Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake Cold

Coldest winter in nearly 50 years for Tasmania, Australia

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Snowfall in early August reached sea level for the first time in several decades.
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed what many Tasmanians already suspected, it has been the coldest winter in nearly 50 years.

With winter coming to a close officially ahead of the first day of spring on Tuesday, the bureau's Debbie Tabor revealed it was the sixth coldest winter on record.

"It's been below average temperature and rainfall for Tasmania during this winter," she said.

"Preliminary analysis is all indicating that it's the sixth coolest on record, that's resulting in the coolest winter since 1966."

Heavy snow in August reached sea level for only the seventh time since 1986.

The dump in early August closed several schools and roads and stranded people in their cars.

Snow fell again in late August again closing roads and creating traffic chaos.

The snow was a welcome boost for the ski season at Mount Field and Ben Lomond but made it .

Sun

NOAA: World breaks new heat records in July

child cools off in fountain
A child cools off in a fountain next to the Manzanares river in Madrid on July 15, 2015
The world broke new heat records in July, marking the hottest month in history and the warmest first seven months of the year since modern record-keeping began in 1880, US authorities said Thursday.

The findings by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed a troubling trend, as the planet continues to warm due to the burning of fossil fuels, and scientists expect the scorching temperatures to get worse.

"The world is warming. It is continuing to warm. That is being shown time and time again in our data," said Jake Crouch, physical scientist at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.


"Now that we are fairly certain that 2015 will be the warmest year on record, it is time to start looking at what are the impacts of that? What does that mean for people on the ground?" he told reporters.

The month's average temperature across land and sea surfaces worldwide was 61.86 Fahrenheit (16.61 Celsius), marking the hottest July ever.

The previous record for July was set in 1998.

Comment: All over the world 'extreme' weather records are being broken! See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - July 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval


To understand what's going on, check out our book explaining how all these events are part of a natural climate shift, and why it's taking place now: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.

Check out previous installments in this series - now translated into multiple languages - and more videos from SOTT Media here or here.

You can help us chronicle the Signs of the Times by sending video suggestions to sott@sott.net


Snowflake Cold

Summer snowfall in parts of Montana

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© William KennedyPicture of the mountains by Kiowa Camp Blackfeet Reservation
Get this... it's snowing in parts of Montana right now!

Jason Reid sent us a photo of the snow flying about six miles north of Babb, right along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The photo was taken at around 6:15 p.m. on Friday.

This is not unexpected, so let's not panic. We have been expecting some higher-elevation snow for several days now.

A cold front has moved through north-central Montana and strong northwest winds are carrying in much colder air.

Snow levels will fall to near 6,500 feet in the next few hours, with up to one inch of slushy accumulation in the mountains.

This includes Logan Pass, parts of the Going To The Sun Road, and Kings Hill Pass in central Montana.

I am NOT expecting snow in Great Falls or at lower elevations.

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© Jason ReidViewer photo of snow flying near Babb, MT on August 21, 2015

Snowflake Cold

August snowfall in western Alberta as frost advisories issued

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© skibanff.comThis is the image coming from Sunshine Village's Rock Isle Lake webcam at 12:58 p.m. MT on Friday.
It's not expected to stick around, but snow was falling at the outer edges of Calgary and many areas west, south and north of the city late in the day on Friday.

Environment Canada's Bill McMurtry says most of the snow was reported at higher elevations in the Rockies and Foothills.

"We are anticipating that snow will continue for the remainder of the afternoon and evening period," he told CBC News. "As the system moves off to the east towards Saskatchewan and Manitoba we'll see skies clear overnight and that will end the precipitation."

Webcams belonging to the Lake Louise Ski Resort and Sunshine Village show the snow already accumulating in higher elevations.


Bizarro Earth

Unusual weather phenomenon in Finland, as city area experiences highest and lowest temperatures on same day

unusual weather in Finland
© Tommi Parkkinen / Yle
The coldest and the warmest places in Finland on Friday were one in the same spot in the southeastern city of Lappeenranta.

Residents of the Konnunsuo area of Lappeenranta experienced an unusual weather phenomenon on Friday when they had both the coldest and the warmest temperatures recorded in the country.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute measuring station at Konnunsuo recorded a temperature of 3.1 degrees Celcius just before 6 AM, the lowest anywhere in the country.

By afternoon, the thermometer had climbed to 25.6 degrees, the highest official temperature of the day.

Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Signs of Change: Extreme weather and environmental upheaval in August 2015 (VIDEO)

hawkkey davis
© HawkkeyDavisChannel/YouTubeFloods and infernos: August has seen flooding and fires in areas all over the world.
Hawkkey Davis' latest video compilation of extreme weather events (and general environmental chaos) from the past month or so.

The Solomon Islands, Alaska's Aleutian Islands, the Bay Area, Indonesia, Queensland and Maryland are rocked by earthquakes; Reunion Island (the site of the alleged MH370 'wreckage' found earlier this month) and Mexico by volcanoes. The Queensland quake was the biggest in a century. Flash floods in Arizona, northwest China, Iran, Pakistan, Florida, India, Myanmar, Colorado, and Argentina. Wildfires in France, Spain, Montana and California. The Dead Sea tourism industry is threatened by unprecedented sinkholes. All this, plus storms, tornadoes, sand, fireballs, record-breaking heat and more!


Comment: See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - July 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval


Snowflake

August snowfall in Colorado: Denver sets record low temperature

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© Provided by Rocky Mountain National ParkSnow could be seen along Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park on Wednesday morning, Aug. 19, 2015.
Autumn is in the air across Colorado on Wednesday as the high country received a light dusting of snow and Denver set a record low temperature.

A web cam at the Alpine Visitor Center at Rocky Mountain National Park showed the light snow dusting early Wednesday along Trail Ridge Road.

Eric Thaler, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder, said it is likely the first measureable snow of the season in Colorado.

At Denver International Airport on Wednesday, the mercury dipped to 47 degrees, marking a record low for Aug. 19 in the Mile High City. The previous mark of 48 was set three times, in 2002, 1967 and 1960.

Denver weather forecasters call for a high of 72 degrees in Denver on Wednesday under mostly sunny skies.

"It's just going to be a nice, pleasant, Autumn-like day," Thaler said.

Sun

High temperature records 'shattered' in California

record heat in California
© AP Photo/Richard VogelVisitors to Echo Park Lake near downtown Los Angeles shade themselves under an umbrella as paddle boats keep close to a large fountain to keep cool on Friday, Aug. 14, 2015. The National Weather Service says Southern California’s sharp warming trend will build into the weekend, with above-normal temperatures in many areas. Forecasters say the hottest conditions will be Friday through Sunday. Valley and desert temperatures will range from 100 to108 degrees, with highs from 85 to 95 elsewhere.
After Southern California baked under record-breaking heat Saturday, the triple-digit heat wave is expected to continue through the weekend before tapering back down toward seasonal norms during the week, according to the National Weather service.

Long Beach, Burbank and Ontario all saw records for the date, Meteorologist Joe Sirard of the NWS Oxnard office said.

"It's the usual," he said. "an upper level ridge of high pressure that built in from the east, and just brought in some hot air from over the deserts and parked it over us."

In addition, a "very shallow" marine layer rising little more than 600 feet also contributed to the Southland's sweltering temperatures, which hovered at 10 or 15 degrees above normal Saturday, Sirard said.

Burbank saw a high temperature of 104 degrees Saturday, shattering the previous record of 101 degrees set in 1977, Sirard said.

Long Beach Airport recorded a high temperature of 99 degrees, topping its 1992 record of 87 degrees, he said. And in the Los Padres National Forest, Sandberg, at more than 4,500 feet elevation, a high temperature of 99 degrees bested the previous record of 95 degrees, set in 2014.

Inland, a record of 100 degrees set in 2007 in Ontario was smashed after temperatures reached 105 degrees Saturday afternoon, NWS Meteorologist Scott Sukup said.

Comment: All over the world extreme weather records are being broken!

Stay informed, see: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - July 2015: Extreme Weather and Planetary Upheaval

To understand what's going on, check out our book explaining how all these events are part of a natural climate shift, and why it's taking place now: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.

Check out previous installments in this series - now translated into multiple languages - and more videos from SOTT Media here or here.

You can help us chronicle the Signs of the Times by sending video suggestions to sott@sott.net


Cloud Grey

No summer this year in the north of Sweden

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"Hösten är här - de fick ingen sommar," reads the headline. "Fall is here - they had no summer."

A few days ago, we jumped from the spring right to autumn, says this story out of Sweden.

In Tarfala in Norrbotten was never any summer this year. Two days ago there was snow on the highest peaks, says Erik Holmlund of Tarfala Research. There is more snow than it has been for a long time.

The meteorological definition of fall is that the average daily temperature should be between zero and ten degrees for five days in a row, as has happened in Tarfala and also in Stekenjokk in Västerbotten.

It is rare to places skip a season in Sweden. When that happens, it is done in the mountains, according to meteorologist Alexandra Ohlsson at SMHI.

Snowflake

Snowfall continues across parts of Tasmania, Australia

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© ABC News/ Tony KingMore snow fell on the Hobart suburb of Fern Tree
Snow has fallen into the afternoon in many low lying areas of Tasmania after a wintry blast saw snow fall in many parts of the state this morning.

Some Hobart suburbs received a dusting of snow this morning, and a number of schools were closed in the south-east.

The weather bureau's senior forecaster Brooke Oakley said snow was still falling at Scott's Peak in the state's south-west.

"At the moment the snow level is around 200 to 300 metres, and we have showers around the west, south and central areas and only a few light showers getting into the north-east," she said.

"Those showers are going to continue but the snow level is gradually rising to around 500 metres in the evening."