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Ski season starts early with heavy snow

October 31, 2010

After the UK and Sweden experienced early, heavy snow in October, heavy snows in the Alps is providing a boon for ski resorts.

Fast Track Ski reports:

A number of big ski resorts will open for the winter 2010-11 this weekend, many of them weeks and even months earlier than planned.

Heavy snow in the Alps has led to Schladming in Austria being the first non-glacier ski centre to open, it’s due to be followed by Kitzbuhel, tomorrow.
Snow reporting agency skiinfo.co.uk reports that up to a metre of snow has fallen in the past week bringing great conditions to the 20 glacier ski areas that are already open in the Alps. The Tux glacier next to Mayrhofen and close to Innsbruck is already offering more than 40km (20 miles) of piste to enjoy with a 600m lift served vertical. The Kitzsteinhorm glacier above Kaprun has more than three feet of new snow on its slopes.
In Switzerland the resort of Laax, which will stage the Brits festival next Spring, has decided to open early too because of all the snow. It joins Gstaad’s Glacier 300 which is opening tomorrow too. Engelberg, Zermatt and Saas Fee are also open, the latter with World Cup Snowboarding this weekend.
In Italy Cervinia opens this weekend, joining Passo Tonale and two other glacier centres which are already open. Les 2 Alpes and Tignes are both open in France this weekend too. While up in Scandinavia Ruka in Finland is already open and will be joined by Geilo and Hemsedal in Norway next weekend.
Resorts have also begun opening in North America. Loveland and Arapahoe Basin have opened in Colorado and Sunday River in Maine. Keystone and Copper Mountain are due to open on Bonfire Day next week, however Canada’s first opening for 2010-11m Mount Norquay by Banff, is due to happen tomorrow, October 30th, conditions permitting.

The Telegraph reports today that  Heavy snowfall has arrived in ski resorts in the Alps and North America, with some areas reporting 72cm of snowfall this week.

 

Tignes slopes October 2010 : Images The Telegraph

 


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La Niña Strengthens further

October 25, 2010

The NOAA has released its annual winter outlook.

The Pacific Northwest should brace for a colder and wetter than average winter, while most of the South and Southeast will be warmer and drier than average through February 2011. A moderate to strong La Niña will be the dominant climate factor influencing weather across most of the U.S. this winter.

“La Niña is in place and will strengthen and persist through the winter months, giving us a better understanding of what to expect between December and February,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center – a division of the National Weather Service. “This is a good time for people to review the outlook and begin preparing for what winter may have in store.”

“Other climate factors will play a role in the winter weather at times across the country,” added Halpert. “Some of these factors, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, are difficult to predict more than one to two weeks in advance. The NAO adds uncertainty to the forecast in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic portions of the country.”

This seasonal outlook does not project where and when snowstorms may hit or total seasonal snowfall accumulations. Snow forecasts are dependent upon winter storms, which are generally not predictable more than several days in advance.

 

Winter Outlook - Precipitation

NOAA Winter Outlook: Graphic NOAA

 

The beneficial effects of La Niña on the Indian monsoon have already been seen this year. But after the very cold winter in the Southern Hemisphere it remains to be seen if warm and dry conditions  are established in the South American summer now approaching.

From The Canadian Encyclopedia:

La Niña normally exerts much less of a global impact than El Niño, enhancing conditions that are more or less normal. Thus, under La Niña’s grip, normally wet Indonesia becomes wetter, and winters in Canada are often colder and snowier than normal. However, the weather associated with La Niña tends to be quite variable depending on such factors as its strength, the depth and geographic extent of the cool waters and the pre-existing atmospheric circulation. Among the normal weather effects of La Niña are wetter monsoons and flooding on the Indian subcontinent; torrential rains and floods in southeast Asia and northern and eastern Australia; cool and wet winters in southeastern Africa; and warm and dry conditions along the coast of Peru and Ecuador.

La Niña favours the formation of more and intense hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean. Three recent La Niña periods – 1988-89, 1995-96 and 1997-98 – were among the most active periods this century for Atlantic hurricanes.

North America typically feels the effects of La Niña during the winter and early spring. Wetter-than-normal conditions occur across the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and Alaska. On the other hand, it delivers drier, warmer and sunnier weather along the southern tier of the United States from California through Texas to Florida. Northern states west of the Great Lakes generally experience colder and snowier winters. During La Niña episodes, there is also a greater risk of wildfires in Florida and dryness in the North American plains. The great dust bowl drought of the 1930s is thought to have been caused by a decade of La Niña-like conditions and was likely responsible, in part, for the severe drought in the American midwest in 1988.

During La Niña winters in Canada, the jet stream assumes its more normal mid-continental location. Because the mild air and cold air are never too far away, winters usually comprise alternating bouts of freezing and thawing. Overall, in Western and Central Canada, most La Niña winters tend to be colder than normal by 1 to 2°C, and snowfall amounts are greater than normal from the interior of BC to the St Lawrence Valley. During 8 La Niña episodes since 1950, 6 of the winters across Canada were colder than normal (2 were near-normal) and 7 were snowier than normal.

 

Global La Niña effects: graphic nbc33tv.com

 

 

 

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Snow in October but we are still on summer time!

October 22, 2010

Snow in Yorkshire yesterday.

Here in Sweden we have not yet changed to winter time but we had minus 6 C yesterday and our first snow last night. I changed to winter tyres yesterday.

 

Finspång: October Snow

 

It is only weather but the long, cold winter may be starting.

 

 

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Summer delayed in the Southern Hemisphere?

October 15, 2010

The Northern Hemisphre is anticipating a long cold winter which might even be a little early, but summer is a little late in the Southern Hemisphere.

Usually Antacrtic ice starts decreasing around 15th September but this year it seems to be still quite high and delayed by about a month.

http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/images/daily_images/S_stddev_timeseries.png

Meanwhile in Australia,

WARM weather may have teased the state into believing summer was on its way, but the wild weather predicted for the weekend could be winter’s last hurrah.

Meteorologists are warning of a wet and windy weekend with widespread rain, potential flash-flooding, and wind gusts of up to 110km/h. Snow is likely to fall on the alps and southern ranges, and even Orange could get a light dusting. The shift is being caused by a broad trough moving over NSW, which is expected to deepen into a low pressure system today, causing heavy rain and strong winds across central NSW.

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With a “good” monsoon in the bag Indian GDP should exceed 11%

October 11, 2010

The 4 month monsoon season in India ended on 30th September and total rainfall was 2% over the long term average, about 25% higher than last year and about 5% above the long range forecast made in the spring.

 

Total rainfall 2010 Monsoon: IMD

 

Expectations that a good monsoon could lead to double digit growth are stronger with the IMF now predicting a 9.7% growth rate for the calendar year 2010.

“India’s macroeconomic performance has been vigorous, with industrial production at a two-year high. Leading indicators — the production manufacturing index and measures of business and consumer confidence — continue to point up,” the IMF said.

“Growth is projected at 9.7 per cent in 2010 and 8.4 per cent in 2011, led increasingly by domestic demand. Robust corporate profits and favorable external financing will encourage investment,” it said.

“Recent activity (10 per cent year-over year growth in real GDP at market prices in the second quarter) was driven largely by investment and the contribution from net exports is projected to turn negative in 2011 as the strength in investment further boosts imports,” the IMF said.

But in spite of the IMF’s caveat on net exports turning down, I think the trickle-down effects of a good monsoon may have been under-estimated. Agricultural growth which was low should pick up and domestic demand will ensure the industrial growth continues. For the Fiscal Year 2010/11 (till 31st March 2011) I fully expect that the GDP will grow by just over 11%.

The establishing La Niña probably helped the monsoon somewhat.

A “moderate to strong” La Niña, which appeared in July, was now well estabished according to the WMO, and forecasts showed “rather a strengthening of this La Niña episode for the next four to six months.” La Niña is characterised by unusually cool ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific and has been associated with strong rainfall in Asia and Australia, bitter cold snaps in North America, as well as drought in South America.

 

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La Niña chills out the Pacific – could cause drought

October 4, 2010

“The tropical Pacific Ocean has transitioned from last winter’s El Niño conditions to a cool La Niña, as shown by new data about sea surface heights, collected by the U.S-French Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason-2 oceanography satellite” writes Science Daily.

La Niña continues to strengthen in the Pacific Ocean, as shown in the latest satellite data of sea surface heights from the NASA/European Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite. The image is based on the average of 10 days of data centered on Sept. 3, 2010. Higher (warmer) than normal sea surface heights are indicated by yellows and reds, while lower (cooler) than normal sea surface heights are depicted in blues and purples. Green indicates near-normal conditions. (Credit: NASA/JPL Ocean Surface Topography Team)

“This La Niña has strengthened for the past four months, is strong now and is still building,” said Climatologist Bill Patzert of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “It will surely impact this coming winter’s weather and climate.

“After more than a decade of mostly dry years on the Colorado River watershed and in the American Southwest, and only one normal rain year in the past five years in Southern California, water supplies are dangerously low,” Patzert added. “This La Niña could deepen the drought in the already parched Southwest and could also worsen conditions that have fueled Southern California’s recent deadly wildfires.” NASA will continue to track this change in Pacific climate.

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Life flows back into the Murray-Darling Basin

October 1, 2010

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

An aerial view of the Choke (north and south lagoon) of the Coorong. Photo: David Mariuz

The long wait is almost over at the mouth of Australia’s greatest river. A decade after it last spilt into the sea, the Murray River will reconnect with the Southern Ocean in a matter of days.

The Murray-Darling Basin is having its fourth wettest year (to date) on record, the Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday. The Murray’s famous Lower Lakes – surviving on environmental ”death row” last year – have swollen close to 150 centimetres higher than the nadir of 2009, thanks mostly to summer downpours in northern Australia and the September floods in Victoria.

Chief executive of South Australia’s environment and water department Allan Holmes is bullish about the future, saying the region was already ”an entirely different environment” to the one he was managing six months ago. ”These systems, provided you don’t tip them over the edge, are enormously resilient and they come back with a vengeance,” he said.

Just a month ago The plight of Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin was being attributed to climate change:

“Australian climate scientists see the country as ‘extremely vulnerable’ to climate change and the Murray-Darling Basin as a ground zero for global warming. Climate change advisors to Australia’s government have warned that agricultural production in the basin could fall by up to 92% by 2100”.

“Global warming will trigger more frequent and severe droughts, as well as more devastating bushfires, cyclones and floods”–Kathy Marks.

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Sydney shivers! Can’t be climate must be weather.

September 30, 2010

Temperatures in Los Angeles must be due to climate but the cold in Sydney is probably only weather !!!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

After their coldest winter in 13 years Sydney residents have just experienced their coldest September in five years. “September was an unusual month in terms of the lack of warm days across much of south-eastern Australia,” weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said.

When both daytime and overnight temperatures were combined, Sydney’s average temperature this month came in at just under 17 degrees. This made it the coldest September in five years, despite being one degree above the long-term norm. It was also the coldest September in terms of daytime temperatures in three years.

Sydney Winter Festival 2010

As far as rainfall goes, Sydney failed to receive the long-term monthly average of 69mm, despite having the normal number of rain days, 10. The city gained only 42mm, the lowest for September since 2007.

“With La Nina likely to peak in the next few months, we are expecting rainfall to increase, trending to near or above average into summer,” Mr Dutschke said. “During this period, daytime temperatures should be near or below average. Overnight temperatures are likely to be close to normal.”

Residents of Melbourne have just experienced their coldest September days in 16 years, Mr Dutschke said. Warmer days ahead will provide Adelaide residents with a good thawing out after enduring their coldest September in 18 years, Mr Dutschke said.

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Spring blizzards in New Zealand

September 22, 2010

The Southern Hemisphere is still facing bitterly cold weather.

Southland, New Zealand

The 1st of September is usually designated as the start of spring in New Zealand. Lambing is in full swing but six days of blizzards are being called the worst spring storm in living memory. Cars, lambs, and buildings have all fallen victim to the unusually heavy, wet snow that has fallen in Southland. Seven trampers were rescued by helicopterafter being caught in the snowstorm that has swept South Island national parks. A roof of a stadium collapsed in Southland under the weight of wet snow. A sixth day of snow, rain, wind, hail and sleet was forecast for the already battered coastal belt from Colac Bay in Southland, parts of Central Southland, the Catlins, Owaka and Clinton. Three snowfalls of up to 15cm since Saturday had left ground conditions so wet and muddy that newborn lambs had nowhere dry to go.

A ewe shows concern for her lamb

BARRY HARCOURT/The Southland Times

Exactly how many lambs have been killed will not be known until tailing but at an expected average price of $80 for each lamb, the cost to farmers could be measured in millions of dollars. In recent days, the Owaka Lions Club has collected up to 400 dead lambs a day from the 19km Owaka Valley Rd, for which farmers receive 50c each.

Federated Farmers adverse events spokesman David Rose said he estimated half the farms in Southland were affected. “The spring storm of 2010 is, frankly, the worst in a generation, with farmers going back over 50 years for anything this bad.”

MetService warned that temperatures would plunge in the Southland tonight as a cold front crosses the region. It said significant snowfalls were expected overnight, mainly above 200m, where 10-15cm is possible, especially in the Catlins and hilly areas exposed to strong southwesterlies. Localised blizzards and snow drifts are possible. The Fire Service in Invercargill said it had been flat out working three pumps to drain properties around the city swamped by melting snow.

The North Island has also received its share of the snow fall.

The Rimutaka Hill Road was closed following 2-6cm of snow accumulating on the hill above 400m from 3am to 7am this morning. It has since reopened with cars only allowed across in escorted convoys, one way at a time. The Manawatu Gorge road has reopened following a slip which closed it yesterday. Snow is also falling on the Central Plateau this morning, with 4-12cm accumulating on the Desert Road between 3am and 12am this morning. Another 3-6cm are expected over the next couple of hours. Drivers are warned the road may close.

Sources: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10675265

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10675510

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Spring will be warmer than winter — official

September 1, 2010

The cold wave sweeping through S. America is also evident in Australia.

New South Wales has experienced its coldest winter in 12 years and daytime temperatures in August were the coldest since 1990. La Niña is now established and may be deepening and this has also given the wettest winter since 2005.

http://www.australianclimatemadness.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/nsw-300×255.gif

The Australian reports:

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/nsw-experiences-coldest-winter-in-12-years/story-e6frfku0-1225912300531#ixzz0yFdVn6Ge

Climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), Shannon Symons says widespread rainfall also resulted in the wettest winter since 2005. “Northern inland regions received above, to very much above average rainfall and that was mainly in July and August, and that’s pretty much the case (across) NSW as well,” Ms Symons told AAP today.

Ms Symons said in the coming months, temperatures should rise as NSW settles into spring !!!

It is not clear whether the coming temperature rise is a warning or a promise.

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