cold
While parts of the United States and Europe enjoy a brief respite from the frostbite, the majority of Canada, transcontinental Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan continue to suffer from a descended Arctic.

Siberia is suffering one its coldest winters on record, with temperatures in the vast Northern Asian region having regularly dipped below -50C (-58F) since mid-December, 2020.

Much of Central and Western Asia has also been battling brutal and unusual freezes over the past few months, which in turn have lead to food and energy prices soaring to record highs.


The latest GFS 2m Temperature Anomaly run (shown below) is for Feb. 25.

And while the mainstream attempts to draw all eyes to central Europe's brief - yet admittedly unseasonable - burst of warmth, looking at the northern hemisphere as a whole reveals that "blues" and "purples" remain the dominating colors, not "oranges" and "reds" as temperature departures across Canada and much of Asia are holding 20C below the winter average, and beyond:

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Strong "Meridional" jet stream flow in action: GFS 2m Temp Anomalies for Feb. 25 [tropicaltidbits.com].

What is also revealed is the stark temperature divide between western and eastern Europe — a phenomenon fully expected and predicted during times of low solar activity as the jet streams lose their strength and "buckle" (click the below link for more).


EUROPE'S LONGEST BRIDGE CLOSED DUE TO SNOW

And while western Europe enjoys a little early-Spring warmth, the continent's eastern regions are continuing to suffer from February's lingering Arctic cold.

As reported by rt.com, the Crimean Bridge was closed late last week due to heavy snow as local authorities declared weather-related state of emergency covering four areas.

Europe's longest bridge, which stretches 19 km (11.8 mi) over the Strait of Kerch, was shut for the first time since its completion in 2018 as the Black Sea region endured rare freezing temps and "an uncharacteristic cold spell."

Crimea's recent snowstorm managed to deliver a months worth of snow in just a single day, and it prompted warnings from local authorities to cease all travel — this included the closure of the bridge due to a "lack of visibility, heavy snowfall, and strong side winds" but not before ≈300 vehicles became stranded, with many more stuck either side of the crossing:


Southern Russia has suffered uncharacteristically chilly temperatures in recent weeks, writes rt.com — and while Moscow is renowned for its cold winters, Crimea usually holds above freezing in February.

Vehicles have since been cleared from the bridge; however, further inclement weather is on the way, threatening re-closure.