Althouse: First snow, at first light.

December 9, 2017

First snow, at first light.

Just now.

32 comments:

MadisonMan said...: Suitable for a broom, not a shovel.; 12/9/17, 7:20 AM
traditionalguy said...: The great white North is finally catching up to the snowy South. White privilege again.; 12/9/17, 7:28 AM
Wilbur said...: It's 78 and humid here in the Miami area. There's rain on the way, and then cold, into the 40s tonight.; 12/9/17, 7:33 AM
Curious George said...: It's funny how in Wisconsin the first snow is always treated by the news and NEWS!; 12/9/17, 7:34 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It's way too late for the first snow!

And that's way too little snow.

At this time of year, we need the kind of snow you can ski on.; 12/9/17, 7:49 AM
matism said...: Well down here in east central Florida, that would be enough to make one go out and buy the biggest snowblower one could find...

}:-]; 12/9/17, 7:54 AM
AllenS said...: Light snow here also in west central WI. With a light wind out of the NW. I was going to say that it felt a lot colder than it was, but checking the outdoor thermometer, it says 11º.; 12/9/17, 8:03 AM
Big Mike said...: Us, too, here in Virginia, but hardly anything and it’s not supposed to stick.; 12/9/17, 8:04 AM
Meade said...: Low-class snow.; 12/9/17, 8:05 AM
Eleanor said...: We're getting our first snow of the year today in southern New England. We're babysitting a 9 week old puppy. Just a dusting so far although there's a significant amount predicted. The puppy wasn't sure she liked the stuff until she found out she can eat it. We'll see what she thinks when it's up to her belly.; 12/9/17, 8:05 AM
Curious George said...: "Ann Althouse said...
It's way too late for the first snow!

And that's way too little snow.

At this time of year, we need the kind of snow you can ski on."

Not really. In the last 100 years Madison has had no snow cover ON CHRISTMAS DAY 36% of the time, and 1" or less 54% of the time. 2" of less is all the way up to 70%.

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/city-life/a-christmas-without-snow-it-s-fairly-common-in-madison/article_8b298390-a8cf-11e5-8c68-0fb9551108ff.html; 12/9/17, 8:07 AM
MadisonMan said...: I can be pretty boring when I start talking about weather (I know -- that's really surprising! ) but I'll just say that this is not Madison's first snow this year -- that occurred 3 or 4 weeks ago, almost to the hour of my typing this. A whopping 0.3" at the airport.; 12/9/17, 8:12 AM
Wilbur said...: On 11/11/1911, from climate.missouri.edu:

"On November 11, 1911, many locations in Missouri established a record in terms of the largest daily temperature swing and this remarkable occurrence remains unprecedented today. Generally, for Missouri, the temperature drop was 50° in less than 3 hours and 65-70° in 18 hours. Maximum and minimum temperatures for some Missouri locations on 11/11/11 include Kansas City, 76°/11°; Springfield, 80°/13°; Columbia, 82°/13°; Hannibal, 82°/16°; and St. Louis, 78°/18°."

Similar weather was experienced across the Midwest.; 12/9/17, 8:29 AM
Lucien said...: Speaking of snow, whenever there is some adverse weather event, or even a natural event like wildfires, or drought, the following will appear:

Reporter: "Is this event the result of climate change?"

"Climate Scientist": "It is always extremely difficult to ascribe any particular cause to a given isolated event." (This is why anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot, planet-killing denier when they remark on a cold spell in June and say "What global warming?")

"But,in this case there is a very substantial likelihood that this event was at least indrectly driven by climate change, especially given the context of so many extreme weather events these days."; 12/9/17, 8:43 AM
AllenS said...: Something to look forward to -- on Dec 22, the daylight hours will start to increase.; 12/9/17, 8:47 AM
Michael K said...: From my own experience living in California and having family in Chicago, I found that when California (southern where I was) has a harsh wet winter, Chicago has a very mild one and vice versa,

Since California seems to be having a warm dry one, I expect the snow will arrive there soon.

Tucson is cold and windy right now, although it is supposed to warm up this weekend.; 12/9/17, 8:47 AM
MadisonMan said...: Re: 11/11/1911. There are still some stations -- Oklahoma City, for example -- that retain a Record High Maximum and Record Low Minimum from that date. (In OKC, I think it's 81/11) But many other stations have lost that unique Record event to succeeding events.; 12/9/17, 8:50 AM
MadisonMan said...: "Is this event the result of climate change?"

An event, no. But the pattern that allows the event to occur? Maybe.

There's some really interesting ongoing work that suggests a diminishing in the Arctic Sea Ice leads to an upper air pattern that allows for a much wavier upper air pattern that stalls. So one particular region might see extreme cold for a prolonged period of time.

Globally, however, the reservoir of cold air is diminishing, or at least has been observed to diminish in the past 40 or so years. (Where that reservoir of cold air is the area of the region below 0 C -- I think that's the metric used, maybe -10 C or -20 C -- but the actual value doesn't really matter -- about 1.5 km above the surface). I'm talking NH here, I'm pretty sure the SH are the same, but I don't recall that with as much clarity.; 12/9/17, 8:55 AM
MadisonMan said...: (Link for article on the shrinking cold pool)

(Conflicting edits return); 12/9/17, 9:20 AM
Deb said...: Six to eight inches here in the Atlanta suburbs but the sun has come out so it will be gone soon. Beautiful while it lasts.; 12/9/17, 9:33 AM
Rusty said...: "Tucson is cold and windy right now,"

Uh. Huh. What constitutes cold and windy in Tucson?
'Cause it was 28f here in the Fox Valley at dawn and it's 28f here now and I have to walk the dog which means I have to bundle and find my insulated boots and heavy gloves and socks. Which , thank god and Dr. Morovski, I no longer have to put my left sock on with the toes of my right foot. But it's still cold and I don't want to walk the dog. It's windy too.
Better just get it over with.; 12/9/17, 9:45 AM
Michael K said...: "Uh. Huh. What constitutes cold and windy in Tucson?"

28 Thursday morning and the wind was enough that I was hiding behind the gas pump as I filled the tank at 4:30 AM.

I have seen it get to 14 here but that is in January., High desert can get pretty cold but not like Minnesota.; 12/9/17, 9:51 AM
Michael K said...: Sorry, 38 Thursday morning.; 12/9/17, 9:52 AM
Yancey Ward said...: The record low for Tuscon in December is 10 degrees Fahrenheit, so it can get quite cold there.; 12/9/17, 9:56 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I was in Atlanta for the epic March storm of 1993- the city was shut down with cars abandoned everywhere. Where I lived just northwest of Emory University, we had about a half a foot of snow, but in the city's northern suburbs the totals were well over a foot. It had all melted by the following Monday afternoon, though (the storm hit on a Saturday morning).; 12/9/17, 10:02 AM
JohnFF said...: I really miss snow, especially this time of year. I remember the first snow of the year as a child, so magical. It meant Christmas was near. Now we have Christmas without snow and have to work a bit harder to get in the spirit.; 12/9/17, 10:06 AM
MountainMan said...: We have 5 inches of snow this morning in Forsyth County, about 30 miles north of Atlanta, and there is up to 9” west of here in Cobb County. Stare and local governments have done a pretty good job on main roads but right now we can’t get out of our neighborhood. Will get some melt-off and thawing today but will freeze again overnight.; 12/9/17, 10:07 AM
Deb said...: Mountain Man, do you have power? I’m in Cobb County and we lost power several hours ago. Many friends here and in neighboring areas have no power. But the snow is/was beautiful. Melting pretty rapidly.; 12/9/17, 10:55 AM
Michael K said...: "I really miss snow, especially this time of year"

At least you're not in Australia.

I've seen it snow in Tucson but only once in the past 20 years I've been coming here. I wasn't here full time until this year,

The 14 degrees I remember was in January, I think.; 12/9/17, 11:04 AM
tcrosse said...: After a lifetime in the Upper Midwest, I don't miss the snow a damn bit. In season, I can see some on the distant mountain tops, and that's close enough for me.; 12/9/17, 11:39 AM
MountainMan said...: @Deb: Yes, we have power. Our power has not gone off at all.; 12/9/17, 11:46 AM
Rick said...: Is this a cafe post?

I'd like to see you "live" blog your reading of the Wisconsin John Doe report. (Did I miss a post on this?).

I'm reading it and I am just stunned at how it (1) reaffirms everything the right believes about the venality of the left and (2) how it has been entirely ignored by essentially every media outlet. A few thoughts skipping the intro because it doesn't cite the supporting evidence:

1. "Reserve Judge Nettesheim granted this request [to expand Governor Walker's original requested investigation] on June 25, 2012.
(a) What evidence was this grant based on?
(b) Do other instances of the circumstances identified in part (a) exist?
(c) What percentage (if any) of these circumstances resulted in John Doe investigations?
(d) What percentage of investigations identified by (c) were against Democrats?

2. In several cases government officials (ADA Robert Robles, GAB Attorney Johnathan Becker)) claimed to believe Walker activities violated the law. These are described as erroneous beliefs without elaboration.
(a) What specific circumstances led to these erroneous conclusions?
(b) Do the circumstances identified in (a) exist at any other time and place?
(c) If (b) is yes do these specific officials or did any other official conclude they were legal violations?

3. "Based at least in part on this evaluation by GAB, the Milwaukee DA’s Office
decided to start a new John Doe proceeding. "

(a) What evidence exists of the DA exercising independent judgment of the assertions justifying the investigation?
(b) If none what is the normal level of review when political opponents are not the targets?

4. [The] assignment [of Reserve Judge Barbara Kluka to the John Doe II ] was approved by then–Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson on September 5, 2012.

(a) Why did Abrahamson - an extremist left wing partisan - not recuse herself from this ruling?

5. "Approximately nine months into the John Doe II investigation, on June 26,
2013, four district attorneys met with DA Chisholm at the offices of GAB to discuss
the John Doe II investigation."
(a) How did these DAs come to join a "secret" investigation starting with how did they even learn about it?
(b) Are there any previous instances of government officials joining such investigations en masse?
6. The GAB obtained and then held thousands of private emails from Wisconsin Republicans in several folders on their servers marked “Opposition Research.”

This proves without question government officials were using a supposed government investigation of legal matters as a subterfuge to gather political attack information.
(a) What action has been taken against any of these individuals?

I'm not even a third of the way through the document and I can't finish this moment. But it's already clear your state is corrupt.; 12/9/17, 6:00 PM