Want to learn how major storms, like the one in the  Northeast, are  warned of by meteorologists? Received today: PS -- Rereading Warnings -- can't praise it too highly . . . and this from a guy who wrote about science, tech, and medicine for nearly 50 years.    Cheers, Jock Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather   makes a great Christmas gift because  it is not just a gripping story (non-fiction but written like a novel) but because it is also uplifting. Books make great gifts.  As you know, I do not have advertising on the blog. Your patronage of my books is greatly appreciated.  From Twitter:

 From Jock Elliot near Schenectady.  Even more fell near Binghamton, NY with as much as 41 inches. Records are being set by this storm. The same amount has fallen in rural southern Vermont. Meteorologists warned (see below) to avoid travel through this storm. Some didn't pay attention. Snowfall to 10:40am. The black area is more than three feet of snow.  The highest amount is 44" in southern Vermont.  Click to see the legend. And, via Twitter, near Binghamton, NY. 

Here is the latest update on snowfall amounts for the pending Northeast storm. Power outages will be a serious issue.  Here is the radar as of 9:45am EST.

This storm will cripple travel. As much as 30 inches of snow are forecast to fall.  Everyone living in the high risk areas depicted below should prepare for power failures. 

No one really believes nations are going to decrease their standards of living to meet an exaggerated threat allegedly 80 years in the future. So, these meetings -- which are always in high class, expensive locations -- are much sound and fury signifying nothing.  While global warming is a significant problem , no one actually seems to want to solve it. It appears the politicians prefer to have it as a political issue and the environmental groups prefer to use it for fund raising. 

Outdoor dining is safe. 

With the news of the first vaccinations this morning, we all owe President Trump a debt of gratitude in addition to the scientists and test volunteers that made the vaccines possible.  It is amazing how much criticism he has had to endure. There's little doubt that the federal bureaucracy, if left to its own devices, would have taken five years to produce a vaccine.