Miscellany

Top - After the blizzard and snow dump in NYC garbage piles up in streets. Sanitation workers drafted into emergency snow plowing efforts, leave the city in different kind of crisis. The news this morning indicates that limitated garbage clearing will begin today.
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Middle - Three mornings of low temperatures in the teens here at house took their toll, bringing down many cactus limbs or arms in the yard. The photo shows that even cactus close to warm adobe walls froze. The variety of prickly pear in the photo (unknown to me) is probably native to Mexico, and is particularly vulnerable to extended cold because of its large and heavy limbs.
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Bottom - strong moisture plumes continue being pulled to the north across the central and east-central Pacific. Important question for later in the week will be: How far north will the cutoff 500 mb low west of northern California be able to pull subtropical moisture?
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Finally, I note that the ECMWF forecasts two strong coastal storms in the northeast during the next 10 days. The GFS appears weaker and more to the east - a bit of deja vu to start the new year.