Wicked Winter Setting Records Already

Many Still Without Power In Mich.; Flood Warnings Throughout Midwest

(CBS/AP)  Barely one week in, winter is quickly wearing out its welcome, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers, especially in the Pacific Northwest, which got battered again Monday with heavy snow, rain and high winds.

In Spokane, Wash., a record 51.5-inches of snow has fallen so far this month.

In parts of Iowa and Illinois families shoveling snow on Christmas Eve were sandbagging over the weekend, to hold back rivers swollen by heavy rains and melting ice, Bowers reports.

Utilities in Michigan scrambled Monday to restore power knocked out by a gusty weekend storm as rain and melting snow caused flooding there and in other parts of the Midwest.

About 177,000 customers were without electricity in Michigan, down from more than 400,000 on Sunday, according to the state's utilities. Some could remain without power until Wednesday because of Sunday's storm, which carried winds gusting more than 60 mph.

Flood warnings were posted throughout the Midwest as temperatures rose after a week of heavy snowfall. Forecasters said flooding was possible in areas of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and northwest Ohio.

In Michigan, roads in some Ottawa County subdivisions were under 2 to 3 feet of water, while the first floors of some homes were flooded, National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Walton said.

In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland. In northwest Missouri, the Grand River reached nearly 9 feet above flood stage in places over the weekend.

Winter storm warnings were issued throughout the Northwest, which has been hammered by storms in recent weeks. The National Weather Service said northeastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle could expect 3 to 7 inches of new snow in the valleys, and 6 to 10 inches in the mountains through Monday evening.

Spokane, Wash., already had received upward of 51 inches of snow this month - more than it sees in a typical winter - but it kept falling Monday, accompanied by winds that gusted to 35 mph.

Roads were so clogged in the city that Spokane police asked semi-truck drivers to use chains after several trucks became stuck in giant snowbanks. Black ice was also causing many accidents on Interstate 90, officials said.

[payasyougo]

Another couple years and all those experts in academia can start the global cooling rant.

[au_fait]

I live in Germany and most of the power lines are underground. I have lived here on and off for 23 years and I don''''t remeber losing elctrical service due to weather. It is smart to bury them.

Posted by wvu7462 at 08:54 AM : Dec 30, 2008
+ report abuse

Ask the residents and workers in downtown Savannah about the issues with underground transformers or ask those of us who live on the Gulf Coast of the US. If water intrusion occurs and causes damage to the buried electrical cables (it does occur as saltwater is not good for electrical lines) the length and cost to repair is much greater than overhead power lines.

Regarding global climate change, can someone tell me when in history the climate was static and not fluid. From what I understand it has always changed so why are we worried about global climate change. This is just another way for governments to control free enterprise. They are an equal number of scientific minds not related to petroleum companies who dismiss the scientist who predict global warming. It is true there are regions of higher temperatures and less precipitation, yet there are regions of lower temperatures and more precipitation. As for gloabl change, the newer studies are showing evidence of an overall increase in global temperature.

[debinok1]

I have wondered about this. We live in an area with frequent power troubles because of the weather. Why not put them all under the ground. It is awfully expensive to keep replacing and maintaining these above ground lines.
Does anyone know why it is not the standard?

Posted by sandy19731
********************
A few years ago most Electric suppliers petitioned for a rate increase that would equal several million dollars a year in increased revenues for the purpose of putting electric lines underground. Here we have been paying for them to do that for almost ten years. Last winter we had major ice storms which caused major outages. They went back to petition for another rate increase to pay for the damage the ice storm caused to the "unburied" lines. The only underground power lines are where there is new construction.

[inhaled_not]

Ya I have been shoveling the "global warming" all year long

[louiville2]

Here is the "List" of things blamed on the 0.6 deg C increase over the last 100 years. Most of that temp increase was lost over the last 10 years. Even the IPCC admits the temp''s will continue to drop until 2015.

http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm

[bmen8]

"Question to all GLOBAL WARMERs:
Yeesh, people...use your heads. The head wasn''''t placed on your body so you can look at your parts from above. YEESH
-CarlyLaine"

Because day-to-day predictions of what weather occurs locally in the future has nothing to do with the the LONG-TERM, GLOBAL events we are seeing. These events fit the climate change model perfectly. Do you think maybe there''s a reason why we call it GLOBAL warming and LOCAL warming?? It''s obvious to all readers that YOU are the one not using your head. The earth''s weather balances out. Don''t be a chump - if it''s cold in one area, that means there''s record heat somewhere else. You could easily google around and discover that a few local areas are experiencing a bit of cold weather (but no records) and MANY areas are right this minute experiencing record heat. But your dumb enough to claim that only the US exists and is experiencing weather, right?? We''re YEARS past questioning weather climate change exists. If you suddenly have evidence it doesn''t, why don''t we know your now-famous name? And trying to talk about it only in a lens of politics is ridiculous. Do you think the other 191 countries argue about US Democrats versus US Republicans? It''s the WHOLE that''s involved and you wanna talk about GORE? He''s a tiny player and its about people who KNOW what they''re talking about, not politicians.

[bmen8]

"Question to all GLOBAL WARMERs:
Yeesh, people...use your heads. The head wasn''''t placed on your body so you can look at your parts from above. YEESH
-CarlyLaine"

Because day-to-day predictions of what weather occurs locally in the future has nothing to do with the the LONG-TERM, GLOBAL events we are seeing. These events fit the climate change model perfectly. Do you think maybe there''s a reason why we call it GLOBAL warming and LOCAL warming?? It''s obvious to all readers that YOU are the one not using your head. The earth''s weather balances out. Don''t be a chump - if it''s cold in one area, that means there''s record heat somewhere else. You could easily google around and discover that a few local areas are experiencing a bit of cold weather (but no records) and MANY areas are right this minute experiencing record heat. But your dumb enough to claim that only the US exists and is experiencing weather, right?? We''re YEARS past questioning weather climate change exists. If you suddenly have evidence it doesn''t, why don''t we know your now-famous name? And trying to talk about it only in a lens of politics is ridiculous. Do you think the other 191 countries argue about US Democrats versus US Republicans? It''s the WHOLE that''s involved and you wanna talk about GORE? He''s a tiny player and its about people who KNOW what they''re talking about, not politicians.

[sandy19731]

Sounds like a testimonial for underground power lines.
Posted by rf35 at 06:03 AM : Dec 29, 2008

I have wondered about this. We live in an area with frequent power troubles because of the weather. Why not put them all under the ground. It is awfully expensive to keep replacing and maintaining these above ground lines.
Does anyone know why it is not the standard?

[kamsack50]

Who IS Cynthia Bowers anyway?

[actiscenei]

You GLOBAL WARMING DENIERS are missing so many of the facts.

A record cold snap doesn''t mean there is no global warming. Parts of the country are experiencing record highs as well. 70 in Detroit the other day?! That fact that we are having flooding problems when we should be having cold snaps is indicative of the problem.

Global warming creates greater swings in the weather; just because the stock market went up record amounts a couple weeks back doesn''t mean that the trend since September has been up, up, up! You cannot detect global warming by the events of one week. Pick up some scientific references that explain global warming to you, and perhaps you''ll understand what is happening. You''re deluding yourself into believing lies that you''ve been told by DENIERS.

[carlylaine]

Global Warming at it''s coldest. NOW LET ME IN!

[carlylaine]

Question to all GLOBAL WARMERs:

Meteorologists can''t get the day to day weather right unless it''s consecutive-then they still miss it. AND YOU BELIEVE WHAT THESE PEOPLE SAY that we are warming?
Yeesh, people...use your heads. The head wasn''t placed on your body so you can look at your parts from above. YEESH

[smurfcrusher]

"Give it another month the bark humpung tree hugging loons will have a reason why this harsh winter is further proof of global warming.

Maybe Gore will fly his private jet across country and it will allow a little warming for the north."

Posted by mccain08nc


You should tell that to your buddy Bush, who has already acknowledged human-induced global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2023835.stm

Apparently you''re less intelligent than Bush. Global warming is not refuted by a few storms in a region.

[hetup-2009]

Pretty hard to beat this comment posted earlier:


412,000 of the homes were empty, having been foreclosed upon.

Posted by BRdeckard

[nownthen-2009]

Positive sign of global WARMING!

VOTE FOR NO INCUMBENTS! EVER

[bogusbones]

good one mr. deckard. very good. if those homes have been foreclosed, where are the people that once lived in them? on the street freezing? thank you mr. bush. have a happy christmas and i still wonder why he didn''t take an early retirement.

[chad55555]

Most people think global warming means constant highs but the truth is when the earth senses a major change and the weight of the ice caps change due to melt. Another ice age is soon to come,this can happen almost over night.This is found in the ice cores and we have known it for years. STACK YOUR FIRE WOOD.

[rf35]

Sounds like a testimonial for underground power lines.