Very dangerous hurricane force winds approaching Great Britain and Europe 2100 GMT 2/7/14

This is another of a series of massive storms hitting coastal Great Britain and greater Europe.

"The intense and very dangerous hurricane force low in the eastern Atlantic has intensified to 942 hPa, and it is close to peak intensity as shown by the 18Z OPC Atlantic surface analysis. OSCAT data from 1433 UTC today shows winds up to 75 kt south of the low center." ~ NOAA NWS Ocean Prediction Center.

Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather Services, warned Britain is braced for a repeat of the devastating October St Jude’s Day Storm. He warned savage winds will be strong enough to tear down trees, damage buildings and whip up colossal 30-foot waves. He said: “This is a real monster heading towards the UK on Friday, it is bigger than anything we have seen this year. “Gusts will easily tip 100mph in exposed regions and along the coasts with 70mph possible inland and widespread around the UK.
“This is a very significant storm on the way and is capable of causing some real damage.”
The warning comes as Britain battles a week of wind and rain which is heaping  misery in the south of the country. Parts of Somerset have been left knee-deep in floodwater with some communities cut off after weeks of relentless downpours. The Met Office has severe weather warnings for heavy rain in the region for the next four days as emergency services battle to contain the crisis.

Horrific storm-force gales of up to 100mph will lash the coasts while devastating gusts of 70mph are expected inland. Up to two inches of rain will pound flood-hit regions in a matter of hours on Friday night before yet another storm smashes into Britain on Saturday.

Storm Charlie’s hurricane-force gusts of more than 100mph were due to sweep in from the Atlantic on Friday night. Forecasters have warned the downpours will lash swathes of the South, already crippled by devastating floods. The Environment Agency has issued two severe flood warnings for the next few days indicating a “danger to life” particularly across Somerset. There are also 160 flood warnings and 300 flood alerts across the UK as river levels surge and rain falls on saturated ground.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “There is a high risk on the Somerset Levels. River flooding in this area is expected to be exacerbated by further rainfall.” Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather Services, said: “This weekend has all the ingredients for a significant storm with the South most at risk. We could comfortably breach 100mph winds in some parts, this is shaping up to be a very serious event.”

Another Major Alantic Storm Blasts Northern Euorpe.

 Major Alantic Storm Blasts Northern Europe. Hurricane force winds over 100MPH, 35 foot  waves, massive flooding expected. Half a million without power across Europe, England and Ireland.

England has already reached flood stage in many areas, having the wettest January ever recorded. Some towns, such as Oxford, received three times the average monthly rainfall (147 mm VS. 52 mm). Since records began in the 1760's, January rain has exceeded 100 mm only 14 times. Other parts of southern England have already recorded twice their average rainfall  (175.2 mm ) between 1 and 28 January, breaking a 100 year record.

Another area of low pressure will spread heavy rain and gale force winds across the UK. The public should be aware of the likelihood of impacts to travel and power.

Warm January in Alaska, the Arctic, Greenland, and Iceland.

Sunday (January 26) the temperature rose to freezing in Fairbanks, the warmest ever measured for any month from November to March. The same also occurred at Ketchikan where the temperature soared to 53.6°F (12°C), a January record for any location anywhere in the state. Some interior locations have reached record territory. Most incredible is an unofficial report from an automated platform at Boli Lake, south of Delta Junction, which reported 60°F (15.6°C) on January 26. If accurate, this would be just 2°F shy of Alaska’s all-time state monthly record of 62°F (16.7°C) set at Petersburg on January 16, 1981. Of course, Petersburg is on the southeast Alaskan Peninsula where mild Pacific air sometimes intrudes during the winters. Boli Lake is in the heart the Alaskan interior, normally one of the coldest regions in the state during January. The extreme warmth experienced so far this month in Alaska has also been noted in Canada’s Yukon Territory where Carmacks has averaged 22.5°C (40.5°F) above average for the past 10 days. Reykjavik, Iceland is so far experiencing it’s 8th warmest January with records beginning in 1871.

The warmth over Alaska, the Arctic, Greenland, and Iceland, while so cold in the eastern U.S., can be illustrated by this anomaly map of the northern hemisphere forecast for February 1st and produced on January 27th. Note how the polar vortex has been split into two lobes. 

Meanwhile, of course, California has seen an unprecedented 14 consecutive days of record-breaking high temperatures including several all-time monthly records such as the 79°F (26.1°C) at downtown Sacramento on January 24th which smashed by 5°F the previous warmest January temperature of 74°F (23.3°C) set on January 12, 2009. Records at downtown Sacramento go back to 1877.

Alaska and California setting all-time record high temps in Winter 2013-2014

As the eastern half of the U.S. goes into the deep freeze, California and Alaska have been experiencing all-time monthly records for warmth in both states. While the continental U.S. experienced an abnormally cold spell in December 2013, Alaska experienced record-breaking heat. While much of the continental United States endured several cold snaps in January 2014, record-breaking warmth gripped Alaska. Spring-like conditions set rivers rising and avalanches tumbling.

This map depicts land surface temperature anomalies in Alaska for January 23–30, 2014. Based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, the map shows how 2014 temperatures compared to the 2001–2010 average for the same week. Areas with warmer than average temperatures are shown in red; near-normal temperatures are white; and areas that were cooler than the base period are blue. Gray indicates oceans or areas where clouds blocked the satellite from collecting usable data.A persistent ridge of high pressure off the Pacific Coast fueled the warm spell, shunting warm air and rainstorms to Alaska instead of California, where they normally end up. The last half of January was one of the warmest winter periods in Alaska’s history, with temperatures as much as 40°F (22°C) above normal on some days in the central and western portions of the state, according to Weather Underground’s Christopher Bart. The all-time warmest January temperature ever observed in Alaska was tied on January 27 when the temperature peaked at 62°F (16.7°C) at Port Alsworth. Numerous other locations—including Nome, Denali Park Headquarters, Palmer, Homer, Alyseka, Seward, Talkeetna, and Kotzebue—all set January records. On December 7, 2013, temperatures reached 39°F (4°C) at Deadhorse, an town in northern Alaska that serves Prudhoe Bay. This was the warmest December temperature measured there since 1968. Meanwhile, high temperature records for December also fell or were tied at Barter Island, Alaska, and Wainwright, Alaska.

Hell has moved to Australia..

Hell has moved, and now has set up shop down under. Australia is going through ANOTHER heat wave, breaking all past records, and basically making everyone there miserable. The past four months have been the hottest ever recorded on the continent. Australia has been sweating through a major heat wave to start the year. Heat records fell across a large part of the country in the first week of the New Year. The warm weather is currently centered over sparsely populated Western Australia, but it could hit major population centers along the east coast by late next week. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology released a statement. The statement said the heat wave has been, “highly significant with substantial areas having their hottest day on record.” The heat wave comes on the heels of Australia’s hottest year on record during which a slew of records were shattered, including the country's hottest summer. 

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