Extreme Temperatures
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Ice Cube

Arctic snow and ice blanketing the north in a visual you have never seen before

antarctic ice 2018
This came to me via a tip, but to be honest I get so many daily emails and comments I've lost the original source of the tip.

This is via the Canadian Ice Service, and it's a view I have not seen before. It shows a polar view looking down at the North pole which is a composite of several days worth of MODIS views via NASA Goddard to create a Composite of the Arctic image. The actual image is very high resolution and I can't show it fully here, but the detail is quite good. To help orient you, I've annotated some landmarks on this preview image.

Comment: We're well into Spring and the US has been relentlessly battered by cold storms since winter. But it's not just the US seeing unusual cold blasts, it's happening all over the globe. The visual above confirms all the data that has been collected over recent years, which is that snow and ice are increasing because the planet is clearly cooling: But global warming fanatics will be relieved to hear there is some heating occurring: Antarctic ice shelves revealed to be rapidly melting...from below


Igloo

It snowed so much in France this winter, ski resorts closed and couldn't break attendance records

Auron
© Stations du Mercantour
Some years, the professionals of altitude compete with incantations to hope to see it arrive. This season, the snow has (almost) fallen too much on the Southern Alps.

"We could have done better if the weather had been better. There were even several days of closures due to the storm" summarizes Pascal Lequenne, director of the Auron tourist office, where the turnover of ski lifts, the second highest ever recorded, still climbed 15%.

Comment: 'Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age'


Ice Cube

Restaurant with visitors inside swept away down the Volga River by giant ice sheets in Samara, Russia

ice cafe
A restaurant in Samara, Russia, took an unplanned trip down the Volga River after ice streams untethered the eatery from the shoreline and pushed it downstream. It was filmed being towed back to shore, with no injuries reported.

Videos posted to YouTube and social media by eyewitnesses show the 'Old Wharf' restaurant, in Samara's historic city center, being carried down the Volga River by a giant sheet of ice. The restaurant was occupied at the time of the accident, according to local media reports.


Snowflake Cold

Coldest and snowiest April on record around the Great Lakes

ccold weather
The Upper Midwest and Great Lakes have never seen an April like this. Extreme winter conditions have refused to relent even into the month's second half, testing the patience of local residents.

Scores of records for both snow and cold have fallen. Minneapolis; Madison, Wis.; and Marquette, Mich., are among the many towns and cities experiencing their coldest-ever April. And Minneapolis; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Green Bay, Wis., were recently dealt record snowfalls for the month.

And, with the wintry pattern lingering for a few more days, more records for extreme winter weather are likely to fall.

Snowflake Cold

Chicago records its coldest start to April in 137 years

weather map
© National Weather Service
No one alive today has experienced the start of an April in Chicago as cold as this one.

It has been 137 years since the first 17 days of April have been as cold and snowy as they've been in 2018, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Gino Nizzo.

This April is the second-coldest on record, trailing only April 1881, Nizzo said.

Snow is forecast to continue Wednesday night into early Thursday, making for slippery driving as a slushy mix accumulates. About an inch can be expected on grassy areas and elevated surfaces, according to the weather service.

Snowflake

Otherworldly 17-meter-deep snow corridor in Japan

Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: The 90-kilometer sightseeing route, which stretches along the Japan Alps, opens every April to November.
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route: The 90-kilometer sightseeing route, which stretches along the Japan Alps, opens every April to November.
One of the world's wildest mountain drives, Japan's Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route has reopened to tourists for another season.

Stretching across the Toyama and Nagano prefectures north of Tokyo, the 90-kilometer sightseeing route -- dubbed the "Roof of Japan" -- offers incredible views of the 3,015-meter Mt. Tateyama and 2,478-meter Mt. Akazawa-dake peaks, while providing access to everything from Japan's highest altitude hot spring to the country's highest waterfall.

But the route's biggest attraction is the unbelievable Snow Wall Walk, located along the pathway in Yuki no Otani (or Great Valley of Snow).


Snowflake Cold

US 'winter' storm Xanto brings all time record snow, drifts and white out conditions - in April

storm xanto
Weary residents dig out from Winter Storm Xanto, which dropped record amounts of snow on the region.

Story Highlights

Winter Storm Xanto brought record April snowfall to the upper Midwest and Great Lakes in mid-April 2018.

Xanto was the heaviest April snowstorm on record in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Xanto was the second-heaviest snowstorm of all-time in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Comment: We're seeing similar weather patterns all over the planet:


Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall buries Wisconsin farms

Lambeau Field covered in nearly two feet of snow after snow storm hits Green Bay
Lambeau Field covered in nearly two feet of snow after snow storm hits Green Bay
A literal perfect storm hit Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend, coming at a time when some farmers were itching to get into the fields. That itch will have to be scratched at a later date, as Blizzard Evelyn dumped as much as two feet of snow throughout the upper Midwest.

The heavy snow and strong winds made roads nearly impossible to navigate. Drifting was significant as well. Normally snow drifts are relatively easy to manage, but with the wet, heavy nature of this snow made any drift dangerous if it sat on any building structure. Several dairies in Wisconsin will be repairing barn roofs as a result. Here's what we've gleaned from social media:

Snowflake Cold

Look at these incredible 4 day period snowfall totals in the US

SNOWDRIFT
More than 2½ feet (75 cm) in some areas.

STORM SUMMARY NUMBER...WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD 500 PM MON APR 16 2018

SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL OVER SECTIONS OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SECTIONS OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES INCLUDING THE UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN...AS WELL AS ACROSS NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND.

...SELECTED STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL IN INCHES FROM 400 AM THU APR 12 THROUGH 400 PM EDT MON APR 16...

Snowflake

Snowfall records toppled in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin

Neighbors John Bauer, right, and Fahmi Osman help residents dig their vehicles out of the snow after Saturdays blizzard, in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, April 15, 2018.
© Jerry Holt/Star TribuneNeighbors John Bauer, right, and Fahmi Osman help residents dig their vehicles out of the snow after Saturdays blizzard, in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, April 15, 2018.
Records fell as an April snowstorm blanketed the Upper Midwest.

The National Weather Service says the 14.9 inches (37.8 centimeters) at Minneapolis airport from Friday through Sunday set a record for the largest April snowstorm ever there. It's also the snowiest April on record in the Twin Cities. And it's the snowiest start to a calendar year there, with 70.3 inches (178.6 centimeters) since Jan. 1.

Comment: For further details, see: Think the snowfall is finished? Over a foot of snow falls on the Twin Cities

Storm brings at least 10 inches of snow to Rapid City, South Dakota

Records broken with latest snow fall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota