Monday.  Innocent little rain drops. 



Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158405.html#msg158405

[wvchat]

"Shoot the grioundhog."  Nah. Can't kill the messenger. The current changing weather pattern (like cold conditions seemingly shifting southward ) makes me think of one of the weather "theories" going around tbat my son told me about several years ago -- that the earth is going to further tilt on its axis to the point that the poles will reverse. Straight out of sci-fi.

libby

Linkback: http://4seasonschat.com/index.php/topic,14521.msg158406.html#msg158406

[notatroll]

 

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