“Weatherman Art Horn spotlights: Power and fury of ‘white stuff’ and other storms” |
| Weatherman Art Horn spotlights: Power and fury of ‘white stuff’ and other storms Posted: 13 Mar 2011 02:08 PM PDT Written by Joan Lownds A snow cloud that looks like a giant woolly mammoth encroaches on New England — a sight all too familiar this winter. The image was part of meteorologist Art Horn's presentation at Ogden House Wednesday, Feb. 23. The title of the talk, "Extreme Weather," was befitting of this stormy season. "This January was the snowiest on record in Connecticut," with more than 30 inches piling up at Bradley International Airport, said the former meteorologist at NBC 30, ABC and PBS, as massive snowdrifts flashed on his screen. Along with most of the U.S., extreme weather also struck Europe, bringing the coldest temperatures to England in 351 years, Mr. Horn said. "They had the second coldest December on record — only the December of 1890 was colder," he said. So what has caused such a bitter cold and snowy season?Mr. Horn attributed it to "a super La Nina," which he described as "the lesser known and colder sister of El Nino. La Nina chills the waters of the tropical Pacific Ocean and in turn cools the entire planet for one to two years or more... This La Nina appears to be special, at least so far." But then, "there has always been extreme weather," said Mr. Horn, who also contributes to such online magazines as Energy Tribune and Icecap.us, and serves as an expert legal witness in weather-related matters. For example, he showed pictures of the flood of 1955, which flattened houses across the state; hurricane Gloria in 1985; and the blizzard of 1978 — the gold standard by which all snowstorms are now judged. "There was almost two feet of snow, with 15-foot drifts, and cars got stranded on highways," said Mr. Horn. Gov. Ella Grasso shut down the state, and mail delivery ceased for the first time in 40 years. Even criminals hunkered down: Hartford police reported that major crime fell by one-third. Although Connecticut may get pummeled by such blizzards, the state is usually spared flash floods, which strike out west more often, and were described by Mr. Horn as the most deadliest kind of weather. "More people are killed by flash floods than by any other kind of weather," he said. Similarly, the state is usually not struck by dangerous tornadoes, according to Mr. Horn, who is a Groton native. "Connecticut averages one tornado a year, while Texas gets 130 and Oklahoma gets 55," he said. But Mr. Horn said storms serve a purpose and bring a balance to nature. "Storms are as necessary to life as air is to breathe and food is to eat," he said. "Sometimes these storms bring death and destruction. It's not that these weather systems are working against us, it's just that at times the natural collision of extremely cold and hot air masses generates extreme weather." "These storms, no matter how severe, are nature's way of balancing out the differences in temperatures across the world," he said. "The more extreme the temperature differences on Earth the more severe the storms will be." According to Mr. Horn, storms are necessary. "We need storms," he said. "We just have to find a way to survive them when extreme weather attacks." According him, weather is a dominant factor in our lives. "When you think about it, everything we do is affected by the weather," he said. "The weekend trip to the shore or lake will depend on what kind of weather there is. On your wedding day you may want to be outside but you better have a backup plan because the weather may not cooperate." Information: theartofweather.com. Log in or register a new account. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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