Buresh Blog: First freeze of the season!.... Tonga underwater volcano

Jacksonville, FL — Finally! Jacksonville (Int’l. airport) recorded the first freeze of the season on Jan. 18th just one week away from tying the latest freeze on record at JIA (since 1971). Inland areas average 15 freezes a season, so we’re likely to end up well below that number for the winter of 2021-’22 despite a pretty chilly pattern for at least the next week to 10 days or so. Not since the winter of 2010-’11 has Jacksonville had more than 14 freezes in a season. The avg. date of the last freeze at JIA is Feb. 14th.

What a remarkable blast from the Tonga volcano in the W. Pacific! Images & measurements have been incredible. Satellite images show a tremendous mushroom cloud & barometers measured pressure spikes from the shockwave for up to 4 days after the largest eruption on Sat., 01/15. It made me curious as to whether or not all the volcanic ash & dust could alter our climate in the coming months (see 1816 / The Mt. Tambora volcano - “The Year Without a Summer”... Mt. Pinatubo in 1991). The consensus among scientists at this point is that the Tonga eruption is *probably* not large enough to alter the earth’s climate. From Space.com:

“At this point the estimates of the amount of sulfur dioxide emitted by the Hunga-Tonga eruption is a small fraction of what was emitted by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo,” Karen Rosenlof, an expert in atmospheric chemistry at the U.S. National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), told Space.com in an email. “Because of that, I would not expect to see a significant global surface temperature response.”

The underwater (about 0.10 mile below the ocean’s surface) volcano is exactly how the Hawaiian Islands were formed.

From Eric in South Jacksonville showing the shockwave - pressure jump - at 9:29am EST:

Image by the USGS showing how volcanic eruptions can block or at least filter the sun’s rays:

©2022 Cox Media Group