Monster Storm Becomes Strongest on Record for Alaska

The Alaskan - Siberian Hurricane
Superstorm Nuri

The remnants of Nuri which has moved into the Bering Sea  has become the most intense storm to ever impact the region.

The former Super Typhoon Nuri has tracked northward into the Bering Sea, located in between Alaska and Russia, and has lost all tropical characteristics.

The system has undergone rapid intensification, producing howling winds as the central pressure plummets to near record levels.

On Friday night, the Ocean Prediction Center analyzed the central area of low pressure to be 924 millibars.

This means that the storm has become the most powerful storm to ever move over the Bering Sea in recorded history in terms of central pressure.

Previous to this storm, the old record stood at 925 millibars from a powerful storm that moved over the Bering Sea on Oct. 25, 1977.

To put this in perspective, the lowest pressure recorded in Hurricane Sandy was 940 millibars.

Despite what NOAA said, there are no good records of storms in this area, at least before the modern era, so we may never know if this is a record.

Conditions will slowly improve across the region on Sunday after the system produced waves as large as 45 feet high and hurricane-force winds.

Winds on Friday gusted to 97 mph at Shemya, Alaska, home to the U.S. Eareckson Air Station.

Large waves should still be anticipated which can make it very difficult to navigate the waters of the Bering Sea.

Super Storm Brings Early Artic Blast To Lower 48

A massive storm expected to help push Arctic air toward the lower 48 states was moving slowly east after blasting parts of Alaska's Aleutian Islands with hurricane-force winds.

The tempest fueled by the remnants of Typhoon Nuri was forecast to play a role in generating a high-pressure system that will allow frigid air to blanket the central plains, starting with eastern Montana and the Dakotas on Sunday. The frigid temperatures are expected to spill south into the central plains on Monday.

The system was centered 220 miles northwest of Adak in the Aleutian chain, David Kochevar, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said early Sunday.

"It's slowly dissipating over the Bering Sea," he said.

Its strongest winds had diminished considerably and were recorded at just 45 mph in Adak and Shemya Island, Kochevar said.

The storm peaked Friday with sustained winds of 70 mph and gusts up to 96 mph on Shemya, forecasters said.

The weakened storm was expected to bring gale-force winds to the Alaska mainland's southwestern coast, typical for this time of year, weather service meteorologist Shaun Baines said.

"The worst conditions were out where there's no people," he said Saturday.

On Shemya Island, 120 civilian contractors staff an early warning radar installation for the U.S. military. Eareckson Air Station on the island 1,500 miles southwest Anchorage saw minor facility damage, Alaskan Command public affairs officer Tommie Baker said.

The corners of a roof were bent back and some dumpsters moved around, but no roof was torn off and the dumpters didn't slam into any vehicles or buildings, Baker said. Workers locked themselves inside to wait out the storm.

Workers had yet to conduct a full assessment of damage around the entire island, Baker said. But workers there are accustomed to extreme weather, including 100-mile winds. The community averages six weather-related lockdowns a year.

The storm surpassed the intensity of 2012's Superstorm Sandy as measured by pressure, but a lack of measuring stations in the remote region means meteorologists didn't have much more data. Sandy caused at least 182 deaths and $65 billion in damage on the East Coast. Nuri, in contrast, hit a sparsely populated region with just a few small communities where people are accustomed to severe weather.

The high-pressure system Nuri will help create is expected to send temperatures plunging across a wide swath of the lower 48 states. High temperatures were forecast to be below freezing on Tuesday across much of Wyoming to Minnesota and parts of Iowa, said Bruce Sullivan of the National Weather Service's prediction center.

The high in Great Falls, Montana, is expected to be 7 degrees, Sullivan said. By Wednesday, high temperatures will struggle to get out of the low 30s in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, he said.

Remnants of Nuri Explode, Creating a Monster Storm Now Threatening Alaska With Hurricane-Strength Winds

The Aleutian Islands in Alaska are bracing today for a monster storm born of the remnants of Super Typhoon Nuri. The forecast in the westernmost part of the island chain is for hurricane strength winds and waves up to 35 feet high or more.

An animation of infrared satellite images shows the evolution of Nuri into a massive extra-tropical storm. 

(Source: Space Science Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin)

You can see the transformation of the cyclone into an extra-tropical super-storm in the animation of infrared satellite images above. Nuri starts in the extreme lower left corner off of Japan. It’s that round, compact object — white at the center and surrounded by shades of red. It then moves to the northeast off the Japanese coast and transforms into a massive storm (look for the big splotch of red) off the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Today it’s heading for the Aleutians and the Bering Sea.

The storm’s central pressure is forecast to bottom out at a remarkably low 925 millibars. The all-time low pressure ever recorded in Alaska was 926 millibars at Dutch Harbor on Oct. 25, 1977,according to the Weather Underground chief meteorologist Jeff Masters. With that in mind, Masters says Nuri’s remnants are “predicted to become one of Earth’s strongest storms on record.”

In addition to hurricane-strength winds, the monster storm is predicted to kick up waves as high as a five-story building. Here’s an animation showing forecast wave heights, with the color pink representing heights in excess of 15 meters, or 50 feet:

Shemya Island in the far western Aleutians will be experiencing the storm’s full fury today, with winds forecast to hit 90 miles per hour. The U.S. Air Force operates a radar, surveillance and weather station there, as well as a 10,000 foot-long runway, which was first opened in 1943.

The Aleutians are sparsely populated. But may fishing boats ply the rich waters of the Bering Sea. As of yesterday, boats were seeking shelter in Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians. As KTVA TV reported yesterday, “The Saga, a fishing vessel featured on the Discovery Channel’s ‘Deadliest Catch,’ was in Dutch Harbor on Thursday evening to unload crab.”

Rare Eclipse As Sun Rose

On Wednesday October 8th, The Midwest was treated to a rare eclipse called a blood moon as the sun rose.

The sun rose soon after the total period ended and there was first light already toward the end of the "total" period. The skies were clear, offering a great viewing opportunity to see the moon in the western sky. There was no danger to your eyes so you could have stared as long as you liked.

The total eclipse and the rising sun were in the sky simultaneously for a short period of time, allowing watchers to catch a glimpse of both.

Most often, a lunar eclipse occurs before sunrise. On Wednesday morning, the Earth, while passing between the moon and sun, eclipsed the moon in the process.

This lasted through sunrise.

The moon and sun are often visible in the sky at the same time- so what makes this occurrence special?

During a lunar eclipse, the sun and moon are 180 degrees apart in Earth's sky- with one rising as one sets- which should make it theoretically impossible to see both.

Thanks to a trick of the light, in which the atmosphere bends light at a certain angle near the horizon, an optical illusion will make the sun and moon appear slightly higher in the sky.

End of July and Lake Superior's water Temp Drops to 38 Degrees, Lake Michigan down to 41 Degrees Some 30 degrees below normal!

 The water temperatures along coastal regions of Lakes Michigan and Superior took an astounding 25 to 30 degree plunge overnight on July 28th. Parts of Lake Superior bottomed-out at 38°F, while parts of eastern Lake Michigan hit 41°F. These temperatures are more common in April than the last week in July.

The water managed to get this cold through upwelling, which occurs when cold waters towards the bottom of a body of water rises towards the surface. WOOD-TV meteorologist Bill Steffen described what caused the upwelling event:

We had a strong north wind behind a cold front and that pushed the surface water toward the middle of the lake, allowing much colder water from 100 feet below to rise to the surface.

The cold water's effect on the weather will remain localized, with cooler temperatures along the coast as well as persistent fog over coastal waters.

As seen by the satellite imagery at the top of this post, the rapidly-chilled water created a thick layer of fog on Lake Michigan where temperatures dropped the most. The cold water cooled the air above it through conduction, dropping the air temperature to its dew point and condensing its water vapor.

The average temperature for Lake Michigan at the end of July is around 68°F, and the average temperature for Lake Superior sits around 60°F.

RARE JULY WATERSPOUT ON LAKE ST CLAIR

Some pretty incredible photos were taken over Lake St. Clair this morning. An unusually cold air mass aloft over relatively warmer waters cause a rare July waterspout on Lake St. Clair. Temps actually started the day at midnight in the upper 60's but quickly dropped into the mid 50's by late morning. Temps at noon remained in the mid 50s which is some 25 degrees below normal for this time of year. 7-3-14

Great Lakes' Cold Water Temperatures Affect Summer Events

It may sound strange, but some people are changing or even canceling their summer plans because of the lingering effects from this past harsh winter.

Lake Superior and Lake Michigan are much colder than average, thanks to the record ice coverage this past winter. In fact, Lake Michigan is running about 10 to 12 degrees below average this time of year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The average surface water temperature for Lake Michigan is currently about 54 degrees, although temperatures have climbed into the 60s in parts of southern Lake Michigan.

Fog in Chicago

One of the consequences of the colder water temperatures is frequent fog. When the warm and moist air meets the cold lake, fog and low clouds often form. Fog was reported in Milwaukee every day from June 16-28. A foggy June has also been reported from Muskegon, Michigan, to Chicago northward to Green Bay and in Duluth, Minnesota.

In Wisconsin, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels were unable to fly the weekend of June 21-22 at the Milwaukee Air & Water Show due to fog. Poor visibility created unsafe flying conditions, according to the event's Facebook page.

The reduced visibility also forced organizers at Summerfest in Milwaukee to postpone the Big Bang fireworks until July 1 due to safety concerns. The fireworks display, originally scheduled for June 24, would have also been difficult for spectators to enjoy with the dense fog.

Heavy fog also suspended a baseball game in Kenosha, and a game in Chicago between the Cubs and Washington Nationals was almost delayed.

On days when fog reduces visibility, it's important for boaters and swimmers to exercise caution, and be wary of the length of time they're exposed to cold water.

Great Lakes Considered Ice Free As of June 8th

It was a seriously cold and icy winter on the Great Lakes, but as of June 8th they're finally ice free at least statistically. A 6/08/14 map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory shows 0.1 percent ice cover.

Summer snow shocks parts of the western U.S.

While much of the United States basked in summery temperatures, perplexed residents of Utah, Idaho and Montana woke up to snow yesterday.

Winter just won't quit in the Northern Rockies, where a swirling upper-level low left Alta, Utah with nine inches of snowfall on Tuesday - their third highest one-day snowfall total in June ever.

The snow came as a wave of heavy rain drenched southern Minnesota early Wednesday, flooding streets in Mankato and causing mudslides that forced the closure of some highways.

Meanwhile, Nebraska is still reeling after deadly tornadoes tore through the state, and New Mexico is battling wildfires that threaten to destroy Native American homes, farm land and livestock.

this picture was posted Wednesday morning in kamas, Utah 

Winter just won't quit in the Northern Rockies where an upper-level low was swirling early this week. This picture was taken at Lamoille Canyon in Nevada where 3-4 inches were recorded

A photo provided by Glacier National Park shows the Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park, Montana on Wednesday June 18

Mackinac Island Michigan Still Has Snow!

Believe it or not, there’s still snow on Mackinac Island.

“We have the last man standing, I think, in terms of snow piles,” said Bradley McCallum, general manager of Mission Point Resort, where a pile of the white stuff refuses to die.

Tourists and locals have been flocking to the resort to take pictures of the snow pile, which has somehow managed to hold on long after the rest of Mackinac Island emerged from the deep freeze of an especially harsh winter.

Although the snow has obviously been melting, the pile was still more than 3 feet tall on Tuesday, June 3, said McCallum.

The pile is on the south side of the resort’s conference center along Main Street, amid some pine trees. It’s got some shade, and daytime high temperatures on the island aren’t quite as hot as downstate areas — reaching about 70 degrees on average these days — but snow in June is still somewhat logic defying.

“It’s so strange because it’s really nice on the island,” McCallum said. “The streets are full of people and we’re looking forward to a really good season.”

The snow pile is yet another reminder of the harsh winter northern Michigan endured this year. Tourists have been making road trips to the Upper Peninsula recently to see the ice that remains on Lake Superior.

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory reported that Lake Superior was still about 2.5 percent covered in ice on May 30.

The onslaught of subzero temperatures locked Mackinac Island in a deep freeze that delayed the traditional start of tourist season by several weeks and caused some hardship in transporting people and freight between the island and mainland.

But everything has largely returned to normal in that regard, said McCallum.

Is June a record for snow on the island? It's hard to say, he said. Most believed the snow had all melted on the island a couple weeks ago, but an old 19th century photo circulating among locals shows snow with a June handwritten date on it, indicating this may not be the first time the Straits area has finally thawed long after downstate.

The resort is offering a free night's stay to whoever can correctly guess the date on which the snow pile finally melts, he said.

“I think it’ll be sometime after the 15th,” he said. “It looks small, but there’s still a good chunk of snow there.”

Tourists flock to see Lake Superior's lingering ice as we end May

The beaches are open but the water in the Great Lakes is still quite cold.

That's not stopping some diehard beach lovers in Michigan. They made the most out of the Memorial Day holiday by taking a "refreshing" dip in Lake Superior.

The water temperature isn't even up to 40 degrees yet in the Upper Peninsula and you can still see blocks of ice off the shore in Marquette. But there were still plenty of brave people playing volleyball and even taking out kayaks and canoes.

Memorial Day Weekend and Ice Remains On Lake Superior

It is Memorial Day Weekend and we are still talking about ice on Lake Superior.  Ice remains after a very brutal and unusually cold winter.  

At this time a record around 4 percent of the lake still has ice, including the head of the lake and the Apostle 

Islands.

National Weather Service experts predict an ice out will take place the first week of June.

Experts say the water is still hovering around 34 degrees. The ice will melt faster once the lake reaches 40 degrees.

A Meteor Shower No One Alive Has Seen Before

It could be one for the ages for those lucky enough to enjoy clear skies. On Friday night into the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Earth will take on a barrage of meteors, dubbed the ‘May Camelopardalids.’

They’re caused by dust from periodic comet 209P/LINEAR, and no one alive has seen this show before. The last time it came around was in the 1800s.

 

There’s definitely an increasing giddiness amongst skywatchers, knowing that this is something no one else walking around the Earth has been able to take in before! Perhaps a particularly long-lived giant tortoise took in the show, but that’s about it.

So how many will be bombarding our atmosphere? Some forecasters are calling for up to 200 meteors per hour! To put that in perspective, here’s a list of all the larger meteor showers we see on Earth each year, from the American Meteor Society.

For us, the Perseids are usually the show-stoppers. That’s due to both the rate and the conditions – it’s a lot nicer to stand outside in August than in January! But they’re also more dependable than the Quadrantids in terms of higher numbers.

Four different rates are given for each shower, under the following conditions:

1.city sky or rural sky with full moon,

2.suburb sky or rural sky with quarter moon,

3.rural sky and moonless,

4.calculated Zenith hourly Rate, ZHR.

Date Shower 1 2 3 4

Jan 3-4 Quadrantids 5 10 25 120

Apr 21-22 April Lyrids 3 5 10 18

May 4-5 Eta Aquarids 3 5 10 60

Jul 28-29 Delta Aquarids 3 5 10 20

Aug 12-13 Perseids 10 20 50 100

Oct 21-22 Orionids 5 10 15 23

Nov 3-13 Taurids 1 2 3 5

Nov 16-17 Leonids 3 5 10 20

Dec 13-14 Geminids 20 50 75 120

Dec 21-22 Ursids 1 2 5 10

Viewing Time & Expectations:

Most estimates have the peak viewing time between 2am and 4am Eastern Daylight Time, Friday night into Saturday. And lucky us – North American viewers are favored for this shower. How did we just find out about the event? Well you can thank our friends at MIT, along with the Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and the US Air Force. They are involved in a collaboration, the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, which is tasked with looking for rocks out there in the universe that may end life on Earth. Lo and behold, they came across Comet 209P/LINEAR in February of 2004. The astronomers calculated Comet 209P/LINEAR’s orbit and found that it returns about every five years in an orbit between the sun and Jupiter. They’ve managed to trace it back to 1703. There *IS* a catch though – no one really knows how much debris, for lack of a better term, is actually out there. In other words – how much did the comet leave behind for us to plow through?

“The general consensus is that this week’s Camelopardalids will be comparable to a very good Perseid meteor shower with an added possibility of a storm,” says Geoff Chester, astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. “I’m planning to be out watching.”

All you really have to do is grab some coffee and look up to take in the scene, but more specifically, look north – close to Polaris, the North Star. The meteors will appear to emanate from the constellation Camelopardalis, the giraffe.

Could it be a dud? You bet. Remember the huge excitement over Comet ISON last year? While it was great to look at through a telescope, it never lived up to the high expectations regarding brightness to the naked eye. There’s some inherent uncertainty when it comes to forecasting a planet, moving 67,000 miles per hour around the sun, connecting with the path of a comet that we’ve never traveled through before (so far as we know). I’m sure you understand :-)

Who else takes a hit? The moon! In fact, if you really want to have yourself a night, the impact of comet debris vs. the moon could lead to visible explosions on its surface, seen through backyard telescopes. Yep. That’s about as geeky/awesome as anything I can imagine.

What if there are barely any meteors? Consolation prize! You could still take in a very beautiful sight. The crescent Moon and Venus are converging for a tight conjunction Sunday morning, May 25th. You can look up and find them rising together just ahead of the sun in the eastern sky at dawn

Great Lakes Could Have Ice Till June After Record Cold Winter

Lake Superior is still over 60 percent covered in ice as of yesterday Saturday April 26, 2014. The satellite pictures shown above were the latest I could find that had clear skies and good vision of the ice. These high resolution satellite images come from April 23 and April 24, 2014.

On Wednesday April 23, 2014 Lake Superior had 68 percent ice cover. According to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, the previous highest amount of ice on that date was in 1979 when there was 38 percent ice cover.

So the ice on Lake Superior is currently almost twice as much as recorded for this late date in the ice season. The records go back to 1973.

On Wednesday, Lake Michigan still had 15 percent ice cover. The highest amount in the records on that date was five percent in 1979. This means Lake Michigan has three times the previous highest ice amount on April 23.

Lake Huron was still reporting 25 percent ice, with the previous late season high at 11 percent in 1996.

Lake Erie melts quicker due to the shallow nature, but still had 7.6 percent ice on April 23, 2014. Previously on that date the highest amount of ice was three percent in 1978.

Lake Ontario still has eight-tenths of one percent ice cover. That's not much, but it is still more than the six-tenths it had in 1977.

The entire Great Lakes system still reported 35 percent ice cover this past Wednesday. The closest amount of ice at this late date was 16 percent in 1979.

Lake Superior could have ice in June

Even in high ice years of 1977, 1978, 1979, 1994, and 1996, a few of those years Lake Superior still had one-tenth of one percent ice covered on May 31. With that given Lake Superior has nearly double its late season ice amount, ice could still be on Lake Superior in June this year.

Lake Ontario

Lake Huron

Lake Michigan

Lake Superior

Lake Erie

Great Lakes Ice at 48% in Mid April

Over the winter, as polar vortices plunged the US Midwest into weeks of unceasing cold, the icy covers of the Great Lakes started to make headlines. With almost 96 percent of Lake Superior's 32,000 miles encased in ice at the season's peak, tens of thousands of tourists flocked to the ice caves along the Wisconsin shoreline, suddenly accessible after four years of relatively warmer wintery conditions.

The thing is, all of that ice takes a long time to melt. As of April 10, 48 percent of the five lakes' 90,000-plus square miles were still covered in ice, down from a high of 92.2 percent on March 6 (note that constituted the highest levels recorded since 1979, when ice covered 94.7 percent of the lakes). Last year, only 38.4 percent of the lakes froze over, while in 2012 just 12.9 percent did–part of a four-year stint of below-average iciness.

And as the Great Lakes slowly lose their historically large ice covers over the next few months, the domino effects could include lingering cold water, delayed seasonal shifts, and huge jumps in water levels.

Already, the impact of this icy blockade can be felt. On March 25, five days after the official beginning of spring, the Soo Locks separating Lake Superior from the lower Great Lakes opened for the season. But after a long and harsh winter, Lake Superior's nearly 32,000 square miles were still nearly entirely covered in ice. It would be another eleven days before the first commercial vessel fought its way across Lake Superior–with the aid of several dedicated ice breakers–and down through the locks.

The trip across Lake Superior to the Soo Locks, which usually takes 28 hours, took these first ships of the season nine days. A third ship had to return to Duluth after being damaged by the ice. Detroit District, US Army Corps of Engineers Facebook

More than 200 million tons of cargo, mostly iron ore, coal, and grain, travel across the Great Lakes throughout the year. Even a little ice can make a big dent on this total. Only three shipments of coal were loaded up during March–69 percent less, by volume, than last year. Shipments of iron ore from the northern reaches of Minnesota were so low that the US Steel plant in Gary, Indiana, had to scale back production significantly in early April.

A sluggish start to the shipping season is just one of the cascading effects of the Midwest's cold and icy winter. Some are good, and will allow the region to recover from years of historically low water levels. Others, like this delayed shipping season, less so.

Like the shipping troubles, some of the more unexpected things the lakes and their ecosystems could face in the next few months are the direct result of the lingering ice and cold:

Throughout the winter, huge numbers of ducks that feed by diving below the water for fish ended up starving to death. Connie Adams, a biologist in New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, told the AP that the die-off was "unprecedented."

Next in line for concern are a huge number of the Lakes' fish species. Warming water temperature often biologically triggers migration to traditional spawning grounds, and experts expect that Northern Pike, lake sturgeon, steelhead, and rainbow trout could make moves far later this year. As Shedd Aquarium research scientist Solomon David told Michigan Radio, later egg laying could mean younger and far weaker fish come next winter, leading to an even longer impact.

Other changes will come about long after the ice melts, as water levels are predicted to rebound to levels not seen in the last few years. Seasonal shifts in water levels, with winter lows and summer highs, are normal. "If things stayed in sort of a balance, we would see all the lakes water levels going up and then going down. Every year: up, down; up, down," says Drew Gronewold, a scientist with NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. But, "when water levels change a lot over time, something is happening in one of those two parts of the season."

Over the last few years, the summer highs and winter lows have both been well below their long-term average, as climate change produced far more rapid rates of evaporation. In December 2012, the Michigan-Huron system set a new low, breaking a record that had stood since the 1960s, according to Keith Kompoltowicz, the chief of watershed hydrology for the Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit District.

6 month forecast

A three-year look at water levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron, including a six-month forecast, from the US Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District. The solid red line marks recorded levels, the red vertical lines a range of six-month projections, and the blue shows the long-term averages. The black bars indicate record highs and lows. Detroit District, US Army Corps of Engineers Facebook

Though Kompoltowicz says the usual March and April rise in water levels is occurring later than usual this year, already the lakes are seeing water levels that they haven't had for several years. This past March marked the first time since April of 1998 that Lake Superior had reached its long-term average. And over the next few months, melting snow will feed the lakes and colder water could lower the rates of summer and fall evaporation. The amount of rain could either add to or subtract from this total. The Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration generally forecast water levels six months out, and predicted levels for this September, Kompoltowicz says, range from 10 to 13 inches higher than lake levels were a year ago.

Here's what higher lake levels could mean:

Shippers may be hurting now, but higher lake levels will allow them to load more cargo per boat later this year, according to the Chicago Tribune. These higher water lines also mean that those who manage the Great Lakes' harbors won't have to invest huge sums of money in dredging out the bottom. Ships will carry more, at less of a cost, once the ice melts.

Fluctuations in water levels could also help maintain the diversity of plant and animal species along many coastal wetlands, according to Kurt Kowalski, a wetland ecologist at the US Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center. Too many years of consistently low water allows certain species, often non-native plants, to take over.

And even far less large-scale ripple effects will matter. Scott Stevenson, the executive vice president of the company that manages Chicago's harbors, told the Tribune that higher water levels will allow them to rent out 100 expensive slips along the lakefront that shallow water took out of commission last year.

Though water level changes even over a several year period are normal, the rebound from record-low water levels is going to be a relief from the hand-wringing of the last few years. But it will likely be a temporary one. A hot summer with little precipitation could mute the effects of the icy winter. And, even if the lakes have more water this year, 2014 could be nothing more than a blip as climate change continues to wreak havoc. "We don't know, as this winter really exemplified, what's going to happen," Gronewold says. "If we're going to have three more severe winters, or flip back to three more winters like we've had the past few years."