Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake

Storm Bert snow storm causes UK travel chaos as roads closed and trains cancelled

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Storm Bert is battering the country with strong winds, heavy rain and snow and ice with amber warnings coming into force bringing a "potential risk to life and property".

Travel is widely disrupted with roads closed and some train routes cancelled throughout Saturday with rail companies urging passengers to avoid travelling to certain areas.

Winds of up to 68mph have been recorded and 13cm of snow has fallen in some parts of the country on Saturday morning, a Met Office spokesperson said, while 38 flood alerts are in place across the UK.


Snowflake

Storm Caetano causes disruption in France, most of which is under snow, ice and wind alerts

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Some 200,000 homes remain without power in France, and many roads are severely disrupted due to poor traffic conditions caused by storm Caetano. Details by Elitsa Gadeva.


Igloo

'Global' Warming? Little Ice Age cooling and sea ice expansion is still ongoing across Antarctica today

Water Mass Circulation
© Quaternary Science ReviewsHere, we present a new reconstruction of primary productivity, glacial conditions, water mass circulation, and the seasonal duration of sea ice from a marine sediment core collected from Robertson Bay, a 40 km long north-south trending embayment located west of Cape Adare in the westernmost region of the Ross Sea.
New research indicates there has been no reduction in sea ice in Antarctica's Robertson Bay (Ross Sea) during the last century. Instead, the frigid Little Ice Age and its expanded sea ice conditions continue unabated through the 20th and 21st centuries.

Between ~8000 and 3500 years before present the Antarctic ice sheet experienced several millennia of retreat and the sea ice extent surrounding the continent decreased throughout the Middle Holocene. For the next few millennia after that, or from about 3500 to 1500 years ago, the ice sheet and sea ice extent advanced to near modern levels.

"The East and West Antarctic ice sheets underwent rapid periods of retreat in the Ross Embayment, the continent's largest ice drainage basin, between 8 and 3.5 calkyr BP. Recent work shows that retreat was followed by a period of readvance and the ice sheets reached their modern configurations during the late Holocene."

Binoculars

Rare snowy owl migrates south to Inner Mongolia for winter in China

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The snowy owl in Mongolia
Rare "white owl" snowy owl migrates south to Inner Mongolia for winter

A rare "white owl" recently appeared in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

This larger owl, whose scientific name is Snowy Owl, recently moved south to spend the winter in the southwest of Hulunbuir City. Although it looks a little cute, it is a ferocious hunter in the Arctic. They will settle in Europe, North America, northern Asia and other regions in winter, divide and defend their territories to the death, and migrate north in spring.

The snowy owl is a national second-level protected wild animal and is listed as a vulnerable species in the "International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species".

(Translated by Google)


Comment: Other unusual bird migrations to this part of the world recently:


Ice Cube

Antarctica Sea ice has "slowly increased" since 1979, science paper finds

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Sea ice around Antarctica has "slowly increased" since the start of continuous satellite recordings in 1979 with any changes caused by natural climate variation. In a paper published earlier this year, four environmental scientists further state that any sign that humans are responsible for any change is "inconclusive". Not of course for mainstream media that have been crying wolf about the sea ice in Antarctica for decades to promote the Net Zero fantasy. Last year there was a reduced level of winter sea ice and this caused the Financial Times Science Editor Clive Cookson to exclaim that the entire area "faces a catastrophic cascade of extreme environmental events... that will affect climate around the world".

Over the satellite record, the scientists note there was a "prolonged and gradual" expansion of sea ice to around 2014 followed by a short period of sudden decline from 2014-19. Growth was then resumed, although there was a temporary downturn around 2022. These variations, which can also be observed before 1979, were caused by a number of natural atmospheric and oceanic factors. All of this is known of course, with the EU weather service Copernicus admitting recently that sea ice extent as a whole "shows large year-to-year variability and no clear long-term trend since 1979". At the other end of the Earth, Copernicus correctly states that the cyclical decline in Arctic sea ice "has levelled off since 2007".

Binoculars

Rare snow goose spotted for first time in Hebei, China

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A rare snow goose is spotted for the first time at the Hengshui Lake National Nature Reserve, north China's Hebei Province, Nov. 12, 2024.

The number of bird species recorded in Hengshui Lake has increased from 334 to 335.


Snow Goose Range Map
Snow Goose - Range Map

Snowflake

Colorado snow totals: More than 4 feet of snow in 72 hours recorded in parts of state

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The multi-day snowstorm that pounded Colorado will likely be written down in the November record books after some parts of the state recorded more than 4 feet of snow accumulation.

The system that slowly pushed its way through the state earlier this week dumped more than 19 inches of snow in parts of Denver over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service. The southeast area of the state was the hardest hit, with 54.9 inches recorded in the San Isabel area in the past 72 hours.


Here are the latest 72-hour snow totals reported to the National Weather Service as of Saturday:

7 NW San Isabel, CO 54.9

Cuchara, CO 46

11 NE Ponderosa Park, CO 41.5

8 ENE Cedar Point, CO 40

Comment: A report from 2 days prior: Winter storm cripples New Mexico, Colorado as disaster emergencies issued - over 3 feet of snow dumped


Snowflake Cold

Winter storm cripples New Mexico, Colorado as disaster emergencies issued - over 3 feet of snow dumped

First responders rescue stranded driver
© (Union County Sheriff's OfficeFirst responders rescue stranded driver near Des Moines, NM overnight on Friday.
First responders had to rescue drivers stranded by snow overnight Friday and well into the morning, as a potentially historic winter storm had dumped more than 3 feet of snow on New Mexico and Colorado, with more to come.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency on Thursday and deployed the National Guard to provide winter weather support.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued two statewide emergency declarations, unlocking $1.5 million to help state agencies dig out.

The Union County Sheriff's Office in New Mexico reported that they rescued several stranded drivers on state and local roads Thursday evening into Friday morning.


Snowflake

Best of the Web: Summer snowfall in parts of Eastern Cape, South Africa

Snow has fallen on the N9
Snow has fallen on the N9
Snow started falling in some parts of the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.

The affected areas included the snow-prone mountainous route of Lootsberg Pass on the N9 between Middelburg and Graaff-Reinet, the Wapadsberg Pass, as well as the N9, between Graaff-Reinet and Nxuba (formerly Cradock).

Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said authorities are monitoring the route and might close it if snowfall worsens.

"This curious phenomenon of snowfall in November adds another damage to already challenging driving conditions in the Eastern Cape, as most areas are affected by heavy rains that have led to slippery conditions as well as poor visibility.


Snowflake Cold

Heavy snowfall hits northeast China amid cold wave

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Provinces in northeast China are experiencing a cold wave and heavy snowfall, with local authorities issuing alerts against treacherous road conditions and blizzard weather.

This snowfall has impacted local agriculture and transportation, with forecasts indicating that the snow will continue into November 5.