Words From Jerry

Greetings fellow Weatherfun members and welcome to your January Newsletter. Well, we did it again. We not only went through another month, but also through another year. A very successful year I might add for Weatherfun. We took on new members, but most importantly some very good weather watchers. As Bill said on our Holiday lottery we are number one. We had a very successful family reunion, even despite the new event that I added of Jerry Goes to the Hospital. That event I promise will not be back on any future reunion. Now, we look forward to making plans for our 5th anniversary family reunion in July. We will be talking with you shortly, and start to make our plans for the 2006 Family Reunion. We also went through the severe weather period with the tornadoes, followed by the history making 2005 hurricane season, that as of this note just does not want to end. Most importantly this year's hurricane season struck home to several Weatherfun members. I like to think that with our help we helped them make it through this very upsetting time in their lives. Now, we look onto the winter storms, and oh yes SNOW. Well, you all know where I stand on this issue. As I write this note we have just had 3 inches of snow, and this evening we are looking to a Northeaster that is headed this way, that will also give us a moderate snowfall. How long off can spring be? Bill how many days until spring, and how much dust do you have on your golf clubs? It is time to look forward to the New Year, and with your help let's make it the best year yet for Weatherfun. I would like to thank all of you for your great support in making Weatherfun what it is, and I ask your continued support in the New Year. A special thank you to our moderators for all the help they have given me this past year. There is no way that I could run Weatherfun without the help of our moderators. You are a great group. At this time all of us here at Weatherfun Headquarters would like to wish you and your family the best of 2006. May it be the best year for all of you and above all the healthiest. JERRY LAROCHE WEATHERFUN FOUNDER

December's Weather 1st: Heavy snow fell east of the Cascades in Washington resulting in one death on the roads. 2nd: In the mid-Atlantic, Epsilon became the 14th hurricane of the year. This was another record in this record breaking year. 2nd-3rd: Lake Effect snows piled up several inches, but in a few areas it reached almost 2 feet. 3rd-4th: Temperatures in the 70s and 80s in Texas dropped rapidly due to a strong Cold Front. In some cases the drop was over 40 degrees in 24 hours. 4th: The first snow of the season from northern Virginia to New England dropped 1 to 4 inches. 3 deaths were reported in New Jersey due to the snow. 5th: Several tornadoes in Georgia caused some damage with only minor injuries. 7th: Close to a foot of snow fell in parts of Missouri and Kansas. Snow fell in northern Texas with sleet and freezing rain further south caused travel problems. 8th: Morning Low temperatures in parts of Texas with even a few below zero readings. A number of records were broken. At least 3 deaths were weatherrelated due to the snow/sleet/freezing rain. 8th-9th: A storm rolled out of the Midwest dropping 7 to 9 inches of snow and re-developed off of central New Jersey giving southern New York and parts of western New England almost 10 inches of snow in some areas. The storm bombed out near Cape Cod causing blizzardlike conditions with whiteouts, high winds and thundersnow for a short while as it dropped 3-5 inches more of snow in a short period of time. Outside of Boston got close to a foot of snow in a matter of a couple of hours. 13th: Dense fog in various parts of California that caused major traffic problems that cause numerous traffic accidents. 15th: Freezing rain and ice in western North Carolina, South Carolina's upstate and western Georgia closed schools, snarled traffic and left over 300,000 customers without power. 17: Cold weather continued in the Upper Plains and parts of the Great Lakes continued to have Lake Effect snow. 18th: The strongest storm of the season so far in the Sierra Nevada dropped as much as 3 feet of snow, snarling travel through the mountain range but improving ski resort conditions. The storm dumped heavy rain on Northern California, with 3 to 4 inches on the San Francisco Bay area and more than 7 in Big Sur and parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Winds gusted to 71 mph on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. More than 50,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the Bay Area lost power Sunday because lightning damaged transmission equipment. Farther north, freezing rain caused traffic problem around Portland, Ore., and utilities reported scattered power outages. 21st: Winter arrived, but in Syracuse, NY they thought it was already here. They had their third-snowiest autumn on record with a snow total of 56 inches. A strong Pacific storm system brought heavy rain showers to California, the Pacific Northwest and the western Great Basin. 24th-25th: Another storm battered the Pacific Northwest with rain and winds gusting to 40 mph knocking out power in many areas. The storm also brought record High temperatures with Seattle setting a record with 62 degrees. 25th: Heavy rain from the mid-Atlantic to New England made for a wet Christmas. While northern Maine got snow over 3 feet in a few areas. 26th: A fast moving storm swept over the Sierra and across northern Nevada, leaving up to 2 feet of snow on ski resorts. 27th-28th: Wildfires in northern Texas and Oklahoma were fed by high temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds. Possibly five people died due to the fires. While another storm hit Oregon and northern California with rain and wind. 28th: Thunderstorms with rain, strong wind and hail moved through Alabama and Georgia. While parts of the West Coast had heavy rain some mountainous areas had heavy snow. 31st: A powerful storm plowed through Northern California, causing mudslides and widespread flooding.

Kevin Shaw - Gaithersburg, MD has a great writeup on the FREE ACCESS FOR EVERYONE TO ORIGINAL COOP DATA/RECORD OF CLIMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FORM. You can read it by clicking HERE Thanks Kevin

CAM OF THE MONTH The southern end of Lake Washington in the City of Renton, WA

Links 4 You NOAA REVIEWS RECORD-SETTING 2005 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON

Hello New Members Jack - retnav89@earthlink.net aawoweather@yahoo.com weatherman1@gmail.com plymptonwx@yahoo.com

Did You Know? 1943 - The most dramatic temperature rise in world weather records had in Spearfish, N.D. which saw the temperature rise 45 degrees from -4 degrees F to 45 degrees above zero in just 2 minutes! That occurred at 7:30 am. At 9 am the temperature was a springlike 54 degrees, but by 9:27 am it had dropped again to -4 degrees F. All of this caused by an incredible Chinook wind. Plate glass cracked as a result of the wild temperature swings.

CONGRATULATIONS Our Hurricane Contest ended this year in a tie. Congratulations: Billy - Long Island & Jonathan - Allendale, MI Your WEATHERFUN's Hurricane Forecasters of 2005. You can see who the Winners were and what they won in our Holiday Lottery by going to Holiday Lottery 2005

We hope that you enjoyed this month's Newsletter. See you next month, and be sure to visit the WEATHERFUN Website but most of all have fun with your weather.

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List Owner:Jerry Moderators: Jason B Steve Lynn Bill

~ http://www.esl.lsu.edu/quicklinks/hurricanes/2005/