WEATHER NEWS Updated Feb. 28, 2020 2:44 PM
As we leap from February to March, winter weather still has a firm grip on parts of the country. Two storms joined forces to cause travel headaches — and at least one death — in the midwestern United States. Meanwhile, not everyone is looking forward to spring as they gear up for seasonal allergies, and it looks like Earth's moon may have some company in outer space. Here's a look at the week's biggest weather (and astronomy) news.
Clouds can take on all kinds of mesmerizing forms from above, and on Monday morning, one of them seemed to “wave back” at scientists down in New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Observatory. They spotted a Kelvin-Helmholtz, or KH-lenticular cloud, around 7 a.m. EST.
The serene image they tweeted looked more like a painting than a photograph, as a slightly silhouetted cloud outlined in the soft beige glow of the morning sun appeared to float over the mountains below.
KH-lenticulars are rare phenomena named after their discoverers, Hermann von Helmholtz and William Thomson — also known as Lord Kelvin. They happen in unstable atmospheric conditions when air varies in density due to different temperatures. Their time in the sky is typically brief, which AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell says makes them tough to document.
A similar occurrence happened in June 2019, when a Virginia woman captured the special clouds on camera one evening. Her photo quickly went viral.
A similar occurrence happened in June 2019, when a Virginia woman captured the special clouds on camera one evening. Her photo quickly went viral.
The stunning cloud witnessed from high atop Mount Washington wasn't the only enthralling imagery from the sky this week. In fact, one video showed what it's like to look down at a wall of clouds.
A video posted to Instagram earlier this month, but released by Storyful News Agency on Wednesday, showed two men in Saudi Arabia taking in a gorgeous sunset and enjoying some tea from high atop a mountain in the city of Abha in the southwestern part of the country.
According to Storyful, Abha is located in Asser Province and is known for the country's highest peak.
It was far from a winter wonderland this week across the Midwest as the region got battered by a band of heavy snow formed from not one, but two storms. People in areas from the central Plains, across the Great Lakes and into southern Ontario and Quebec felt the impacts.
Snow blanketing the ground in Toledo, Ohio, at The University of Toledo. (Image/The University of Toledo)
Travel chaos ensued as many drivers struggled across slippery highways, including in Missouri, where state troopers reported at least 59 crashes, several injuries and one death on Wednesday before 2 p.m., local time. Amid a winter storm watch, over 900 flights in and out of Chicago O'Hare International Airport were delayed, even though the city avoided the brunt of the stormy conditions.
Within 24 hours, snowfall totals began to mount, reaching up to 8.5 inches in Clarke Lake, Michigan, and 6.5 inches in Arnold, Nebraska. By Wednesday, 7 inches of snow had covered the ground in Angola, Indiana, and by 2 a.m. the next morning, 7 inches had fallen near Fayette, Ohio.
Within 24 hours, snowfall totals began to mount, reaching up to 8.5 inches in Clarke Lake, Michigan, and 6.5 inches in Arnold, Nebraska. By Wednesday, 7 inches of snow had covered the ground in Angola, Indiana, and by 2 a.m. the next morning, 7 inches had fallen near Fayette, Ohio.
Even despite the wintry conditions still causing problems for many, it may come as a shock to some that not everyone is anticipating the arrival of springtime. That’s because for them, it marks the return of those pesky seasonal allergies. AccuWeather’s annual spring allergy forecast shows that this year, allergy sufferers across the eastern U.S. might want to grab hold of their tissues — they're in for a tough ride.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that tree, weed and grass pollen production will be higher as above-normal rainfall and near-average temperatures affect much of the region this season. They’re also expecting that the eastern Rockies and West Coast cities will see above-average pollen levels, while the Northwest and Southwest catch a break. It looks like there could be some relief for weed pollen sufferers in the northern Plains and northern Rockies, as well.
“We will continue to see the lack of rainfall and some warm air take a toll on plant growth and lead to below-average and even well-below-average weed pollen from the northern Plains into the northern Rockies,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert.
You can read AccuWeather’s full 2020 spring allergy forecast here, and don’t forget to check out our U.S. spring forecast for more on what to expect in your region this upcoming season.
It was almost like night and day when a thick snow squall swiftly moved across a ski resort northwest of Aspen, Colorado, on Feb. 24. In the webcam images, you can see a curtain of snow covering one side of the camera lens as it makes its way across the mountains. Take a look at the difference.
AccuWeather Meteorologist Jesse Ferrell wrote that intense squalls like the one pictured are often responsible for pileup crashes due to their tendency to reduce visibility on roadways almost instantly.
Elsewhere in Colorado, the town of Breckenridge, home to one of the biggest ski resorts in the West, became the first in the state to hit the 300-inch benchmark when a storm moved through on Sunday.
Mounting fears surrounding COVID-19 are starting to seep into plans for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are recognizing the virus’s potential to impact the Games, although they’re not slated to take place until July.
Over the next three months, IOC will consider possibilities of altering, relocating or canceling the major sporting event altogether. “This is the new war, and you have to face it,” said IOC member Dick Pound in a recent interview with the Associated Press (AP). “In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo or not?’”
Bruce Aylward, an assistant director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks with a chart during a press conference in Beijing on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
Last week, London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey’s unofficial offer of availability for his city to host the Games as an alternate location were called “inappropriate” by Tokyo's Governor Yuriko Koike. Two Japanese citizens who died from COVID-19 aboard a Diamond Princess cruise ship is how the country became connected with the international health crisis.
"A reason why this issue has attracted global attention is due to the cruise ship. But the cruise ship's nationality belongs to Britain," Koike said. "I wish aspects like these would be well understood."
For the latest developments on the coronavirus, click here.
Scientists have made an incredible discovery in outer space: Earth appears have to have gained a new satellite. The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced this week that they have observed a natural moon orbiting the planet — and it’s not the one we’re used to seeing up there. The group has named the much tinier counterpart 2020 CD3, according to UPI.
A photo showing the new "mini moon" 2020 CD3 that was discovered by astronomers earlier in February.
"Orbit integrations... indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth," astronomers wrote in the update. "No evidence of perturbations due to solar radiation pressure is seen, and no link to a known artificial object has been found.”
The new mini moon was first seen by astronomers at the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey on Feb. 15. 2020 CD3 is estimated to have been orbiting Earth over the last three years.
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