This morning it feels like Autumn is here. Frost has not quite reached us but it is not very far away. The mist is rising thickly as the sun rises. And the deer are in the garden cleaning up all the fallen apples:
From my kitchen window 26th August 2013
This year spring came about 3 weeks late.
SMHI defines spring in Sweden as the first day – after 15th February – of 7 continuous days with temperatures between 0 and 10 °C. The “normal” onset of Spring is as below:
- Malmö: 22nd February
- Stockholm: 16th March
- Östersund: 11th April
- Kiruna: 1st May
Admittedly I am at a latitude of 58.7057° N. Spring should have come around 12th March and we are going to be around 3 weeks late (at least).
In calendar terms, spring should last from March till May and summer from June till August. But the onset of Autumn is defined by SMHI – in meteorological terms – as the first day of the first occurrence of 5 consecutive days with an average temperature of less than 10°C. Normally this should be around 25th September. But it looks like that it might also be around 3 weeks early.
So while it has not been a bad summer it seems summer may be about 5-6 weeks shorter than “normal” this year.
Many consecutive years of long winters and short summers will probably be the precursors of the coming of the next ice age. And these days I find it more relevant to look for signs that the next ice age (either a little ice age or even the end of the inter-glacial) is coming. It is no longer relevant or worthwhile to be looking for signs of man-made global warming!
The k2p blog 