RJ Hamster

Your February Outlook

January 31, 2024

SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ

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Morning

58º

Afternoon

76º

Evening

64º

Overnight

58º

High	79°

Low	56°

Sunrise	7:22 am

Sunset	5:56 pm

See Hourly Forecast

Plan Your Week

Today’s conditions are great for outdoor activities. Get outside!

See your 10-day forecast.

By Chris DeWeese
Senior Editorial Writer

Good Morning. The Pineapple Express is back. No, I’m not talking about a deal at your local pizza place; I’m talking about the atmospheric river that originates near Hawaii and funnels a plume of moisture to the West Coast. It will be dumping rain (and snow at higher elevations) over the next two days, which could trigger flooding and landslides, pile up heavy mountain snow and produce strong winds.

When this storm is over, the West won’t get much of a break, as another burst is likely to follow, probably starting around Sunday (exact time TBD). Here are all the details. Stay dry and batten down the hatches, friends in the West!

Weather In Focus

(CIRA/CSU via X)

That storm approaching the West Coast looks pretty impressive on satellite. This loop shows what the system looked like until just after midnight this morning.

What We’re Tracking

Wondering what’s coming next month? Check out our brand new February outlook to see what you can expect.
The South is set to receive more rain as a system tracks into the Southern Plains by the end of the week and then into the Southeast this weekend. This system will heighten concerns for flooding and strong storms.
Even by Alaska standards, there’s a lot of snow this winter. In fact, Anchorage has pushed past the 100-inch mark earlier than at any other time in its history.

TODAY’S TRIVIA

The all-time cold record for the state of Illinois of minus 38 degrees Fahrenheit was set on today’s date in what recent year?

2022
2021
2020
2019

See the answer at the end of this newsletter.

This Caught My Eye

Photograph of smiling meteorologist Jon Erdman wearing a button up shirt.

Jonathan Erdman
Senior Digital Meteorologist

At left, an Anchorage, Alaska, resident clears snow off her driveway on Jan. 29, 2024. At right, a nearly snowless look at U.S. Highway 75 near Candy, Minnesota, on Jan. 28, 2024.

At left, an Anchorage, Alaska, resident clears snow off her driveway on Jan. 29. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen). At right, a nearly snowless look at U.S. Highway 75 near Candy, Minnesota, on Jan. 28. (Minn. Dept. of Transportation via NWS-Twin Cities)

Snowed Over Or Snowless

We’ve reached the end of January. Another winter month is about to be in the books. Having watched the nation’s weather now for over 27 years, it still fascinates me how a given winter can produce such sharp contrasts of snow haves and have-nots.

Earlier this week, Anchorage, Alaska, topped 100 inches of seasonal snowfall, the fastest they reached the century mark in 70 years of records in what one city school teacher called a “pandemic of snow.” Minneapolis-St. Paul, however, managed only 7 inches of snowfall all season, their least snowy season-to-date in 43 years. That’s almost 4 feet less snowfall than last season through late January. By one metric, it’s the Twin Cities’ “least miserable” start to any winter since 1950, if you prefer less snow and cold.

Alaska’s typical siege of Pacific storms has been particularly relentless from late fall through winter. However, following the nation’s record warmest December, a colder stretch in mid-January pushed the storm track south of Minnesota. And this recent January thaw has pushed temperatures as high as 50 degrees in the Twin Cities, wiping out whatever snow was left on the ground. It’s a classic El Niño fingerprint on winter in this part of the upper Midwest.

There’s also an Alaska location that was recently snow buried, but now snowless. Following an epic 70 inches of snowfall this month, Juneau just melted its entire 3 feet of snowpack in just four days, due to a soaking storm last weekend and warmer weather.

It will be interesting to see how snowfall the rest of the season ends up as we head into February, then spring.

Weather Words

‘Atmospheric River’

An example of an atmospheric river from Jan. 17-18, 2021, over the eastern Pacific Ocean. (NASA Earth Observatory)

An atmospheric river (AR) is a long plume of moisture that stretches from the tropics or subtropics into higher latitudes, often thousands of miles long. These thin ribbons of humid air can be identified and tracked in satellite imagery and computer model forecasts.

The term “atmospheric river” was first used in a 1994 study, and is now widely used by meteorologists. On average, there are four or five active ARs on Earth at one time. They transport a mind-boggling amount of water: a 1998 MIT study estimated the moisture flux of an AR to be roughly the same as that of the Amazon River, about 176,000 tons per second.

WELLDAY

Stanley Cups Could Contain Lead

(Frederic J. Brown/AFP / Getty Images)

A trend on TikTok has raised concerns about lead in Stanley tumblers. Users are testing these popular insulated cups with at-home test kits.

Stanley has confirmed that lead is used in the vacuum seal of their cups, but they say the lead is covered by stainless steel, preventing exposure. While Stanley assures safety and compliance with U.S. regulations, the revelation has sparked a debate about the safety of lead in consumer products.

According to the CDC, exposure to lead can have lifelong health consequences, especially for children. However, Stanley emphasizes that their products are tested and meet stringent safety standards. The company has said that in the rare event the lead seal does become exposed, the issue is covered under a lifetime warranty.

#OTD

1916: Seattle’s Big Snow

(University of Washington)

Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2, 1916, Seattle was hit with its greatest snowstorm in the modern era. In 24 hours between Jan. 31-Feb. 1, an astonishing 21.5 inches of snow fell, while the storm total of 32.5 inches set a lasting record.

The snow halted trains, canceled school and kept people from their work for days. On Seattle’s First Hill, the weight of heavy snow caused the dome of the St. James Cathedral to collapse into the building’s narthex.

Your Daily Nugget Of Good

two men run while carrying a heavy beach chair.

(Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Well, the world has a new pair of beach chair carrying champions. Danilo Pröhl and Sven Mehling earned the honors after carrying a 132-pound beach chair 65 feet along a stretch of white sand to the finish line at the 16th Beach Chair World Championships on Usedom, an island divided between Germany and Poland in the Baltic Sea.

The winners took only 5.74 seconds, good enough to win this year, but not fast enough to beat the record of 4.91 seconds. A beach chair rental company invented the race as a cold season spectacle for tourists. The first championship was held in 2007.