December 2014 North American Storm Complex
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December 2014 North American Storm Complex
The December 2014 North American storm complex was a powerful winter storm (referred to by some as California's "''Storm of the Decade''") that impacted the West Coast of the United States, beginning on the night of December 10, 2014, resulting in snow, wind, and flood watches. Fueled by the Pineapple Express, an atmospheric river originating in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands, the storm was the strongest to affect California since January 2010. The system was also the single most intense storm to impact the West Coast, in terms of minimum low pressure, since a powerful winter storm in January 2008. The National Weather Service classified the storm as a significant threat, and issued 15 warnings and advisories, including a Blizzard Warning for the Northern Sierra Nevada (the first issued in California since January 2008). Meteorological synopsis Late on November 30, 2014, a weak extratropical disturbance developed at the southern end ...
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Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent large-scale flow of warm moist air, and the associated heavy precipitation both in the waters immediately northeast of the Hawaiian Islands and extending northeast to any location along the Pacific coast of North America. A Pineapple Express is an example of an atmospheric river, which is a more general term for such relatively narrow corridors of enhanced water vapor transport at mid-latitudes around the world. Causes and effects A ''Pineapple Express'' is driven by a strong, southern branch of the polar jet stream and is marked by the presence of a surface frontal boundary which is typically either slow or stationary, with waves of low pressure traveling along its length. Each of these low-pressure systems brings enhanced rainfall. The conditions are often created by the Madden–Julian oscillation, an equatorial rainfall pattern which feeds its moisture into t ...
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many List of islands of the United Kingdom, smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between ...
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California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7million residents and the latter having over 9.6million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, t ...
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Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Formerly the group was known to Europeans and Americans as the Sandwich Islands, a name that James Cook chose in honor of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, the then First Lord of the Admiralty. Cook came across the islands by chance when crossing the Pacific Ocean on his Third Voyage in 1778, on board HMS ''Resolution''; he was later killed on the islands on a return visit. The contemporary name of the islands, dating from the 1840s, is derived from the name of the largest island, Hawaii Island. Hawaii sits on the Pacific Plate and is the only U.S. state that is not geographically connected to North America. It is part of the Polynesia subregion of Oceania. The state of Hawaii occupies the archipelago almost in its entirety (inclu ...
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Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Oceania in the west and the Americas in the east. At in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, larger than Earth's entire land area combined .Pacific Ocean
. '' Britannica Concise.'' 2008: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The centers of both the
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Atmospheric River
An atmospheric river (AR) is a narrow corridor or filament of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere. Other names for this phenomenon are tropical plume, tropical connection, moisture plume, water vapor surge, and cloud band. Atmospheric rivers consist of narrow bands of enhanced water vapor transport, typically along the boundaries between large areas of divergent surface air flow, including some frontal zones in association with extratropical cyclones that form over the oceans. Pineapple Express storms are the most commonly represented and recognized type of atmospheric rivers; the name is due to the warm water vapor plumes originating over the Hawaiian tropics that follow various paths towards western North America, arriving at latitudes from California and the Pacific Northwest to British Columbia and even southeast Alaska. Description The term was originally coined by researchers Reginald Newell and Yong Zhu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 19 ...
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Flood Watch
Flood alerts are issued by weather agencies to alert residents that flood conditions are a possibility. Types of flood alerts in the United States In the United States, a flash flood watch is issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) when weather conditions are favorable for very heavy rain that could cause flooding or flash flooding. A watch does not mean that flooding is occurring, only that weather conditions have created or will create a significant risk for it. If flooding occurs, a flood warning or flash flood warning would be issued and immediate action should be taken. A flood warning or flash flood warning is issued when flooding is imminent or already occurring. When flood warnings are issued, it means that area waterways will likely soon be in flood. Not all flood watches suggest that large-scale flooding, such as during landfalling tropical cyclones, is possible. Flood alerts in other countries In Canada, a heavy rainfall warning, which indicates rainfall amounts ...
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Gale Watch
A gale watch is issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when there is an increased risk for a gale-force wind event, meaning sustained surface winds, or frequent gusts, of , but the occurrence, location, and/or timing of the event is still uncertain. Example The following is an example of a gale watch issued by the National Weather Service office in Miami, Florida. 578 WHUS72 KMFL 111914 MWWMFL URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 214 PM EST THU FEB 11 2010 ...GALE FORCE WINDS POSSIBLE FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT... AMZ650-651-670-671-120930- /O.CAN.KMFL.SC.Y.0051.000000T0000Z-100211T2300Z/ /O.NEW.KMFL.GL.A.0001.100212T1500Z-100213T0900Z/ COASTAL WATERS FROM JUPITER INLET TO DEERFIELD BEACH, FL OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM DEERFIELD BEACH TO OCEAN REEF, FL OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM JUPITER INLET TO DEERFIELD BEACH, FL EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM DEERFIELD BEACH TO OCEAN REEF, FL EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO THE TERRITORIAL ...
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Heavy Snow Warning
A heavy snow warning was a hazardous weather statement issued by the Weather Forecast Offices of the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States which indicates a high rate of snowfall was occurring or was forecast to occur. Generally, the warning was issued for snowfall rates of or more in 12 hours, or or more in 24 hours. This warning was discontinued beginning with the 2008–09 winter storm season, replaced by the winter storm warning for heavy snow. In Canada, comparable warnings were issued by Environment Canada through the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC). Example of a heavy snow warning URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FAIRBANKS AK 221 PM AST SUN DEC 9 2007 .A STORM SYSTEM MOVING NORTH OVER THE CENTRAL BERING SEA WILL MOVE TO SOUTHWEST OF SAINT LAWRENCE ISLAND MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE STORM WILL BRING SNOW AND EAST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH TONIGHT OVER MUCH OF WESTERN ALASKA FROM THE YUKON DELTA TO THE SEWARD PENINSULA TON ...
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West Coast Of The United States
The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of California, Oregon, and Washington, but sometimes includes Alaska and Hawaii, especially by the United States Census Bureau as a U.S. geographic division. Definition There are conflicting definitions of which states comprise the West Coast of the United States, but the West Coast always includes California, Oregon, and Washington as part of that definition. Under most circumstances, however, the term encompasses the three contiguous states and Alaska, as they are all located in North America. For census purposes, Hawaii is part of the West Coast, along with the other four states. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' refers to the North American region as part of the Pacific Coast, including Alaska and British Columbia. Although the enc ...
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Winter Storm
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the late autumn and early spring as well. A snowstorm with strong winds and other conditions meeting certain criteria is called a blizzard. Formation Winter storms are formed when moist air rises up into the atmosphere, creating low pressure near the ground and clouds up in the air. The air can also be pushed upwards by hills or large mountains. The upward motion is called lift. The moisture is collected by the wind from large bodies of water, such as a big lake or the ocean. If temperature is below freezing, , near the ground and up in the clouds, precipitation will fall as snow, ice, rain and snow mixed (sleet), ice pellets or even graupel (soft hail). Since cold air can not ho ...
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2014–15 North American Winter
The 2014–15 North American winter was frigid and prolifically wintry, especially across the eastern half of North America in the months of January–March. The season began early, with many places in North America experiencing their first wintry weather during mid-November. A period of below-average temperatures affected much of the contiguous United States, and several records were broken. An early trace of snowfall was recorded in Arkansas. There were greater accumulations of snow across parts of Oklahoma as well. A quasi-permanent phenomenon referred to as the polar vortex may have been partly responsible for the cold weather. Temperatures in much of the United States dropped below average by November 19, following a southward "dip" of the polar vortex into the eastern two-thirds of the country. The effects of this dip were widespread, bringing about temperatures as low as in Pensacola, Florida. Following a significant snowstorm there, Buffalo, New York received severa ...
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