This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.
In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. states, the climatologically coldest time of year is late January to early February, what I like to call the "heart of winter". Now the heart of winter in 2009-10 has been anything but boring for us in the DC area. After our 19 December 20" snowfall, we've had several smaller snows, two of those last Saturday and last Tuesday night, totaling 11.3" at chez BillLaurelMD. But Friday started Snomageddon (the name given to this storm by the Capitol Weather Gang, with a Twitter name of #snomgasm (I didn't think of that one, which seems to be a combo of #snOMG and #snogasm.). More on this after the Arctic report.
But what's been going on in the Arctic since my Holiday report? A hint ... not that much ice making, in spite of rather cold temperatures. More below.