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Thu, 30 Nov 2023
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Extreme Temperatures

Sun

It's not yet summer in Brazil, but a dangerous heat wave is sweeping the country

Eléonore Hughes and Diane Jeantet
AP News
Wed, 15 Nov 2023 19:37 UTC
water fountain at Madureira Park
© AP Photo/Bruna Prado
People cool off in a water fountain at Madureira Park amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.
It's still spring in Brazil, but a dangerous heat wave is sweeping across large swathes of the country, forcing Rio de Janeiro's vendors off the streets due to health alerts and driving up energy demand amid reports of power outages.

Most Brazilian states face "great danger" from the heat, according to the National Institute of Meteorology. The institution issued a red alert for the center-west, southeast and parts of the north warning of "a high probability of major damage and accidents, with risks to physical integrity or even human life."

The heat index — a combination of temperature and humidity — hit 58.5 degrees Celsius (137 Fahrenheit) Tuesday morning in Rio, the highest index ever recorded there. Actual temperatures dropped slightly on Wednesday, but were forecast to rise again to 40 degrees Celsius (104 F) on Thursday.

Cariocas — as residents of Rio are known — have always seen sun, heat and the beach as part of their identity, said Núbia Beray, coordinator of Rio de Janeiro Federal University's GeoClima laboratory. But this is too much even for many of them, she said.

"Cariocas come home from work in buses without air conditioning. Street vendors cannot work because they sometimes faint. The heat kills," Beray said.
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Igloo

While media obsess about some warmth, globe seeing plenty of unusual cold events

P. Gosselin
No Tricks Zone
Thu, 16 Nov 2023 05:40 UTC
Surface temperatures measured where people live show there's as much cold as there 's warmth, see temperature.global.com.
IceAge Earth
Snowpack extent in US reaches record levels!

America's first Arctic air blast of the season broke hundreds of low temperature records and led to the largest snowpack extent there in early November in NOAA records.

A high snowpack blanketed the Rocky Mountains, northern Plains, Great Lakes and northern New England, resulting in 17.9% of the Lower 48 under a blanket of snow as the calendar turned to November - a new record in the books dating back to 2003.

Many places recorded their snowiest Halloweens ever.

At 22 inches, Muskegon, MI, not only recorded the snowiest Halloween ever, but also the snowiest October day and month. Glasgow, MT, recorded the snowiest start to the season with 36 inches.

The cold broke hundreds of low temperature records across the country, from Texas to Maine, dropping the average temperature in the Lower 48 to -0.5°C - more than 5 degrees Celsius below normal.
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Snowflake

Alaska's largest city declares 'snow emergency' after record snowfall - 65 inches in less than 24 hours at Thompson Pass

Angeli Gabriel
Fox Weather
Fri, 10 Nov 2023 12:12 UTC
East of Anchorage, Richardson Highway over Thompson Pass (MP 19-63) was closed due to heavy snowfall and wind from the storm.
© Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
East of Anchorage, Richardson Highway over Thompson Pass (MP 19-63) was closed due to heavy snowfall and wind from the storm.
A winter storm dropped record snowfall amounts in Anchorage, Alaska, with some areas outside of Anchorage proper receiving more than 2 feet of snowfall in just two days.

The largest city in Alaska broke its daily snowfall record on Wednesday when 9 inches of snow fell in 24 hours. For context, the previous record for Nov. 8 was 7.3 inches set in 1982. Another 8.2 inches piled up on Thursday, which also broke the daily record of 7.1 inches set on Nov. 9, 1956. That brought Anchorage's two-day total to 17.2 inches of snow.

By late Thursday, Anchorage had a 21-inch snow depth, or the total amount of snow on the ground. This was Anchorage's greatest snow depth for so early in the season, according to Alaska-based climatologist Brian Brettschneider. Already, 26.6 inches of snow has fallen in Anchorage this season, which is 17.5 inches above the average snowfall to date for Nov. 9.

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Snowflake Cold

Arctic granted a reprieve

Tony Heller
Real Climate Science
Thu, 09 Nov 2023 04:06 UTC
"Now, climate scientists say the Arctic could be completely ice free in the summer by 2012."

- Center for Biological Diversity 2009
Arctic Meltdown
© Center for Biological Diversity
The Arctic Meltdown
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Snowflake Cold

Heavy snow covers 60 pct of Mongolian territory


Xinhua
Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:20 UTC
nnnnnnn
Nearly 60 percent of the Mongolian territory has been covered after heavy snow hit the country, said the National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday.

"Around 60 of the country's territory has so far been covered by snow. Our country is expected to experience a harsh winter," the agency said in a statement.

Over the last weekend, heavy snow and blizzards hit large parts of Mongolia, killing eight herders.

Mongolia's climate is strongly continental with long, frigid winters and short summers. A temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius is normal during winter in the country.


Comment: Eight women herders killed in Mongolia due to snow storms

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Snowflake

Meter of early snow hits the Alps


Planetski.eu
Mon, 06 Nov 2023 11:36 UTC
mmmmmm
It is looking good in the Alps after the heavy snow of the past few days.

In places 1m of snow fell with the freezing level down to 1,500m in some areas.

There is now a lull in proceedings with more snow forecast for Thursday.

It is looking good at altitude and the snow on the upper slopes will help to form a base for the approaching season.

Many resort are now moving the snow and packing it down.

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Snowflake Cold

Northeast China sees first major blizzard this season and forecasters warn of record snowfall


Independent (UK)
Mon, 06 Nov 2023 14:53 UTC
A snow removal vehicle cleans snow on a road in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, Nov. 6, 2023.

A snow removal vehicle cleans snow on a road in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, Nov. 6, 2023.
Heavy snow blanketed swaths of China's northeastern region, shutting schools and halting transportation in the first major snowstorm of the season.

Major highways in the northeastern city of Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province, were closed and flights canceled, China's state broadcaster CCTV said. Elementary and middle schools also canceled classes for Monday.

The National Meteorological Center said Monday that snowfall is likely to "breakthrough the historical records" for the same period. Heavy snowstorms are expected to continue in parts of Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, with snow depth reaching 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) in some places.

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Snowflake Cold

Eight women herders killed in Mongolia due to snow storms

Б.АНХТУЯА
news.mn
Mon, 06 Nov 2023 14:33 UTC
mmmm
Today (6 November), eight women herders have been killed in central Mongolia due to snow storms, the country's National Emergency Management Agency. Snow and blizzards have caused icy roads and poor road visibility during weekend.

Snow and blizzards swept the western provinces of Zavkhan and Uvs and central parts of the country including the national capital Ulaanbaatar, and provinces of Arkhangai, Uvurkhangai, Tuv and Bulgan, with wind speeds up to 20 meters per second.

The southern provinces of Dundgovi and Dornogovi, the eastern provinces of Khentii and Sukhbaatar, and the northern provinces of Khuvsgul and Darkhan-Uul also experienced strong winds and snow storms.

Volatile weather is expected to continue in the coming days across large parts of the country, the agency said, warning the public, especially nomadic herders and drivers, to take extra precautions against possible disasters.

The Asian country's climate is strongly continental with long, frigid winters and short, warm summers.
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Question

Is the jet stream changing?


Universitaet Mainz
Tue, 31 Oct 2023 16:17 UTC
Researchers at Mainz University are investigating the jet stream to assess how its decadal variations could affect the occurrence of weather extremes in Europe.
Jet Stream
© Georgios Fragkoulidis
Wind velocity and streamlines at an altitude of about 10 kilometers above the Earth's surface on the onset of a Western Europe heat wave (23 August 2016).
Heavy precipitation, wind storms, heat waves — when severe weather events such as these occur they are frequently attributed to a wavy jet stream. The jet stream is a powerful air current in the upper troposphere that balances the pressure gradient and Coriolis forces. It is still not known whether the jet stream is really undergoing changes at decadal timescales and, if so, to what extent.

"There are various theories as to what we can expect from the jet stream in future. However, these are all based on highly idealized assumptions," said Dr. Georgios Fragkoulidis of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). "Although it is quite clear that carbon dioxide emissions make a direct contribution to the global mean temperature, changes in the atmospheric circulation are highly uncertain due to the chaotic processes that govern its evolution."
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Snowflake

Snow cover in the U.S. Lower 48 is at record levels as November starts

Ian Livingston
Washington Post
Wed, 01 Nov 2023 14:15 UTC
Snow depth as of Wednesday. (NOAA NOHRSC)
© NOAA NOHRSC
Snow depth as of Wednesday.
The season's first snows have frosted the Rocky Mountains, the northern Plains, the Great Lakes and northern New England over the past week, resulting in the most extensive early-November snow cover in at least two decades.

On Wednesday morning, snow was on the ground in 17.9 percent of the Lower 48, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Locations from eastern Minnesota to western New York saw snow on Halloween — even enough to shovel in Minneapolis; Milwaukee; Muskegon, Mich.; and Buffalo. Areas downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario were also blanketed early Wednesday, including Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, while several inches were anticipated along some of the west-facing slopes of the Appalachian Mountains.

This latest batch of wintry weather comes on the heels of two other storm systems that brought snow to the Mountain West, the northern Plains, the Midwest and northern New England over the past week.

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