Whistler Smashes November Snowfall Record
November 21, 2009
Filed under Canada
Tags: Canada, climate, climate change, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, Mt Hood, National Weather Service, record snow, record snowfall, ski, ski resort, skiing, snow, snowfall, snowiest November, temperature, temperatures, weather, Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb
Whistler Smashes November Snowfall Record
Vancouver Sun
Via ICECAP, November 18, 2009
“Whistler Blackcomb ski resort has reported 98” the last seven days and 165” November. This makes it the snowiest November on Record at Whistler Blackcomb.
See larger image here. H/T Tim Kelley.
“I’ve skied here for over 15 years and I’ve never seen this much snow so early in a season, it seems like every day’s snowfall is topping the last,” said Stephen Butt, communications coordinator and voice of the Snow Phone for Whistler Blackcomb . “We have already received one third of our average annual snowfall for the entire season and it’s only four days into the season, it’s unbelievable!”
See photo gallery here.
This record Whistler Blackcomb ski resort November snowfall is occurring in spite of the National Weather Service predictions in No Need to go to the Desert for the Winter, in the October 1 Tacoma News Tribune link, that begins as follows,
“Skiers may want to hold off on buying that new set of snow skis for the coming winter. Umbrellas still will come in handy but there may not be enough rain to seriously challenge river levees. El Nino is back and that usually means a mild Northwest winter with less rain and higher temperatures than normal, one of the National Weather Service’s top climatologists said Wednesday.”
See more here.
Additional information courtesy of Ken Schlichte: “Looks like record snow coming to Mt Hood too. Timberline already has a 50 inch base and 98 inch snow fall to date with much more snow forecast for the rest of November. See links here and here.
Last winter during the snow in town we drove from Tualatin to Timberline, and back, and never drove on pavement.
See larger image here.
See larger image here.
See FSU snowcover. Note the greater than normal extent in Asia, less in southern Canada north central US. This will change late this month.
See larger image here.
Still notice the above normal snowpack in mid latitudes (35-55 N).
See larger image here.
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BEIJING – See these stories on the killer cold and snow in China here and here. Unusually early snow storms in north-central China have claimed 40 lives, caused thousands of buildings to collapse and destroyed almost 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of winter crops, the Civil Affairs Ministry said Friday. Nineteen of the deaths resulted from traffic accidents related to the storms that began Nov. 9, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site. The snowfall is the heaviest in the northern and central provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan since record keeping began after the establishment of the Communist state in 1949, the ministry said without giving detailed figures. It estimated economic losses from the storm at 4.5 billion yuan (US$659 million).
Chinese state media say some of the snow was induced through cloud seeding, although the precise amount of snowfall in all areas was not reported and it wasn’t clear what the previous records were. Hebei’s provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, received the heaviest snowfall – 3.7 inches (9.4 centimeters) – on Nov. 10, the day of the heaviest flurries.
More than 7.5 million people have been stranded or otherwise affected by the storms, which caused the collapse of more than 9,000 buildings, damaged 470,000 acres (190,000 hectares) of crops, and forced the evacuation of 158,000 people, the ministry said. State media have reported at least two deaths were caused by the collapse of buildings, including a school cafeteria. Beijing has been hit by three successive waves of snow, causing havoc on roadways and forcing the cancellation or delay of scores of flights.
The capital and surrounding areas are little prepared to deal with such heavy snow, with few plows or road deicing supplies. Snow tires and chains are almost unknown and many drivers simply leave their cars at home and turn to public transport in such conditions. The impact has been far greater in the surrounding provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan, where highways have been closed, schools shuttered, and crews sent to rescue people in their snowbound homes.
Freak snow and ice storms last year hit parts of eastern and southern China unaccustomed to such weather. Those storms paralyzed key transport systems just as millions of migrant workers were heading home for the Lunar New Year holiday, leading to more than 80 deaths and billions of dollars in damage.
Hong Kong shivers in coldest November in over 120 years
November 20, 2009
Filed under Asia, Hong Kong
Tags: Asia, brrr, China, climate, climate change, cold, cold November, cold record, frost, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, Hong Kong, monsoon, record cold, temperature, temperatures, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather, winter monsoon
Hong Kong shivers in coldest November in over 120 years
Irish Sun
Thursday 19th November, 2009
(IANS)
Hong Kong recorded its coldest Nov 18 in 120 years as a winter monsoon continued to send temperatures falling, authorities said Thursday.
Temperatures fell to 9.7 degrees Celsius in the sub-tropical city Wednesday morning – the lowest Nov 18 reading since records began in 1883.
In rural areas close to the border with China, it was even colder, falling as low as 6.6 degrees.
The previous coldest Nov 18 was in 1976 when the temperature was 11.9 degrees.
The Observatory warned the cold spell, which has brought snow to some parts of southern China, would continue until the weekend as the northeast monsoon brought wintery weather to southern China.
However, it is expected to get warmer over the weekend, bringing temperatures to around 20 degrees next week.
Hong Kong is in a sub-tropical belt at the southern tip of China and never has snow. Occasionally, traces of frost are seen on high ground on the coldest days of the winter.
South Africa braces for cold, snow….in Spring!
November 16, 2009
Filed under Africa, South Africa
Tags: Africa, brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold November, Drakensberg, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, SAWS, snow, snowfall, South Africa, South African Weather Service, temperature, temperatures, unseasonal cold, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather
SA braces for cold, snow
News24, November 16, 2009
Johannesburg – Summer has not quite arrived yet.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) said on Sunday another strong cold front, which would bring cold conditions and possible snow to the Drakensberg and Lesotho on Monday night, would cause temperatures in the interior of the country to drop from Tuesday.
The cold front, which entered the country from the southeast and had resulted in cold conditions over KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Eastern Cape on Sunday, would keep maximum temperatures in Johannesburg and Pretoria below 20ºC until Friday.
Jan Vermeulen, a senior forecaster at the SAWS, said on Sunday that a strong surface high pressure system, which had formed southeast of the country on Sunday, would bring cold and moist air to the northeastern parts of the country on Monday and especially on Tuesday.
Rain, cold
“It was cold today already in large parts of KwaZulu-Natal and we expect snow tomorrow (Monday) over eastern parts of Lesotho, the higher-lying parts of the Eastern Cape and the southern Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.
The cold front would start moving over to the eastern parts of Mpumalanga and northern Limpopo on Monday, he said.
“By tomorrow (Monday), the cold front will bring rain to parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.” By Tuesday, temperatures would also drop sharply in the interior and in Gauteng.
“More cold air will from Tuesday come in from the interior and Gauteng and the rest of the interior will therefore see windy and cloudy conditions with scattered showers and thunderstorms.”
The minimum and maximum temperatures for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Pretoria would be 12ºC/16ºC; 12ºC/17ºC; 13ºC/19ºC and 12ºC/21ºC. Johannesburg will have 10ºC/13ºC; 10ºC/14ºC; 11ºC/16ºC and 10ºC/18ºC.
The weather service also warned of cold and wet conditions over the higher lying parts of KwaZulu-Natal for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperatures in the interior were expected to start rising again on Friday.
Record Cold Expected in Alaska
November 15, 2009
Filed under Alaska, USA
Tags: Alaska, below average temperatures, brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold November, cold record, Fairbanks, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, record cold, snow, snow storms, snowfall, temperature, temperatures, unusual cold, unusually cold, USA, weather
Record Cold Expected in Alaska
By AccuWeather
Last update: November 14, 2009 – 2:25 PM
Record cold will grip interior Alaska this week. Low temperatures may dip as much as 50 degrees below zero.
High pressure will build overhead. Meanwhile, the jet stream will remain south of Alaska, keeping any mild, Pacific air from entering the state.
Record temperatures in Fairbanks, for example, will be between 40 and 45 degrees below zero over the next few days.
Several snow storms have pounded Alaska in recent days. With clear skies and light winds, temperatures will tank. Temperatures will get colder and colder day by day. The reason is the days are so short this time of year. The sun rises at 9:30 in the morning and sets around 3:30 p.m. in Fairbanks. That is 18 hours per day with dropping temperatures.
Records across other parts of the state are as follows. Anchorage is 15 to 20 degrees below zero. Juneau’s records are zero to 5 above.
The pattern will remain entrenched across the 49th state through at least midweek, then some modification is expected as the pattern begins to shift.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Dave Samuhel
Rough winter weather at the beginning of summer surprises Cape Town
November 10, 2009
Filed under Africa, South Africa
Tags: Africa, brrr, Cape, Cape Town, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold November, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, South Africa, temperature, temperatures, unseasonal cold, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather
Winter weather surprises Cape
Marlene Neethling
News24, 2009-11-09 09:06
Cape Town – Capetonians were taken by surprise by unusually rough winter weather at the beginning of summer, as heavy rain, flooding, and stormy sea conditions lashed parts of the Western Cape over the weekend.
Five swimmers nearly drowned.
Almost 50mm of rain fell between 08:00 on Saturday and 08:00 on Sunday in various parts of the province.
Carl Opperman, executive head of Agri Western Cape, said it didn’t usually rain this much at this time of the year. He said the rain was not necessarily a problem for farmers, but did present a risk for grain farmers.
October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years, What about the Upcoming Winter?
November 7, 2009
Filed under USA
Tags: brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold October, cold record, El Niño, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, ICECAP, Joseph D’Aleo, NAO, North Atlantic Oscillation, PDO, QBO, Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, record cold, snow, snowfall, Southern Oscillation Index, temperature, temperatures, USA, weather
October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years, What about the Upcoming Winter?
By Joseph D’Aleo
ICECAP, November 6, 2009
NCDC has compiled the October temperatures and it ended up the 3rd coldest in 115 years. As we have shown it was cold over almost all the lower 48. Indeed only Florida came in above normal. There is no press release out yet but it should be interesting.
Enlarged here
October with a mean of 50.8F was behind only 1976 with 50.7F and 1925 with 49.4F.
Enlarged here
Also the University of Alabama global temperature is out and it is down this month. Hadley came in late for September but it was down. The trends since 2002 continue down for both even as CO2 rise.
Enlarged here
The cold came just a few months after a cold July where 6 states were coldest in 115 years, four 2nd coldest and two 3rd coldest.
US was not alone. In the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand had the coldest October in 64 years. Hat tip: Rod Van Koughnet, geophysicist and skeptic.
Temperatures may pop globally with the second surge in El Nino the next two months. A warm pool (depression of the thermocline) induced by a westerly wind burst last month with a negative Southern Oscillation Index has been pressing east. A prior surge had produced a first peak in El Nino in July. It weakened after with a cooling of the water in the eastern Pacific as the first warm surge was mixed out and cold water upwelling increased off South America. The same thing will happen after the El Nino comes to a second larger peak in early December. Typically in cold PDO phases, El Ninos, are truncated – that is they end early and tend to be weaker (up to moderate strength). See the similarity to other years in this post here.
When you look at other years in cold PDO with a quiet sun and transition to an easterly QBO (Quasi-Biennial Oscillation) you get a cold winter especially in the east.
Enlarged here
A stratospheric warming is more likely in these conditions, favoring high latitude blocking and cold air intrusions. We have seen much more blocking this year in part due to El Nino, in part to low solar and in part to high latitude volcanoes (Redoubt and Sarychev). See how a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) correlate with winter temperatures.
Enlarged here
Big east coast storms for DC, New York or Boston are very likely in westerly QBO winters but not easterly. Since we will be transitioning from west to east, one might think we may still manage a few decent coastal storms and maybe a blockbuster, if the cold comes early and the QBO is slow to flip. Often in easterly winters, the snow is actually heavier south (like Norfolk).
Enlarged here
A negative NAO though is favorable for east coast storms and snow. This graph is for Boston, New York and DC are similar.
Enlarged here
See more here.
New Zealand: Coldest October in over 25 years
November 2, 2009
Filed under New Zealand
Tags: brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold record, Cold spring, coldest October, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, Hawke's Bay, heavy snow, New Zealand, Niwa, record cold, temperature, temperatures, unseasonal cold, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather
Coldest October in over 25 years
The New Zealand Herald, 4:00AM Monday Nov 02, 2009
New Zealanders have just shivered through the coldest October in more than 25 years – not long after they enjoyed the warmest August on record, says a climate analyst.
After a winter of wild swings, temperatures are expected to be closer to normal in November, December and January.
The October mean temperature of 10.7C was 1.4C below average making it the coldest October since 1982, climate scientist Jim Salinger has calculated.
The heavy snow that trapped motorists and surprised Hawkes Bay farmers on October 4 and 5 was the latest spring snow of its kind to hit the North Island since 1951, he said.
Dr Salinger, a former Niwa scientist who now works as a climate expert for farmers’ pay channel Country 99 TV, said October was very wet in Gisborne and Hawkes Bay – with each recording twice the usual rainfall for the month – while the South Island’s West Coast got only half of its usual dose of rain.
Niwa’s climate outlook for the next three months is for normal temperatures for the North Island and Nelson/Marlborough, and average or below average temperatures for the rest of the South Island.
The summary said an El Nino in the equatorial Pacific was expected to stay there throughout the summer but would have little impact on New Zealand.
Most of the country should get the normal amount of rain for the season, but the north and east of the North Island may get a little less than usual.
Its winter summary noted that the season was one of extreme temperature swings.
The topsy-turvy weather began in May, which was the coldest recorded in many parts of New Zealand, with temperatures more like the beginning of winter than the end of spring.
June was also colder than normal before temperatures returned closer to normal in July.
Then came August – the warmest New Zealand has seen since temperatures were first recorded 155 years ago – with an average temperature almost 2C warmer than usual at a spring-like 10.4C.
Sydney’s Coldest October in 17 years
November 1, 2009
Filed under Sydney, australia
Tags: australia, brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold October, cold record, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, New South Wales, NSW, record cold, Sydney, temperature, temperatures, unseasonal cold, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather
Sydney’s Coldest October in 17 years
Martin Palmer, Saturday October 31, 2009 – 15:28 EDT
Weatherzone
Cloud, rain and brisk southeasterly winds, all combined this month to deliver a fairly drab October.
It was a promising start, as Sydney soared to 33 degrees on Thursday 1st. This was blown apart on Saturday 3rd when a strong front swept into the southeast. A top of just 15 degrees ensued.
A slow recovery was made into the middle of the month as a high pressure system took control.
Sunny skies and 35 degrees was the order of the day on Wednesday 21st, but didn’t last for the weekend, where we fell below average, again.
The last third of the month saw Sydney plagued by cool southeast winds, heavy rainfall and gloomy skies.
Based on maximum temperatures and averaging 21.4 degrees, we have now seen our coldest October in 17 years.
Overnight, minimums were mild for October. With plenty of insulating cloud about, the average was 14.1 degrees, half a degree above the mean. But, still our coldest nights since 2003!
Some October temperature facts for Sydney:
- The mean maximum is 22 degrees.
- The mean minimum is 14 degrees.
- The highest temperature recorded was 38.2 degrees (2004)
- The lowest recorded temperature was 5.7 degrees (1918)
All-time October low recorded in Bavaria
October 23, 2009
Filed under Europe, Germany
Tags: Bavaria, Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden national park, bitter cold, brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, cold October, cold record, cold snap, cool, Europe, Funtensee, Germany, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, lowest ever October temperature, Meteomedia weather service, record cold, record cold October, snow, temperature, temperatures, unseasonal cold, unusual cold, unusually cold, weather
All-time October low recorded in Bavaria
The Local, Published: 20 Oct 09 16:36 CET
Meteorologists on Tuesday morning recorded the lowest ever October temperature in Germany, as the mercury dipped to a chilly -24.3 degrees Celsius in Bavaria’s Berchtesgaden national park.
The bitter cold was measured at the Funtensee, a notoriously frosty lake high in the Bavarian Alps. Jörg Kachelmann from the Meteomedia weather service said conditions overnight were ideal “with brisk cold air flowing in over freshly fallen powder snow.”
Kachelmann said the alpine sinkhole could register temperatures as low as -55 degrees in the middle of winter by similar conditions, making it in his estimation the coldest spot in Germany. But he said the Funtensee was likely to be a balmy 35 degrees warmer by Wednesday, as the Alpine Föhn wind is expected to push temperatures up to 10 Celsius.
The rest of the country will also warm up slightly midweek, according to the DWD German Weather Service. The Föhn will heat up the southern edge of Germany to 17 degrees, while the eastern half will be lucky to see seven degrees. Most regions will be cloudy, but are likely to stay dry. Overnight lows will drop to six degrees in the northwest to zero in the southeast.
The northern and eastern Germany will remain dry on Thursday, but will showers threaten the southwest. Highs will range between nine and 17 degrees.
Chilly high of 39 degrees breaks local record
October 17, 2009
Filed under Minnesota, USA
Tags: brrr, chilly, climate, climate change, cold, global cooling, Global Freeze, global freezing, global warming, temperature, temperatures, weather
Chilly high of 39 degrees breaks local record
SC Times • October 17, 2009
Thursday’s high of 39 degrees set a St. Cloud record for the coldest high temperature on Oct. 15.
The previous coldest high was 40 degrees in 1940.
Temperatures have been cool in October with the average temperature at 46 degrees so far this month. Normal is 61 degrees.
Thursday’s record was the fifth benchmark to enter the record books this month. The Oct. 10 high of 34 degrees was also a record cold high temperature for the date. The 28-degree mean temperature that day was the coldest recorded in St. Cloud, and the 33-degree mean temperature on Oct. 11 tied the record. The 0.9 of an inch of snow measured Oct. 10 was a record for that date.
Through Friday morning, 4.20 inches of precipitation had been recorded this month at St. Cloud Regional Airport, almost double the entire month’s normal precipitation of 2.24 inches, according to St. Cloud State University meteorologist Bob Weisman’s records.
Another two-tenths of an inch, which forecasters said was possible overnight, would push this month into the 10 wettest Octobers on record in St. Cloud.
Today and Sunday will bring some sun and warmer days.
Today’s forecast high is 46 and Sunday’s forecast high is 56.
