Blizzard Bad, but it Could've Been Worse

The National Weather Service even apologizes for not getting this one right.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/2015/01/27/national-weather-service-deepest-apologies/22398041/

More Superstorms to Come

Superstorm Sandy was no freak, say experts, but rather a hint of a coming era when millions of Americans will struggle to survive killer weather.

They're telling us we shouldn't be surprised that this 900-mile-wide monster marched up the East Coast this week paralyzing cities and claiming scores of lives.

"It's a foretaste of things to come," Princeton University professor Michael Oppenheimer told CNN. "Bigger storms and higher sea levels" will pile on to create a "growing threat" in the coming decades.

And New York, he warned, "is highly vulnerable."

More in a CNN piece here:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/us/sandy-climate-change/index.html

Hawaii Says "Rain, Rain, Go Away"

After days of torrential rain and flooding, the governor of Hawaii has declared a disaster on the islands of Kauai and Oahu, according to reports from paradise.

Since Saturday, areas of Kauai have been inundated with more than 35 inches of rain. In Wainiha, on the North Shore, the National Weather Service said 12.74 inches fell in a one day period.

Parts of Oahu have seen 15 inches of rain, and Maui was also soaked. The thunderstorms have also brought waterspouts, hail and deadly high surf. Snow was possible today on Hawaii island summits, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser said.

A 30-minute hail storm Friday over windward Oahu was "unprecedented," for Hawaii, said Tom Birchard, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Honolulu. Not only is it highly unusual for hail to fall over Hawaii, but some stones that measured as large as three inches are likely record-breaking, he said.

Small stones were reported to have fallen on other islands over the course of about a week of heavy rains that closed schools, caused sewage spills, flooded homes and dampened vacations. There were landslides, power outages and roads blocked by trees, boulders and mud.

The islands are expected to get a break from the rain on Saturday.