Poll

Spring is here! But this winter was...

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I voted "Mild", for the same reason as why others voted "Ludicrously cold" (Score: 4, Informative)

by koen@pipedot.org on 2014-03-24 12:35 (#S4)

And that reason is the Jet Stream.

I live in Belgium, we had the second warmest winter since we started recording, and we broke the record for highest lowest temperature (it never went below -0.5 degrees Celsius).

The reason: the Jet Stream, which normally makes a wave movement, stayed in the same position for a very long time. For us that meant a constant supply of hot air and very warm weather. For England, the consequence was a lot of rain and storms. For the USA, the consequence was a constant supply of cold air and a very cold winter.

Now if the Jet Stream remains stable in a slightly different position (my country is only 300km*150km at its widest), we have a constant supply of cold air and very cold winters, like in the previous two years.

The diminishing of the wave movement of the Jet Stream seems to be caused by the lower difference in temperature between the arctic and the equator, due to the melting of the arctic ice, due to global warming.

Source, in Dutch: http://www.demorgen.be/dm/nl/5376/Ecologie/article/detail/1823838/2014/03/20/Waarom-deze-winter-nooit-een-winter-is-geweest.dhtml

Re: I voted (Score: 3, Insightful)

by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-03-24 15:52 (#SB)

We don't generally get more than about 10-20cm of snow in the valley where I live, and it doesn't tend to stay around long, but this year we didn't even get snow on the mountain. In fact, we got more snow in the valley than at higher elevations. The local ski/snowboard facility remained closed for the entire season, and even the facilities further afield received only about a half-meter of snow. All my shiny, new snowboarding gear remains untested.

Selfish reasons for my winter disappointment aside, we are also looking at a serious drought situation, now, and I wouldn't be surprised if this fire season is right up there with some of the worst on record. Not looking forward to the summer.

Moderation

Time Reason Points Voter
2014-03-25 17:42 Insightful +1 nightsky30@pipedot.org
2014-03-24 16:53 Interesting +1 vanderhoth@pipedot.org

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