January 2, 2007: Nebraska ice storm

[Undertoad]

Currently being Farked (and thus, not loading at all) is this remarkable set of images of freezing rain in Nebraska.

For those of you who live in warmer climates, you might know that huge snow storms can create weather disasters... but you might not know that freezing rain can create a storm of ice that can be even more destructive. Think about it; if two inches of ice can form around a tiny tree branch...



What happens when it forms around every single wire and every single support on every pole, for miles and miles? It's a total disaster for the infrastructure.





It's also remarkably beautiful. Can you imagine being there and seeing every single exposed surface coated with ice?



The cattle can. The ice has taken down their wired fencing and the only thing keeping them from romping around the countryside is the slippery surfaces they now have to manage. They must have cold headaches as they find something to graze on.



There'll be no violators today.



A single blade of grass.

[Sheldonrs]

'tis the season to be freezin'. I guess the rumors about global warming were exagerated.

[rnx]

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

I guess the rumors about global warming were exagerated.

Well, freezing ice storms happen at temperatures below 0 at the grow and higher in the atmosphere. What happens is this:
Global temperatures rise, atmosphere temperature rises
More evaporation occur in the large bodies of water (hence places where they get more snow)

Since the atmosphere temperature rises, two things can then happen:
It'll rain, and the rain will freeze because of clouds (remember the evaporation)
-or-
if no clouds form, temperature at surface will be equal to the one in the atmosphere (hence warmer)

It depends where you are located.
Normally, where I live, winter with snow starts around November 15th and ends around February 15th. This year, there wasn't any snow until December 25th. And it melted. So winter hasn't officially started yet for me

And YET - in my old city, winter started 2 months early, and the temperatures are WELL below season normals.

So yeah, global warming doesn't necessarily mean warmer seasons

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

'tis the season to be freezin'. I guess the rumors about global warming were exagerated.

It was 87F here, Saturday. Eighty-seven. This is Florida and all, but almost hitting 90F in December feels really, really weird.

[ajaccio]

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs

...I guess the rumors about global warming were exagerated.

So I guess that ice shelf didn't actually separate from the north of Canada last week, and the polar bears are not losing their habitat. It's all an exaggeration ... NOT.

[Sheldonrs]

Originally Posted by ajaccio

So I guess that ice shelf didn't actually separate from the north of Canada last week, and the polar bears are not losing their habitat. It's all an exaggeration ... NOT.

That's just a trial separation. They really want to work things out.

And the Polar Bears were never really happy there. They really WANT to live in warmer climates and drown trying to get there. Ask anyone in the Bush admin. They'll confirm it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Nature and the climate change constantly. The Polar Bears are going through a transitional stage, where there is a shortage of food because the ice for hunting on is diminishing. But, as the ice melts the area becomes warmer and more hospitable to humans.
Then when humans migrate to this newly hospitable area, the bears will have plenty of food.... especially if it's fat Americans.


Oh, it was pretty in Kansas too.

[Elspode]

My posting here a couple of years back, with some crappy pics. Not as impressive as the Fark shots, but still pretty.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by ajaccio

So I guess that ice shelf didn't actually separate from the north of Canada last week, and the polar bears are not losing their habitat. It's all an exaggeration ... NOT.

The glaciers have been melting for the past 10,000 years or so. There are tropical plant fossils in Antarctica from before the last ice age.

Just because its new to you doesn't mean its new.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Beestie

The glaciers have been melting for the past 10,000 years or so. There are tropical plant fossils in Antarctica from before the last ice age.

Just because its new to you doesn't mean its new.

Antarctica moved. Google "Pangea."

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by glatt

Antarctica moved. Google "Pangea."

Google Chicken Little.

[CharlieG]

Originally Posted by glatt

Antarctica moved. Google "Pangea."

closer to home time wise - they used to grow grapes in Greenland....

[vidacita]

"So I guess that ice shelf didn't actually separate from the north of Canada last week"

No, it happened 16 months ago. Wonder why the wait to tell the world?
"Ms Weir was poring over satellite images in 2005 when she noticed that the shelf had split and separated.
She notified Luke Copland, head of the new global ice laboratory at the University of Ottawa, who initiated an effort to find out what happened.
Using US and Canadian satellite images, as well as data from seismic monitors, Professor Copland discovered that the ice shelf collapsed on the afternoon of August 13 2005."
See the Fri Dec 29 2006 article online at the Guardian Unlimited website

[frankchicarelli]

there's something disturbing about the picture of the guy's hand around that piece of ice

[Undertoad]

frank I noticed that... figured I would leave it in anyway. The guy wanted to give a sense of scale to how much ice was there; wasn't the sense of scale he intended. And I guess a sense of scale is different to every yanker out there...