Britain bracing for ferocious "Polar plunge" next week - This winter "could be the worst for decades"

Snow in Sheffield on December 1, 2010.
(image Wikipedia)

Britain is braced for a ferocious 'Polar plunge' as cold winter freeze takes hold. The worst worst weather is expected to hit during the middle of next week, when overnight temperatures are expected to dive to -10C with windchill in the North while the South will shiver in lows of -5C.

But this is only the beginning of what forecasters expect to be "the worst winter big freeze for decades":

“An exceptionally prolonged period of widespread cold is highly likely to develop throughout this winter and last into next spring.
“It will be accompanied by snow drifts of several feet and long-lasting snow accumulations on a widespread scale.
“This period of snow and cold is likely to result in an incomparable scenario to anything we have experienced in modern times.

James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather


“The focal point at this stage seems to be January, when we could see widespread heavy snow and below-average temperatures.
“This could stretch out for weeks, meaning we could be looking at the worst winter big freeze for decades.”

Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather Services


PS

In case the coming winter actually turns out to be the worst in decades, the AGW high priests will of course again explain this as a result of global warming.

Variations on a theme: A heat wave there and a cold wave here

The media have lately been full of reports about the heat wave in the US West. There has been considerably less coverage on this:

It's June now, but residents in Minnesota's Northland area were waking up to sub-freezing temperatures.

A Duluth News Tribune report says the mercury dipped below 30 degrees in some areas Sunday morning.

The National Weather Service says International Falls reported a low of 30 degrees, a record low for the date. The previous record of 32 degrees was reached three times, most recently in 2009.

"Global warming" has northern USA in its grip: Record cold and snow has been reported in dozens of cities in April

Explanations from warmist climatologists about why all these April cold and snow records actually are a result of global warming are soon to be expected: 

"more than 1,100 snowfall records and 3,400 cold records have been set across the nation so far in April, according to the National Climatic Data Center"

April has been a freakishly cold month across much of the northern USA, bringing misery to millions of sun-starved and winter-weary residents from the Rockies to the Midwest.

"The weather map ... looks like something out ofThe Twilight Zone," Minneapolis meteorologist Paul Douglas of WeatherNation TV wrote on his blog last week.

Record cold and snow has been reported in dozens of cities, with the worst of the chill in the Rockies, upper Midwest and northern Plains. Several baseball games have been snowed out in both Denver and Minneapolis.

Cities such as Rapid City, S.D.; Duluth, Minn.; and Boulder, Colo., have all endured their snowiest month ever recorded. (In all three locations, weather records go back more than 100 years.) In fact, more than 1,100 snowfall records and 3,400 cold records have been set across the nation so far in April, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

Unfortunately for warm-weather lovers, after some mild temperatures the past few days, the chill is forecast to return as the calendar turns to May: Accumulating snow is forecast overnight Tuesday night and Wednesday in Denver and in Minneapolis-St.Paul by Wednesday night and Thursday, said AccuWeather meteorologist Mark Paquette.

Source

Global warming keeps its grip of Germany: March will probably end up being coldest since records began in the 1880s

Global warming continues to keep its grip on Germany. This March will most likely end up as the coldest in northern Germany since records began in the 1880s:

The average temperature in the northern German states of Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt has been minus 2 degrees Celsius (28.4 degrees Fahrenheit) this month. If Jack Frost doesn't head back to Siberia soon, this March could break the record established in 1883, two years after records began. For Germany as a whole, the month will likely end up as the coldest March in 25 years.

Surely, one might think, spring is just around the corner? Not so, say meteorologists. The Easter Bunny will find himself confronted with snow and sleet in northern Germany on Sunday. And there is no improvement in sight.

Read the entire article here.

PS

In case you are interested, Der Spiegel has a nice photo gallery, called Dreaming of a White Easter. 

Heaviest snowfall in a century in Moscow - WWF blames global warming

Moscow has seen the heaviest snowfall in a century, the Moscow Times reports:

The heaviest snowfall in a century brought Moscow and the surrounding region to a near standstill and left hundreds of people without power, officials said Tuesday.
And with snowfall set to continue at least until the end of the week, the authorities are bracing for more chaos on the roads.
"There hasn't been such a winter in 100 years," Pyotr Biryukov, deputy mayor for residential issues, said Tuesday in comments carried by Interfax. "The snow this year has already reached one and a half times the climatic norm," he said.
The capital has seen 216 centimeters of snow fall since the beginning of winter, Biryukov said.
Average snowfall in Moscow is 152 centimeters a year. Biryukov said the city saw 26 centimeters in the 24 hours preceding his Tuesday afternoon news conference and has seen 36 centimeters since the beginning of February. 
The heavy snowfall that struck the city Monday quickly led to chaos on the roads. The Yandex Probki traffic monitoring service reached a full 10 points, and on Monday evening it issued the seldom-seen warning that "it's quicker to walk."

It comes as no surprise that WWF Russia blames the exceptional winter weather on global warming: 

"The weather we've seen in the past couple of days completely fits with the tendency that was identified a couple of years ago, that we are going to to see much stronger, intensive bursts of precipitation in the future," said Alexei Kokorin, director of the climate and energy program at WWF Russia. "In the summer, we will probably see stronger bursts of rain."  

The warmists make it easy for themselves; whatever weather we experience, it always is due to global warming! 

The Weather Channel is an excellent service - if you need information about "Cutest Cats in Snow"

If you need accurate information about the weather, the Weather Channel is probably not the source to turn to. A channel that chooses to spread James Hansen's global warming propaganda instead of reporting facts, looses its credibility: 

Cold Snaps, Global Warming Go Hand-in-Hand

Frigid temperatures like these are sometimes used to refute the idea that the planet as a whole is getting warmer with each passing year. That's just not so, say NASA scientists, who point out that even on a warming planet, bitterly cold temperatures and harsh winter weather will still be possible and even commonplace.

One of the reasons they can coexist is a phenomenon known as Arctic Oscillation, a phrase used to describe the interaction of the jet stream and Arctic air during the winter. It can cause unseasonably cold air masses to sweep over what are normally temperate latitudes, NASA reports, making for unusually cold and severe winter weather across many parts of the U.S.

PS

On its website the Weather Channel boasts about the "many new products" it has developed. 

Here are a few of them:

Cutest Cats in Snow

25 Dogs in Snow to Melt Your Heart

25 Epic Umbrella Failures

Heavy snowfalls making life unbearable in Syrian refugee camps

Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures are making life unbearable for tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the violence in the country:

Brutal winter weather is making dire conditions even more unbearable in parts of the Middle East, particularly for Syrian refugees who must endure frigid temperatures in tents.

The coldest air of the season is moving in behind a heavy snowstorm that has blanketed refugee camps in Turkey and Lebanon.
And inside Syria, residents in cities pummeled by warfare are taking drastic measures to stay warm -- and alive -- through the winter.
In a video posted online, three men and two children are burning pages of school books to stay warm in the besieged city of Rastan,
"We cant use the heaters inside our residences. No fuel, no wood, no electricity," one of the men says.
Jordan:

Torrential rain and increasing snowfall are paralyzing much of the country, and most government and public offices in Jordan will be closed Wednesday, the state-run Petra new agency said.
In the next three days, temperatures in Amman will drop below freezing, Petra said, citing the Jordan Meteorological Department.
Lebanon:

More than 40 displaced Syrians in Bar Elias were trapped inside their tents Tuesday by rising floodwater from the Ghazeel River, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.
Authorities rescued those trapped and provided them with adequate housing, the NNA said.
Elsewhere in the country, the army evacuated residents trapped by torrential snowfall, according to the NNA.

Read the entire article here

"Global warming" hits Germany: Coldest and snowiest day in decades

Germans are experiencing a severe bout of "global warming": An outbreak of cold weather has already in October, for the first time in decades, brought close to -6° temperatures and a thick (up to 20cm) snow cover to large areas of the country. 

"This is something that happens only once in 30 or 40 years", according to meteorologist Christoph Hartmann from the German weather service. "It is the kind of weather that you experience probably only once in your lifetime", Hartmann told the newspaper Die Welt. 

The icy roads have caused hundreds of traffic accidents, not only in Germany, but also in the Baltic countries and Russia. The cold spell is expected to last at least until the middle of next week. 

Cold British summer: Shoppers stocking up on warming and comfort foods

In Britain the cold and rainy summer has led to some unusual behavior: 


Yet another predictably wet and even cold summer time in the United Kingdom has led to a flurry of homeowners showing an unseasonal interest in home improvements


Many in the industry are surprised by the fact that households are turning to such methods in the month of June, but the frosty winds and relentless rain has given many little choice.


Food stores like Waitrose have also noticed some surprising consumer behavior: 


Total sales at Waitrose last week were 3.2pc higher than the same week last year, driven by shoppers stocking up on warming and comfort foods which are more reminiscent of the winter months.

Apples and cherries will be in short supply because of the cold and rainy summer : 

FRUIT farmers in the Tonbridge area this week warned that the "nightmarish" summer weather could reduce this year's apple crop by half.

And cherries are likely to be even worse hit, according to Golden Green farmer Mike Hibbs, who said a dry spring followed by weeks of cold, wind and rain had left him with nothing to harvest from five acres of orchards.

Describing the situation as a "nightmare", he said: "The weather has affected crops immensely. This is the worst season we've ever known."

Extreme winter weather in Peru: Government sending blankets to freezing people

It may be warm in parts of the US, but in Peru the government is trying to keep freezing people warm:

Peru’s government on Monday sent 18 trucks carrying 97,000 blankets to villages in the Andean highlands, where the populations endure freezing temperatures.

The blankets were sent to Puno, Apurimac, Ayacucho, Junin, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ancash and La Libertad regions, daily La Republica reported.

The shipment is part of the national government plan to provide support to people who are not properly equipped to weather the cold.

Children and the elderly are often the most vulnerable to the cold temperatures, and every year a number of people in the highlands die during Peru’s cold winter months of June through August.

Last week, temperatures in the district of Mazocruz, located some 4,000 meters above sea level in the Puno region, dipped to -18 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest temperature in the department so far this year.

Cold English summer: Bring your own broccoli to the London Olympics?

 

Cold English summer: Broccoli in short supply during London  Olympics?

The start of the Great British summer might typically see people seek shelter from the sunshine.

But in one of the wettest, coldest and dullest June's since records began, taking refuge under a sink from yet another downpour was all part of the start of summer for youngsters attending a Gloucestershire show.

And elsewhere, the story wasn't much different as storms and hailstones as big as golf balls were all scenes which unfolded due to June's unseasonable weather.

The Daily Mail

Record cold and wet weather in England threatens the availability of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage for the soon to begin Olympic games in London. Chefs are encouraged think about alternatives: 

Over the past three months the cold and wet weather conditions across the country has stunted the growth of broccoli, cauliflower and some cabbage varieties.

"We just do not have the volumes of UK field-grown broccoli that should be available now from growers in Lincolnshire, Cornwall, Kent or even Scotland" said Zeenat Anjari, business development manager at New Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA). 

The CGMA is encouraging chefs to think about some alternatives. There is a lot of marrow available now, as well as peas and broad beans.

Read the entire article here

(image by wikipedia)