Bleak winter partly caused by El Nino could be worst for 81 years

timesonline.co.uk ^ | Feb. 19, 2010 | Paul Simons

[Free ThinkerNY]

The long, hard winter looks like dragging on into March. And if the bitter winds carry on for the next two weeks, there is a very good chance that this winter will turn out to be the coldest across the UK since 1929.

The National Trust reports that spring flowers have been set back by up to four weeks compared with recent years, although they expect that when some decent warmth arrives it could unleash a huge burst of flowering.

In the latest outbreak of wintry weather, heavy snow swamped much of the South West, Wales, the Midlands and parts of East Anglia, with the threat of ice on those roads not covered with snow. There’s a risk of a similar snowfall returning on Monday, stretching from the M4 corridor across Wales, the Midlands, East Anglia and parts of the North.

These snowfalls have come from a collision of wet, mild, Atlantic air smashing into freezing colder air stuck over northern parts of Britain. This stems from a problem that has plagued much of this winter — the weather patterns have become blocked and sent the jet stream running south.

[keepitreal]

I didn’t know El Nino affected Europe. I thought it was a Pacific Ocean phenomenon.

[USNBandit]

Been really rough winter in the Pacific NW. We haven’t gotten hardly any snow at all. Sunny days, temps in the 50’s. I’m really concerned about a cold snap coming because my tulips are already coming up.

[LukeL]

The global warming has made El Nino worse.

[conservative cat]

It was 62, today, in the Puget Sound area, although in the 30s this morning (had to scrape a bit of frost before work.)

[USNBandit]

I’m up in Bellingham. I was flying around Baker today and could see all the way down to Rainier.

[HereInTheHeartland]

My 200 tulip bulbs have 3 ft of snow on them

[celtic gal]

Here on the Central Coast of the People’s Republic of Kalifornia we are due for more rain and cold weather...we need the rain but....oh well..good weekend to shred documents.

[Will88]

Coldest winter I can remember in the Southeast. I always note our “cold” nights and keep a count of all nights where the temps go below 25 degrees. There are usually ten to fifteen such nights per winter. This year we’ve already 40+ and just had five straight this week, and quite a few nights below 20. - That’s cold for this part of the country.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Who is this National Trust and why do people trust it?

[HiTech RedNeck]

Meanwhile, at the Vancouver Winter Olympics they were complaining that the snow had passed them by and it was the warmest winter in decades.

[Will88]

The Pacific NW is one of the few places I’ve heard that has been milder than usual. I’ve heard of record cold in Europe and China and other areas.

[Ronin]

El Nino Vs. Global Warming!

[diverteach]

It’s the groundhogs fault. He said so, 6 more weeks.

[Myrddin]

We're in a pattern of getting just under an inch of snow accumulation each night. By late afternoon, the streets are visible again. Sometimes even dry. It's still a bit cold for purposes of riding my motorcycle. The grit left behind by the sanding is nearly as dangerous as a real ice patch. I'm looking forward to Spring.

[steelyourfaith]

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !

[justa-hairyape]

So if they have a bleak summer are they gonna also blame that on Global Warming ?

[grey_whiskers]

Sunspots have been kicking up since oh, maybe the last week in December.

It looks like we *might* be moving out of the solar minimum...

Cheers!

[justa-hairyape]

Was good news for awhile, but just fell back down to 17 the day before. And we have not even crossed the threshold to warming yet in Cycle 24. Got close for 5 days. At any rate, we have at least one more cold summer and another bad winter, even if the sun ramps back up quickly. The Earth, she is a big ship, and she don't turn quickly. We just had 5 to 6 years of cooling. Not gonna turn on a dime. Majority of the US and UK will not have a summer and the US has a potential monster winter storm coming near the end of the month. The Northern Pacific waters are cold. El Nino at the equator is fading. The Atlantic coast of the US has cold ocean water that runs all the way across to Russia. They are also now dumping snow by the truck load into the Baltimore harbor. No where else to put it. Watch DC waters get very, very cold by the first week of March. Although wind patterns will allow Atlantic Hurricanes to form this season, Gulf of Mexico will be too cold to support big canes hitting the south coast. My 2 cents.

[justa-hairyape]

DC waters should read Mid-East Atlantic waters.