Blizzard warnings in Hawaii, no snow in Denver: What’s behind this month’s wild weather?
This December is giving a whole new meaning to weather whiplash.
It’s December, and Denver, Colorado, has no snow, breaking its record for the latest first snowfall since record keeping began in 1882. Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 miles and half an ocean away, Hawaii faced blizzard warnings over the weekend on its high peaks.
While it’s not unusual for Hawaii to get snow on its mountains, it’s rare for a blizzard warning to happen there before winter really hits the rest of the United States, according to the National Weather Service.
Across the country, the weather is just plain weird right now. Parts of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia just had their wettest fall on record, driving widespread flooding and mudslides. Hawaii’s blizzard warning turned into catastrophic flooding, with more than 2 feet of rain expected, prompting leaders to declare a state of emergency. Sixty-five weather stations from Virginia to Wyoming recorded record-high temperatures last week. Some locations in Alaska just had their coldest November on record. Then yesterday, the state experienced an “abrupt turnaround” with above normal temperatures, coastal flooding, and blizzards.
And in Montana, record-setting temperatures and strong winds, combined with historic drought conditions, sparked prairie fires that burned at least 12 homes and businesses, several grain elevators, and left melted railcars in their wake.
https://grist.org/climate/blizzard-warnings-in-hawaii-no-snow-in-denver-whats-behind-this-months-wild-weather/
