As much of the northern hemisphere endures record cold temperatures, we get this report from Severe Weather EU via Twitter:
Spectacular scenes today in Algeria as snow covered the sand dunes in Ain El Safra! Snow visible also in imagery by NASA’s Terra satellite.
After a 40 year absence, this is the second winter in a row for this occurrence. In late 2016 it was reported by the Telegraph as being not seen in 40 years:
Incredible photos capture freak snowfall in the Sahara Desert, believed to be first time it has fallen on the unforgiving red dunes in almost 40 years.
Now, it’s happened again. Have a look.
Photos by rt Sidali, Gian Alonso, Rabah Ripou Ouchen, Issam Bouchetata Bouchetata
You can also see the snow on the MODIS/TERRA satellite image service from NASA. Ain El Safra is the lone white section in the center of the photo from January 5th, 2018:
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“You can also see the snow on the MODIS/TERRA satellite image service from NASA. Ain El Safra is the lone white section in the center of the photo from January 5th, 2018:” Not correct, Safra is further east outside the limit of the photo. There have been a few dustings of snow several hundred kilometers further south on the big dunes out in the plains in recent years, the one I know of occurring in 2006. Nothing like the latest occurrence though.
But I thought it was only a regional cold snap for the US? Or is it just a northern hemispherical regional cold snap?
I get confused by these things.
Weather is not climate. A snowstorm, or a hurricane, or a heat wave proves nothing about climate change.
Would your assessment change if “hell froze over?”
Well, two years of snow in the Sahara is pretty close.
Keep whistling.
You’re right Javier, but it’s fun to tweak the alarmists’ noses once in a while. I don’t expect much (ethically or intellectually) from journalists and eco-warriors, but it’s dismaying how often we’re told by arrogant, condescending climate scientists that every hurricane, drought, fire, and cold spell is caused by CO2. Occasionally, we have to give them a mental ‘swirly’, hoping to flush some of the garbage from their minds (politics, dependency, etc.), so they can take a fresh look at the data (real, unadjusted data, not model outputs) and start doing real science. Okay, I’m just kidding – I’m sure they don’t care how many people are laughing at them, as long as their checks clear. The only thing that might bring them back to reality is the fact that the gravy train derailed about a year ago. I voted for Hillary (kind of a Sophie’s Choice wasn’t it – sure corruption versus possible instability), but I hope to be proven wrong.
Justan, please forgive the query on my part but have your fears of instability eased somewhat?
I still have nagging doubts, but I think most of Trump’s antics are just to keep his opponents off guard. A year ago, tweets like the one to Dear Leader would have made me a nervous wreck, but now I think it’s part of a larger strategy. I also suspect he may be tricking Dems into singing Mueller’s praises, so they can’t complain when some of their own get charged. We’ll see – interesting times ahead.
“A year ago, tweets like the one to Dear Leader would have made me a nervous wreck, but now I think it’s part of a larger strategy.”
I think so, too.
Trump has to convince Kim Jung-un that he is serious. This has been made extremely difficult because Kim knows the past three American presidents were NOT serious about reigning in North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, so Trump has to convince Kim that he is different.
People like Kim Jung-un are essentially bullies. International bullies. If you can convince a bully that you can and will hurt him if he pushes his envelope too far, then the bully will back off. If the bully doesn’t think you will take him on, then he will continue to push his envelope. Why wouldn’t he?
Trump is trying to give Kim a reason to back off.
Of course, Leftists freak completely out when it comes to confronting international bullies. They don’t know how to deal with them and don’t want any part of confronting them, and the bullies know it and take advantage of the situation. And that’s why we are in the situation we are in now with North Korea.
Trump’s tough talk will either reign in Kim, or there will be war. So we should let Trump talk as tough as he wants, and maybe he will talk some sense into Kim.
And besides, Trump isn’t the problem. Kim Jung-un and his weapons of mass destruction programs are the problem. Trump got this problem thrown in his lap and he is going to fix it one way or another.
Javier January 7, 2018 at 2:09 pm
“Weather is not climate. A snowstorm, or a hurricane, or a heat wave proves nothing about climate change.”
Tell that to the alarmist “scientists”. They continue to push the false premise that extreme weather is the result of climate change and most of us are just bashing them over the head for it, all the while knowing what your saying it correct.
Advocate scientists are a disgrace to the profession. That they are rewarded is poison for science.
Regards Penrith’s temp
“Sunday’s temperatures fell short of the scorching heat to hit the area in 1939, when the mercury reached 47.8C.”
“Sydney hits its highest temperature recorded since 1939 with Penrith reaching 47.3C”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-07/sydney-hits-its-highest-temperature-recorded-in-79-years/9309552
So its hot but it’s been hotter before…
Cheers VB, I am from Sydney and can tell you that in the Beach suburbs it was hot…but not that hot. “They” choose some weather station from the hottest flattest heat sink part of Sydney with houses and roads everywhere and which has hugely developed over recent years to…”Prove their point” but castigate us for pointing to the entire Nth Hemisphere being in blizzard conditions as …a weather event. “They” are insane.
Despite massive urbanisation, Sydney is NO WARMER than it was 79 years ago.
Don’t worry, Nick will be along soon to tell us that’s been adjusted for.
Penrith 1930’s… Lots of open market and farmland
Penrith 2016.. Lot’s of light industry, commerce, warehouses, Massive residential expansion.
I’m guessing Nick et al would find some bizarre reason to adjust past temperature DOWNWARDS.
“AndyG55 January 7, 2018 at 10:22 pm”
Excellent find Andy.
But, but… it gets hot faster now!!!
So quickly, that they have to measure it by the second !!! 😉
And apparently the ocean floor is sinking because of the huge glacier melt. I kid you not!
http://www.newsweek.com/climate-change-sinking-ocean-rising-sea-levels-772862
Perhaps the alarmists are just lining up an excuse to explain why the rise in sea levels they predicted are not happening, like all the other shrill fear-mongering.
Can any of our Australian friends remind me when it was (in the 19th Century) that special trains had to be sent to evacuate people from the Australian interior because of the extreme heat?
Has that been necessary since global warming started to kill everyone?
Weather does not equal climate. But it sure is fun to have Mann claiming cold weather is expected from anthropogenic global warming. Maybe his tree rings also show this, even though temperate trees do not grow in winter—else there would not be tree rings.
..I never understood how he got away with tree thermometers
Trees don’t grow when it’s too cold or too hot….but they can’t tell you how cold or hot it was….and can’t even tell you for how long
“Latitude January 7, 2018 at 4:03 pm
..I never understood how he got away with tree thermometers”
Tree thermometers? Surely you mean tree thermometer, ie, YAD061.
Tree rings are not a proxy for temperature, but only for the total growth of the tree during the warm season, from the time the first leaves come out in spring until the last leaves fall off (or turn brown) in autumn.
While a warm spell in March (in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere) can cause trees to bud early and lengthen the growing season, the total growth over an entire year is more influenced by summer rainfall than temperature. From about mid-May to mid-September, there is no risk of frost in most temperate areas, so that during that period the growth rate depends more on rainfall than on temperature–a tree will grow more during a wet summer (which may be relatively cool) than during a hot, dry summer (when some leaves will shrivel and drop off in August).
So that Mann’s tree rings were mostly measuring summer rainfall, not temperature. It’s interesting to note that between about 1975 and 1998, when the thermometer records were showing a warming trend, Mann’s proxy tree rings were showing slowing growth (hot, dry summers), so that Mann conveniently switched to the thermometer records in recent decades to create his hockey stick.
Woops we made a ‘Penrith’ mistake.
http://joannenova.com.au/
The second year running for snow in North Africa. Another polar bomb bringing deep freeze to the lower 48. A few years ago cattle were freezing to death in South America. Looks like we are moving towards the end of the interglacial…
John V. Wright,
Whilst I do not have the expertise to say whether you mey be right or wrong, I hope you are wrong.
Not becuase it wil;l prolong the CAGW nonsense – but because cold will kill more people.
Here in the UK a ‘Cold’ winter will have excess deaths – Eat or Heat problem.
Auto – happy to wrap up in another layer, even with the central heating modestly on.
No point in heating the neighbourhood!
It’s not the only place that unseasonably cold —
Bangladesh is having an extended cold snap, https://www.iceagenow.info/bangladesh-death-toll-rises-grip-severe-cold/ with the poor and old dying from it.
2017/2018 northern winter:
It’s the Second winter in a row
for Saharan Desert snow.
Will next winter too, upend
climate predictions as a Trend?
Tom Steyer to hand deliver 535 copies of Trump book to congress.
http://amp.dailycaller.com/2018/01/07/tom-steyer-is-hand-delivering-535-copies-of-wolffs-book-to-congress/#click=https://t.co/psHbO4Lsij
Tell me again: who’s the crazy one here?
And Steyer thinks a significant number of them will actually read it? Half of them can’t even get around to reading the legislation they vote on no matter how important it is.
Is the snow in North Africa just the same oscillation in the jet stream dragging down cold air and moisture from Europe? That would be my guess but I am not a meteorologist. Be nice to have a real meteorologist like Anthony or Mike M explain some of the weather stuff going on. Then we could trust we wouldn’t be getting spoon fed the CAGW drivel.
‘Twas snowing again is Sahara
An end to the climate scare era?
It was cold there before
Little Ice Age got more
Return to the cooling Nightmarah?
https://lenbilen.com/2018/01/07/after-over-40-years-absence-snow-in-sahara-second-year-in-a-row/
Location of the Naâma Province reporting desert snow in Algeria:-
Naâma Province, Algeria
H/T lenbilen
Global warming simultaneously increases and decreases total world snowfall. It’s magical.
From the horse’s mouth:
Algerian media reporting 10-15 cm snow. In elevations above 1000m. Snowfall expected to continue until Monday at 6pm.
https://www.echoroukonline.com/ara/articles/545203.html
Via Bing Translate The return of snow revives winter tourism (in Algeria)
Tikjda, El Asnam, Algeria
H/T Kent Clizbe
Based on what clearly looks like Morocco, and the coast, the Sever Weather EU does not know the difference between “today in Algeria” and “today in Morocco” unless the sat image was of a second area covered in snow?
SO was it Morocco or Algeria?
Using Google Earth the isolated white spot on the map shown is IN MOROCCO, pretty much straight south of Nador and straight East of Casablanca in the area of Missour which is a good 160+ miles from Algeria
Ok so as far as I can figure out it has snowed in both areas; many places in Algeria and the large area in
Morocco. The sat image was only in Morocco however.
…and then again while the rest of the world was being induced to watch
the weather in Australia, China was dealing with white warming fallout:
https://in.reuters.com/article/china-weather-snow-food/china-fruit-vegetable-prices-surge-as-blizzards-cut-off-roads-damage-crops-idINKBN1EW0F1
Yes, a small area of cold air made it down to the Atlas mountains.
That among vast areas of above average temperatures in the NH.
http://pamola.um.maine.edu/wx_frames/gfs/ds/gfs_nh-sat1_t2anom_1-day.png
“but castigate us for pointing to the entire Nth Hemisphere being in blizzard conditions as …a weather event. “They” are insane.”
I would suggest you are my friend if you believe that.
http://pamola.um.maine.edu/wx_frames/gfs/ds/gfs_nh-sat1_snowd-mslp_1-day.png
ONY parts of NE america saw blizzards (or at least the dramatically reported ones) – and despite the belief on here it is not the the entirety of the NH.
Meanwhile despite the waters being warmer than average in November, ice coverage of lake Erie is over 85% and growing quickly.
On average the lake is frozen over by Feb. 10th, so this year the freeze will come nearly a month earlier than average. The shipping season on the lake officially ends January 15th but the only ships moving now are doing so with Coast Guard ice breakers leading the way.
So the lake effect snow season for those from Cleveland, OH through Buffalo New York is virtually at an end. The lower the temperature of the exposed water and the more ice coverage their is, the less lake effect snows one has to deal with. Once a lake is at 85% or so the lake effect season is pretty much over.
Lake Ontario is at 14.%. That deeper lake rarely reaches 100% coverage but I would settle for 60% or more.
Once that happens travel along I-90 in NY will be less likely to be a chore.
Huron is at 33.5% so strong lake effect still possible and in fact happening right now.
All of this has personal implications for this truck driver that goes out to the NE frequently along I-90 and is on occasion called to go to the Toronto area or up Hwy 21 to Owen Sound, ON. Hwy 21 runs a good distance right along the eastern shore of Lake Huron. During the summer a very pleasant drive usually. During the winter it can be a nightmare and the road is often closed due to lake effect snows and drifting due to high winds coming off the lake. I have had to drive the 401 all the way to London, ON then turn north and then come into Owen Sound from the east during the winter.
Surface freezing of all the Great Lakes is well ahead of the previous two years.
https://www.glerl.noaa.gov//res/glcfs/compare_years/compare_years_o.html
Proving that 2017 was one of the 3 warmest years since 1980, after adjusting for the cold weather anomalies. I.E. take out all of the unusually cold readings, it really WAS warm last year!
Warm globally. Very pleasant here in North Central Indiana. Never saw a high of 100 F in 16 or 17 and few days where it reached 90 F. Summer temps milder than usual.
I scan a lot of news sources and outlets and I don’t recall seeing this anywhere else. Thanks again.
Perspective is everything.
No thanks to LAT, NYT, WaPo, and many many others.
NY Post had it and the Express in the UK.
The grand solar minimum gathers pace.
Despite all the global warming hype, let’s not forget we’re still in an ice age!