Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake

Overnight snowfall smothers California's High Desert in 8 inches of snow

Joshua Tree and Pioneertown become a Winter Wonderland
Joshua Tree and Pioneertown become a Winter Wonderland
Overnight snowfall left California's High Desert coated in snow on Friday, December 27.

This video shows the sun rising over trees in Pioneertown, a community in San Bernardino's High Desert near the Joshua Tree National Park. The National Weather Service (NWS) recorded eight inches of snowfall in Pioneertown as of Thursday morning.

Local media said a winter storm that swept across California forced the closure of multiple roadways, causing traffic jams and delays for travelers on Friday.


Snowflake Cold

Snow continues to batter Mexico's northern regions

Snow
The government of Chihuahua issued a weather warning to residents about the arrival of the fourth winter storm of the year due to Cold Front No. 26.

The cold front, which began to enter the region Friday, will bring sleet and additional snow to the elevated areas of the Tarahumara mountain range. El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional also warned of possible snowfall in the mountains of Baja California, Sonora and Durango.


Snowflake

World Snow Wrap, Dec 27: Snowed-in in Southern California, more on the way in British Columbia

Revelstoke was our pick of the week last week and here’s why. Todd Legare making the most of the epic sno win Revvy this week.
© Daniel Ronnback PhotographyRevelstoke was our pick of the week last week and here’s why. Todd Legare making the most of the epic sno win Revvy this week.
It was another good week for many northern hemisphere resorts with more big falls in Europe last weekend, a nice mid-week top up in Colorado, good totals in Revelstoke and Lake Louise. Things are also on the way up in japan with heavy snowfalls in Hakuba at times today and 80cms due over the next week.

Japan

Thought we'd start with Japan this week as there is finally some good news coming out of the so-called powder paradise. As we all know it has been a very slow start to the season in Japan, with small snowfalls punctuated by short periods of mild temps and rain. It finally looks like the weather cycle is moving into winter mode with two good storms due across Honshu over the next week, the Grasshopper's latest forecast calling for 30-45cms for Honshu resorts in the next 24 hours. It started snowing to the base in Hakuba and Myoko this morning and this storm will be followed by another early next week with 20-40cms expected from next Tuesday through to Thursday. The snow is definitely needed as the cover is average in Hakuba and Shiga Kogen with limited on piste skiing although there was a little 10cm top up last Sunday night.

Snowflake Cold

Delhi faces second-coldest December in 100 years as northern India shivers in record cold spell


Comment: For several years now, northern India has experienced freezing or near-freezing temperatures in December...


cold wave india
© Prakash Singh / AFPIndian men huddle around a fire to keep warm on a roadside on a cold foggy morning in New Delhi on December 26, 2019.
A wave of unusually cold weather is sweeping across large swathes of India, from remote Kashmir to Delhi, forcing people to seek shelter and light bonfires on the streets.

Delhi has been hit with what local media described as 'bone-chilling days' this week. In the early hours of Friday, the temperature dropped to almost four degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit). This December is now on course to become the second coldest in terms of daytime temperatures the capital has seen since 1901, with December 1997 holding the top spot.


Snowflake Cold

Prolonged cold spell in northern India blamed on 'unusual Western disturbance weather pattern'


Comment: That's what they also blamed the record cold wave in northern India LAST December on. Which means they don't know what they're talking about. Suffice it to say, it's unusually cold in India again this winter, after it was unusually hot again in India this past summer...


cold spell north india
© K M Sharma/BCCL Patna / FileSchool children shiver due to cold conditions
An unusual and powerful spell of "Western Disturbances", originating in the Mediterranean sea, has made India shiver for the past fortnight. Unfortunately, the spell, striking once in four to five decades, will continue to freeze people on New Year's Eve too.

"It is a long spell, very unique in nature, and would affect entire northwest India," says Dr Rajendra Jenamani, senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The thick cover of smog on the Indo-Gangetic plains and the uneven warming of the Indian Ocean has a role to play in this robust spell of Western Disturbances. The extratropical storms originating in the Mediterranean region are causing sudden winter rain in the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent, which have brought the day temperatures in some Indian cities below 12 degrees Celsius.

Comment: Skymet Weather defines Western Disturbance as "a low pressure area or a trough over surface or the upper-air in the westerly winds regime, north of 20°N, causing changes in pressure, wind pattern and temperature fields. It is accompanied by cloudiness, with or without precipitation."

The term Western Disturbance (WD) was coined by Indian meteorologists for describing the systems moving from the west to east direction.
western disturbance weather pattern india
A Western Disturbance weather pattern from 2015



Snowflake Cold

Winter storm blankets Southern California mountain resorts with up to 3 feet of fresh snow

heavy snowfall shuts down major roads as
Heavy snowfall shuts down major roads
Though mountain resorts in Southern California received several feet of fresh snow Christmas Day into Thursday morning, some skiers and snowboarders hoping to take advantage are out of luck.

In Wrightwood, Mountain High Resort was doused with up to three feet of white powder, but was closed Thursday due to the severity of the winter storm. The resort was expected to reopen Friday.

Big Bear Mountain and Snow Valley Mountain resorts both saw a few inches fall and would be open.

Pine Mountain Club in southwestern Kern County also received nearly two feet of snow and more was expected to fall.


Sun

'Never seen that before': Birds falling 'dead' from trees during extreme heatwave in Australia

One of the dead cockatoos after apparently falling from a tree in extreme heat.
One of the dead cockatoos after apparently falling from a tree in extreme heat.
The extreme heat currently sweeping the nation has apparently begun killing native wildlife as temperatures continue to reach dangerous highs across the country.

A farmer shared grim photos to Twitter of what he says shows dead cockatoos that appeared to have fallen from a tree on a day that saw the thermometer on his back verandah rocket to 48.9C.

"Not an official reading obviously, but it was enough to kill these sulphur-crested cockatoos," he wrote.


Snowflake

Over a metre of snow dumped on Okanagan highways in British Columbia

SNOW PASS
The Coquihalla and Allison Summit were hit the hardest

The winter storm that blew through the Okanagan and the B.C. interior last week dumped more than a metre of snow on the Connector, the Coquihalla, Highway 1 and other mountain passes, according to Environment Canada.

At the height of the storm, the weather agency recorded between five and 10 centimetres of snow accumulating an hour, something that is very rare according to Environment Canada meteorologist Bobby Sekhon.

"I wouldn't say that that was very normal," said Sekhon. "Keeping that rate up for a 12-hour stretch was quite exceptional."



Snowflake

Several resorts in the Alps post 1 metre plus weekend snowfall totals

Tignes, Les Arcs and Orelle (Behind Val Thorens in the 3 Valleys) are amongst resorts to report more than a metre (40 inches) of snowfall between Friday and Monday after another snowy weekend in the Alps.

Up at Arc 2000 the metre of snowfall, more than half of which arrived in the past 24 hours, was car burying stuff...

car buried by snow
Resorts across the Alps as well as in the Dolomites and Pyrenees, have been publishing big snowfall totals, with many posting 40-60cm accumulations. Although lower valleys (down to about 1000 metres) have still got above freezing temperatures the snow has also been accumulating down to resort level at traditional village resorts, as well as at the purpose-built altitude, although conditions are still best high up.



Snowflake

Record Christmas snow cover in Finnish Lapland

Sunset in snow-covered Lapland.
© Thomas NilsenSunset in snow-covered Lapland.
Many Lapland residents will spend this Christmas enjoying record snow cover, according to data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute, FMI.

The institute said that snow hit record depths in areas such as Pokka in Kittilä, Tähtelä in Sodankylä and Saariselkä in Inari.

In Pokka, powder is nearly 80 centimetres deep, while in Tähtelä and Saariselkä snow cover is around 70 centimetres. Except for coastal areas, most of the north has been blanketed by at least 50 centimetres of snow.

FMI said that this Christmas will be slightly warmer than usual in Lapland, with the mercury hovering around zero degrees Celsius in southern Lapland and a few degrees below freezing further north.