Friday, January 29, 2016

The Role of Warm Ocean Temperatures in Promoting Snowfall

Jerry Steffens writes:
People sometimes scoff at the idea that increased snowfall could be associated with warmer temperatures, but this past weekend we saw an example of just that. As the accompanying figure shows, water temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean are considerably warmer than average. When this happens, there is a stronger temperature contrast with arctic air masses that descend from Canada, providing more energy for storms. (In meteorological jargon, the process is called baroclinic energy conversion.) This is one reason why the recent storm was able to become so intense.

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