England Buried In Snow – image from The Times
According to the Rutgers University Global Snow Lab, last month had the second greatest December Northern Hemisphere snow cover since records were started in 1966. Snow extent was measured at 45.86 million sq. km, topped only by 1985 at 45.99 million sq. km. North America set a record December extent at 15.98 million sq. km, and the US also set a December record at 4.16 million sq. km.
Source: December Snow Cover from Rutgers University
Source: December Snow Anomalies from Rutgers University
This is not an isolated event for 2009, as can be seen in the graph below. Seventeen of the last twenty-one Decembers have had above normal snow cover.
Source: December Snow Cover Anomalies from Rutgers University
Nor is it an isolated trend for the month of December. January, 2008 was the second snowiest January on record, and six out of the last eight Januaries have had above normal snow.
Source: January Snow Cover Anomalies from Rutgers University
October, 2009 was the snowiest October on record in the US, and sixth snowiest in the Northern Hemisphere. Twelve of the last fifteen Octobers have had above normal snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere, similar to the pattern of the 1970s.
Source: October Snow Cover Anomalies from Rutgers University
A favorite mantra of the global warming community is that reduced snow cover will reduce the albedo of the earth and provide positive feedback to global warming – causing additional warming. Clearly that is not happening, at least not during the October through January time period.
2010 is also getting off to a fast start. Most of Europe and North America is covered with snow, as is much of Asia.
Daily Snow Cover from Rutgers University
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Tom in Florida (08:32:41) :
LOL
I was surprised that a friend in Tampa has a coconut he grew from seed. I hope yours and his survive.
As to cold hardy plants, my beets and broccoli are getting seriously stressed.
photon without a Higgs (17:30:13) :
“yonason (06:13:36) :
Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency.”
LOL!
“Patrick Davis (03:34:10) :
It has been cooler in Sydney and the inner west, one indicator are flies. There are none! Just like last year, the coolness has killed them off. We will get a warm day tomorrow, the weather South Australia and Victoria had, but here’s my prediction, it’ll be cooler than the forecast (Just like the last warm bit of weather a few weeks back) and then it’ll be back to cooler again.”
Forceast was for 31c in Sydney which is within normal variations for summer, actual was ~29c, so as I expected, it was cooler than predicted. Inner west (Where I live, as it does vary as you travel further west) forecast to hit ~39c, actual was ~36. And the “scorching” temperatures are going to drop to ~24c in Sydney and about ~30 in the inner west. That’s cool for summer.
Just like last summer, slightest heat in the air the forecaster adds a couple of degees c on just for good measure. Now there are suggestions that the “catastrophic” bush fire warnings (Introduced after last year’s Victorian bush fires) are a little alarmist (No kidding).
Jimbo (05:16:39) :
More nonsense from the BBC
“Scientists have uncovered what appears to be a further dramatic increase in the leakage of methane gas that is seeping from the Arctic seabed…further studies [funding :o)] were still necessary to determine the exact cause of the methane seepage.”
It’s all those cows grazing on the seabed.
Snow extent was measured at 45.86 million sq. km, topped only by 1985 at 45.99 million sq. km. North America set a record December extent at 15.98 million sq. km, and the US also set a December record at 4.16 million sq. km.
Vincent, Rhys,
Thanks for the background on the various UK’s daily papers. When you only stumble across an article and haven’t read the papers it can be difficult to know if they are respected and trusted publications, or if they are the equivalent of the National Enquirer here in the States.
Hope all of you in the UK are coping with the snow over there. It sounds like it has had everything pretty messed up for you lately. Where I live we average ~250″ of snow annually, but everyone is geared up for it. Makes it interesting when you hear news from areas that don’t normally get much snow and they get shut down from a few inches.
Regards,
Charlie K
Woke up this morning, frost on everything, any plants that had survived so far are dead. Freakin dead! Now, once again I ask, why would anyone in their right mind want a cooler Earth????????????????????
I’ve been following the weather with a great deal more interest since I listened to “It’s a cycle…” at iceagenow.com. I’m wondering, is it true that we’ve had increased geothermal and volcanic activity of late? Is it true the surface vulcanism gives us increased solar reflectivity in earths atmosphere?
Is it possible that whatever the forces are that are giving us our magnetic excursion might be affecting the molten core, so that new orientation of flow brings us increased vulcanism? Just speculating of course.
[REPLY – I think it probably has more to do with the oceanic-atmospheric multidecadal oscillations. There’s a pretty fair correlation. About a half dozen of the most important flipped from cold to warm, one by one, from 1976 – 2001 (temps. rose). Then from 2001 – 2007 they were all warm or neutral (temps. were flat). Then in 2007, the PDO and possibly others have started turning cold (temps. are down a bit). ~ Evan]
Thanks! I did see an article indicating 20 to 30 year cycles associated to ocean temps 3000 feet down. The volcanic thing though, is it real in regard to there being increased activity? You see I am also wondering if we have multiple cycles of various things that sometimes coincide, sometimes don’t? And, why would the volcanic activity increase and decrease? The solar activity variations are a trip too!
[REPLY – I’m not up on volcanic cycles (what with 40,000-mile long rifts of them), but I heartily agree that it is a wheels within wheels kind of thing. ~ Evan]
Exactly! Wheels within wheels, yes.
For a while I was speculating that the solar magnetism might actually be strong enough to cut the spinning earth and generate a current that, encountering resistance, would generate heat. I doubt it now. I think the core shifts in response to the sun and other gravitational influences and that it has climate effects. Sometimes the geomagnetic migration coincides with an ice age sometimes not? I’m still trying to get a tentacle on it.
Here’s my impression, from the ideas I gleaned at iceagenow.com, articles etc.
There’s a 90 K.Yr glaciation \ 10K.yr inter glaciation. We fortunate? humans just had our 10. In addition there’s a mini ice age cycle of some sort.
The solar output minimums are at least one thing that seem associated with the little ice age incidents. The longer ice ages seem associated with the earths complete magnetic flip, as are some extinctions. The mere excursion events of the earths magnetic field are also somehow associated with cold snaps of one sort or another. I’m still trying to get that clear. As well, there may be some sort of comet associated impact to the earth involved at one time or another. Anyway, something to explain that ejecta \ Carolina Bays thing that looks like there was some serious splashing of fragments of the earth that have a tear drop shape to them where they came to rest.
That ejecta event seems to have been related to an ice cycle?
Added to the mix we have a higher frequency vibe going with the 20\30 yr deep ocean temp, possibly affected by vulcanism \ geothermal cycles on the ocean bottom, and solar reflectivity influenced by both vulcanism and surface ice.
Then the tilt and possibly distance of the earth changes in relation to the sun and that may be affecting both solar radiation received and motions of the earths core, and we’re back to vulcanism? Agh! Oops forgot the galaxies gravitational effect on the sun and those dratted solar system planets. Never let your cats get into the medicine cabinet before gathering the herd.