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Snowflake Cold

Siberia already being clobbered with snow - portends harsh U.S. winter ahead

snowcover siberia
© The Weather Channel

A look at how snow in Siberia affects the U.S. and why it's looking like the eastern and central United States will have a cold, snowy winter.

Siberia is known to be one of the coldest places on the planet, but exactly how cold and snowy it gets each year has big ramifications elsewhere on the globe.

In North America, a more snow-covered Russia means that colder air will have an easier time harvesting in Siberia and departing for our continent's heartland. Early in the calendar year, the air coming from Siberia can be cold enough to bring snow to even more southern reaches of the United States if the pattern sets up correctly.

The Extent of Snow Cover

Snow is covering the ground across most of Russia, including all of Siberia - likely the greatest extent of snow cover since 1998. Below is the current snow cover in northern Asia as of Oct. 31.

Some locations, including Sakha in east-central Russia, are seeing their snowiest winter on record, with most of the snow season yet to come. Nearly 10 feet of snow fell in some places in Siberia in just three days, according to the Government of Sakha.

Snowflake Cold

Coldest October on record for Fort St. John, British Columbia

A photo of the record snowfall in Fort St. John on October 1st.
© Twitter @fsjchicA photo of the record snowfall in Fort St. John on October 1st.
While the snow that fell on Monday night put a slight damper on Halloween across the Peace Region, it also completed the theme of what ended up being the coldest October on record in Fort St. John.

Environment Canada's Ross MacDonald says that starting at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday, and continuing until midday on November 1st, a total of seven centimetres fell at the North Peace Airport weather station. MacDonald says that though the accumulations were not enough to meet Environment Canada's Snowfall Warning of 10 centimetres of accumulation in a 12 hour timeframe, the snow was heavy enough to cause a number of headaches for motorists yesterday morning.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall brings indications of a cold winter to Eastern Europe

Cold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days
© Maxim Shipenkov/EPACold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days
Signs that polar vortex may be heading south.

It has been an early and quite vicious start to the winter in parts of Eastern Europe. From the Baltic Sea states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the west; to Russia's Siberia in the east; and the Caucuses in the south; the end of October and early November have seen marked changes in weather patterns.

Cold air has been pushing southwards across Eastern Europe and much of northern Asia in recent days. Many climatologists believe this is a sign that changes in the polar vortex are likely to lead to a cold winter ahead.


The polar vortex is an area of low pressure, high up in the atmosphere. It is at its most intense during the winter months. There have been signs in recent years that it is beginning to weaken, and predictions for the coming winter suggest it will weaken significantly.

This weakening is likely to be the result of climate change, being linked to the decrease of Arctic sea ice in recent years.

Comment: See also: Animals slaughted due to record snowfall with five times the monthly normal precipitation in Yakutia, Russia

Heavy snowfall in northwestern Iran accompanied by lightning and thunder

Severe winter conditions strike eastern Turkey

Cold snap hits northern China, with some areas experiencing lowest October temperatures on record


Snowflake

Earliest start in 30 years for Sunshine Village ski resort in Alberta due to exceptional amounts of snow

The TeePee Town LX heated high speed chairlift at Sunshine Village
© Postmedia ArchivesThe TeePee Town LX heated high speed chairlift at Sunshine Village
Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort is opening for the season to skiers and snowboarders on Thursday, Nov. 3, the first to do so in Canada and the earliest its opened in more than 30 years.

The Wawa, Strawberry, Jackrabbit and Wolverine chairlifts, along with one magic carpet and one 8-passenger gondola will be operational beginning Thursday.

Families and kids can be part of the action as well, as the ski school will be running along with the Tiny Tiger and Kids Kampus programs as well as select on-mountain dining and retail venues.

Exceptional amounts of snow for this time of year has fallen in the alpine. Currently, Sunshine Village has a base of over 69 centimetres of natural snow.

Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall in northwestern Iran accompanied by lightning and thunder

Snow in Iran
Heavy snow in autumn in the northwestern province of Ardebil has colored the whole province in white and closed schools for three days.

Thick snow and freezing weather has urged the province's education department to close schools, particularly preschools and elementary schools, for three consecutive days on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nasimonline reported.

Ardebil province's meteorological organization director explained that in some areas such as Sareyn and Nir it snowed for more than 40 centimeters.

Ali Doulati-Mehr also pointed out that in a rare phenomenon snowfall was accompanied by lightning and thunder which had scared some of the citizens, Mehr news agency reported.

Such temperature drop and early snowfall is an indicator for a long and cold winter for the province.


Snowflake Cold

Severe winter conditions strike eastern Turkey

Snow in Turkey
Heavy snow has begun to fall as temperatures hit early winter lows in eastern Turkey, hitting daily life for many locals.

Snowfall began on Nov. 1 in the eastern provinces of Erzurum, Ardahan, Kars and Ağrı, blocking hundreds of roads to a number of remote villages and snarling traffic, particularly on the road linking Erzurum and Ağrı. The road linking Ağrı to the eastern province of Iğdır was also closed to traffic due to heavy snow.

A number of vehicles drifted off roads, while heavy trucks became trapped, as the height of snow rose to 50 centimeters in some areas.

Highway officials worked to clear the roads and prevent traffic congestions caused by the tough conditions.
The district governor's office in the Diyadin district of Ağrı province suspended education for one day on Nov. 2 across the district due to the snow.

Snowflake

Early snowfall adding up on Mammoth Mountain, California

Several early storms have coated Mammoth Mountain, a major resort five hours from Los Angeles.
Several early storms have coated Mammoth Mountain, a major resort five hours from Los Angeles.
October was kind to Central and Northern California resorts. One Lake Tahoe resort is already open, and the Eastern Sierra's Mammoth Mountain received 18 inches over the weekend, giving it a 36-inch base at higher elevations.

Meanwhile, popular Mountain High, usually the first resort to open in Southern California, has been running snow-making operations and could start spinning the lifts before its planned mid-November debut.

Snowflake

'It's exceptionally bad': Farmers bracing for losses after early snowfall in British Columbia

Walter Fritsche inspects a bushel of snow-covered canola on his field east of Dawson Creek. Early snowfall caught Fritsche and other farmers in the region with crops still in the field.
Walter Fritsche inspects a bushel of snow-covered canola on his field east of Dawson Creek. Early snowfall caught Fritsche and other farmers in the region with crops still in the field.
Walter Fritsche felt ill as he watched the first snow settle on his crops earlier this month.

"It's kind of a sickening feeling to watch it snow and know you're not done," said Fritsche, a grain farmer east of Dawson Creek.

Fritsche is one of many farmers in the region who are at risk of losing crops after the one-two punch of a wet fall and early winter.

Some say the snowfall is among the earliest they've seen.

With crops still in the fields, the snow threatens to have a broader economic impact.

"I can't recall being shut down this early," Fritsche said Oct. 19. "Usually we do a lot of combining in October, and we haven't combined one day this October."

Snowflake Cold

Animals slaughted due to record snowfall with five times the monthly normal precipitation in Yakutia, Russia

horse frozen yakutia russia

A heavy snowfall in northern Yakutia set a record of thirty years with five times monthly precipitation norm. Local residents were forced to slaughter horses due to difficulties with the organization of winter camps for cattle.

According to Ykt.ru, communication between the regional center and villages was interrupted because of snowy weather. Yakutia's Minister for Agriculture Peter Alekseyev recommended district authorities should search for suitable pastures for horses and observe emaciated animals. The works to clear roads of snow to reach forage locations have already begun.

Comment:




Snowflake Cold

Cold snap hits northern China, with some areas experiencing lowest October temperatures on record

Snow in China
Snow in China
A cold wave is sweeping through northern China, with the lowest temperatures in some places plunging to historical lows on Monday, according to China's meteorological administration.

On Monday morning, 31 weather stations across the middle regions of Inner Mongolia and Liaoning province, northwestern Hebei province and northeastern Shanxi province recorded their daily lowest temperatures for October since records began in 1951, with some reporting temperatures of less than minus 16 degrees Celsius, according to a report by the National Meteorological Centre.

The centre forecast the cold snap would continue across the country in early November. Over the next two days, temperatures in eastern China could decline by four to six degrees, while in areas such as southeastern Heibei, temperatures could drop more than eight degrees, the report said.

Snow in China