Hi everybody and welcome! If you have been following the news, I am sure you have heard about all the snow the northeast has been receiving. Much of this snow can be blamed on El Nino, which is a warming of the waters in the Pacific. This El Nino effect has been generating one storm after another from the Pacific across the country to New England. The latest storm dumped up to 15 inches of snow on top of a thick coating of ice in the Springfield Massachusetts area this week alone. I recently spoke to Justin Haggerty who does commercial plowing in the Springfield area. Justin said that in the five years he has been plowing this is the most snow removal he has had to do in such a short period of time. He said, “The storms keep coming back to back with no melt off”. “This week alone I have been doing 36 hour shifts while taking short naps in my truck,” he further stated. Justin also told me that they have so much snow on the ground, they have to remove it with dump trucks and find empty lots or fields to dump it on. Justin owns and operates Crystal Brook Landscaping in Massachusetts
Now that the holidays are over, we are all looking for colorful plants to replace all the wonderful decorations that we have taken down after the holidays. One of the most colorful and delicate plants is the pansy. These delicate annuals have a very short window for planting in our part of the country. These plants are not hot weather plants. Once you have selected your treasures from your local garden center, plant them in a good quality potting mixture in an area that gets about half shade and half sun. If they are in too much shade the plants won’t get the amount of blooms they deserve. When the branches get very long and the plants show a tendency to produce runners, they should be trimmed back. You will then be rewarded with another crop of colorful blooms. Be sure to water your plants regularly and you will have a beautiful spectacle of color until the heat of spring arrives again.
Now on to the Time Capsule:
· January l0, l977 -- Osceola Co., Kissimmee -- A Tornado struck a large apartment, ripping the roofs off 20 apartments and damaging several automobiles.
· January 10, 1986 -- Orange Co., Christmas -- Thunderstorm winds destroyed two mobile homes and damaged a house. Three people in one mobile home suffered cuts and bruises.
· January 11, l9l8 -- Orange Co., Apopka -- A tornado ripped apart 20 buildings.
· January 11-12, 1982 -- Arctic air mass behind a strong cold front brought a Severe Freeze to south central Florida. Temperatures dropped to 14 degrees at Tallahassee, 18 at Gainesville, 23 at Orlando, 17 at Ocala and 19 at Avon Park on the morning of the 12th.
· January 11, 1993 -- Volusia Co., Edgewater -- strong downburst winds damaged nine mobile homes. Trees and power lines down, awnings, carports, and family rooms ripped away. Golf ball size hail reported.
· January 11, 1995 -- Flagler Co., North Beverly Beach -- 56-year-old woman tourist from Holland drowned in a rip current.
· January 12, 1886 -- statewide -- Severe Freeze with low temperatures of 12 degrees at Tallahassee, 16 at Gainesville, 18 at Ocala and 19 at Orlando reported.
· January 12, 1964 -- Central Florida -- Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms associated with a vigorous squall line struck Duval, Marion, Polk, Volusia, and Lake Counties. Many trees uprooted and antennas and signs blown down. Some damage occurred to windows and commercial buildings. No serious injuries.
· January 12, 1975 -- Noon -- Bay, Calhoun & Jackson Counties -- Tornado first reported in Panama City suburbs moved northeast through Bay, Calhoun, and Jackson Counties. A week old baby was killed in a mobile home northeast of Panama City. Ten homes destroyed, 25 damaged, several mobile homes and cars destroyed. Eighteen injuries - most (15) in Jackson Co.
· January 13-14, 1981-- statewide -- Severe Freeze with low temperatures of 8 degrees at Tallahassee, 14 at Gainesville, 11 at Ocala, 20 at Orlando, and 18 at Avon Park reported.
· 13 l992 - 0205 - Gadsden Co. - Downburst winds struck north of Quincy, peeling the roofs off two adjacent mobile homes.
· January 14, l982 -- Florida Peninsula -- High Winds -- A strong cold front sweeping across the Florida Peninsula was accompanied by high winds and brief heavy rains. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph were reported over most of the peninsula with gusts up to 60 mph. Tornadoes were reported in Lee and Hendry Counties. There was widespread minor damage with downed power lines, large trees toppled, and many signs blown over. Some roof damage was also reported along with damage to patio screens, carports, and tool sheds. Heaviest damage was along the Florida West Coast where onshore winds produced high tides and some beach erosion.
· January 15, 1991 -- South Florida -- Tornadoes struck an elementary school south of Miami airport injuring a teacher, then damaged roofs and cars at Hialeah, injuring three, and hit Broward Community College in Hollywood, injuring one.
· January 16, 1959 -- southeast Florida, Belle Glade, Palm Beach & Miami area. Strong thunderstorm winds to 60 mph blew down trees, disrupted power, and damaged several buildings.
· January 17, l985 -- Bay Co. -- A waterspout/tornado moved through a l0 block area of Panama City damaging roofs and uprooting small trees. A small boat was blown across a highway.
Now here are some national past weather events:
· January 10, 1800 -- Savannah Ga. received a foot and a half of snow, and ten inches blanketed Charleston S.C. It was the heaviest snowfall of record for the immediate Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S.
· January 10, 1975 -- The "Storm of the Century" hit Minnesota. A severe blizzard moved northward across the state producing up to two feet of snow. High winds drove wind chill readings to 80 degrees below zero, and at Duluth Minn. the barometric pressure dipped to 28.55 inches. The storm, which claimed 35 lives, occurred on the 102nd anniversary of the infamous "Pioneer Blizzard" in Minnesota.
· January 10, 1982 -- The temperature at O'Hare Airport in Chicago Ill. plunged to an all-time record of 26 degrees below zero, and high winds drove the wind chill reading to 77 degrees below zero. The temperaturein Downtown Chicago reached 23 degrees below zero. A week later a second arctic surge sent the temperature plunging back down to 25 degrees below zero.
· January 10, 1989 -- The first documented January tornado of record in Utah struck the south part of Sandy. Asphalt shingles were driven one half inch into a fence. Clear skies, light winds, and up to 24 inches of snow cover, allowed the temperature to plunge to 45 degrees below zero at Roseau Minn., and to -43 degrees at Warroad Minn.. The afternoon high at Grand Forks N.D. was 16 degrees below zero.
· January 11, 1918 -- A tremendous blizzard completely immobilized the Midwest, stopping mail service for two weeks. The vast storm then moved through the Great Lakes Region and the Ohio Valley. Winds reached 60 mph at Toledo Ohio, and the temperature plunged from 28 above to 15 below zero during passage of the cold front.
· January 11, 1988 -- Snow and high winds in Utah resulted in a fifty car pile-up along Interstate 15. Winds in Wyoming gusted to 115 mph at Rendezvous Peak.
· January 12, 1888 -- A sharp cold front swept southward from the Dakotas to Texas in just 24 hours spawning a severe blizzard over the Great Plains. More than 200 pioneers perished in the storm. Subzero temperatures and mountainous snow drifts killed tens of thousands of cattle.
· January 13, 1888 -- The mercury plunged to 65 degrees below zero at Fort Keough, located near Miles City Montana. The reading stood as a record for the continental U.S. for sixty-six years.
· January 13, 1988 -- A fast moving cold front ushered arctic cold into the north central and northeastern U.S. Mason City Iowa reported a wind chill reading of 51 degrees below zero, and Greenville Maine reported a wind chill of 63 degrees below zero. Winds along the cold front gusted to 63 mph at Rochester N.Y., and a thunderstorm along the cold front produced wind gusts to 62 mph at Buffalo N.Y., along with snow and sleet.
· January 13, 1979 -- Chicago Ill. was in the midst of their second heaviest snow of record as, in thirty hours, the city was buried under 20.7 inches of snow. The twenty-nine inch snow cover following the storm was an all-time record for Chicago.
· January 15, 1952 -- A six day snowstorm was in progress in the western U.S. The storm produced 44 inches of snow at Marlette Lake Nev., 52 inches at Sun Valley Idaho, and 149 inches at Tahoe Calif., establishing single storm records for each of those three states. In addition, 24 hour snowfall totals of 22 inches at the University of Nevada, and 26 inches at Arco Idaho, established records for those two states. The streamliner, 'City of San Francisco' was snowbound in the Sierra Nevada Range, near Donner Summit.
That’s it for this week’s Time Capsule, I hope you enjoy it. If you have any weather questions or want me to cover a certain topic in the column, please e-mail me at JOESDISCOWEATHER@AOL.COM. As always for the latest in severe and winter weather updates go to JOESDISCOWEATHERCENTRAL.COM! You can also join me every Saturday morning for a free cup of coffee and a free copy of the Hometown News at the Stuart K Mart Garden Center!