It doesn't rain in California; man it pours!

A less than sexy news item.

Minneapolis has thus far declared 5 snow emergencies in December. This is a record. To put things in perspective, Minneapolis on average only declares 6 for the entirety of Winter.

This winter is on track to be one of the coldest and snowiest on record. I predicted this in September considering the information that La Niña was winding herself up. This only spells disasters for North America especially along the trade winds, aka the US. So our walloping should be unsurprising.

However, California's continuing train wreck of 12" and counting rainstorm isn't. It is a behemoth and it is making for downright miserable conditions there in the southwest. I can't locate any hard data on accumulations but hopefully will in the coming days.

This weather phenomenon is called the Pineapple Express. This is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of atmospheric moisture and associated heavy rainfall from the waters adjacent to the Hawaiian Islands and subsequently crossing the Pacific to North America, usually coming onshore in California and Oregon.