Cold in Norway tonight

Hardangervidda is the coldest place in Europe and only second to Siberia in occupied lands, but the temperatures are unseasonable cold at the moment, plus last winter’s snow did not fully melt and the snow started three weeks early ...

Possibly an omen for one of the coldest winters in recent times ...

We shall see ...

ATB from George

-39 celsius in Verkoyansk!

Fantastic !

Now we can put that "global warming" myth to bed, once and for all....................

Not bad, since we have had one of the warmest if the not the warmest Novembers on record in the UK, and I think globally 2015 has been the warmest year ever on average on record.. Certainly the polarised warm and cold air currents look quite unusual this year... Possibly due to the unusually warm oceans.

It is called climate change these days. The coldest regions may well expect to get colder, while the warmest may well become disproportionately warmer. 

The number of meteorological records being broken each decade is growing at at an alarming rate!

Mind you, I don’t know the answers! I am only a pleb observing ...

ATB from George

"climate change" ?

Sounds more like backing a horse both ways !!

Means you can hardly loose, up or down ?, providing the climate "changes" you win the argument !

Nice one !

Here in Florida our esteemed Governor Scott has banned the use of the term "Climate Change", so I wouldn't know; but I do know it's been really hot here for a number of years, and to my unscientific mind it's been getting hotter.  

Dear John,

My Norwegian aunt lives on a Bahamian island only a few tens of miles off the Florida coast. The weather there has broken so many records of increased energy in the autumn storms that they live with a very close ear to the weather forecasts in case evacuation should become necessary in the fall.

Climate change is real, and quite as much about more severe storms and droughts as about all that much “warming” as such.

The climate change deniers will have a field days if we have a severe winter in Europe, but they have to contend with the simple fact that if the weather is less predictable, food supplies can easily be affected by reduced harvests due to less compliant weather in the main food production areas.

I really could hardly care less for the the ideas of the deniers. These people  will be in the same boat as everyone else just now!

ATB from George

Don,

I suspect your response was provocative. I'll bite .

As George points out the real crux of climate change is the severity of the changes. For those that acknowledge the overwhelming data its obvious there has been a gradual net warming trend on earth, especially during the past 30 or so years. It only makes sense looking at the contributing factors and the wealth of information collected from satellites, as well as traditional surface sites. Small changes in the oceans can result in profound shifts in continental weather patterns, as Simon says.

Last winter saw one of the snowiest and coldest winters in northeastern North America while we in the Pacific Northwest 'enjoyed' one of our driest and warmest winters. It continued as a drought through the spring and summer here. California has been under a severe drought in recent years. Napa Valley is suffering while the Columbia River basin may be poised to become the premier wine region of the US.  Winners and losers to be sure. No doubt California will get their rain, and hopefully it will not come in epic proportions with short-term, potentially damaging consequences. Time will tell, but I choose to heed the obvious rather than seek exceptions.

I suspect that a fair proportion of Norwegians nowadays can afford to have holiday homes in warmer places. 

For myself, if I lived in Norway, I’d relish the challenge of living through cold winters. Nothing like a log burner and an open fire to warm the heart at least, even if venturing outside requires many layers of of clothes!

At least it is generally a dry cold, except on the foggy west coast! 

In Geilo it is still minus 13 degrees C, so it must have been frigid before dawn!

ATB from George

Dear Frank,

It would be horses for courses! Some people are sun lovers, and some enjoy tucking up in a cozy room in a cold climate! 

There is also the consideration of the culture of the chosen country. Not everyone wants to live within a Southern European culture. So that some people are happier in the more buttoned up Northern European cultural environment, while others will prefer the Southern. Horses for courses, as I observed.

ATB from George

In Florida, much more climate change and you'll have a steamed governor! (on toast anyone?)

The other important thing to remember is the difference between climate and weather.

In Geilo,

Minus 15 dgrees c already ...

ATB from George

Its the end of november, Fredrik. 

I slept outside in my sleeping bag, under the stars tonight. -6°. Perfect.

That would give some serious retraction of undercarriage... Probably disappear completely.

Currently minus 19 in Geilo! Minus 26 predicted by 4 am! But this is normal. It could be much colder at this time of year!

ATB from George

TOBYJUG posted:

That would give some serious retraction of undercarriage... Probably disappear completely.

Very delicately put  

Minus 23 degrees C now!

Plus 2 degrees C in Ketchikan, Alaska now!

It was minus 26 at 7 am! Eventually I want to winter in mountains! I love real cold compared to the damp stuff we have in England, and it does not need to feel cold with a decent hat, gloves and warm trousers and coat! It is a dry cold ...

ATB from George

As the Norwegians say, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

- 22 here yesterday... -1 today...

In the Norwegian Winter Olympics about twenty years ago my cousin Cecelie was the English speaking spokesperson for the event and I woke up one morning to hear here talking to the sport correspondent on the Radio Four's Today Programme.

Apparently the journos were moaning about how much colder Norway was than Central Europe! Her typically sane Norwegian comment was that there were very good Norwegian clothes on sale that were suitable for the temperatures to be relished!

I still have her official Olympic Norwegian made anorak! Given me by my aunt in year 2000. Might be worth a bob or two to collectors I suppose!

ATB from George

It's minus 12C here in Calgary, -21C with wind chill.  A bit further north in Iqaluit, Nunavut its -32C currently with a wind chill of -41C, that's Canada Goose jacket weather.

The 1988 Calgary Olympics are getting remembered in the Eddie the Eagle film due out soon.

George, you'll have to get a Dale of Norway jumper to keep warm !