Extreme Temperatures
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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall in the summer for Peru

Snow in Peru
Snow in Peru

Heavy snowfall of about 10 centimeters thick covered Chonta population centers today and Astobamba Pucapampa district of Santa Ana, in the province of Castrovirreyna, Huancavelica region, surprising its inhabitants.

The COER and Regional Government urge the Huancavelica population to take precautions, keep warm and avoid sudden changes in temperature, especially in populations in situations of high vulnerability either by their social status (poverty and extreme poverty), children under 5 years and older adults.

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

"Heavy snowfall in Peru, south of the equator, where it is summer now. Could this mean that cold air from the North Pole has crossed the equator?" asks Argiris.

Snowflake

Rare snow storm for El Paso, Texas; more than 7 inches of snow reported

Snow in El Paso
© MARK LAMBIE / EL PASO TIMESBriana Betancis, 14, and Deziree Dominguez, 12, fly down a hill at Memorial Park on Dec. 27 as they enjoy the outdoors and fresh snow in El Paso
Despite the freezing cold, dangerous road conditions, power outages and several business and church closings, El Pasoans made the best of the rare winter storm that brought more than five inches of snow to the area.

"It's been great and it's been years since we have seen it snow like this in El Paso," said Sebastian Lopez, who was building a 12-foot snowman with family and friends at Eastwood Park Sunday. "While it is great, driving home last night to the East Side from work on the West Side was a bit harsh. The visibility was zero and people here just aren't used to driving in those conditions, but I made it home and it doesn't seem like the snow caused too many problems for people, so all in all it's been great."

According to the National Weather Service, the El Paso International Airport reported about 5.3 inches of snow, while areas in El Paso and Horizon City recorded more than 7 inches. Las Cruces received between five to 12 inches of snow, while Organ, N.M., outside of Las Cruces, reported getting 13 inches.



Snowflake

Unprecedented record snowfall in El Calafate, Argentina

El Calafate snow
© ahoracalafate.com.ar
Unprecedented - There is no history of snowfall recorded in El Calafate during this time of year.

It started snowing on Christmas eve in El Calafate and continued throughout the night and Saturday morning.

In one day they accumulated 38 mm of precipitation, three times the average for the entire month of December, which is a little more than 12 millimeters

As Saturday dawned, the tourist village was completely snowed in.

"Looks like we're at the North Pole" joked a tourist early in the morning while taking pictures of young poplars arched under the weight of snow.

Posters saying "Welcome to El Calafate" framed by a white cityscape, are preferred by the visitors, who do not stop sharing their pictures with their families. The same goes for the residents of this town, where the snowfall is all they're talking about.
El Calafate snow
© ahoracalafate.com.ar
Old people polled do not remember having seeing snow at this time of year in the town.

Snowflake

Unusual spinning ice circle surprises residents of Brainerd, Minnesota

Brainderd ice circle
© Brainerd Dispatch/Steve KohlsA rotating ice disc at the outlet of the Nokasippi River as it flows into Upper South Long Lake south of Brainerd Monday. Lake residents noticed the rotating floating ice disc this weekend and have been alerting each other through the lake association website.
Dark, cold water flowing from the Nokasippi River into Upper South Long Lake created an unexpected form this weekend—a rotating circle of ice. The ice disc forms as flowing water creates an eddy where ice is forming. The water is more still in the middle of the eddy.

"So you get ice forming and it gets bigger as it gets colder and then the water that is moving faster is not freezing up, so what you get in the end is this big pancake of ice that is moving slowly around in a circle," said Peter Boulay, DNR climatologist. "You see pancake ice on water that's moving. When the lakes are trying to freeze up this past weekend, I saw a lot of that kind of ice forming in circles. "It's a sign of turbulent water and some stillness in the water in the middle."
Brainerd ice circle
© Brainerd Dispatch/ Steve Kohls
Nearby residents were stopping to see the rotating ice circle after word about it was passed via Facebook, from the lake association and between neighbors. "It's amazing," said Upper South Long Lake resident Karen Reil.

Sue Rolfs, who has been an Upper South Long Lake resident since 1957, said she's never seen the phenomenon before. Residents who have lived on the lake for 25 years or more echoed that sentiment. Monday they were drawn to the water to watch the perfect circle swirl in the black water at the inlet.


Comment: Huge ice circle forms in Swedish river


Ice Cube

Biggest snow storm in half a century hits north Mexico; 12 inches of snow, minus-18 Celsius

Snow storm Mexico
© AFPA picture released by Mexico's National Security Commission shows an aerial view of the road in the mountains of Chihuahua State in northwestern Mexico on December 28, 2015.
Some roads remained closed in northern Mexico on Monday after the biggest snow storm in more than half a century blanketed parts of the region, authorities said.

The weekend snowfall covered 32 towns in the state of Chihuahua, which borders the US states of Texas and New Mexico, with some places hit by accumulations of 30 centimeters (12 inches) and temperatures of minus-18 Celsius (zero Fahrenheit).

"It's the most intense snowfall in the last 55 years," Efren Matamoros, the civil protection director in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, told AFP.

Seventeen roads were closed over the weekend, but 11 of them reopened on Monday.

The Ciudad Juarez airport resumed operations on Monday after it was shut down over the weekend.

Life Preserver

Major winter storm to blast central U.S. with blizzard conditions, severe weather, life-threatening flooding

Travel problems will occur across the south-central United States this weekend as a major storm brings everything from blizzard conditions to tornadoes. In terms of travel through the South Central states, the problems from the storm will range from minor inconveniences to life-threatening conditions.

This storm will slowly track northeastward across the South Central states into Monday with the likelihood of closed roads and flight cancellations. This storm will not only impact the South Central states. The Midwest and Northeast will be at risk for areas of ice, rain and snow on Monday.

Blizzard map NM

Blizzard unfolds across New Mexico, southern High Plains


"The storm diving into New Mexico and Texas will not only bring snow, but also strong winds," AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Duffey said. The combination of strong winds and heavy snow will continue to create blizzard conditions from Roswell, New Mexico, to Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas.
Blizzard map thru Sunday
"The worst of the blizzard will occur from eastern New Mexico to western Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle, where white-out conditions will likely halt road travel and ground planes," Duffey said. Drivers are urged to never pass a snowplow as the road ahead could be extremely dangerous and covered in snow. Snowfall rates could exceed 2 inches per hour at times. Visibilities may be measured in feet.

Over a foot of snow will fall from portions of eastern New Mexico into western Texas
. This storm will move into portions of the Oklahoma panhandle into southwestern Kansas into Sunday night with blizzard conditions.
Snowfall NM/TX blizzard

Comment: And it's only December!


Snowflake

Kamchatka cut off from outside world by heavy snowfall, Russia

snow
In Kamchatka, the airport "Yelizovo" was closed due to coming to the region of a snow cyclone.

The ministry reported that a powerful cyclone from Japan hit the southern regions of Kamchatka and brought heavy snow and wind.

Rescuers were working on high alert to quickly respond to possible emergency situations. However, residents of the region do not survive because of huge snowdrifts and snowstorm.

Social networking photos and videos reveal the snow disaster.

Here some video's from Kamchatka, all posted Dec 26, 2015.


Snowflake Cold

Arctic sea ice extent sets another record

The extent of thirty percent concentration sea ice in the Arctic has reach 10 million km² in December for the first time since at least 2004.
Shown sea ice extent values are therefore recommended to be used qualitatively in relation to ice extent values from other years shown in the figure.
Arctic sea ice
© Ocean and Ice Services - Danmarks Meteorologiske Institute
Source: Ocean and Ice Services | Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut

Snowflake

Ho, ho, ho! Las Vegas, Nevada got snow

Las Vegas snow
© Via twitter@LeeCanyonLV
"Ho, ho, ho! Vegas got snow!"

That was a Christmas morning posting by the National Weather Service, heralding flurries mixed with rain showers after a windy cold front swept through the Las Vegas area.

Meteorologist Chris Stachelski noted that the trace of snow recorded at McCarran International Airport tied a Christmas Day record set in 1941. Traces also were recorded on Christmas in 1988 and 2008.

Nothing stuck on the sidewalks of the Strip, but some northwest Las Vegas neighborhoods received a dusting of snow. It melted as the morning dawned clear and sunny with temperatures in the high 30s.

Meteorologist John Salmen says the wet weather blew in with windy squalls that brought gusts up to 38 miles per hour between midnight and 2 a.m. Friday.

Snowflake

Snoqualmie Pass, Washington buried in snow; 85 inches on the ground

Sqnoqualmie Pass snow
© Cliff Mass Weather Blog
Last year, Snoqualmie Pass had very little snow and the ski areas remained shut for most of the winter.

This year Snoqualmie is being BURIED IN SNOW.

Every day at 6 AM, Washington Department of Transportation measures snow depth in the pass. Here are the latest numbers: 26 inches of snow between 6 AM Monday and 6 AM Tuesday, with 85 inches on the ground. An increase of 50 inches in 5 days. To quote Darth Vader: Impressive, Most Impressive.

The Wednesday report shows another 11 inches of new snow, but compaction resulted in only a 1 inch increase in depth.

Snoqualmie snow fall
© WSDOT
The pass has been closed several times during the past few days, with chains often required. So far this year over 12 feet of snow has fallen in Snoqualmie, eclipsing the total snowfall of the entire last year.

But it is not over. Last night, another frontal system moved through, bringing a surge of heavy snow. Here is the forecast of 72-hour snow total for the region (a circle indicates the location of Snoqualmie Pass). Another 2-3 feet!