In a previous post, I pointed out that Alaska experienced record warmth for the month of January 2014. This image shows water vapor in the atmosphere as blue, white, and green flowing toward Alaska on January 23, 2014 from the south. Yellow is dry air. The warm moist flow had persisted for several days and gave some parts of Alaska 12″ of rainfall in less than two weeks. This atmospheric river phenomenon is sometimes called the Pineapple Express. At the same time, this part of the Jet Stream arced toward the southeast and brought cold arctic air to the eastern half of the country. This pattern has persisted most of the winter. Currently, the Jet is entering the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and northern California with some welcomed precipitation.
I also pointed out that avalanches were a significant problem caused by the excess rainfall. The port of Valdez was cut…
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Our View From Iowa 