The “epic” snowstorm enveloping much of the eastern U.S. follows the hottest year on record, and comes at the start of a year that could be even warmer.
Washington D.C. is among the areas to take the severest hit from the blizzard, and if the storm dumps snow to the upper limit of 30-inch as forecast that would be a new record of ice accumulation for the capital.
Knickerbocker Blizzard that brought 28 inches of snowfall in January 1922 is so far the largest in D.C. history. The storm was named after the then largest theater in Washington, which brought down its roof during a Jan. 28 evening showing, killing 98 people and injuring 133, according to reports.
Even at its lowest prediction of 17-inch snow, the weekend storm will match the “Blizzard of 1996” which, reports say, forced the administration of President Bill Clinton to shut down the federal government for nearly a week. The storm killed 154 people and ensuing floods claimed lives of another 33, according to history.com.
A street in Alexandria amidst continuing snow storm Saturday morning
Photo: Aziz Ahmed
Today, 20 years later, seven states – Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Wes Virginia and Pennsylvania were under the state of emergency to deal with “life-threatening” situation created by the mix of snow and gale-force winds which, according to reports citing flight-tracking site Flight Aware, forced cancellation of more than 6,000 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Beginning Friday noon, the blizzard was forecast to subside early Sunday morning, affecting the lives of more than 82 million people in some ways. Called a nor’easter, or coastal low, the storm is powered by contrasting air temperatures – sub-freezing Arctic air layer and warm Gulf Stream.
The ongoing storm coincides with a latest report by climate researchers NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration that declared 2015 as the hottest year since record keeping began in 1880.
“During the final month, the December combined global land and ocean average surface temperature was the highest on record for any month in the 136-year record,” NOAA said on its official website.
Record warming in 2015 is said to be the impact of El Nino phenomenon that remained in effect for most of the last year. Most of the warming happened in the past 35 years, according to NASA, with 15 of the 16 warmest years on record occurring since 2001.
The year 2016 could set an all-time record of being the warmest ever.
“Climate change is the challenge of our generation,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and, while referring to the latest data urged, “now is the time to act on climate”.
World leaders last month reached a landmark deal at the Paris climate summit to curb global warming, committing rich and poor nations to control rising carbon levels and calls for eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
“Full implementation of this agreement will help delay or avoid some of the worst consequences of climate change, and will pave the way for even more progress,” President Obama said in his remarks at the climate.
“Together, we’ve shown what’s possible when the world stands as one.”
