Extreme Temperatures
S


Snowflake

Over 4 metres of snowfall at Niseko ski resort in Japan

Patrick Thorne
In the snow
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:25 UTC
snow
Japan's ski areas are seeing a very snowy start to the 2017-18 ski season with the resort of Niseko passing the 4 metre mark for season snowfall to date in the past 48 hours.

The famous ski area on Japan's northerly island of Hokkaido has had 60cm (two feet) of snow in the last 48 hours and nearly 1.2m (four feet) in the last seven days. December snowfall totals are already at 238cm (nearly eight feet) and season to date at 4.3m (over 14 feet).

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Snowflake

Ski area of Les Paccots in Switzerland claims 3.5m (almost 12 feet) of snow in 7 days; second resort has 9ft in 72 hours

Patrick Thorne
In the snow
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 10:22 UTC
snow
The huge snowfalls in the Alps have continued through the past 10 days and Eastern Switzerland seems to be at the heart of the perfect snow storm.

The small Eastern Swiss ski area of Les Paccots claims to have received 3.5 metres of snowfall (nearly 12 feet) over the past even days, with accumulations of up to a metre in 24 hours.

The centre is not yet fully open for the season, opening at weekends before Christmas, but says it will be operating on Wednesday 20th December then daily from Friday 23rd December.

All the snow has not been without problems though, a tree came down on a lift cable last week forcing the centre to close until the cable was replaced.
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Ice Cube

Rising seas could displace 150 million people by the end of this century, says climate report


RT
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 14:37 UTC
Iceburg
© Alister Doyle / ReutersA view of icebergs remaining after a break-up of Wilkins ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, January 19, 2009.
Lands inhabited by more than 150 million people could be submerged in water by the end of this century. That's according to the latest projections from a group of US researchers.

A new study published in the journal Earth's Future used the latest information from the Antarctic ice sheet and combined it with existing models on the expected rise in sea levels.

The academics behind the report found that if levels of greenhouse gas emission remain high, the median global average sea-level rise could be 4ft 9ins (1.5 meters) by 2100. Astonishingly, this is double the estimate of 2ft 5ins (736cm) projected by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014.

The team, made up of researchers from the top universities in the US, believes the IPCC report did not account for the collapse of large parts of the Antarctic Ice Sheet - something a slew of scientific papers have since found is very likely to happen. In the event of such a sea level rise, some 153 million will be displaced, a population equivalent to half the size of the US.

Comment: See also:

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Ice Cube

Earliest ice formation in 71 years on the Han River, South Korea

Mee-Jee Lee
The Dong-A Ilbo
Sun, 17 Dec 2017 15:18 UTC
Seoul’s Han River Sees Earliest Ice Formation in 71 Years
© YonhapSeoul’s Han River sees earliest ice formation in 71 years
Kim In-sik, head of the Seoul Weather Station, stood on the Han River Bridge and looked down on the river for about two and a half hours since 5 a.m. He slapped his lap. At the dawn's light, it was definitely ice on the shining surface of the river. After two nights amid severe cold weather, the day set a record for the earliest ice formation on the Han River since 1946.

A five-day cold spell has led to ice formation on the Han River one month earlier than expected. The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the earliest ice formation of this winter was observed at the Han River Bridge at the dawn of Friday. The ice was formed between second and fourth piers on the Noryangjin side. This has been the first ice formation on the Han River before December 15 in 71 years since December 12, 1946.
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Snowflake Cold

Coldest summer for 100 years in Queensland, Australia

Harriet Tatham
ABC News
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 04:56 UTC
Coldest summer in 100 years in Queensland Australia as
© Jack VonhoffMount Isa had its lowest overnight December temperate ever on record last night at 12 C, which was 11C below average.
While sweat and Queensland summer go hand-in-hard, people in the state's west are reaching for cardigans as overnight December temperatures break record lows.

From Birdsville to the Gulf of Carpentaria, temperatures dropped to 11 degrees Celsius below average - a phenomenon forecasters describe as "very unusual".
"I've been forecasting for a few decades now and I can't really remember anything quite this spectacular as far as dry and cool at this time of year," said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster David Bernard.
"It's the sort of thing we often see in winter which usually leads to really cold winter nights, but we don't often see it in December."
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Snowflake

With nearly 83 inches, Redfield is New York's snowiest place with winter yet to officially start

Natasha Vaughn
Democrat and Chronicle
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:00 UTC
Snow in upstate New York
Snow in upstate New York
Winter has yet to officially start, but snow is already piling up in some parts of upstate New York.

According to the National Weather Service, the areas with the most snow are in Oswego and Lewis counties — which get clobbered each year with snow drifting across the eastern edge of Lake Ontario.

And it's the usual places: the tiny town of Redfield in Oswego County is leading the state with 82.6 inches of snow as of Friday.

So at this rate, Redfield is on pace for its second straight national recognition: Last year it won the USA Today Network's first annual Golden Snowdrift Award after getting 350.5 inches of snow -- which equals more than 29 feet.

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Cloud Precipitation

Thunderstorm hits areas of United Arab Emirates, hail blankets ground (VIDEOS)

Ahmed Shaaban
Khaleej Times
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 14:54 UTC
Hail cover
Weather is playing spoilsport this weekend as many residents are putting off their outing plans as storm and rain alert looms.

The National Center of Meteorology (NCM) has predicted unstable weather across the UAE, with chances of rain and thunderstorms, between December 15 and 18.

Many families said they are heeding to the forecast, and called off picnics and off road adventures.

"My family is on visit from India and we were planning to go for a desert drive on Saturday. We cancelled it thinking the weather will be too dangerous to venture out," said Abdul Rahman, an Abu Dhabi resident.
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Snowflake

Blizzard dumps three feet of snow in Pakistan

Zubair Ayub
The Express Tribune
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 14:29 UTC
Vehicles wait for the snow-covered roads to open in Murree
Vehicles wait for the snow-covered roads to open in Murree
The Galiyat region received first heavy snowfall of the season that left roads blocked, tourists stranded and schools closed.

Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) was making its all-out efforts to clear the roads, spokesman of the GDA said while talking to media.

Clouds dumped over three feet of snow covering the resort towns with a white sheet. As persistently as the snowfall every year, the authorities were stupefied in managing the situation. Roadblocks, power breakdowns and severed supplies continue to dog the mountain communities.

Owing to precarious weather, Abbottabad DC Aurangzab Haider ordered closure of all public sector schools in nine union councils till December 16. These union councils include Beeran Gali, Seer Gharbi, Seer Sharqi, Tajwal, Nathiagali, Nambli Mara, Patan Kalan, Plakh and Nagri Bala.
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Attention

13th century USA drought, bizarre bird deaths in Sweden & massive winds hit Slovenia


Adapt 2030
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 15:12 UTC
dead birds sweden
© Mikael Lind
Native American populations were tracked as suddenly collapsing twice over a 500 year period. They used corn and pottery production to measure populations. Interestingly these correlate to collapses of Chinese dynasties during Grand Solar Minimums. Ice bridge forms from Greenland to Iceland, massive winds in Slovenia, 50+ above normal temperatures and birds freeze and fall from the sky in Sweden.


Comment: See also: Bizarre sight as hundreds of birds found dead on a road in northern Sweden

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Bizarro Earth

Cartoon science - Global warming will weaken winds in the Northern Hemisphere, but speed them up downunder!

Joanne Nova
JoNova
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 02:52 UTC
Now they tell us! Climate warming to weaken wind power in northern hemisphere, increase in Australia: study

After building 341,000 wind turbines, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, now climate modelers reveal that winds will decrease in the Northern Hemisphere!
Warming temperatures caused by climate change are set to weaken wind energy in the northern hemisphere, a study shows, lessening the amount of wind power produced for wind farms.

However the southern hemisphere would see a boost in wind, which could potentially turn north-eastern Australia into an attractive investment for energy companies.
Rush, invest your money now. The theory called polar amplification has the success rate of a coin toss. Buy a wind farm in NE Australia!

Luckily wind speeds are not also influenced by cloud cover, jet streams, oceans currents, forest growth, atmospheric tides, solar factors, magnetic fields, ozone levels, cosmic rays, or butterflies. Otherwise this study might be inadequate, uninformed guesswork being used to inform investment decisions!
Cartoon Science
© JoNova
Key points:
  • Atmosphere instability which creates wind changing in northern hemisphere
  • North-east Australia could become an attractive investment for energy companies
  • At present there is only one operational wind farm in Queensland
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